Canton Graubünden
Languages: German, Italian, Rumantsch Interesting fact: Switzerland’s largest and most diverse holiday region.
Since canton Graubünden is so huge and diverse, I have split it into 3 separate pages, making it easier to focus on the various regions, towns, villages and natural wonders within this part of western Switzerland.
Discover . . .
In and around Graubünden’s historical Villages
Graubünden has huge areas of wild and rugged beauty that is home to traditions going back hundreds of years. These traditions are not only reflected in the villages but also in the surrounding countryside. I found plenty to see in the four regions below: Parc Ela and the Albula Pass, Naturpark Beverin, the Engadin Valley and Val Bregaglia. Within this vast area, you can find a treasure trove of historical villages and many other fascinating historical landmarks. The narrow streets are lined with beautifully crafted guesthouses and inns as well as the sometimes cosy, sometimes grand, Engadine houses. When entering the valleys and hillsides of Graubünden the villages can be spotted by the welcome sight of elegant church spires reaching upwards, inviting you to visit.
See below for a map to orientate, then click on the pictures for information on each area.
Vale Bregaglia image by: Image by peacepeaceofmind from Pixabay
Where they are :-
What is there:-
Parc Ela and the Albula Pass – The Albula and Bernina lines of the Rhaetian Railway, a masterpiece of railway technology wind their way through this valley, taking you to a treasure trove of historical villages with buildings that have been beautifully designed and decorated with filigree sgraffiti.
Naturpark Beverin and the Averser Rhein will take you to a part of Graubunden steeped in history. Hundreds of years ago, traders would travel over the Splügen pass creating trading points around this area and some would settle, creating the villages dotted around the valleys of the Hinterrhein. The Walser people from southwestern Switzerland also journeyed across the country to this area – bringing their way of life and way of building. Due to the introduction of the railway routes, the villages no longer benefited from trade. Now, these villages are farming communities. Their houses are still the traditional buildings and their culture remains similar to how it was hundreds of years ago. The untouched nature park Beverin encompasses and protects all wildlife and the community’s way of life.
The Upper and Lower Engadine Valleys offer quiet and picturesque villages on one hand and glamourous, glitzy resorts on the other. However, what I consider to be the best parts, are remote and hidden – tucked between or behind the world-famous and the well-known. These places are filled with tradition and historical stories, they are places that haven’t changed much for centuries and are better for it.
The Village of Soglio overlooks the Bregaglia Valley. The painter Giovanni Segantini once described this village as ‘The threshold of paradise’. When entering the cobbled streets of this tiny village you will feel as if you have entered a village that has mostly been unchanged for centuries. The natural landscape surrounding this place and many others in the valleys, hillsides and mountain passes of Grabünden have the ability to appear as if nature and man-made buildings are one. This village is a great example of this and is what you will encounter when you decide to wander down a small alleyway, away from the main street with its newly painted facades.
