Have you ever heard of the village of "Ftan"? No? Well, most people don't know about it and that is for a good reason. It's very remote. By very remote I mean it's hardly on any map, let alone on tourguides or websites.
I live now more than 50 years in Switzerland and haven't even been close to this area yet. But since a dear friend of my wife lives in Ftan, why not spend a weekend and have a look?
As you can see, the location is very close to the border of Austria and Italy. And in order to go there you have to go over an alpine pass or take the tunnel/train.
But is it worth to go there may you ask? Well, glad you asked ;-)
You see, this region - which is called "Engadin" (and is divided into "Oberengadin" and "Unterengadin", basically upper and lower part) is a kind of dry highland mountain area with some beautiful lakes and picturesque villages.
If you leave Zurich early in the morning (maybe around 07:00), you can easily make it to this area around 10:30 - just in time to start worrying for lunch...
We had a famous dish called "Capuns". The ingredients are so special and I can't really translate them into English, so you may just have to try for yourself!
It is not exactly your diet meal of the day but who cares on 1600+ meter above sea level ;-)
During lunch we met an american couple who was traveling the area. It turned out they came from Florida and took five to six weeks of time to travel Switzerland alone!
That's a refreshing change of pace and true dedication. And sign of a healthy budget status - as Switzerland is not exactly a budget destination...
The place we had lunch is called "Guarda" and is home of a very famous Swiss story called "Schälle-Ursli" - which is the story of a little boy called "Ursli" and a "cow-bell". Don't ask...
The drawings in the book by Alois Carigiet are very unique and recognized by most Swiss people as they have seen this story when they were young.
Nowadays that might change and we may speak of "Fortnite" in 30 years when we speak of the "good old times" ^^.
Anyway, Guarda is located quite near to our final destination "Ftan" which we will see in a minute.
And here we go! Talk about a panorama right? Now, to be honest, that's not a picture I made myself. We were there in fall, so there was no snow. But Ftan looks so much better in winter, so I'll show you the "real deal".
In summer and winter it's a great destination for hiking. In winter you may of course do all the ski / snowboard activities on top. As Ftan is 1650 meter above sea level, you will have snow in winter for sure! And in summer its rather dry sunny climate which is in great for hiking.
After staying a night at our friends hotel, we drove up all the way up to St. Moritz. The lake you see to the right is called "Silsersee". My dad used to fish in this lake - nowadays you will have a lot of kite-surfers in summer/fall but it still makes for a beautiful scenery and well worth the visit.
If you do plan to visit this area, here are some highlights you may consider:
A journey with the "Glacier Express"
Hiking Trip to "Muottas Muragl"
A visit to "Diavolezza" (3000 masl)
Hiking in the valley "Val Roseg"
Helicopter flight from "Samedan"
A visit to "Plan da Lej"
A hiking trip to the glacier of Morteratsch
A hiking trip to "Val di Campo"
There are many more things to do in this area!
And this concludes today's excursion in Switzerland. Stay tuned when we bring you to the "Swiss Army Show in Thun" which we visited upon request of my daughter. Yes, my daughter ;-). See you soon!