Places to ride – Upper Engadin, Switzerland

Hidden in the southeast corner of Switzerland, you will find the upper Engadin valley.

One of my favorite places to ride bike. Place where even climbing gets sometimes enjoyable thanks to silk smooth roads, almost no traffic and magnificent Views.

Tucked between the Livigno valley from south and Davos from north the hub of this whole place is definitely St. Moritz. I’m sure the names of this places ring a bell by most of you. These are all places well known at least by the thin air seekers.

I personally like the upper Engadin the most. With its elevation of around 1800m it’s ideal for high altitude training. However, to be honest, altitude it’s not the main reason I come here every year. It’s the tranquility of this place I love the most.

In order to get the most out of this place, come in months June and July. Usually it’s stable weather and mild temperatures around 20-25 °C.

You will have plenty of choices to make regarding accommodation. From five star luxurious Kempinski and Carlton kind of hotels in St. Moritz to smaller family owned and run places in the surrounding villages and towns like Pontresina, Silvaplana or La Punt which are just outside St. Moritz. Otherwise, there are dozens of holiday apartments and houses to rent in the whole area of all sizes and categories.

Now the most important thing about this place - Riding.

The valley from its very west end - (Maloja) to the Austrian border on the very east is almost hundred kilometers long. That means you can do pretty long ride only staying on the flat roads.

But why would you stay on flats when you can climb, right? Well, for that you get plenty of opportunity as well. Basically whenever you turn right or left from the valley, you will find a mountain pass going up to more than 2300 meter above see level. Each climb is about 30-40min long and on top of almost everyone you will find a small restaurant or café to get the burned calories back.

Nevertheless, my favourite ride up here is a loop starting towards Silvaplana, climbing Julierpass, long descent to Tiefencastel, climbing all the way up to Davos and coming back Flüelapass down to Zernez and back to St. Moritz. That’s 150km ride, but takes about 6hrs in the seddle.

You can see the full route details here: http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/483975016

Last but not least, when having your coffee shop stop, don’t forget to ask for the Engadiner cake and Rivella to complete the Swiss experience.

Ride!

Martin