Sep 25 Davos
Wednesday 25th September : Weather: 10°C in Altdorf to 13°C in Davos : Sunny spells, overcast, no rain
Altdorf to Davos: 4 hours in Train: About 10k walk Davos Platz to Davosersee.
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 000m, Descent 000m,
Time: Train Altdorf 10.06am to Davos Platz 2.00pm: Walk 4pm to 5.30pm 10k to Davosersee
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos Platz
4 hours Altdorf to Davos Platz
Rhaetian Railway to Davos
Snow on alps Davosersee
ian cold at Davosersee
Hohe Promenade Davos
Davos Platz ffrom Hohe Promenade
A day travelling four hours by train from Altdorf to Davos Platz through the beautiful Swiss countryside, passing Lake Lucerne, the Zugersee, Zurichsee then the picturesque railway from Landquart to Davos Platz. Then a walk to the Davosersee and back to Davos Platz on the Hohe Promenade above Davos.
We’re awake really early before 6am with lots to do before we leave our farmstay at 9am. First a cup of tea, then sweeping and washing the floor, cleaning the benches before breakfast of Meusli and yoghurt for Ian and fried bread and banana for me. More packing and cleaning befoer a shower and a cup of coffee before we leave Rotem and Karl Marty’s farmstay at 9am. It’s a cool morning at 10°C when we walk the 1k up the road to the Altdorf train station carrying all the extra bags that we had left there until our return from three weeks hiking.
We check the train times and platforms while waiting at the platform. But the SBB site indicates there might be a “carriage difficulty” on one of the sections. I race back to the SBB office to check and they tell me no problem it’s OK, and gives me a printout of the platforms where we need to change trains. It’s always handy to know which platform you have to run to with only three minutes to change trains. We have lunch - more a bite to eat - a shared banana and shared chunk of cheese on the longer leg to Landquart.
The train arrives on time at 10.06am and the route is like a spectacular tourist train passing by Lake Lucerne, the Zugersee and Zurichsee. Wwe transfer easily between Zug, Thalwil and Landquart then change to the Rhaetian Railway into Davos Platz arriving at 2pm. It’s a cold 13°C as we walk the 1k to our Air BnB Apartment called Alpen Chic ny Bea. We’ve been given very clear instructions how to get there, and it was easy to go straight to the lockbox key and find our way into the small studio. It’s tiny but complete with all we need, including a balcony with a mountain view but it’s too cold to sit outside.
A quick cup of tea then down to the Davos Tourist Office where we pay the Tourist Tax of 56CHF which then entitles us to discounted bus, train and cable car fares. We’re told that all the cable cars are still running, despite heavy snowfall a few weeks ago. The alps glisten with a fresh layer of snow. The staff were very helpful and we left with maps and an ice of where to walk over the next few days.
Leaving with an armful of brochures, we decide to stretch our legs and walk up the teh Davosersee a few k down teh valley past Davos Dorf. We’re amaxed at the number of hikers floating around town, despite the colder than usual weather. We’re soon at the picturesque Davosersee, and return to walk back to where we had seen a sign back to Davos Platz via the Hohe Promenade. It’s a beautiful walk about 50 metres above the valley with views all round - across the valley and up to Davos Platz. Eventually we’re back near the Davos Platz station and follow Google Maps to Aldi Suisse. We pass teh Coop on teh way, and pop in to buy a packet of Norwegian Smoked Salmon - for some reason Aldi doesn’t have this style. Then to Aldi to by bread, meusli, yoghurt, honey, bananas, apples, onions and mâche, (miniature spinach leaves called Lamb’s Lettuce in English).
Back to our studio for a beer.wine with some macadamia nuts we’d bought from Australia and stored in Altdorf, then dinner of salad mixed in our cheap plastic bowl with smoked salmon.
Sep 26 Davos
Thursday 26th September: Weather: 10°C Davos: 2°C Weissfluhgipfel: 5°C Panoramaweg: 16°C Davos: Cloudy
Panoramaweg Davos: 16.0k walk:2k Davos Platz to avos Dorf:8k Panorama weg: 6k Wolfgang to Davos Platz
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 440m, Descent 437m,
Time: 9am to 4.30pm: Cable car to Mittelstation: Panoramaweg 3hrs plus 1 x 30min: Wolfgang to Davos 2hrs
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos
Weissfluhjoch t 2,662 m 2°C
Amazing views from Panoramaweg
Looking down from Panoramaweg
School group near ski lift
Cable car down to Klosters
Kids leave train to walk to Davos
A spectacular day hiking the panorama hohenweg hovering between 2,200 and 2,300 metres above Davos. No rain, but it was very cold at 5°C and really windy. We took a cable car to Weissfluchjoch at 2,662 metres, stepped out the door to a windy 2°C, then in 10 minutes we were back in the cable car to Mittelstation at 2,219 metres to start the Panorama weg.
We had a good night’s sleep in our warm, small studio. It’s one step to the kitchen, one step to the dining table, one step to the bathroom and one step to the queensize bed. Compact you might say. The problem is the humongous wardrobe that takes up most of the space. So my side of the bed is 15 cm from the wardrobe doors. Anyone staying in an Air BnB does not need a double wardobe full of clothes - even if its ski gear!
We have a hot cup of tea with powdered milk and check the weather - it’s not raining or snowing - then check the cable cars up to start the Panorama weg suggested to us by the Tourist Office. Breakfast of meusli and yoghurt for Ian, and bread and banana for me. Leaving at 8.45am, we walk the 2k down to Davos Dorf to the Parsenn cable car, but don’t see it. Then we realise it’s a cog train running through a tunnel beneath us. Down to the station and we buy 2 x 20CHF discounted tickets which allow us to go up and down any cable car on any mountain all day. The next Bahn doesn’t leave until 9.30am so we visit Migros and Coop to fill in time. Davos Platz, where we are staying, seems to have bigger and cheaper grocery stores than Davos Dorf, the main village.
Back to the Parsenn Bahn. It’s not busy and there’s only us plus another hiking couple plus 2 girls with mountain bikes who hop on the 60 person Bahn og train. In ten minutes we’re at the first station Hohenweg/ Mittelstation and the bikers get off. We stay on and get to the Weissfluhjoch station at 2,662 metres. It’s Mars like - barren, rocky and steep. The four of us step out onto the platform, and the hiking couple don their warm gear and take off - somewhere? It’s 2°C and blowing a gale. We take one photo and step back inside to wait 10 minutes in the freezing cold for the cable car to descend. The next gondola up to the next level at Weissfluhgipfel at 2,844 metres is closed - we weren’t going there anyway!
It’s 10am, when we get back to the Mittelstatiion, in a “warmer” 5°C and see the signs to the path leading to the Panorama weg. It’s overcast and really windy, but quite clear and we can see the alps all round capped with snow. The path is Mars like - barren and rocky but well defined and spectacular. By 11am we’re at the junction of the Panorama weg, and meet a group of school kids coming towards us all rugged up in beanies and gloves. There’s a deserted chair lift cabin 50 metres down where we go to find shelter from the relentless wind for a cup of coffee. My hands are like blocks of ice when my brother John calls from the UK. He’s been tracking us on Life 360 and can see we’ve stopped. A quick chat before I need to grab the hot coffee that Ian has made with two hands to warm up. Two Arnotts Spicy Fruit Rolls go well with the coffee.
Then off again along this magnificent Panorama Weg for over an hour and at 12.30pm, we reach our destination cable car Gotschnagrat at 2,285 metres where the sign tells us the temperature is 5°C. The place is deserted except for the cable car driver. The next car leaves at 1.05pm so time to share an apple before jumping in and dropping down to the next transfer station at Gotschnabeden at 1,779 metres then again to a warm Klosters at 1,191 metres. Warm is relative, it’s 14°C. The bottom Cable car station is right at the train station, and we hope to catch the next train back to Davos. Then we see the timetable which shows us that the 2.02pm train will stop at several stations between Klosters and Davos. Most trains don’t stop, so we plan to go half way and walk the rest of the way into Davos. Time for a cup of tea and a piece of pannetone on a seat in railway square where the temperature is still showing 5°C up at Gotschnagrat.
The train leaves from platform 3AB, whilst Platform 3CD is for those going to St Moritz on the same train. Our cariages drop off at Davos Platz. Checking the map as we chootle along slowly up hill, we decide to get off at Wolfgang, 6k from Davos and walk the rest of the way through the forest. There’s an electronic sign in the train to indicate which station is coming up and there’s a yellow label in German that I google translate to “Stop when requested”. The first time we’d seen a train with a press-to-stop button. And so we did.
At Wolfgang theres’ a group of school kids hop off as well and start walking down a path towards Davos. We’ve seenso many school kids hiking, and there’s not an overweight kid amongst them. We follow them for a bit until they take the steep short cut to Davosersee, while we follow the graded track around the lake. It’s a “warm” 16°C when we get to Davos Dorf, and we check out a few supermarkets on the way to buy some salmon and a wine to save walking all the way up to the Davos Platz Bahnhof to the large COOP. Eurostar has no fish, Migros has expensive fish, Coop Pronto has none, but Denner, a German supermarket does at a reasonable price - 3.5 CHF for 150g, the same price as Aldi. We buy with a packet of smoked salmon and a box of Swiss wine made from “different countries”.
Back in our cozy studio, it’s beginning to rain. We have a wine/beer with some macadamia nuts before dinner of salmon and salad mixed in our Aldi plastic bowl. Some map planning and a shower before bed at 9pm.
Sep 27 Davos
Friday 27th September : Weather: 8°C to 14°C: Misty morning in Davos, sunny blue skies Sertig Dorfli
Davos to Sertig Dorfli: 22.0k walk Davos Platz to Rinehorn via Sertig Dorfli. Cable car down to Glass. bus to Davos
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 000m, Descent 000m,
Time: 8.45am to 4.45pm: Walk to Sertig Dorfli 6hrs + 2 x 30 min stops Plus 1hr Cable Car and bus back to Davos
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos
Following the Landwasser in Davos
Morning coffee near Clavadel
Blue skies after misty morning
Beautiful Walser Village Sertig Dorfli
On the way to Rinerhorn cable ar
Stopping for rest near Abirugg
A spectacular day in beautiful cool sunny, but not foreast, weather, hiking more than 20k to the Walser village of Sertig Dorfli, then climbing to the cable car at Rinerhorn at 2053 metres to take to cable car down to Glaris, then the bus th Davos Platz.
We’re awake at 6am to a cold 8°C misty/foggy morning and have a cup of tea. We pull the curtains back and can’t see to the other side of the street. We’d planned to take the bus to Glaris, a village along the valley from Davos, then the cable car up to Rinerhorn and walk down to Sertig Dorfli, a beautiful Walser village, then walk all the way back to Davos Platz, a total of about 20k. But with not too much up and down, we thought it waould be doable. Instead we lie in bed to see what happens to the weather before having breakfast and getting changed into warm clothes hoping to be able to hike, but expecting to do a train trip somewhere.
It’s 8.30am when suddenly teh mist begins to lift, and we hurriedly pack my back pack, my turn to carry, and decide to do our planned trip in reverse incase we got to the top of the Rinerhorn cable car and got stuck in the mist. We leave at 8.45am and it’s still cold. I’m wearing about 12 items of clothing as we wander beside the Landwasser River, really just a narrow canal streaming down the valley. We’re looking for the signs to Sertig Dorfli but can only see signs to Clavadel, which we know is on the way.
Leaving the canal, we head up on a wide farm track towards Clavadel, and into a pine forest. The mist is dissipating amd it’s warming up as we steadlily climb on a well graded wide track. After 2 hours of walking, we see a seat in the sun - perfect for coffee and an Arnotts Spicy Fruit Roll. I take a photo of the Alps behind us but can’t avoid the garbage can next to our picnic seat.
The track winds it’s way through pine forests with glimpses of the valley below. This is a a beautiful off shoot valley from Landwasser scattered with scattered farms and barns among the meadows. The track is well graded and at 12.45pm after 11k, we ee this beautiful Walser village nestled in a green meadow - Sertig Dorfli. Lunch time. It’s cold and a little breezy so we find a seat under a balcony of an unoccupied farm house to have a cup of tea and the last of our pannetone cake/bread.
We can see the track meandering up the other side, and walk to Sertig Sands, just a bit further on to cross the Sertig River (more of a stream), and follow the signs to Jatzmeder Rinerhorn cable car, two hrs 15 minutes away. Theer are two parallel tracks traversing teh mountain side - one for bikers and one for walkers, less than five metres apart. Switzerland really has become a montain biking country. A shower of rain heads our way, and we stop to put on rain jackets, only for it to stop 5 minutes later when the sun comes out.
At 3.00pm we arrive at what we thought was the village of Abirugg, but it turns out to be a picnic spot/summer restaurant with wonderful views of the Landwasser valley and Davos. But it’s deserted except for us. It’s clearly a summer destination for people who come up in the cable car to Rinerhorne, then walk 30 minutes on the “pram friendly” track to Abirugg for lunch. We stop to admire the view, take a photo then walk along the three metre wide trail/road to teh Rinerhorne cable car where we pay the discounted rate of 13 Francs each for a one way Gondola trip down 700 metres to Glaris. Then a two minute walk to the bus stop wheer we only have to wait five minutes for the 4.03 bus into Davos - free with our Tourist Guest Card.
The bus route through the valley is picturesque until we’re held up for 10 minutes with a motor bike accident. We’re back in Davos Platz at 4.45pm, and stop at firstly Aldi for beer, fresh bread, Brie cheese and pork fillet. Then next door to the COOP for Mache (lamb’s lettuce) boxed red wine and smoked salmon (for Sunday night as all shops close on Sunday. Back to our warm cozy unit to sort photos, shower, then have a wine/beer with macadamia nuts. We’re soon cooking our pork filet with onion and capsicum, plus pumpkin soup as a gravy, and a salad of macho, capsicum, onion and mayonnaise, all with a slice of fresh bread. More blogging and photo sorting, then a cup of milk and honey and bed at 9an, Tomorrow it’s supposed to be a minimum of 1°C. We’ll see what the morning brings.
Sep 28 Davos
Saturday 28th September : Weather: 1°C to 5°C: 30mm of snow last night: cold and overcast today
Davos circuit Davosersee: 10.0k walk: Easy walk along Hohe Promenade then circuit of Davosersee
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 000m, Descent 000m,
Time: 9am to 11.30am: 2hr 30 min walk
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos
30mm snow last night in Davos
Snow on the Hohe Promenade
Davos a winter wonderland
Cows in the snow paddock
Walking around Davosersee
Tourist train on Wiesener Viaduct
Another spectacular day because it snowed 30mm last night and Davos became a white winter wonderland. The temperature stayed between 1°C and 5°C all day, except when we took a train to Filisur to see the famous Landwasser Viaduct and it was a “warmer” 7°C for the 10 minutes we were at the station before returning to Davos Platz.
We're awake at 6.30am to find a blanket of snow over Davos - 30mm fell last night . Davos is the highest town in all of Europe at 1,560 metres but September is generally a mild month with an average temperature of 9.2 °C. but not this year! It’s freezing cold at 1°C but warm inside our studio, so we have a hot cup of tea to wait for the weather to improve. By 8am it’s 2°C so we have breakfast of meusli and yoghurt for Ian and I have pan fried bread, banana and honey. By 9am it’s 3°C, not much warmer than 1°C, so we make a decision to walk along the Hohe Promenade to test the ice on the tracks.
There’s no one out the streets or paths when we leave to climb the icey steps to the Hohe Promenade, and tread warily along the path watching for slippery sections. It’s a very different view of Davos compared to yesterday. Beautiful, snowy but cold. We get to Davos Dorf then to Davosersee and the cows are still in the paddock - today it’s snow, yesterday it was lush green. The gravel path around the lake has a few dog walkers on it so it must be OK to walk and off we go around the 4k circuit. Our hands are freezing, and there’s a few puppy dogs hopping around madly as they’d never seen snow before.
Back into Davos Dorf, there’s few other hardy walkers out and about. Then up to the Hohe Promenade where the track is a little less icey than an hour ago. At 11.30am we're in the warmth of our studio, stripping off our outer layers and making a hot cup of coffee while pondering our next move. It’s now 5°C. We’ll have lunch here then go for a train trip to Filisur later. Aldi stale bread from 3 days ago fried in the pan with butter and cheese makes a nice hot lunch.
At 2.30pm, it’s 6°C, but a little lighter outside when we decide to take the train to Filisur and back. It’s a cold walk down to Davos Platz Bahnhof, but when we get there, we see the Filasur train on Platform 3, and walk underground and up and jump on the waiting train. We have Davos Guest cards so it’s free. It’s an old train with timber slatted seats and we realised later that this was the original 100 year old historical tourist train:
From May to October, an historical train will run between Davos Platz and Filisur twice a day in each direction - at a normal ticket price or even free with the Filisur guest card. In just under 40 minutes, the journey passes through the wildly romantic Zügen gorge and over the imposing Wiesner viaduct to Filisur. The nostalgic railway cars and open scenic carriages are pulled by the legendary cult locomotive "Bobo 1”.
We pass farms, cows, sheep, barns, waterfalls, pine forests, gorges, then cross over the Wiesener Viaduct with hikers on the adjoining footpath admiring the structure. Soon the famous Landwasser Viaduct comes into view down in the valley. We’ve seen this viaduct before. In fact we’ve been on this viaduct in 2015 when we travelled from Chur to St Morritz when were switching between Sargans, the end of the Alpine Pass route, and going to the start of the Walser Weg in Chiavenna, Italy. The Landwasser Viaduct is a single-track six-arched curved limestone railway viaduct. It spans the Landwasser River between Schmitten and Filisur, in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. Built in 1901, it is 65 metres high and 135 meters long.
The train slows down at every touristy spot and toots its whistle for us to take photos. We arrive in Filisur at 3.55pm and find it’s a pleasant 9°C. We like this place. It’s 500 metres lower than Davos, 5°C warmer and there’s some interesting walks. We jump back on the same train and it leaves at 4.06pm with almost a full load of tourists who had come to Filisur for the day. It must be packed at tye height of summer!
Arriving back in Davos Platz, it’s raining and still 5°C when we scurry over to the COOP and buy two tomatoes. Then back to our warm studio for a wine/beer with cheese and nuts. Dinner tonight is the usual - smoked salmon with salad of Mache, tomato, capsicum, and onion mixed with mayonnaise. Another wine or two later and we’re in bed planning our walk in Filisur tomorrow.
Sep 29 Davos
Sunday 29th September : Weather: 1°C in Davos to 4°C in Filisur Max 13°C Filisur:
Filisur: 19.0k walk: 2k up/down to Davos Platz: 17k Circuit Filisur to Wiesener Viaduct and Landwasser Viaduct
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 426m, Descent 426m
Time: 8.31am to 5.00pm: Train to Filisur: Walk 9am to 3.00pm: 5hrs + 2 x 30 mins stops: Ytain to Davos Platz
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos
Wiesener Viaduct
Morning Coffee Wiesener Viaduct
Magnificent Landwasser Viaduct
Lunch overlooking Filisur
Chur train on Landwasser Viaduct
Beautiful Filisur Village
It’s a bit monotonous to say another spectacular day in the Swiss Alps, but today it was one of the best. We took the train from Davos Platz to Filisur, then walked 17k to firstly the Wiesener Viaduct, then across to the iconic Landwasser Viaduct where there were zillions of tourists who had travelled in the mini toy train down from Filisur station. Then back to Filisur to take the old tourist train back to Davos Platz.
A good night’s sleep until 6.30am for a hot cup of Dorchester tea with powdered milk. A quick shower then breakfast for Ian of Meusli and yoghurt and I have the usual bread, banana and honey. It’s a cold 1°C in Davos but no snow last night, so while there’s still snow on the Alps, there’s none on the roads. We leave at 8am and walk briskly down to Davos Platz Bahnhof to catch the 8.31am train to Filisur.
Of course it departs on time but it’s not the same tourist train we were in yesterday, but a modern one which doesn’t stop at the tourists spots - the waterfall, the Wiesner Viaduct or any other tourist attraction. We arrrive in Filisur in 25 minutes before 9am, where it’s a “warmer" 7°C. The train has many day hikers who pile out in Filisur and some then hop on the Landwasser Express - the mini toy train that takes tourists, not hikers, down to the Landwasser Viaduct.
From Filisur station, we follow the signs back to Wiesener Station where the train had just passed through and it’s a beautiful walk with very little elevation through meadows and forests. After one and a half hours we’r at the Wiesener Viaduct and walk across to the Wiesen Station. It’s still cold, but we find a spot in the sun sitting on a smaller viaduct with our backs to the wall, for a coffee and the last of our Arnott’s spicy fruit rolls. We linger in the sun to warm up.
Doing a U turn to take the lower walking route to the Landwasser Viaduct, we’re surprised it’s in the sun on the south side of the valley. Down a well graded path through the pine forests, the track folllows the fast flowing Landwasser, the river over which the Landwasser Viaduct is built. After another hour, passing through scary landslides of loose dirt, we see the Viaduct in all it’s glory with zillions of tourists who have arrived in the mini train. It’s a bit of a circus with mobile cafes and restaurants set up to cater for the tourists. We admire the massive structure and marvel that it was built more than 100 years ago.
Moving on, at 1pm, we find a lovely spot for lunch in the sun with 180° views of the snow capped alps over Filisur. Lunch is a cup of tea with the last of our Alpine cheese and apple. Our train back to Davos doesn’t leave intil 4.06pm, so there’s time to visit another view point of the Landwasser Viaduct. After an easy walk of thirty minutes, we reach a viewing platform with timber barriers, perched on a precarious ledge overlooking the Landwasser Viaduct. I say precarious because it looks like it’s sitting on an already washed out landslide of loose dirt. The view is impressive but we can only see 5 of the 6 arches and not the point where the track disappears into a tunnel. We linger for a while hoping to see a train on the track, and after 10 minutes, the St Morritz to Chur train passes over the Viaduct and disappears through the tunnel. A truly impressive structure built more than 100 years ago.
Back to the small village of Filisur, with a population of less than 500. It’s part of Route 35 on the Walser Weg and at this time of year is almost deserted. We wander through the streets before walking back to Filisur Station. We pass through an apple orchard, where farmers have rattled the trees and are picking fallen apples buy hand to put in crates. We have an hour to wait for the 4.06 train back to Davos, but it’s nice sitting in the sun looking through the day's photos.
The old tourist train arrives on platform 3 and is soon filled with day trippers, taking off on time at 4.06pm. It rattles, rocks, rolls and hoots along the track at speed as it did 100 years ago. We arrive in Davos Platz after a wonderful day just before 5pm and it's a cold 7°C. Walking briskly through the village, all the shops are closed - it’s Sunday. In 15 minutes, we’re in our warm cozy studio heating up the last of our food for dinner - pan grilled pork filet with capsicum, onion, mushroom bathed in pumpkin sauce/soup, with several pieces of bread fried in the pan. And with a beer/red wine.
Shower time, sorting photos, blogging then a cup of hot milk and honey before bed at 9pm. We hope to go for an early morning walk before catching the 12.01 train from Davos to Zurich.