Graubüden & Engadin

Graubünden is Switzerland's largest and least densely populated canton: 7,105 square kilometres, 202,000 inhabitants, 150 valleys. The capital is Chur, the oldest city in Switzerland, sitting at the northern edge of the Alps. South of Chur the Rhaetian Railway climbs into the mountains on two routes, the Albula and the Bernina, both listed as UNESCO World Heritage since 2008. The Engadin runs northeast from the Maloja Pass for 90 kilometres, following the Inn river. The river's source lies at Piz Lunghin, the most notable triple watershed in western Europe: from the same ridge, water flows to the Black Sea via the Danube, to the Mediterranean via the Po, and to the North Sea via the Rhine. The Upper Engadin sits at 1,800 metres. Four lakes spread across the valley floor: Sils, Silvaplana, Champfèr, and St. Moritz. The light at that altitude is specific. It arrives earlier and differently than it does in the valleys below. Below Zernez, the Lower Engadin narrows and the landscape empties. The Swiss National Park begins here. Established in 1914, it covers 170 square kilometres and has been left without human intervention since. The larch forests, the ibex, the bearded vultures returned by reintroduction in 1991, all of it is left to run without management. There are trails through it, but no huts, no cattle, no chainsaws. The Glacier Express leaves St. Moritz and covers 291 kilometres to Zermatt in eight hours. It crosses 291 bridges, passes through 91 tunnels, and climbs to 2,033 metres at the Oberalp Pass. The train has run since 1930. It earns its reputation as the slowest express in the world. In this canton, that is the correct pace.