Davos; Friday, 15 April, 2022

It was up early again and back down to Davos Platz station to catch the train, although this morning it was in the opposite direction to Klosters and onto Landquart. Bizarrely on the way down into Klosters, as the train zigzagged down the mountain I had a good view of the train ahead of us, which was ultimately my connection in Landquart.

From Landquart I changed onto the train I’d seen earlier which carries onto Chur where it waited for about 20 minutes before continuing on, which meant I had time to quickly hop off at Chur and grab some water and snacks for the journey – though this being Switzerland that turned out to require a small mortgage. From Chur the train heads off following the Rhein River, though for the first part of the journey this is hidden behind industry. At Reichenau-Tamins, about 15 minutes on from Chur the River become visible at effectively it’s source. Just beyond the station the Hinterrhein and Vorderrhein merge to become the Rhein proper and as the train leaves the station it crosses over a bridge that spans the confluence.

The train then continued following the Vorderrhein up through valleys and gorges, before climbing up into the hills overlooking it and eventually arriving into the town of Disentis/Mustér – double named as this area is in the heart of the Romansch speaking part of Switzerland, Disentis is the German name for the town whilst Mustér is the Romansch version. The town is most famous for it’s large Abbey that stands overlooking the town, and has quite the influence on the place. Which of course meant that on Good Friday there was nothing open in the town. I’d originally planned on spending a bit of time here and grabbing lunch, but it was clear that wouldn’t be an options so instead after about 20 minutes looking around I headed straight back to the station and got back on the same train to trace my tracks back to Chur.

In Chur I changed onto a slightly different line. The Chur – Arosa line starts from street level outside of the station and for the first couple of kilometres runs as a tram through the town centre, before heading off up into the mountains. After leaving town the line climbs quickly up through a couple of stops before reaching the small settlement of Langwies where it crosses the valley over the stunning Langwieser Viaduct. A short while later the train stops at Litzirüti where it crosses the train coming down in the opposite direction, which you can watch slowly weaving its way down the multiple switchbacks as the line descends the mountain just outside the station. From Litzirüti the line continues on up to Arosa.

The town in a pleasant ski resort set around a small lake and surrounded by higher peaks. I looked at taking the cable-car up to one of the higher peaks, but the timing would have been similar to my trip up the Jakobshorn in Davos a couple of days earlier and it felt like a bit of a waste of quite a bit of money to go up only to have to come straight back down again, so instead I had a bit of a wander around town before catching the train back down to Chur.

Chur itself is reckoned to be one of, if no the oldest settlements in Switzerland. I spent quite some time wandering around the city centre taking in the stunning churches and the castle before heading back down to the station to catch the train back up into the mountains.

From Chur I caught the Albula line train, though from Chur until Thusis it isn’t actually the Albula line, just linking railways. Up until Thusis the line is pretty standard as it snakes its way up the valley of the Hinterrhein, but at Thusis it crosses the Hinterrhein and the Albula which merge in town and starts to climb up towards the peaks.

Just before it reaches Filisur it crosses one of the most stunning viaducts on the network – the Landwasser Viaduct which gently curves high over the Landwasser river as it merges with the Albula and then immediately plunges into a short tunnel before arriving into Filisur station.

At Filisur there was a quick cross platform connection to the train back to Davos, an hour earlier than the previous evening so I was able to admire much of the line in daylight, deciding to hop off at Davos Glaris station and catch the connecting bus that runs parallel to the railway into Davos and then, very conveniently, onto the stop right outside my hotel.

Back at the hotel I had a quick drink in the bar before turning in for the night.