Chur: Suggestions for Day Trips, 3-5 days

We spent five nights in Chur a couple years ago. We had a Swiss Travel Pass. Here's where we went:

Post Bus Day: St. Martin in Zillis and Bellinzona

The painted ceiling in Zillis is a remarkable monument of Romanesque art. The original wood has been dated to 1109-1114. The ceiling consisted originally of 153 wooden panels, with an average size of about one square meter, painted in tempera. Of these, 123 original panels survive and there are 17 fragmentary panels. The Gasthaus Alte Post in Zillis is known for local specialties, including capuns, a spätzle-esque dumpling wrapped in green Swiss chard leaves and simmered in broth. After lunch, continue to Bellinzona, the capital of Ticino, the Italian-speaking canton of Switzerland. The town is most famous for its three castles, the most immediate being Castelgrande, constructed over the city center on the site of an old Roman fortification.

Cable Car Day

Lenzerheide has long been a notable ski destination not far but Chur, but starting in 2020, it reinvented itself as “Bike Kingdom” for the post-snow months. But the top of the Lenzerhorn mountain also has hiking trails that are closed off to bikes, the closest of which runs near a colony of Alpine Marmots. A second cable car system is Heidbüel, a more scenic lift with a small park, alpine wildflowers, and pond at the top.

Bergün, Historic Train to Davos, and Giger Bar

Bergün/Bravuogn is an unspoiled alpine village at the foot of the Albula Pass. It is home to the Kurhaus Hotel, which opened in 1906. The art nouveau architectural gem struggled for much of its existence in spite of the luxurious ambience and the most modern facilities of the time. Resorts like St. Moritz and Davos attracted more business, leaving Bergun largely untouched. It was only after a 2002 restoration of the Jugendstil style, and placement on the Swiss Historic Hotels and Historic Hotels of Europe lists, that the Kurhaus finally hit its stride. Take historic (nostaglic) train between Filisur and Davos Platz, riding turn-of-the-century cars through the Zügen Gorge and over Landwasser Viaduct. Have lunch in Davos before returning to Chur and visiting the Giger Bar. Opened in 1992, the interior of the bar is themed along the lines of H. R. Giger’s biomechanical style as seen in the Alien films. The roof, walls, fittings and chairs are all modeled by the artist and fit into the same designs as seen in the films he designed, notably the original "Alien."

Reformierte Kirche Waltensburg and Rhine Gorge

The Waltensburg Reformed Church has two main groups of frescoes. The first date from the late 1340s through the 1380s. These are actually the more vibrant murals along the walls and depict the Last Supper, Crucifixion, and the martyrdom of various saints. When the church was expanded, as second set of frescoes was added in the 1450s and are now behind the organ. These were done in a “soft style” with a focus on the Virgin Mary, including the somewhat surprising placement of Mary on the throne of heaven, a scene usually reserved for the male Christ or God figure. Return via the Rhine Gorge aka the “Swiss Grand Canyon” and the origination point of the Rhine River. Stops in Reichenau-Tamins and Trin.

@History Traveler. This is perfect. Exactly the kinds of suggestions I was looking for. How do you research your trips for the out-of-the-way historical sites. My searches are mostly random until I turn up something that looks interesting in a given area but I'm sure there are more rigorous techniques.

Note that if you want to take local trains rather than the Glacier Express from Chur to Visp, you will have to change trains twice on the way, at Disentis and Andermatt. This is because the section of track between those two points ascends and descends Oberalp Pass on a rack railway. Only the dedicated Glacier Express trains are equipped to handle that as part of their journey.

Sounds like fun. We have no problem changing trains. However, I'm now looking at an option to travel to Locarno and take the train to Domodossola (perhaps with an overnight stay) and then on to Brig. I understand that the STP covers the leg from Locarno to Domodossola but does it also cover the leg from Domodossola to Brig?

So those suggestions are a combination of a lot of pre-trip research, and a lot of spontaneous ideas once in Chur. I worked in the history and museum fields before retirement, so the history places bubbled up through a lot of research. But ideas like the cable cars and station-hopping along the Rhine River Gorge were basically spotting things on the ground. And then spots like the Kurhaus Hotel were literally just stumbled upon. Bottom line: Use anything and everything!

Sounds like a good methodology. Our preference is to stay in one place for 4-7 days so that we can discover more about the surrounding area and also have freedom to change plans depending upon the weather and what we discover on the journey. Thnks again for all of your tips for Chur. We stayed there for 1 night 2 years ago and thought the area had potential for a longer stay.

Yes, according to this map of STS validity, the STP covers Domodossola to Brig.

https://www.mystsnet.com/en/download/swiss-travel-system-map-en-2023/?wpdmdl=14294&masterkey=63a023c8da36c

Thank you for that link Lola and to all others for their help.

I liked very much St. Gallen, 1 hour 30 minutes by train. Even Feldkirch, Austria, is nice - but St. Gallen has more interesting sights, beginning from the old library.
I have been in Disentis a lot of times, nice alpine village, a baroque abbey, good restaurants (Stiva Grischuna) but not much more. With good weather there is a nice and easy hike in the meadows to the ancient church of Sontga Gada (St. Agatha in Romantsch), a very primitive church with frescoes, very different from any other church you have seen! Be sure to check opening times (there was a time when you had to pick up the keys at the railway station!)
I have been only once through Scuol-Tarasp, it looked to me a very sparse village. I am afraid the train trip could be more interesting than the destination.
If you have children they will love the Heidi village at Maienfeld.

Thanks Lachera. We were hoping to go visit the old library in St. Gallen on a day trip from Luzern (earlier in our trip) but if that doesn't pan out we may try to visit from our hub in Chur. The Sontga Gada church in Disentis looks interesting as well as the abbey. I'll add Disentis to our list of possible visits.

I love Scuol, the architecture is very unique. If you go there I'd get off the train at Guarda (a very picturesque Romansh village, made famous through a Swiss children's book (Bell Urs or Schellen-Ursli in German). From there walk down to Ardez and continue your journey to Scuol by train.
Near Zillis is also the Via Mala gorge, if you go to Zillis I'd stop at the gorge and walk through. There's also a long rope bridge nearby.
I'd also suggest the Rhine gorge. Take the postal bus to Laax. Take a look at the gorgeous Lake Cauma. Then walk to the viewpoint. There's also the very old St. Remigius church in the neighbouring village Falera. In front of the church there's even an ancient stone circle.
If it's rainy, you could go to one of the many spas / thermal baths. I guess the one in Andeer is the closest and the cheapest. There is also a famous one in Vals, Bad Ragaz or Scoul.
Arosa with its bear park could be another day trip. Although the village is not exactly beautiful, but the trip up there is very scenic.
If you're into hiking there's also the Walensee, near Heidiland. Where you could take a boat from Murg to Quinten and walk to either Weesen (3-4h) or to Walenstadt.
For historic villages there's one of the oldest towns called Werdenberg including a castle. Lichtenstein is just across the Rhein river.

I'm slightly hijacking this to ask about a place I just discovered on the Zurich to Chur line. @Karl, this would be just 15 minutes away from you in Chur. But has anyone ever visited Bad Ragaz and walked along the Tamina Gorge? (@Aniol, I know you recommended the spa in Bad Ragaz, which also looks interesting.) The Gorge looks quite beautiful and interesting from a geology and scenery standpoint. We're thinking of visiting in May coming from the Zurich direction.

All these suggestions have prompted me to add two more days to our stay in Chur. Thank you.
@Anio: The Via Mala gorge looks very interesing to me. My wife would not be able to do any long hikes but I am interested in perhaps hiking in the gorge for a few hours. Is it possible to enter the gorge at the Zillis, Viamala-Schlucht stop (B 541 from Thusis) and walk south to Zillis or would it be best to start at Viamal-Schlucht and hike north, perhaps returning again to the starting place? We also want to visit the St. Martin's church in Zillis and I am trying to find a good itinerary by bus/train from Chur and back for a day trip.
I'm also looking for something similar at the Tamina Gorge as noted by @History Traveler.

We also want to visit the St. Martin's church in Zillis and I am trying to find a good itinerary by bus/train from Chur and back for a day trip

So, we did a much simpler version to Zillis, using PostBus 171, which continues on to Bellinzona. If some of your other ideas fall through, you can fall back on that which runs direct Chur > Zillis > Bellinzona and back again. Do NOT get fooled by the Zillis train station. It is at the bottom of the valley; St. Martin's is at the top! Trust me, you don't want to walk it!

As an aside, the Postautostation in Chur is quite nice -- airy, pretty intuitive, modern. My only warning is to be vigilant of Express buses versus regular. One time we got on the Express; an easy mistake because they are positioned side by side; depart at the same time; and have the same route number. The only real clue is the "next stop" screen once you board, so allow yourself a little extra time if you see two buses that seem identical.

I've only walked from the Via Mala gorge to Thusis, it's a bit more than 3h. But there is also a hike to Zillis which takes 1h45.
The hike begins at the Viamala Gorge visitor center. First you walk 250m up the Rhine and then the path leads off to the left to the Punt da Suransuns suspension bridge. The footpath over stone steps leads to the Hinterrhein. After passing Punt da Suransuns, continue on the right bank of the Rhine to the Val da Bargias stream and turn left along ViaSpluga towards Reischen/Zillis. At the end of the road, continue along the forest path to the Cultira Dafora hill. Finally, take the road over the old wooden bridge to Reischen and Zillis.
I found the Via Mala gorge more impressive than the Tamina gorge. Additionally, there are more hiking opportunity at the Via Mala gorge. But the Tamina gorge is more accessible, especially coming from Zürich you can take a bus from the train station at Bad Ragaz. However they don't seem to accept any travel pass or half fare card for this bus. You have to pay 11 CHF for a return ticket.
I've never been to the spa in Bad Ragaz, only to Andeer which is quite small but also cheaper.

More good information. @Aniol: I hope to hike the Via Mila track to Zillis. I've been looking at the Andeer spa. It might be a good stop after a hike.

Hello, I am also jumping to ask - where do you recommend staying in Chur? Karl seems like you did a lot of research so would welcome your recs!

In July 2022 we stayed at the Ambiente Hotel Freieck but only for 1 night as we were passing though on our way to Locarno. We had a lovely room (booked a budget double) on the 3rd (?) floor which had a great view of the St. Martin's Church a few blocks away. My impression is that this is a family-run hotel, just the kind of place we are looking for. The elderly woman who checked us in at 6:30pm was a bit harried but very pleasant. She was also on hand during our early morning breakfast at 7:00am which provided a good selection of breakfast foods for all tastes. I would stay here again if I was only spending 1-3 nights. It's in a quieter section of town about 0.7 km from the train station. We were there during some warm days but were able to open the windows to cool the room down in the evening.

We are stopping in Chur again this August for 7 days to explore the surrounding area, so we found it was less expensive to book an Airbnb. Found a nice place a short bus ride away from the train station.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/37547809?adults=2&check_in=2024-09-09&check_out=2024-09-16&source_impression_id=p3_1711408205_%2FI7lm7AwS3BHuE9n&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=34641ce3-cba4-4ca3-b9c0-4d49ff18647b