Engadine valley??? Have you been there

The Engadine area is lovely and actually gets lots of attention on other travel forums, like Fodors and Tripadvisor. People here tend to focus on the Berner Oberland as that is the area Rick promotes in his videos.

We have only been there once, staying in the village of Samedan on our way to Italy, but hope to return to explore. Friends of ours who spent several days in the area particularly enjoyed Guarda. Another friend who has spent a lot of time in Switzerland favors Sils.

A car would be good to have in this area.

There is a popular walk above Pontresina that goes from the top of one lift to the top of another. You ride up one,walk, and ride down the other. The 84-year-old could ride up with the group, sit and enjoy coffee or lunch, and ride back down the same lift with one person while the others do the hike.

Also, I highly recommend you ride the train from Pontresina down to Poschiavo and back to your base. This is part of the Bernina Express route but you can ride a regional train. The scenery is spectacular, even for Switzerland. This is a popular daytrip you can do without covering the whole Bernina Express and ending up in Lugano. You can check the travel time Pontresina to Poschiavo on SBB.ch but I recall it is about two hours each way. Get off in Poschiavo and have lunch before catching a train back.

Jay, yes, the Engadine valley is wonderful. It is a high valley, and thus a lot cooler than other parts of Switzerland.
It is well known to the Swiss. There is lots of walking at all altitudes.

A car is not strictly necessary, as it has a rail line running along the valley, from St Moritz down to Scuol.
St Moritz the "metropolis" of the valley (station 1,775 m altitude, which is higher than Mürren at 1,650 m, even though it is at the bottom of a valley), the other end of the line and the valley is Scuol-Tarasp station is at a "mere" 1,287 m altitude. There are two rail links to the north, which you would use coming from Mürren via Chur (which has intercity connections to the rest of Switzerland). One is the Albula line, including the very famous Landwasser viaduct (click for photo).
As long as you mother can get to and from the station, there should be plenty of places you can take her up and down the valley, Plus the ubiquitous post buses and the Bernina line "over the top" to Italy, if you are in the Engadine you can go there and back as a day trip (to Tirano in Italy, NOT Lugano).

The Engadine also includes Switzerland only national park (a proposal for a second one was turned down in a referendum yesterday), which is more of a mountain nature reserve, where absolutely nothing but walking and breathing is allowed.

This is the hike is mentioned---Muottas Muragl to Alp Languard:

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/muottas-muragl-alpine-peak-languard.html

Many of the hotels in the area offer a free transport pass for summer guests staying two or more nights. The pass covers mountain lifts in addition to local trains and bus.

http://www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/sommer/en/bergbahnen-inclusive/

We stayed in Samedan at Laagers Garni. They have just four rooms above a nice bakery. One is an apartment that sleeps up to four people and has a full kitchen. Breakfast and the transport pass are included.

http://laagers.ch/hotel-garni/

Thank you Lola and Chris for your response...It help a lot!
The hike you mentioned looks wonderful hopefully there won't be to much snow in mid June.
I would appear that basing myself in one village (Sils, Guarda, or Pontresina) would enable me to see the majority of the Engadine as distances don't seem to great. I've considered basing myself in St. Moritz but not really wanting a large town or all the tourist attractions that come with St. Moritz. I love the idea of the regional train from Pontresina for a couple hours then back to home base. Seems like that would make for a great day adventure. Any other insights you may have or anyone else reading this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you Lola and Chris for your response...It help a lot!
The hike you mentioned looks wonderful hopefully there won't be to much snow in mid June.
I would appear that basing myself in one village (Sils, Guarda, or Pontresina) would enable me to see the majority of the Engadine as distances don't seem to great. I've considered basing myself in St. Moritz but not really wanting a large town or all the tourist attractions that come with St. Moritz. I love the idea of the regional train from Pontresina for a couple hours then back to home base. Seems like that would make for a great day adventure. Any other insights you may have or anyone else reading this is greatly appreciated.

We stayed in St Moritz in the summer and it was not horribly touristy. That was quite a while ago so it may be worse now. But it's more of a winter resort so that's when it gets busy. I enjoyed it.

Jay,

I've been through that area, but have never stopped to explore except for a couple of nights in Chur. My impression was that it's a great place for outdoor activities, and also one with spectacular scenery which is so abundant in Switzerland. The towns of St. Moritz and Davos seem to be popular with the rich & famous, so staying there will probably come with a commensurate price tag.

These websites have some good suggestions.....

http://www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/sommer/en/
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ca/lower-engadine.html
http://www.magicswitzerland.com/engadin.htm

Following your visit to the Engadine Valley, another option would be to travel to Tirano by train, take the B.E. bus to Lugano (3H:10M) and then to the Berner Oberland by train (as short as 4H:45M from Lugano to Interlaken with one change in Luzern). Regarding the Bus trip from Tirano to Lugano, the website states, "Tirano is the departure point for the journey through the picturesque landscape of Valtellina – an Italian valley famous for its wines. Gaze out over pretty bays and charming little fishing villages as you travel along the shores of Lake Como. The narrow roads that hug the shores of Lake Lugano bring us on into Switzerland and our destination, Lugano." You might enjoy the scenery (as I recall, there's one stop for a coffee / WC break).

Good luck with your planning!

We stayed in Pontresina and took daytrips to,St Moritz etc in spring time.
While it is nice it pales in comparison with the Berner Oberland area. It was a stop over for us on our way to Italy.

Have u considered Zermatt? It might be a better option if u can stay on the valley floor of zermatt. It is quite pricey even with comparison to other resort stays in Switzerland. But has a beautiful village center and fairly flat for your senior. Otherwise Lucerne is a wonderful location with enjoyable and rela xing ferries to enjoy on the lake.

I have a friend who visits family in this region almost every year. Here is his description of the region:

"There are basically three parts to the Engadine:

There's the Engiadina Bassa (Unterengadin). It's more rural but very picturesque. There's the spa town of Scuol down in the Inn valley, or the village of Guarda higher up (I believe it was used for one of the Heidi movies).

Then there's the Oberengadin (Engiadina Alta) with the well-known city of Sankt Moritz and two beautiful lakes. Hiking beneath the Piz Bernina and near Pontresina etc.

Finally, below the Maloja Pass, there's the Bergell region (Bregaglia) with the wonderful little town of Soglio and its chestnut forests. The hiking around there is not so easy because valley slopes are steep."