We are taking the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz and spending a night in Pontresina before heading to Milan, the last stop in our trip. I have the option of extending our stay in Pontresina by one night (we hate one night stops), but so far I have not found much in the way of activities to keep us occupied-the cable cars and cog railways are closed until later in May or June, so if anyone here has any suggestions for sights or activities for a full day in Pontresina (or environs), please let me know. I should add that our "baseline" is to spend our last 3 nights in Milan, but we also want to avoid having two long train trips back-to-back, hence the question about a second night. Thanks!
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2581 posts
Pontresina is only 3 miles from the Morteratsch train stop. You can walk to the tongue of the Morteratsch Glacier in about 45 minutes from where the train stops. It’s a flat, easy walk and takes you right up to the glacier.
Posted by
OP
SoCal
117 posts
Kenko, thanks for the tip-that definitely sounds like a worthwhile plan for a day out!
Posted by
1 posts
Walked up the trail to Morteratsch Glacier in August 2024. The actual tongue of ice has withdrawn beyond a rocky ridge. The informal trail to the ice now passes over a unstable rocky area with warning signs about rockfall. Would advise that you check locally if you desire to actually walk on the glacier.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11931 posts
Kendo has a great idea, and while as t32 said the glacier has retreated, it is still a scenic walk. There is a restaurant right by the train stop (it is an on demand stop, by the way) so a walk and lunch are nice.
Also, you can pop over to St. Moritz and walk around the lake, which is stunning, and up to Lau da Staz https://swissfamilyfun.com/stazersee-st-moritz-lake-walk/.
Posted by
OP
SoCal
117 posts
All great input, thanks so much! T32, I hadn't considered a walk on the glacier itself, but if there are local guides that offer such a service, I would love to chat with them, so I will see what I can find online-maybe the Hotel Steinbock has some contacts they can send my way regarding a guided glacier walk.
Laurel, I fired up my copy of Caltopo to see more details on the hikes and saw two trail options-the first one is as you and Kenko described, which has a fairly moderate climb up the drainage creek from the glacier to the moraine at the mouth of the glacier. The other climbs up the side of the glacier valley and terminates at an SAC (Swiss Alpine Club, I think) hut that overlooks the glacier. However, the trail to the hut is quite a bit more challenging-close to 3x the elevation gain in a bit under 4 miles, so definitely more of a cardio workout; however, the payoff would be a view overlooking the glacier at the end. I'm not sure if I can convince Mrs W to do the steeper one with me, so we would likely take the flatter trail to the foot of the moraine instead. Either way, a peek at the glacier sounds like a nice way to spend a day out, and maybe if I can find someone knowledgable about the glacier, we can explore it too.
Posted by
OP
SoCal
117 posts
Looking more into the local cable cars and funiculars, it appears that the only one that will be operating during our dates (May 18-20) is the Diavolezza cable car, with a view of the Morteratsch Glacier. IT might be fun to see it from both perspectives, ie, at ground level and from above-of course, the weather will determine what, if anything, we actually see, but if we are lucky a ride up the cable car to the top would be fun.