This is a mini-trip report as I wrote a huge amount about our two-week stay in Samedan in my blog (see link in my profile).
We have stayed in Pontresina twice before, a lovely little town not far from St. Moritz and on the famous Bernina scenic train route. This time we opted for little Samedan. Not as oriented toward the traveler, it felt like a place one could live. My smattering of German and semi-fluent Italian was helpful but not necessary given the Swiss proclivity toward English. I found a lovely apartment on the Engadine Tourism site (link in blog). Well-appointed with a very kind host, a 5 minute walk to the train station.
We did go to Pontresina and St. Moritz each a couple of times, and marveled at the difference. If you like quiet, not too many people around, lots of locals, it is a great place to stay. But there are not many lodging options.
There are good walks branching out all over the valley and low hills here. Taking the opportunity to visit the many little towns nearby, we made good use of the train and bus network. The higher altitude trails we have done before and as we age, we are looking for less strenuous routes so and we enjoyed them very much. We did a number of “Path to Lunch” outings as we call them: a walk, a meal, and another walk after we eat.
We had good weather luck as we learned it had been raining quite a bit, but we had some fine days and while it was sometimes rather cold, we never really got wet in any of our outings. As Ric said on the way out of town after two weeks, it is definitely repeatable.
This year’s trip is an easy pace of two weeks in each of three places. Gives us a chance to settle in and not go-go-go all the time. I really hate the packing and unpacking part of travel! Samedan turned out to be a wise choice for us and a great start to our trip. I miss it already.