Planned trip out today. A train ride up to Arosa in the mountains. This is the Raetian Railway RHB line and goes only to Arosa (the terminus) and back.
A 1000 metre climb over 26 kilometres. The train ride starts from outside the station and goes along the streets of Chur before climbing up through the mountainous landscape of Schanfigg to Arosa at the end of the line.
We drove down the wibbly wobbly hairpin bend road into Chur to the station and parked in the station carpark as before and boarded the 10.08 from platform 2 right outside the station. It wasnt full so we could choose our seats and needed to be on the right hand side looking forward as the main views are on that side.
The journey takes 1 hour and ends in Arosa which is 1800m above sea level. There are quite a number of tunnels, not surprisingly as part of the route appears to climb through sheer rock. What amazed us was quite how bendy the train was. At some points I was able to take a photo of the front of the train bending to the right and then another of
the end carriages also bending round. There are even quite sharp bends in a few of the tunnels. Lots of trees to block the view but also delightful glimpses of the valley such a long way below and chalets perched on green hillsides seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
As we got higher the trees thinned out so we got better views and my camera was of course going clickety click. We crossed the river way up above it on an impressive viaduct and stopped at several villages along the way to the top.
We entered Arosa via a tunnel and came out opposite a lake.There was a very inviting restaurant just by the station so we stopped for a coffee and sat on chairs covered with sheepskin. We didnt rush to leave as it was such a pleasant spot.
Then a stroll along the edge of the lake and through some of the streets. Still not sure if we found the main street but if we didnt it didnt matter as we werent in shopping mode.
it but decided it was probably not worth the climb up again so returned to the big lake at the top and the restaurant for a lovely lunch. Bob declared his quiche (cauliflower and pumpkin we think it was 😊 ) the best quiche he has eaten and my salad (lambs lettuce, walnuts, figs and camembert with micro herb topping) was excellent.
Arosa is very decidedly a winter sports location. There are ski runs right across the area and especially across to Lenzerheide. Also lots of biking and hiking routes. A stroll round the flat lake side is more our style. We did note that Arosa in lots of areas resembled a building site with holiday hotels seemingly springing up all over.
We watched the world go by for a while and strolled some more along the lake before catching the train back down to Chur. They run there and back every hour so never long to wait. Messed up our seat selection this time as the train was fuller and ended up in some seats on the left this time, again to get the better view. The ticket inspector however was not impressed with our
seating and pointed out we were in first class and needed to move or pay extra. We moved ! Sadly no seats on the left side facing forward so we sat on the other side knowing that halfway down there is no view on that side as the track is against the mountain side not a valley. Never mind, still grabbed lots of photos.
Back at the station we found Smart Arse and returned to our lovely campsite. Really is superb and views of such wonderful mountains rising up on all sides.
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