Via Engiadina

Sent sits high above the valley floor in a sunny location. Traditional Engadine farmhouses and town houses stand next to one another on narrow, cobbled streets. A stunning fountain adorns the village square in front of the impressive mountain panorama. Around 900 people still live in what was once the largest village in the Lower Engadine. An architectural feature of the village is the curved gables that adorn many of the elegant, neoclassical residential buildings.

After leaving the village, you take a dirt road through pastures to the entrance of Val Sinestra. The narrow valley consists of steep, wooded hillside and a deep gorge. However, Sinestra does not mean “gloomy”, but translates from Romansch as “left”, because the valley is on the left-hand side, viewed in terms of the flow direction of the Inn River. Many rare and endangered plants thrive on its unfertilised meadows. The earth pyramids in Prà San Peder, the flowers, and the abundance of orchids in particular, are unique.

The postbus also operates on the road leading out of Sent, which runs through pastures and up to the valley entrance. The trail now runs on a relatively flat route through the forest. Tucked away deep in the valley is the legendary former spa building. A ghost is said to haunt the floor where the pools used to be. From November to May, the spa can only be reached by private car. Currently a youth hostel with a Belle Epoque ambience, it was built at the beginning of the 20th century close to six mineral springs.

You cross the Brancla wild river below the hotel to access the other side of the valley. A path carved into the rock leads out of the forest up to Vnà. About seventy people live in the small mountain village, and the museum displays equipment and documents that show what life and work used to be like in the valley.

Leaving the valley, the fantastic view of the opposite mountain range and valley opens up. Crossing the southern slope below Piz Arina you reach Chant Sura. The Piz Lad rises up opposite this. This area is also called the border triangle because it forms the boundaries between Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

You cross the narrow gorge of Ruinains via narrow wooden walkways. A well-paved path then runs across vast pastures to Tschlin, the destination for this stage. This is where Biera Engiadinaisa comes from, which is brewed from crystal-clear mountain water and Grisons summer barley. This Engadine village is also very well-preserved, and is a feast for the eyes with its terraced landscape.