Pontresina Travel Guide

 kokoryko Says:  In the mountains, the houses are commonly built with very thick walls to keep warmth inside during the cold winters during which the days are short and the light scarce; the house builders wanting to keep warmth inside also make small gaps in the walls, so the windows are... 

 kokoryko Says:  Road trips in the mountains offer beautiful views, and, if you want to reach trail heads, remote villages, you cannot do it quickly without a car.Many places of Graubünden can also been reached by train.Here are a few views taken during car tours going to hikes or coming... 

 kokoryko Says:  Weather is unpredictable in mountains and sometimes you are trapped in the mist and clouds, like during a hike to Piz Tasna (picture 1), in the Silvretta massif, above the village of Ftan; on the way back, the weather was better and it was possible to enjoy wide views over... 

 kokoryko Says:  You are more relaxed to look at the nature when you are walking down, and it is then a real pleasure to look at all the flowers growing on the mountains, look at the valleys and villages from high above.Is this tiny pansy (picture 1) not courageous, strong, growing here... 

 kokoryko Says:  The mantle? Yes the Earth Mantle, rocks which usually are at 30 or more kilometres depth can be here studied, sampled, or just looked at on the peaks above Alp Flix; when Apulia, a northern promontory of Africa (Yes, most of Italy is geologically Africa! And even further... 

 kokoryko Says:  Lots of hikes can be undertaken from Pontresina, and there are for all tastes; I like a lot to see people I would not at all expect in these places undertake hikes (picture 1); yes, “ma soeur”, wish you a nice walking day!I did not find a map in a bookstore in Pontresina,... 

 kokoryko Says:  If you are not hiding in a small narrow back street, you will almost always have lookouts on mountains from where ever in the village; as the village is built on the right banks of the Ova Bernina and Flaz rivers, on the slopes of Piz Languard, you will enjoy most views to... 

 kokoryko Says:  Windows are all different, have stories, tell stories, inspire poesy and songs; Jacques Brel may not have thought of the Pontresina windows when he wrote his song, Les fenêtres, but I had a thought for him, when walking in the village. . . Elaborate frame, geraniums, nice... 

 kokoryko Says:  No it is not publicity for the hotels, it is just that there are a lot and they give some character to the place, and some are even nice to look at; so, if you walk the main street, but also some backstreets, you will see many of these big beginning 20th century buildings.In... 

 kokoryko Says:  I have no idea what this bird is, neither what it is supposed to represent! You will meet this bird (picture 1, picture 2) in a corner next to the main street, in the higher part of the village. May be a Swiss kingfisher? A heron, a stork? Whatever, local artists have... 

 kokoryko Says:  People from the mountains who observe Nature take advantage of good adaptation to the slopes, as this bench (picture 1), with legs shorter on one side than on the other demonstrates. They learned this skill from a wonderful animal from the mountains: the Dahu.Those who live... 

 kokoryko Says:  Tourism and modern life has invaded Pontresina, like many other resorts of the Alps, but this village managed to keep some “character”, and it is a real pleasure and feast for eyes to walk in the streets at a quiet time of the day and for instance look at the variety of the... 

 kokoryko Says:  When I boarded the train in Chur, an end station of the narrow track Rhetic Railway, I did not know I was about to take place in a Unesco World heritage object! Well, not the train itself but “the Raethian Railway in the landscapes of Albula and Bernina, 122 km, the 144... 

 kokoryko Says:  Few days a year there are a number of festivals in Pontresina, and in Summer you may have the luck to attend and even participate to one of these events.The streets are invaded by stalls with food, local products, musicians. . . . . and it is a pleasure to walk among the... 

 kokoryko Says:  We may have biased opinions about bikers and biking. . . . Generally, biking friendly areas are plains or at least rather flat areas (Holland, North Germany, etc. . . ); I have to change my opinion: here in Pontresina, are a lot of bikers or young scooter adepts. It is not...