Senda Sursilvana

The Surselva is more than a mere mountain valley. The Surselva - meaning «above the forest» – is a world apart, with its own language (Sursilvan), its own history shaped by the Disentis Monastery and the mountain passes, its own breed of men and a natural character shaped by one particular element, one which is continually gaining in value: water. It’s for a good reason that the official source of the Rhine rises at Tomasee near the Oberalppass. The water, collected in dozens of reservoirs is an energy provider. It has also eaten its way through the world’s largest mapped rockslide at Flims. It has created the imposing Ruinaulta Gorge, which can hardly be beaten for ruggedness – particularly when seen from the vantage platform at Conn.

The hike through the Surselva leads through an intact landscape but also arouses culturally historic curiosity, whether with the paintings in the Waltensburg Protestant Church or in the light of the mystifying menhir at Falera.The finale of four very varied hiking days is a tour around the old town quarter of Chur, Switzerland’s oldest town.