Via Engiadina stage 5: Zuoz – Zernez [SwissMobil no. 87]

From the start, this fifth stage of the Via Engiadina leads right through a picture-book alpine idyll: from the magnificent village square in Zuoz along the small alleys with their wonderfully decorated house facades, the signposts guide you on paths over alpine pastures out to Acla Laret. Here you have a great view over the Upper Engadin and the Swiss National Park, which stretches over the mountains on the opposite valley side.

On a wide forest gravel road, you first walk down to Chapella and then climb up again through the idyllic larch and Swiss pine forest to the Val Punt Ota, where the Punt Ota stream – the border between Upper and Lower Engadin – is crossed. Along lush mountain meadows, the Via Engiadina now runs past Brail via Prazet further down the valley towards Zernez.** **