The perfect club trip to Graubünden

What could be bet­ter than trav­el­ling around Switzer­land with good friends? This is exact­ly what we will be expe­ri­enc­ing this week­end on our club trip to Graubün­den. There are 12 of us from the Bal­sthal Gym­nas­tics Club on the trip. It’s amaz­ing how much we were about to expe­ri­ence in just 48 hours in the far­away can­ton of Graubün­den.

We set off on Fri­day after­noon by train from Bal­sthal (SO) and arrive at Val­bel­la Youth Hos­tel in time for din­ner. After a deli­cious din­ner and a round of the card game Jass, it’s time to go to bed. We need our rest as we have a var­ied pro­gramme of fun activ­i­ties ahead of us.

Action-packed mountain adventures

We are awok­en by the first rays of sun­shine of the day. After a sump­tu­ous break­fast, we are kit­ted out with packed lunch­es from the youth hos­tel. Then it’s off to the longest tobog­gan run in Switzer­land. But we don’t plan to make things too easy for our­selves. We start off with a two-hour walk uphill.

We enjoy our lunch in the beau­ti­ful sun­shine and then it’s time for action. We race down the moun­tain­side at top speed for three kilo­me­tres. We all have our game faces on and adhere to the prin­ci­ple: “Hit the brakes, lose the race!”

We are now brim­ming with adren­a­line and wear­ing big smiles on our faces. The next stop is Pon­tresina. The youth hos­tel is locat­ed right next to the rail­way sta­tion. After a quick check-in, it’s time to paint the town red.

We’re eager to try some of the local cui­sine and decide to have din­ner at the Sportho­tel Pon­tresina. This idyl­lic chalet is a great place to enjoy clas­sic Graubün­den spe­cial­i­ties. As the evening draws to a close, it’s time to head to our cosy rooms and hit the hay after a busy day.

The next morn­ing after break­fast, we grab our packed lunch­es and set off for the next high­light of our trip: a fan­tas­tic train ride along a famous route from Pon­tresina to the Morter­atsch Glac­i­er on Mount Diav­olez­za. Today, we ascend to the glac­i­er in com­fort aboard the gon­do­la. Once at the top, it’s time for the two-hour Glac­i­er Expe­ri­ence Trail. The trail is pret­ty ardu­ous, but it’s worth the effort for the beau­ti­ful scenery and great view of the glacial val­ley.

Our top tip: Using your smart­phone, you can use the QR code to get inter­est­ing infor­ma­tion about the glac­i­er and the cli­mate at cer­tain points.

With our heads full of inter­est­ing infor­ma­tion, it’s now time to head home. Once again, the route is adorned with breath­tak­ing scenery, fea­tur­ing pic­turesque val­leys, unspoilt nature and remark­able bridges.

As we look out of the win­dow, we allow our thoughts to roam freely. It’s almost as if we’ve tak­en a short trip to a for­got­ten world. There are so many oppor­tu­ni­ties in Graubün­den to enjoy nature to the full. We’ve enjoyed it a great deal and are cer­tain that we’ll be back soon!

The whole trip in one minute

Our overall impression:

This short and inten­sive trip was def­i­nite­ly a very spe­cial expe­ri­ence for our club that we won’t for­get in a hur­ry. All the var­ied expe­ri­ences have bond­ed us even more close­ly togeth­er. What’s more, we’re even more con­vinced that the Swiss Youth Hos­tels are ide­al for club trips.

There’s always a jok­er on every trip. At the Bal­stahl Gym­nas­tics Club that would be Simon. He’s always ready to ensure every­one is hav­ing fun. In his free time, he is a gift­ed ama­teur chef. He likes to trav­el to Italy to sam­ple the deli­cious food there.

Discover even more about the splendour of Graubünden!

You can explore the beau­ty of Graubün­den along the Alpine Cir­cle route in com­fort by train.

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