Engadin - Definition and Overview

The Engadin is a high-lying east-west valley in the south of the Inn River in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland, famous for its sunny climate and beautiful landscape.

In the west, it ends with the Maloja pass going down to Chiavenna and Como in Italy. There the river Inn comes down from the European triple divide from where the Inn flows via Danube to the Black See, the Maira via Po to the Mediterranean Sea, and the Julia (river) via Rhine to the North Sea.

East of the Maloja pass, there is the chain of Engadin lakes, Lej da Segl, famous for windsurfing, Lej da Silvaplauna, and Lej da San Murezzan. To the north, the Julier pass connects the Engadin with the rest of the Grisons.

At the east of the lakes lies the world-famous and very expensive resort St. Moritz (1800 m).

East of St. Moritz, the valley opens into the Upper Engadin, a wide plain framed with mountains. To the south, there is a valley leading to the Bernina pass (2323 m).

From Samedan, the capital of the Upper Engadin, the train connects via Albula tunnel with the rest of Switzerland.

After Zuoz (1700 m), a beautiful village of typical Engadine houses with thick walls, funnel-shaped windows and wall paintings called graffiti, the landscape changes suddenly to the Lower Engadin: the Inn, now rather wild, flows through a deep gorge with steep walls and the meadows change to larch woods. The villages are no more in the valley but higher up on sunny terraces formed in the glacial period.

In Zernez (1470 m) the Fuorn pass goes south, passing through the Swiss National Park.

To the north, another train route connects the Lower Engadin with Klosters via the recently built Vereina tunnel.

The capital of the Lower Engadin is the ski resort and spa Scuol (1200 m).

The local language is Romansh, but people also speak German as a second language. Most place signs show both languages, e.g. St. Moritz - San Murezzan, Sils - Segl, Samedan - Samaden.