The Schanfigg Railway: 26 Kilometres From City Streets to Alpine Silence
The Chur to Arosa train does something no other Swiss railway quite manages. It starts as a tram, rolling through the medieval streets of Chur past the Maltese Tower and the Obertor gate, then climbs 1,000 vertical metres through the Schanfigg Valley in just over an hour. By the time you step onto the platform in Arosa at 1,775 metres, the cantonal capital feels like a different country.
The Arosa Line has been making this journey since 1914. It is one of the Rhaetian Railway's most distinctive routes: 26 kilometres of tight curves, steep gradients, and several viaduct crossings, the most dramatic of which places you 62 metres above the Plessur river with nothing but air beneath the carriage. That transition from cobblestones to gorge to open alpine meadow is what makes the ride more than transportation. It sets the pace for everything that follows.
What the Journey Feels Like
You board in Chur, at 584 metres, surrounded by the bustle of Switzerland's oldest city. The train eases through narrow streets where cars pull aside to let it pass. Shop awnings and stone facades slide by at walking speed. Then the city falls away.
Within minutes, the Plessur gorge opens below. The river cuts a deep channel through rock and forest, and the train follows it upward on a gradient steep enough that you feel the carriage tilt. Spruce and pine close in on both sides. The sound changes: less urban hum, more rhythmic clatter against the mountainside.
The settlements along the route tell a quiet story. Scattered Walser villages like Fondei, Sapün, and Medergen sit on slopes above the rail line, their wooden farmhouses darkened by centuries of weather. The Schanfigg Valley (Bergtal Schanfigg, as it's known locally) has preserved a character that larger valleys lost generations ago. There is a Walser phrase for the culture here: "Willkomma bin ünsch," meaning "welcome to our home." You see it in the careful arrangement of hayfields and timber barns, a landscape shaped by people who valued deliberate, unhurried work.
The Langwieser Viaduct arrives about forty minutes into the journey. It is worth knowing this in advance, because the crossing takes only seconds. When the viaduct was completed in 1914, its 284-metre span made it the world's first railway bridge to be constructed of reinforced concrete and the longest-span reinforced concrete railway bridge at the time. The engineering is impressive on paper; in person, it feels almost like flying. The valley drops sharply below, the Plessur a thin silver thread at the bottom of the gorge, and then you are across, the forest closing in again on either side.
After Langwies, the valley broadens. Snow-covered pastures in winter; wildflower meadows in summer. The final stretch into Arosa is gentler, the train curving through open terrain before pulling into the station just minutes from the centre of town and your hotel room arosa.
The Gourmet Express: Dining Above the Gorge
Roughly twice a month (weekly from January through March), the Rhaetian Railway runs the Arosa Genussexpress, a culinary evening journey in the restored Gourmino dining car. The carriage itself is part of the experience: polished wood panelling, white tablecloths, the kind of detail that modern trains have abandoned.
The menu changes monthly. A recent February service offered mulled wine with rosemary chestnuts as an aperitif, followed by cream of leek soup, then veal medallions in red wine gravy with mashed potatoes and oven-roasted carrots. Three courses, served as the train winds through the darkened Schanfigg Valley, the lights of Walser hamlets visible on the hillsides.
Advance booking is essential. Holiday departures and winter dates sell out weeks ahead. The Gourmet Express runs year-round, but the winter schedule is the most frequent and, arguably, the most atmospheric. Darkness falls early, and the train's warm interior contrasts sharply with the cold alpine night outside the windows.
Practical Details Worth Knowing
Sit on the right side of the carriage when travelling from Chur to Arosa. This gives you the unobstructed view of the Plessur gorge and the best angle as the train approaches the Langwieser Viaduct. On the return journey, switch to the left.
The standard Arosa Line service requires no reservation. Trains run frequently throughout the day, and an early morning departure means softer light and fewer passengers. The journey takes approximately 63 minutes in each direction.
Swiss Travel Pass holders ride free, making this one of the best-value scenic railway experiences in Graubünden. Individual tickets are also available through Rhaetian Railway. There is no catering on the regular service, so bring something to drink if you like; or simply wait and head to one of Arosa's restaurants & bars upon arrival.
Dress in layers. The temperature difference between Chur at 584 metres and Arosa at 1,775 metres is significant, often ten degrees or more, and it catches people off guard.
Breaking the Journey at Langwies
The Viaduct Museum in Langwies occupies the original railway station. It is small and specific: historic station rooms, the old goods shed, and exhibitions documenting how the viaduct was built. You can step off the train at Langwies, spend an hour exploring the museum and the village, then catch a later service up to Arosa. The museum gives context to that brief viaduct crossing; you understand what it took to build a bridge of that scale in 1914, in a valley this remote.
Langwies itself is a quiet Walser settlement worth a short walk. The church, the wooden houses, the view back down the valley toward Chur: it rewards a pause.
Combining Rail and Trail
For guests looking to experience the Schanfigg Valley at two different speeds, the 74-kilometre Schanfigger Höhenweg traverses the same landscape the train passes through, broken into six stages with roughly 3,500 metres of cumulative elevation change. You can ride the train up and hike back down one or more stages, moving through the valley at walking pace and discovering what the train only hints at: alpine pastures, small settlements, the sound of cowbells and running water.
A shorter alternative is the Schanfigger Dörferweg, a three-day village trail connecting the farming communities visible from the train windows, at altitudes between 600 and 1,800 metres. Both trails are among the many experiences arosa offers beyond the slopes.
More Than a Train Ride
The Arosa Line is not simply how you get here. It shapes the experience of arrival. Unlike driving, which delivers you efficiently but unremarkably, the train forces a gradual transition. You watch the world change outside the window: city to gorge to forest to open alpine valley. By the time you arrive, something has already shifted. The rhythm slows. The air is different.
After a day on the mountain or an evening spent at the spa arosa, the memory of that train journey settles into the broader texture of a stay. Guests talk about the viaduct crossing, the first glimpse of the Plessur far below, the moment the forest opened into snowfields. These details linger.
The Schanfigg Valley has a local concept for this: "entschleunigter Genuss," roughly translated as decelerated enjoyment. The railway, more than a century old and still running daily through this quiet, unspoiled valley, is perhaps the purest expression of it.
Hotel Altein sits just a short walk from the Arosa station, making it an ideal place to let that sense of arrival settle. Step off the train, breathe in the alpine air, and within minutes you are at the hotel — ready to carry the unhurried spirit of the Schanfigg railway into the rest of your stay.
