Graubünden and Ticino: from the Engadin to the palms
In twelve days you cross Switzerland from the glacial Engadin over the Bernina Pass to the palms and lakes of Italian-speaking Ticino. It is one of the few routes where a single morning takes you from alpine tundra down among chestnut groves and vineyards — and where you can then stay a whole week in the south, because the lakeside campsites are equipped for longer stays. The route rests on two pillars: the Upper Engadin with Pontresina and the Morteratsch glacier, and the Ticino lakes with the castles of Bellinzona, the Verzasca valley and Lugano.
From Prague you head via Nuremberg or Munich towards south-west Germany. This is the longest leg of the whole trip, so it pays to set off first thing in the morning and stop for the night somewhere around Lake Constance or in Vorarlberg. German motorways are free of charge for motorhomes up to 7.5 t; deal with the Swiss vignette only once you reach the border.
The run up the Rhine valley to Chur is short, so the whole afternoon is left for the town. Chur describes itself as the oldest continuously inhabited town in Switzerland; the old centre is largely pedestrianised and you can walk it in a couple of hours — the cathedral, the bishop's court and lanes full of wine bars. It is also the last large town before the mountains, so stock up here.
From Chur you climb the Julier Pass and drop down into the Upper Engadin. In the course of a single leg the landscape changes from a narrow river valley into a broad high-alpine basin with a chain of lakes — Silvaplana, Silsersee and finally St. Moritz. The afternoon is just right for a first walk along the shore and for getting your bearings around the base you will keep for the next two nights.
A day with no driving. From Pontresina an easy waymarked path leads to the Morteratsch glacier, with boards showing how far the ice reached in individual years — it is one of the most graphic illustrations of glacial retreat in the Alps. The neighbouring Roseg valley is reached by horse-drawn carriage or on foot; cars are not allowed in.
The Bernina Pass is open all year round, but both the climb and the descent are long and steep — stay in a low gear and brake with the engine, not with the discs. Leave the vehicle at Ospizio Bernina or down in Poschiavo and continue to Alp Grüm by Rhaetian Railway train: the hamlet has no road access and outside summer there is no way in other than the rails. From the station you look out at the Palü glacier and the famous looping line below it. For the night, drop down into Val Poschiavo, so that Poschiavo itself is round the corner in the morning.
The morning belongs to Poschiavo with its Italian piazza and to Lago di Poschiavo right beside the road. The afternoon brings the most important logistical point of the whole route: the Bernina road ends in Tirano in Italy, so you either carry on to Ticino through the Valtellina and past Lake Como on Italian soil, or you turn back over the Maloja and San Bernardino passes. The Italian option is faster, but narrow and jammed in summer — count on a whole afternoon behind the wheel.
Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro form, together with the town walls, one complete fortified system that once sealed off the entire valley, and they have been on the UNESCO list since 2000. Castelgrande stands directly above the town and a lift cut into the rock takes you up, so you can do without the climb. On Saturdays a market is held below the walls — the best chance to taste Ticino cheeses and cured meats.
Set out for the Verzasca early in the morning, or leave the vehicle at the campsite and take the postbus: the road is narrow, parking for a large vehicle in Lavertezzo is extremely limited and in high season the valley is packed. The two-arched stone Ponte dei Salti from the seventeenth century and the emerald pools beneath it are exactly what you know from the photographs. On the way back you can stop at the Verzasca dam.
Locarno has palms along the Lago Maggiore waterfront and a funicular up to the pilgrimage church of Madonna del Sasso above the town. Neighbouring Ascona is quieter, with a promenade and an old centre full of cafés. If you want to head back into the mountains, the Maggia valley offers stone villages and a river with pools, and it is far easier to drive a motorhome through than the Verzasca.
Lugano is the southern finale of the route — a palm-lined waterfront, Parco Ciani and an old centre with arcades that looks more Italian than Swiss. Two funiculars carry you above the town, to Monte Brè and to Monte San Salvatore, and from both you can see the whole Ceresio. The fishing village of Gandria on the shore is an easy boat ride away, and you can walk back along the path above the lake.
The way back runs through the Gotthard or the San Bernardino tunnel; neither has a toll of its own, both are covered by the vignette, but queues build up in front of the Gotthard in season and the San Bernardino option tends to be calmer. Spend the night at Lake Constance or in Vorarlberg, where you slept on the way out. That leaves the last day comfortably manageable.
The final leg leads back through Bavaria. It is a full day behind the wheel, so plan two longer breaks and leave straight after breakfast. Deal with fresh water and the waste tank in the morning at the campsite — you will not want to stop for service along the way.
Up to 3.5 t: Switzerland has a single motorway vignette — annual, CHF 40, available both as a sticker for the windscreen and as an electronic e-vignette tied to the registration number. It is valid on motorways and expressways, and a caravan or trailer needs a vignette of its own on top. Over 3.5 t: the vignette does not apply to you; instead you pay the flat-rate heavy vehicle charge (PSVA), which for motorhomes works out at CHF 3.25 for every day of the stay, with a minimum of CHF 25 and a maximum of CHF 58.50 for a continuous period of up to thirty days — ten days in Switzerland therefore cost around CHF 33, a whole month CHF 58.50 and a year CHF 650. It is due for every day in the country, including the ones when the vehicle merely stands at a campsite, and you arrange it in advance through the Via portal or at the customs office at the border; bazg.admin.ch confirms the current rate. The Bernina Pass itself and the Gotthard and San Bernardino tunnels have no toll of their own, the vignette covers them. Budget for two further items, though: if you continue from Tirano into Ticino through the Valtellina and Como, you will use Italian toll motorways, where you pay at the barriers according to the kilometres driven and the vehicle category, and the trip up to Alp Grüm is an ordinary paid Rhaetian Railway ticket.
Camp Au, Chur — on the edge of town, a good first and last stop on the route · Camping St. Moritz, St. Moritz — seasonal, roughly from mid-May to mid-October · Camping Morteratsch, Pontresina — open all year round, right below the Morteratsch glacier · Camping Cavresc, Le Prese in Val Poschiavo — for travellers passing through, April to October, an ideal base below the Bernina · Camping Al Censo, Claro — just north of Bellinzona, the closest of these to the castles · Campofelice Camping Village, Tenero — a large site on Lago Maggiore, equipped for longer stays · Camping Riarena, Cugnasco — a quieter option on the Magadino plain · TCS Camping Gordevio Valle Maggia, Gordevio — in the Maggia valley, off the main road · Camping Monte Generoso, Melano — on Lake Lugano, a base for Lugano
Overnighting outside campsites and designated pitches is regulated canton by canton in Switzerland, and in both Graubünden and Ticino it is banned in most places; in the Verzasca valley overnight stays in motorhomes are prohibited explicitly, so you cannot make a base there. The larger towns on the route — Chur, Bellinzona, Locarno — usually have official paid motorhome pitches, but capacity is small and in July and August they fill up by the afternoon. Book campsites ahead in the Engadin and in Ticino alike; high season at the southern lakes is sold out several weeks in advance.
The most reliable service point on the northern part of the route is Camping Morteratsch near Pontresina — it operates all year, so it works outside the main season too, when Camping St. Moritz is closed. In the south the density of campsites is highest on the Magadino plain around Tenero and Cugnasco; there you can pull in for the waste dump and fresh water between two day trips without moving your base. Swiss mountain villages also commonly have public fountains with drinking water — unless there is a Kein Trinkwasser or Acqua non potabile sign, they will do for canisters, though not for filling a whole tank.
Adria Compact
The Compact is a low-profile motorhome built around the smallest possible exterior dimensions, and on the hairpins of the Bernina Pass and the narrow road into the Verzasca valley that is exactly the difference between getting through and turning round. It still keeps the full comfort of a motorhome, heating included, which you will appreciate on cold Engadin nights as well as after the descent into hot Ticino.
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