Arosa

Arosa lies at about eighteen hundred metres at the closed head of the Schanfigg, and the journey up is part of it: the narrow-gauge line from Chur begins by running along a public street through the middle of the city before climbing the valley on viaducts for about an hour. The village grew as a tuberculosis sanatorium resort in the late nineteenth century, and the large old buildings on the slopes were clinics before they were hotels. Since 2018 Arosa Bear Sanctuary above the village has housed brown bears rescued from circuses and cages in eastern Europe, in a large enclosure on the mountainside - visitors can watch from a path, and the animals are not performing for anyone.

History

Arosa is first mentioned around 1330 as Araus; after 1300 German-speaking Walsers from Davos replaced the Romansh inhabitants, and the village belonged to Davos until 1851. A German doctor founded it as a health resort in 1883, the first sanatorium opened in 1888, and Erwin Schrödinger was staying here at Christmas 1925 when he made his breakthrough on wave mechanics (Wikipedia, Arosa).

What you'll find

• A train through city streets - the Chur-Arosa line before it climbs.
• Former sanatoriums as hotels - the tuberculosis-era buildings on the slopes.
• The bear sanctuary - rescued animals in a hillside enclosure since 2018.
• A closed valley head - peaks round three sides of the village.

When to go

December to April, or June to September. Two days.

Things to know

The bears are wild animals in a large enclosure and may not be visible - and they hibernate. The road up has many hairpins; the train is easier. Between seasons much closes. Prices are resort level.

Nearby

Chur is down the valley; Lenzerheide is over the ridge.

Key facts