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    Chur
    Agnes Monkelbaan / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

    Switzerland

    Chur

    City

    Chur, the capital of Graubünden, is considered Switzerland's oldest city with a settlement history spanning over 13,000 years.

    by Felix Gillen

    1. Home
    3. Destinations
    5. Switzerland
    7. Graubünden
    9. Chur
    Chur, the capital of Graubünden, is considered Switzerland's oldest city with a settlement history spanning over 13,000 years. After decades of renovation, its Old Town is almost car-free; around the Arcas and in the narrow alleyways, you'll find shops, cafés, bars, and galleries.Above the Old Town, next to the Bishop's Court, stands the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, built from 1150 and consecrated in 1272, featuring a late Gothic golden high altar by Jakob Russ dating from 1486 to 1492. The Martinskirche, completed in 1492, shapes the Old Town's image; in its south wall, three stained-glass windows by Augusto Giacometti from 1919 shine. The Bündner Kunstmuseum at Postplatz displays art from Graubünden, including works by Alberto Giacometti.Chur is also a hub for the Rhaetian Railway. Here, the Bernina Express to Tirano begins, and the Glacier Express stops on its journey between St. Moritz and Zermatt. A gondola lift takes you up Chur's local mountain, Brambrüesch, to around 1600 meters.

    Sights in Chur

    Discover the most important sights and attractions

    Cathedral of St. Mary's Assumption
    Church

    1Cathedral of St. Mary's Assumption

    The bishop's church above the old town was built from 1150, consecrated in 1272, and extensively restored between 2001 and 2007. Inside, the highlight is the Late Gothic golden high altar, created by Jakob Russ from 1486 to 1492.
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    Grisons Art Museum
    Museum

    2Grisons Art Museum

    The Art Museum at Postplatz, about a five-minute walk from the train station, showcases art from Graubünden in a 19th-century villa with a modern extension. The collection includes works by Alberto Giacometti. Closed on Mondays; children and teenagers under 16 enter free.
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    Rhaetian Museum
    Museum

    3Rhaetian Museum

    The Museum of Grisons History is housed in a Baroque patrician house dating from 1675, near the Cathedral. Closed Mondays, children under 16 have free admission.
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    Brambrüesch
    Attraction

    4Brambrüesch

    Chur's local mountain is reached by cable car straight from town, and at around 1,600 meters you get wide views over the Alps. In summer the lift runs daily from June to October, on Saturdays until 8 p.m.
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    Restaurants in Chur

    1

    bytes

    Restaurant with modern Swiss cuisine on Hofgraben in the Old Town, about a ten-minute walk from the station. Open from morning, closed Sundays, reservations recommended.
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    2

    Gansplatz Guesthouse

    Traditional restaurant on Goldgasse at the historic Gansplatz in Chur's Old Town. Serving Swiss and Graubünden classics, alongside fish and meat dishes, vegetarian and seasonal specialties; groups are seated in the Bürgerstube on the first floor.
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    Culture in Chur

    As the episcopal seat and capital of Graubünden, Chur unites churches, museums, and a lively old town in a compact area.Episcopal CityThe cathedral was extensively restored between 2001 and 2007. Only the ring crypt of the former Carolingian church of St. Luzi remains. The Martinskirche has been the Reformed city church since 1526, so Catholic and Reformed traditions stand closely side by side in the small old town.MuseumsThe Rätisches Museum, in a Baroque patrician house from 1675, tells the history of Graubünden. The Bündner Kunstmuseum is about a five-minute walk from the train station; both museums are closed on Mondays and are free for children under 16.Markets and SquaresChur's weekly market takes place on Saturday mornings from May to October.A monthly flea market is held on the Arcas.A Christmas market opens on the first Advent weekend.From the Haldenhüttli, a wooden pavilion from 1879 on Schanfiggerstrasse, you can view the Old Town and the cathedral.

    Discovering Chur

    From Zurich Airport, you travel with a change at Zürich HB in just over an hour and a half to Chur. From the station, you can reach the Old Town on foot; the Bündner Kunstmuseum is about five minutes away.To the Lower Engadine, you travel with a change at Landquart in about 1 hour 45 minutes to Scuol.The Brambrüesch cable car operates daily from June to October.From Chur, the Rhaetian Railway travels via the Albula Line to the Upper Engadine, to St. Moritz.

    Accommodations in Chur

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    Campgrounds in Chur

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    Nearby

    Graubünden

    Graubünden

    Graubünden, in eastern Switzerland, is the largest canton by area and the only one with three official languages: German, Romansh, and Italian. It is known for the Engadin valley with St. Moritz and the Rhaetian Railway lines over Albula and Bernina, which have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008.High valleys, lakes, and passes make Graubünden a region perfect for scenic rail journeys, summer hiking, and winter sports.
    St. Moritz and Oberengadin

    St. Moritz and Oberengadin

    St. Moritz is located in Graubünden in the Upper Engadin, a wide high valley with a chain of lakes. The town hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1928 and 1948 and is a hub for the Rhaetian Railway, whose Albula and Bernina Lines are a UNESCO World Heritage site.The Albula Line from Thusis to St. Moritz was opened between 1903 and 1904, and the Bernina Line to Tirano in Italy in 1910. Together, these approximately 122 kilometres have formed the Rhaetian Railway World Heritage site in the Albula and Bernina Landscapes since 2008. At Berninapass, the railway reaches 2253 metres, and from the Bernina Diavolezza stop, a cable car ascends towards Piz Bernina, the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps. At Lago Bianco near Ospizio Bernina, there are short hiking trails. The Glacier Express from Zermatt also terminates in St. Moritz.
    Appenzell

    Appenzell

    Appenzell is the capital of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and lies in gently rolling hills at the foot of the Alpstein range, south of St. Gallen. The heart of the village is the Hauptgasse, with more than 60 shops and colorfully painted facades. Many shop and inn signs still hang here in the traditional style known as Tafeen.On the Landsgemeindeplatz, the Landsgemeinde meets on the last Sunday in April, when eligible voters decide by a show of hands in the open air. Nearby are the Town Hall, with its facade painted in 1928, and St. Mauritius Parish Church, whose parish dates back to 1071.A short train ride away, the mountains of the Alpstein begin at Wasserauen. A cable car takes six minutes to reach Ebenalp at 1,644 meters. From there, you hike down to the Wildkirchli caves and the Berggasthaus Aescher, built against the cliff, and on to the Seealpsee. Other cable cars run up the Hoher Kasten and the Kronberg.
    Swiss National Park

    Swiss National Park

    Founded on August 1, 1914, the Swiss National Park in eastern Graubünden is the oldest national park in the Alps. On 170 square kilometers, between 1400 and 3174 meters altitude, nature is allowed to develop without human intervention; the park is classified as a wilderness area of the strictest IUCN Category Ia. Roughly half the area is rock and scree, and just under a third is forest.The starting point for most visits is Zernez in Engadin, home to the National Park Centre. Twenty-one hiking routes, totaling around 100 kilometers, lead through the park. The Ofenpass road from Zernez towards Val Müstair crosses it, and PostBus stops at the trailheads. With luck, you could see red deer, chamois, ibex, marmots, and bearded vultures.Since 2017, the park has formed the core zone of the UNESCO Biosfera Engiadina Val Müstair. The rules are strict: Stay on marked trails, dogs are forbidden even on a leash, and in winter, the park is closed to protect animals.
    Lower Engadine

    Lower Engadine

    The Lower Engadine is the lower part of the Engadine valley in Graubünden, between Zernez and the Austrian border. Its main town is Scuol, at about 1,290 meters. Since 2015, Scuol, Guarda, Ardez, Ftan, Sent and Tarasp have formed a single municipality whose official language is Romansh.Scuol has been a spa town since the 19th century. More than twenty mineral springs rise within the municipality, you can taste the water straight from five village fountains, and the Bogn Engiadina has carried on the bathing tradition since 1993. Across the valley, Tarasp Castle stands on a hill and can only be visited on a guided tour.Guarda sits at 1,653 meters on a sunny terrace high above the Inn. The village, with its painted 17th-century Engadine houses, received the Wakker Prize in 1975 and inspired Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet to create the story of Schellen-Ursli (A Bell for Ursli). From Scuol, the Rhaetian Railway takes you to Zernez and the Swiss National Park in just over half an hour.

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