Chur

Chur is proud of the fact that it's the only Swiss city with its own hiking and winter-sports area accessible from the city centre. The Brambrüesch mountain rises to 2174m immediately southwest of the Old Town and its affordability and ease of access are the main draws – the cable-car station is just off Kasernenstrasse, five minutes' walk west of the Obertor.

The journey to Brambrüesch itself, a platform at 1600m, is in two sections, with a midway change at Känzeli, and if you're staying overnight in Chur, you qualify for a fifty-percent discount on the ride. In summer, there are plenty of hiking routes, as well as paragliding over the town (contact the tourist office for details). In winter a low-priced ski pass covers chairlifts from Brambrüesch up to the Dreibündenstein peak (2174m), giving access to 25km of undemanding pistes, a 6km toboggan run from Brambrüesch to Känzeli and such diversions as night-time skiing and snow hikes.

Points of interest

The important bishop's town is also the centre of Rhaeto-Romanic Switzerland and the country's oldest town. To help find the most important witnesses to the town's history, the city map and the newly introduced audio guide will lead you through town. The audio guide is a personal city tour on your mobile phone or MP3 player and available in 11 languages. Examples include the Gothic old town, the cathedral with its wonderful, three-sided carved altar and the Episcopal palace. Since Chur is the capital of Graubünden, it hosts the three cantonal museums with collections of Alpine culture. Visits to the Graubünden Museum of Fine Art for example, with works from Alberto Giacometti, Giovanni Segantini and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, are particularly rewarding. All three museums are open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00am to 5.00pm.

Well worth a visit is also the Giger Bar, designed by "Alien"-creator and Oscar-winning artist H.R. Giger.