Ladir is alpine but not isolated.

The public transport system in Switzerland is excellent. During the day there are fast trains between Zurich and Chur¹ (the capital of Graubünden) every 30 minutes. The journey time is about 1 hour 15 minutes.

The line from Zurich to Chur passes along the southwest shore of the Lake of Zurich and then along the edge of the Walensee² Lake.

Pronunciation guide

1. Chur: say 'koor'
2. Walensee: say 'vahlensay'
3. Rhätische: say 'raytisha'
4. Rheinschlucht: say 'ryneshlucht'
5. Postauto: say 'postowtoe' (ow as in power)

The stretch from Chur to Ilanz is served by a regional railway, the Rhätische³ Bahn (RhB), with trains around every hour. The journey time is about 30 minutes.

A tip: In Chur, always use the underpasses directly between the platforms. The escalators at the ends of the platforms will take you out of the station completely.

The line passes through the remarkable Rheinschlucht⁴ — the Rhine gorge —, which has been cut by the Vorderrhein through an immense rockfall that slid into the valley when the glaciers of the last ice age retreated about 10'000 years ago.

Part of the Rheinschlucht, seen from the train (photo courtesy Walter Baumann)

The Rheinschlucht, seen from Ladir

A Postauto⁵ (a bus service run by the Swiss Post) connects with the RhB trains and takes you to Ladir in around 20 minutes.

Buy your ticket from the driver.

Ilanz bus station with the Ladir Postauto in the foreground.

In Ilanz the bus station is just next to the train station and in Ladir the terminus is the centre of the village.
 

Ready for passengers in Ladir.

Timetables

Two timetables in PDF-format are available to view or for download from the first two links on the right.

These timetables are only provided as a guide; always consult the Swiss Federal Railway online timetable before fixing your journey.

• Zurich-Ladir timetable in PDF format
• Zurich Airport[ZRH]-Ladir in PDF format
• Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) online timetable

The road links to Ladir are also good: the road from Ilanz to Ladir is passable by most vehicles at any time of the year.

Naturally, the alpine stages of all these journeys are very scenic. The road from Ilanz to Ladir is no exception, whilst still being unchallenging for those with all but the most extreme vertigo.

Downloadable road map of Switzerland in JPEG format (3.9MB, © 2007 swisstopo). Right-click and choose 'Save target as...'.