Cultural hike: Langwies - Litzirüti

If you like to take it easy, you have chosen well. The hike from Litzirüti to Langwies is short, demands little and gives a lot. There is plenty of time to look, marvel and enjoy. The highlight is the magnificent Langwieser Viaduct, the most famous attraction of the Arosa Railway.

What does "Litzirüti" mean?

Hiking is an experience of landscape, nature, past and present. If you are on foot, you have the time to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. The name Litzirüti, for example, says a lot about the place: "Litzi" means shadow side – there is also the Sunnenrüti on the other side of the Plessur. The word "Rüti" comes from reuten or roden. So, we learn that the area of Litzirüti was once forested and then cleared and made usable for agriculture. It was the Walsers who settled here in the Middle Ages, first in Davos and then in the area of Arosa, Langwies and Litzirüti. That was a long time ago, but the culture of the Walser is still clearly visible in the houses and audible in the language.

A walk in the woods along the railway

We start our hike at the Litzirüti railway station. We cross the road and follow the signposted hiking trail to Langwies. At the first fork in the road, we take the lower path. If you want to get to the viaduct as quickly as possible, you will soon cross the railway track and take the signposted shortcut to Langwies. We take our time and stay on the forest road through the Ronenwald, where we pass adventure stations on the elaborately designed "schutz.wald.mensch" learning trail. The Arosa Railway, which has been taking travellers from Chur to Arosa and back for over 100 years, runs parallel to it. It is part of the landscape and it shapes the lives of the people who call it home. After the Ronenwald we reach the first clearing with a small farm and – after another short stretch of forest – the second forest clearing directly above the Langwieser Viaduct. Through the massive concrete columns of the viaduct, we look fascinated at the houses of Langwies. An impressive spectacle. This is followed by a leisurely descent to the rushing Plessur. On the way, we experience another cyclopean wooden installation of the learning path. In the valley floor, after a few meters, we reach the first wooden bridge, from where we admire the 62 m high viaduct. We are lucky, the red train is approaching Langwies at a measured speed, but disappears again behind the tall fir trees. It wasn't enough for a snapshot, thanks to the interval timetable, the next train will be coming soon. We sit down on the wooden bench at the picnic area. The place could hardly be more harmonious: the rushing stream, shady trees and the view of the viaduct, this masterpiece of technology that has fascinated travellers for over a hundred years. To this day, the Langwieser Viaduct is one of the most photographed subjects on the Rhaetian Railway. After an extensive rest under the viaduct, we still have a short ascent to the Langwieser train station. The next train is coming soon.

Author: Hansjürg Gredig, ZHAW Life Sciences and Facility Management

A rest just below the Langwieser Viaduct

Author: Hansjürg Gredig, ZHAW Life Sciences and Facility Management

Those who like to take it easy have chosen well. The hike from Litzirüti to Langwies is short, demands little and gives a lot. There is plenty of time to look, marvel and enjoy. The highlight is the magnificent Langwieser Viaduct, the most famous attraction of the Arosa Railway.

What does "Litzirüti" mean?

Hiking is experiencing the landscape, nature, past and present. If you are on foot, you have the time to familiarize yourself with your surroundings. The name Litzirüti, for example, says a lot about the place: "Litzi" means shadow side – there is also the Sunnenrüti on the other side of the Plessur. The word "Rüti" comes from repentant or clearing. So we learn that the area of Litzirüti was once forested and then cleared and made usable for agriculture. It was the Walsers who settled here in the Middle Ages, first in Davos and then in the area of Arosa, Langwies and Litzirüti. This is a long time ago, but the culture of the Walser is still clearly visible in the house buildings and audible in the language.

A forest walk along the railway

We start our hike at the train station Litzirüti. We cross the road and follow the signposted hiking trail to Langwies. At the first fork in the road we take the lower path. If you want to be at the viaduct as quickly as possible, you will soon cross the railway track and take the signposted shortcut to Langwies. We take our time and stay on the forest road through the Ronenwald, where we pass adventure stations of the elaborately designed learning path "schutz.wald.mensch". Parallel runs the Arosa Railway, which has been transporting travellers from Chur to Arosa and back for over 100 years. It is a part of the landscape and it shapes the lives of the people who are at home here. After the Ronenwald we reach the first clearing with a small farm and – after another short piece of forest – the second forest clearing directly above the Langwieser Viaduct. Through the massive concrete supports of the viaduct we look fascinated at the houses of Langwies. An impressive spectacle. This is followed by the leisurely descent to the rushing Plessur. On the way we experience another cyclopean wooden installation of the learning path. In the valley floor we reach the first wooden bridge after a few meters, from where we admire the 62 m high viaduct. We are lucky, the red train approaches in measured travel from Langwies, but disappears immediately behind the tall fir trees. It was not enough for a snapshot, thanks to the timetable a next train will come soon. We sit down on the wooden bench at the picnic area. The place could hardly be more coherent: the rushing stream, shady trees and the view of the viaduct, this masterpiece of technology that has fascinated travelers for over a hundred years. The Langwieser Viaduct is still one of the most photographed subjects of the Rhaetian Railway. After the extensive rest under the viaduct, we still have a short ascent to Langwieser Bahnhof. The next train is coming soon.

Author: Hansjürg Gredig, ZHAW Life Sciences and Facility Management