Bad Scuol, Tarasp and Vulpera Tourist Attractions
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The village of Scuol, situated on the left bank of the Inn along the main road from St Moritz to Landeck bypass, combines with Bad Tarasp, only a short distance upstream, the summer holiday village of Vulpera, a little way south above the right bank of the river, and the village of Tarasp-Fontana below Schloss Tarasp to form the leading resort in the Lower Engadine. Scuol is a spa (recommended for liver and bile ducts, stomach disorders, etc.), a health resort and a winter sports resort.
Spa Quarter
The heart of the resort is the lively little town of Bad Scuol or Schuls (1,250 m/4,103ft; pop. 1,900), in a beautiful sunny setting on a gently sloping area of Alpine meadows. In the spa quarter, Oberschuls (Scuolsura), is the Badehaus (Pump room), to which water of Vi, Sotsass and Clozza springs (high carbonic acid content) is piped. To the west lies the extensive spa complex. The new spa and health center was inaugurated in 1993.
Museum d'Engiadina bassa
The Museum d'Engiadina bassa exhibits agricultural implements, domestic articles of Romanesque culture, weapons, a mill, etc.
Unterschuls
In the old village of Unterschuls (Scuol-sot) are richly decorated old Engadine houses and the Protestant parish church of St George (1516). On the southwest side of Scuol the Inn gorge is spanned by the Gurlaina viaduct (40 m/131ft high). From here it is a half-hour walk to Vulpera.
Bad Tarasp, Switzerland
Bad Tarasp (1,470 m/4,822ft; pop. 280), 2km/1mi southwest of Scuol and 3km/2m from Vulpera, has sodium sulfate and chalybeate (iron-bearing) springs which are similar in their action to those of Karlsbad. On the left bank of the Inn stand the large Kurhaus and the Kurhotel, on the right bank the Trinkhalle (Pump room). The town is delightfully set on a small lake.
Vulpera, Switzerland
From Bad Tarasp a road climbs 1km/ 0.6mi, with sharp turns, to Vulpera (1,270 m/4,167ft), a quiet little place beautifully situated on a narrow terrace above the river, amid attractive parks and woodland.
Tarasp Castle
Perched on a high schist crag is an imposing medieval castle, Schloss Tarasp (1,505 m/4,938ft), which became the residence of Austrian governors and was much altered during the 16th-18th C. (restored 1907-16 by a Dresden industrialist and made habitable; private property).
Surroundings
Surrounding sights of Bad Scuol include: Val Sinestra, Sent, Ftan and Val da S-charl.
Sent (Val Vinestra)
From Bad Scuol a cableway 2.3km/1mi long leads up the Motta Naluns (2,136 m/7,030ft; restaurant; winter sports area), to the northwest.Val Sinestra (11km/7mi to Bad Val Sinestra). From the east end of Bad Scuol a road on the left climbs to 4km/2mi Sent (1,440 m/4,725ft; pop. 800), a village with fine Engadine houses and the picturesque ruins of St Peter's chapel (12th C.), originally belonging to the castle. It is also a winter sports resort (ski-lift, toboggan run). The road continues (turn left beyond the village) into the deep and narrow Val Sinestra, running high above the River Brancla. 7km/4mi: Bad Val Sinestra (1,471 m/4,826ft), in a sheltered setting among beautiful forests, with arsenical chalybeate (iron-bearing) springs.
Val da S-charl
Val da S-charl (12km/7mi south of Ftan). After crossing the Gurlaina viaduct a narrow road, straight ahead, winds its way up through the forest. 2km/ 1mi from Scuol a road branches off on the left (1km/ 0.6mi) to the farm of San Jon (1,469 m/4,834ft), with fine views of the Inn valley and the Lischanna group. The road to S-charl continues through the beautiful Val da S-charl, the eastern boundary of the Swiss National Park. 10km/6mi: S-charl or Scarl (1,810 m/5,937ft), a tiny village in a remote and beautiful setting. It was once a silver-mining center (guided tours through the mines). The Romanesque daughter church dates from the 11th/12th C. but was renovated in the 16th and 18th C. and again in the mid 20th.
Ftan
Ftan (6km/4mi west of Sent). From Oberschuls a road runs up the valley past the open-air swimming pool and the lower station of the cableway, and then climbs steeply, with many turns, to the village of Ftan or Fetan (1,650 m/5,415ft; with the villages of Pitschen and Grond), a summer holiday place and winter resort (chairlift, ski-lift) on a high terrace of meadowland on the north side of the valley, opposite Tarasp.
