Chur is surrounded by some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the Alps, and the Rhaetian Railway network makes a car entirely unnecessary for day excursions. The Arosa line climbs from Chur's city streets into the mountains in a series of tight curves and viaducts — a remarkable piece of engineering that ends at the ski resort of Arosa, about an hour above town. Lenzerheide and Savognin are reachable by postbus and offer hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
The Glacier Express and Bernina Express both depart from Chur and can be ridden in segments: a day trip by train to Davos and back covers some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the region. The road south to Thusis and the Viamala gorge is worth a detour — the gorge, where the Rhine cuts through 300-metre walls of gneiss, is one of the most dramatic canyon landscapes in Switzerland and can be visited on foot through a series of tunnels and galleries cut into the rock face.