Guarda

The former main road through the Inn valley (Engadine) was higher up on the slopes than today's road. It passed through Guarda, one of a pleasant chain of small villages that includes Ardez and Ftan. Each has fine sgraffitied homes, but Guarda, where the architecture is government-protected, is particularly well suited for a leisurely exploration along its ancient cobbled streets. The dark-on-light etchings on the facades (contrasting sharply with the bright flowers on the windowsills) draw pedestrians from one photo op to the next. As its name implies, Guarda ("watch") sits high on a hillside looking out over the valley and the peaks to the south, which reach up to 9,840 feet.