Landquart is a railway junction that turned into a town, and a good place to understand how Graubünden ties together. The village lies on the floor of the Rhine valley, a few kilometres north of Chur, at the mouth of the Landquart river, which comes down from the Prättigau and the high passes of the east. It is the point where the Rhaetian Railway, the narrow-gauge line that climbs to Davos and St. Moritz, leaves the main line, and the red trains wait at the platform beside the big Swiss ones. At 523 metres, it is low, mild and often warm, a contrast to the high Alps that lie ahead.
The countryside around is wine country, and surprisingly good wine country. The Bündner Herrschaft, the stretch of vineyards between Fläsch, Maienfeld, Jenins and Malans, is one of the best places in Switzerland for Pinot Noir, which the locals call Blauburgunder. The Föhn wind warms the slopes in autumn and gives long, mild ripening. Maienfeld is also the setting of Johanna Spyri's Heidi, written in 1880, and the village keeps a Heidi house and a Heidi trail, and busloads of visitors from Japan make the pilgrimage.
For the rider, Landquart is the end of the Graubünden triangle and the start of the road home. After the Julier, Albula and Flüela passes, the road along the Prättigau drops through forest to the Rhine valley, and the gradient eases, with the last curves under pine and beech, then the A13 motorway with its steady stream of traffic. The vineyard lanes around Malans and Zizers are an agreeable alternative, narrow and quiet, with walls and stone houses, and mornings in October are especially fine.
Fuel is easy here, with stations in Landquart, Igis and Zizers, and Landquart has a large outlet shopping centre that attracts a lot of traffic. For a meal, try a Bündner Gerstensuppe, the thick barley soup of the region, and a glass of the local Pinot Noir if you are not riding. The vignette is required on the motorway, and speed cameras are frequent in villages. The Flüela and Albula passes close in winter, usually from around November, so check the status before you set out.