Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation. It’s one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.
Rhine Falls
My favorite part of Switzerland. I’m glad we didn’t have a
tour guide as this is a cool spot to go at your own pace. Great little hike
filled with lake views, mountain views, and stunning water fall views! The
trail takes you right under the falls. Also, the boat ride to the falls is the
cherry on top. I probably took a 100 photos this day.
Great place to clear your mind and just enjoy the natural beauty.
Zurich – 4 Hour City tour by Ferry, Cable Car & Coach
Beautiful lake front city, but most of the city is filled
with high end name brand shops. The alley ways were filled with restaurants,
bars, and cafes. I really liked the “small, big city” feel of Zurich! The
city’s trains and public transit system were both impressive, and I especially
enjoyed getting to experience so many different types of trains (including
accidentally making ourselves comfortable in the first-class cabin). Like most
travelers to Zurich, I immediately felt the wallet pain upon arrival! We were
paying $7 for tiny coffees! There went my normal 4-5 black coffees a day. I
would soon learn I would have to make it work on one tiny coffee a day. Crazy!
I knew it was going to be an expensive country, but I was having some major
sticker shock.
As the financial and business hub for Switzerland, Zurich felt more uppity and formal than other places we visited. Think suits, ties, and lots of upscale shopping. Way too much shopping oriented city!!!
I have to admit, and it would be amiss if I didn’t, 2 highlights for me were the Swiss chocolate and cheese! I just couldn’t get enough.
Zurich Train station is the bomb. It has everything you can ever need. You will never be disappointed in the red wines in Switzerland that is if you love red wines. Although white wines were great too according to Rita. Rita and Jay shared lots of red wine with me too.
Lindt Chocolate
My favorite part of Zurich was the Lindt Home of Chocolate! As a chocolate addict, I was looking forward to this experience for quite some time. It certainly did not disappoint. In the words of Ami, and as Rita Masi called it, it was “EXTRA,” and I was ALL about the extra! I loved making and decorating my own Lindt chocolate bar, and I may or may not have had 16 free samples in the tasting room. Shhh, our little secret! Walking through the museum and learning how chocolate was made is something I will never forget. Can’t forget the Lindt factory tour that had a gigantic chocolate fountain straight from Willy Wonka. Lindt Chocolate tour and making your own Chocolate bar was a unique experience. It is a beautiful place but it isn’t my favorite experience in Switzerland. Seeing Saajan’s eyes light up with all the free samples was priceless!
Lucerne
Baby Zurich, lots of high end shopping. Like the 5th Avenue vibe. Mt Rigi – loved loved the views from boat and cograil going up to Mt Rigi. Mt Rigi is hikers heaven and I will need to come back to Switzerland and do some hiking one day! The river was stunning, and I could tell there was a far less stuffy vibe here than Zurich.
Top of Europe
We had to take the train, cograil, and cable car to get to the top. The weather wasn’t great and we had no hope of seeing anything once we got to the top. Well, we were so lucky that it was clear and we were able to see the glaciers. WOW is all I can say. The ice tunnel was another great attraction with lots of different ice sculptures. That was pretty unique. The views were gorgeous coming down on cable cars. I highly recommend this tour
Mini Everest, very cool to see glacier. It’ll make you wonder how the infrastructure was created 13.5k feet above sea level.
Wow! Let’s just say I had no clue what I was getting into. I wore a golf polo (short sleeved) without having done any research on what the day held. Much to my surprise, we were greeted with ice and snow in some quite cold temperatures, but my oh my, the views were stunning! The altitude made it a bit hard to breath and induced a light headache, but the amount of time we spent atop was just right. It was definitely worth it. The journey to reach the mountain top was exciting as we passed different Swiss landscapes (countryside, cities, etc). Three trains and a cable car finally got us to the top. The ice sculptures were really interesting on the self-guided tour.
Interlaken & Thun
Interlaken
Little India with Arab oil money. Have to pass by if you visit the top of Europe.
Thun
Thun was more a scenic lake front city with more old school city vibes. For example this is the only city where we saw an actual street market where you can bargain with the vendor.
We had just a short few hours in Thun, and it was a nice way to experience yet another aspect of Switzerland. The small town vibes resonated with me, and I almost got some French vibes based on the architecture. Visiting the Saturday local market was a fun time and great way to see local culture and character.
Bern
If you are planning a trip to Switzerland, this should be the city you make your base. Way more affordable than Zurich, and it feels more down to earth.
Bern had a great vibe and I didn’t know it was the capital. We found a great hotel bar with a street view. The service was fantastic and the water closet was extra as Rita would say. The city felt different from Zurich in a good way. I loved sitting outside at the Italian restaurant and enjoying one of the best baked eggplant dish and best Brunello wine! We didn’t have much time in Bern and wished we spent couple of nights in Bern instead of Zurich.
This is the city where I will be staying next time! I loved, loved, loved the culture, architecture, and character of this city. It felt so authentic without a commercialized or touristy element. The slight lower prices here were a tiny relief, and the people were definitely much friendlier. I won’t forget the insanely tasty eggplant stuffed with mozzarella and spinach for dinner. So good! I can’t wait to get back to Bern! It was quite different from Zurich in that it didn’t feel as upscale or uppity. It felt more down to earth and homey.
Precious Times with family
Overall, visiting Germany and Switzerland brought new perspective and an enlightened worldview to my eyes. Let’s just say, I won’t be complaining about prices back home anymore! As it always does, travel ignites the flame for more. For more adventure. For more flights. For more culture. For more memories. In this particular case, not only has it ignited the flame for more of all of this, but also for more Swiss chocolate and cheese! Until next time.
TRIP was priceless and we made lots of memories. We were able to place a lock at the love lock bridge in Zurich with all 6 kids names. That was pretty special for me. I plan to visit Switzerland in the future for hiking adventures.
This Blog incorporates the feedback from Saajan Jay and Rajaniben.
