Everyone has some place in the world away from home, where he is completely at ease. He/she can visit there time and again yet not be bored. Everytime there is something new to discover and fascinating about the destination. For me that place is Switzerland. I cannot have enough of Switzerland. There are so many lake side towns, beuatiful hill stations and alpine escapes that every time I find someplace new to visit. In find it very convenient to add a few days in Switzerland when visiting Europe or enroute to America. The weather, the food, the walks, the trains, the shops, the lakes, the mountains; everything is picture perfect. And I have not even mentioned the Chocolates so far.
All of my previous visits to Switzerland was confined to staying in Zurich, Geneva and Interlaken and then visitng the towns, lakes and mountains from those cities. However, this time round I wanted to explore the smaller hill towns and stay away from the cities. The excellent swiss rail system makes it possible to explore each and every corner of the country. The only requirement is to travel light and be flexible. We were enroute to Southampton, UK for my wife, Devpriya’s convocation and needed no incentive to add a 5 day vacation in Switzerland. We were joined by my father on the trip.
Switzerland Itinerary (Google Maps)
Vacationers: Shree Narayan Bihani, Devpriya Bihani and Raghav Bihani.
Day 1: Zurich
Day 2: Zurich – Rhine Falls – Engelberg
Day 3: Engelberg – Mt. Titlis – Lucerne – Murren
Day 4: Murren – Mt. SchiltHorn – Lauterbrunnen (Trummelbach Falls) – Grinldlewald
Day 5: Grindlewald – Pfingstegg Toboggan– Zurich
Day 1: We arrived in Zurich late in the afternoon and stayed at the Hotel Limmathof. Zurich hotels can be very expensive and Limmathof is a find if you just want a place to flop down close to the station. Old Zurich and Banhofstrasse are also close by. Another hotel which I prefer is the no nonsense City Hotel. We just wanted to relax before starting our journey the next day. We went to the station to buy our 4 day Swiss Saver Pass and also check up on timetables. Next was the primary reason I like going to Zurich: Sprungli. Anything and everything about this confectioner is likeable. They have been churning out culinary delights since 1836 and all their items have the perfect recipe. Whether it is Luxemburgerli or Hells Truffles, the tarts or the snacks, or just plain coffee. Everything is made special; it has the Sprungli touch. A trip to Zurich is unthinkable without a visit to Sprungli.
Day 2: We left our suitcases at our hotel and decided to take along only 2 overnight bags for our 3 night trip. This way we had full flexibility and could travel without any pre-planned itinerary or hotel reservation. The first destination on our journey was to be the Rhine Falls at Neuhausen. It can be easily reached from Zurich via direct train in less than an hour. It is a bit of a walk from the station but the view of the falls more than make sup for it. It definitely does not have the height / thunder of the Niagara Falls or the length of Victoria falls. But it is still quite a sight. The falls are full of force and we took a boat ride that gets you up close to the falls. Their is also an obervation deck to give a closer look at the falls. The falls are easily accesible but has not been commercialised like the Niagara.
We had a quick lunch viewing the Rhine Falls before making our way to the village of Engelberg. Though it was the peak of holiday season, we had no trouble finding hotels, which were aplenty just outside the station. This was the best part of traveling without a plan. We decided to go Mt. Titlis when at the Rhine Falls and moved ahead towards Engelberg. Evn if the hotels were full we could have retraced our steps and stayed at Lucerne. Engelberg was a typical Swiss village, picture perfect against the backdrop of the Alps. It is best known as a base for Mt. Titlis but is an enjoyable stay by itself. There was a rodeo show happening in town which was nice to watch. In the evening when all tourists from Titlis had left we had the village to ourselves to roam the streets and explore the restaurants.
Day 3: Today we took the morning cable car upto Mt. Titlis. The cable car, Rotair, which rotates as it ascends give everyone a 360 degree view irrespective of where you stand. It is unique and there are only a few of its kind in the world. Mt. Titlis is covered with snow all year round and hence have developed a variety of snow activities. You can slide down the slope on a tube. There is also a Flyer which takes you across one peak to another giving you spectacular views of the snow capped alps. They have recently opened a new Suspension Bridge which is the highest in Europe as part of centenary celebrations. It is amazing how the Swiss keep innovating on new attractions at their exisiting tourist sights to keep the repeat value alive. They have also developed Glacier 3000 and added a few more goodies at Jungfrau. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time up in the alps as usual and came down only for lack of time and to check out of the hotel.
We left Engelberg for Lucerne, which is the connecting station for Engelberg. Lucerne is set beside a beautiful lake where you have a century old wooden bridge taking you across. The wooden bridge is the image that defined Lucerne for years and it still stands; cute and romantic as ever. Lucerne is also the base to go upto Mt. Pilatus but that was for another trip. But we did have time for a short cruise on Lake Lucerne before going ahead to Murren.
Murren is a hill resort in the Bernese Oberland. The hill resorts here are virtually car and pollution free and you feel the freshness in the air. It is my firm belief that living in the Swiss Alps can easily add a few years to one’s life. Murren is situated at an altitude and is thus a relief from the plains which can get warm in summer. Interlaken, especially nowadays has warm summers, which take the fun of Switzerland out for me. This is why we decided to skip Interlaken and visit the hill resorts instead. It was a particularly hot summer and Murren was a big relief compared to Interlaken. Quiter, less touristy and much more beautiful.
Day 4: Today morning, we had a trip planned to Mt. Schilthorn for which the base is Murren. This peak is famous for the 360 degree revolving restaurant on the top and for the fact that a James Bond film was shot here. Apart from that fact, Schilthorn offers panoramic vistas like any other Swiss peak. The view of the valleys from Schilthorn is great, which one cannot get from Jungfrau or Titlis as they are too high and often misty for that.
We returned to Murren for lunch and then checked out of the hotel for our final destination Grindlewald. However, we had one stop on the way; Lauterbrunnen to see the Trummelbach Falls. The beauty of the falls is that they are more or less hidden inside caves and we had to walk inside the caves to see the falls from the various viewpoints. In all the falls take place in ten different parts in the mountains and all can be seen with the help of walkways and a lift. Even when you cannot see the falls you hear the force of water leading you to the viewpoint. There is another falls in town of Lauterbrunnen called Staubach Falls which is worth seeing for its sheer drop along the face of the mountain. We then left for Grindlewald to spend the night. This is similar to Murren but at a lower atlitude.
Day 5: Final day of the trip. We took a walk around Grindlewald town with its many shops and restaurants. We cam across a tin toboggan at the other end of town. The place was called Pfingstegg and you could ride up a lift to the start of the toboggan. The slide down the mountain slope was extreme fun and we repeated the ride many times over. It is these kind of activities which we used to skip over when in a hurry to get to peaks like Jungfrau and Titlis.
We returned in the evening to Zurich to finish our short vacation with a fondue dinner at one of my favourites in town; La Dezaley. The Fondue and Rosti at this place is absolutely superb and it was the perfect end to the Swiss experience. Till next time for this is one country where I am definitely coming back.