Category Archives: Travel: Within Switzerland

Up Close and Personal with The Glacier

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Post by Lauren

There are 24 major glaciers in Switzerland. We had seen the one on Mont Blanc in France before and it is truly magnificent to see, especially in the summer when everything else has melted.

However, we had a closer experience during our time in Saas-Fee. As you can see from the photo below, the glacier is visible from the town.

See the blue? That's the glacier!

What is neat about Saas Fee is that you can actually take a cable car up to ski or hike on top of the glacier. Gabe and S & S skied on the glacial snow.

Skiing on Glacial Snow

While they rocked out their glacier skiing, I decided to explore the Ice Grotto and revolving restaurant found at Mittelallin, 3,500 meters or 11,480 feet high, directly above Saas-Fee. Both are considered the world’s highest of their kind.

Worlds' highest revolving restaurant - 2 miles high.

I’d like to point out that when its snowing, it doesn’t really matter if you are two miles high on the worlds highest revolving restaurant.

My view at the world's highest restaurant

Luckily, the sun peaked out or a second and I was able to see a glimpse of the mountains:

Also at the top of Mittelallin is the Ice Pavilion — a glacier that you can walk into. It was my first time stepping inside a glacier. At -12 C outside air temperature, it was super frigid inside.

It was Sunday and quite a coincidence they had an ice chapel at 11000 feet.

It was a nice relaxing way to spend a Sunday, sans skiing in Saas Fee. Say that 5 times fast.

For more scientific information on glaciers and why they are blue, consult Schwingen in Switzerland. http://schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/3058/

Saas Fee

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Post by Lauren

We decided that it would be good to spend my last weekend prior to surgery doing something wintery. We knew it would be quite awhile before I could experience the outdoors again. At least on foot. The week had been super busy planning for surgery and prepping meals to freeze, so I hadn’t gotten around to selecting a place or activity.

So, we pretty much decided where to go at 9pm Friday night at Happy Hour at S & S’s place. We planned to hit the Carnival celebrations in Wiler and to continue onto Saas Fee in Valais to spend the night and potentially do winter sports Sunday. S booked hotel rooms round midnight for that next day.

Saas Fee is located in a valley very close to Zermatt. Until the mid-twentieth century, it was remote and not accessible by cars. Currently, trains are still not able to reach Saas Fee through its narrow valley. However, even though you can drive there now; the village itself is car-free. You must leave your car at the deck at the city entrance.

Driving in was "squiggly"

 

Majestic mountains on the horizon as we drove into Saas Fee

The books say that Saas Fee is just as picturesque as Zermatt, just without the Matternhorn view. For all Gabe and I know, it was equal since we didn’t see the Matterhorn when we went back in January with Pascal and Gisele.

We arrived at sunset and it was quite nice to walk around and to see the après ski buzz.

 

After exploring, we grabbed a bite of Italian at Boccalino and then had an after dinner drink at Popcorn. We called it an early night due to the ski activities planned for the next day.

Saas Fee was a lovely little town. I think I might prefer Zermatt a little more, but all in all, a nice stop.

 

Lavaux Wine Tasting

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Post by Lauren

The Lavaux wine region is definitely a place you should see in your lifetime. On our first trip to Switzerland we took a day trip to Montreux, and I remember driving through this area with my mouth wide open in awe.

 

This particular time was in the winter, but is truly beautiful any time of year. See the Schwingen in Switzerland blog for a recount on spending a summer day in Lavaux. I had the pleasure of hiking* in the Fall as well and it was gorgeous:

 

 

 

When The Captain and Swiss Miss were here, they had wanted to hike in Lavaux; however, the Geneva record low temperatures prevented us from doing so. Nonetheless, we still took the train from Geneva to Rivaz to check out the wine cellar, Vinorama.

Vinorama is cut into the side of the Lavaux countryside. It offers “dégustations” (tastings in French) of different Lavaux varieties. It also has a wine store offering hundreds of Lavaux bottles .

Vinorama

 

During our visit, they showed us a short film about the region’s wine production. It was incredibly well done, depicting the ups and downs of a local farmer throughout the year. This helped to bring personality to this special region and to understand how hard it is to farm the land.

The primary reason Lavaux is special are its terraces. They are steep, staggered, and require a lot of maneuvering on the part of the wine workers. I have seen similar ones in Cinque Terre in Italy, but no where else in the world have I seen anything like it. It takes incredibly hard work to farm that land – both in the upkeep on a slanted slope and transportation of the grapes in the harvest. And they have been doing it since the 11th Century.

The film explained that it is the terrace that affects the taste of the wine. The heat from its walls warms the earth underneath the vines. This as well as the sun’s reflection off of Lake Geneva bodes well for the grapes.

Vinorama offers tastings in white, red and combinations. The tasting that we did included the following:

Epesses – La braise d’enfer
Vilette – Clos du roches
Domaine Moulin la Vignette Lutry
Lettres des Noblesse (malbec/cab) st saphorin
Epesses plant robez blaise duboux

My favorite was hands down the Lettres des Noblesse. However at 40 CHF per bottle, it didn’t make it into our cellar on that particular day.

A few days after our trip, my French tutor and I were discussing the Lavaux region. She is French and advised that of course, any agriculture product in Switzerland is very expensive. I totally agree with that statement. The terraced type of farming and harder labor can’t lend to an economical product. However, with the magic that can be found here in Lavaux, I’d also say that their wine is certainly worth it.

 

*For hiking: we got off the train at St. Saphorin and walked to the Lutry station. It was four hours and we had magnificent views every step of the way. This of course could be shortened or you could do the wine stop as we did.

All Aboard the Glacier Express!

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Post by Lauren

When The Captain and Swiss Miss were visiting, we took the Glacier Express. No, this isn’t the train to Santa’s house….it goes to St. Moritz. Which is sort of like the North Pole, if you think about it, full of wonder, make-believe and furry suits.

The Glacier express is a very nice excursion to do if you are visiting a short time, since it covers a large part of the country of Switzerland. It travels the path in red, below.

Photo credit: The Glacier Express

In its entirety, The Glacier express travels through 91 tunnels and 291 bridges. At altitudes of up to 6500 feet, it cuts through breathtaking mountain passes, glaciers, and by rushing mountain streams. From its windows you can experience a part of nature that has remained untouched. In fact, there is a certain part of the railway that has a UNESCO designation as a World Heritage Site, the Rhaetian Railway from Thusis towards Bergun. This was given due to its role in developing access to remote areas in the Swiss Alps as well as how the civil engineering blends seamlessly with the nature surrounding it.

The Glacier Express

The Glacier Express started in 1930, a remarkable feat considering the economic crisis that was happening during that time. It experienced a slow down as well in WW2 as it didn’t run between 1943 and 1946, during the war.

Up until 1982, it could only run during the summer months because the Oberalpass became impassable in winter with snow. In the 1980s, they made improvements in tunnels, allowing it to operate. Since that time, they have upgraded the cars to be equipped with panoramic windows* for tourist’s photo taking and comfort.

One of the many tunnels the Glacier Express travels through

While the Glacier Express isn’t really an express at all (average speed is 20 km/hour), I appreciated the extra time it took to get to our destination due to the beauty of the landscape it traversed.

We would recommend this to those visiting Switzerland. We also hope to check out some of the other scenic trains such as the Golden Pass, or Bernina Express during our time here.

What you should know :
–If you are interested in taking a scenic train, Rick Steves has some great descriptions about the differences on his site.
–If you are visiting, you can take the scenic trains on a Swiss pass or Swiss Flexi pass. Same goes for residents with a day card. For the Glacier express, you must get a reservation for 13 CHF in the winter or 33 CHF in the summer for a seat.
–They serve great meals on the Glacier Express; however picnics are also allowed. We brought an assortment as well as two bottles of wine.

*The large windows created a magnificent view. We were blessed with a lot of sunshine on our journey which was great for us, but made our photos a little worse because of the glare. Sorry.

Where the Wild Things Are

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Post by Lauren

Carnival is a big thing in Switzerland. Many of the teeny tiny communities have celebrations starting the Thursday prior and leading up to Ash Wednesday.

I’ll be honest…what I knew of Carnival prior to this weekend was this and this:

 

It always looked fun and we decided since it was Carnival weekend in many towns, we should head out into the Swiss countryside with S & S to check it out.

When we arrived we found this:

 

These strange creatures are the Tschäggätä. The tradition of the town men marching through the streets at Carnival in wearing animal skins, wood masks and ringing cow bells has been passed down through the generations in many mountain villages of Switzerland. This particular one we witnessed was in Wiler.

 

If you attend, I’d recommend not bringing little children. Some of the kiddies were not amused by the scary beasts clad in animal fur.

And, watch out….they are known to take women hostage*:

 

*Okay, so they didn’t really take S hostage for good. But they got me soon after her and it isn’t exactly comforting to be grabbed by one of these things. Our husbands didn’t quite know if they should save us or not.

For more history on this bizarre custom, check out S’s blog. She also has a great one on the remoteness of the valley as well.

For video footage, you can view a clip at :

St. Moritz and the Engiadina Valley

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Post by Lauren

As you read from previous posts, we quite enjoyed the White Turf races in glitzy St. Moritz. What was left out of those recaps, was the stellar beauty of this region of Switzerland.

The Engiadina Valley is in Eastern Switzerland. It took 9 hours for us to get there on the Glacier Express but using faster trains, it can be done in 6 hours.

St. Moritz itself is a pretty town. At 6000 feet, its lakes are frozen most of the winter. I am standing on the lake while taking this photo.

The town of St. Moritz

Sunset also isn’t bad in this part of the world:

Sunset in St. Moritz

The day after the races, we took a little funicular / cogwheel up to Muottas Muragl. This point is about 2456 m high, roughly 8000 feet. On this particular day, it was about -12 C in St. Moritz, but about -20 C at the top. Brrrrr.

From the vantage point in the photo below, St. Moritz is the town in the center of the image. You can see the frozen lake to the left of it. Because we aren’t high-rollers, we stayed in the village of Celerina, which is the town in the foreground. Samedan and Pontresina are also nearby and came recommended.

View of Celerina & St. Moritz from the top of Muottas Muragl

This region is of course famous for skiing and outdoor sports. We saw a ton of cross country skiers, because apparently the valley is quite suitable for that sport.

It is also popular for tobogganing. From the top of this mountain, there is a 4.2 km toboggan run down to the bottom. You can see the little specks (people) zipping around the track.

Nearby Bergün boasts a 6 km track. Its the longest in Europe and travels on a road that is turned into a sledging track since its impassable in winter.

About a year ago, Forbes published an article entitled, “Don’t try this at home”. The article talked about the irony of how cautious this Swiss are, but how this popular sport is so very dangerous.

However, Gabe would still like to try this out before we leave. Perhaps we’ll put it on the docket for next year!

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

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Post by Lauren

Last weekend, we went to St. Moritz for the horse races. Since it was my first horse race, I didn’t know what to expect. Also, we had read that the town was a bit fancy. It is known to be the oldest winter resort in the world. In fact, it is said that alpine tourism was invented in 1846 when Johannes Badrutt built his first hotel here.

Prior to Badrutt’s era, St. Moritz was also known for its therapeutic spas in the Middle Ages, dating back to 1466 BC.

It has also been the home to two winter Olympics.

We stopped for a drink in Badrutt’s Palace but the average cocktail selling at 25 CHF, we only enjoyed one round of hob-nobbing with St. Moritz’s finest. We were a little out of our league, but nonetheless, enjoyed the fashion trends that this glitzy winter town offered:

THE DO’S IN ST. MORITZ:

All white & black is a good choice. When in doubt, dress the entire family in aviators.

 

 

You must get points for wearing fur. My best guest is that one fur item equals one point. If you include the tail of the animals, you get bonus points.

 

For that matter, don’t let your dog be caught in anything less than Louis Vuitton or Burberry. How cruel would that be!!!

 

Just remember, no matter how well someone dresses, some things just never change.


The White Turf: Horse Races on a Frozen Lake

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Post by Lauren

This summer, I read an article in a travel magazine about St. Moritz and their annual horse races on the frozen lake. I tore it out thinking it was something Gabe would like to do sometime while we were living here. However, we had our friends The Captain and Swiss Miss visiting during February, right at the time in which the race was held. Thus, we all decided to make it an epic Swiss weekend.

We took the Glaicer Express from Geneva, a nine hour winding train that took us all the way to St. Moritz. We ended up staying in a nearby town, Celerina, because affordable rooms are rare in glitzy St. Moritz. The average hotel in St. Moritz is around 1000 CHF a night. Not kidding.

Races included normal (jockeys on horseback), ski races (jockeys on skis) and sleigh (jockeys on sleigh).

 


Here are a few videos of the horses!

 

Guests: How to Ride Swiss Trains

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Post by Lauren

Swiss Trains are AMAZING. They run on time and get you to pretty much any place in Switzerland.

 

Handy map of Switzerland and its train system: http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/fileadmin/pdf/STS-GB-M-11-EN-WEB.pdf

Here is some basic information on what approaches to take when buying train tickets:

DISCOUNTS FOR ANYONE:

Half fare card = 150 CHF to obtain – knocks all train / boat / cable-car purchases in half.
*You can just use it to reduce your fare in half
OR
    *Holders of half fare card may purchase day cards for 64 CHF which provide unlimited travel for a whole day on all SBB trains and Post Buses. Day cards after 9am are 48 CHF but can’t be used Sat, Sun or holidays
How it works: you must buy in Switzerland upon arrival. You must have a small passport photo.

Pro: If you are here a long time and are traveling long distances, it could be worth it

Con: It is a year pass, non transferable, and you wouldn’t be able to use it rest of year – unless you visit us again 🙂

DISCOUNTS, ONLY FOR TOURISTS:



Swiss Pass – must buy not in Switzerland at ST offices and travel agents or  www.swisstravelsystem.ch in advance of your trip. Covers all travel on rail, buses and boats and some cable ways. Must validate at airport upon landing in Switzerland. 4 day = 260 CHF, 8 day = 376 CHF, etc. Must be concurrent days. You get 15% discount for 2 adults.

Note: you must validate it to start or you’ll get in trouble

Pro: If you travel every day long distances, this is a good value

Con: Must be used in concurrent days so isn’t a good value if you are resting in cities or in Geneva other days
OR

Swiss Flexi Pass – allows between 3 and 6 days travel within one month. You get 15% discount for 2 adults. On the travel days, you can have free travel on most public transport. On days in between, you can travel for half the fare. You are also entitled to receive a discount on many gondolas, funiculars and mountain trains.
3 days = 249 CHF
4 days = 302 CHF
5 days = 349 CHF
Note: you must validate it for the days you use it

Pro: Makes a lot of sense if you are here for a week and we are traveling a lot in Switzerland
For more, see this: http://www.myswissalps.com/swissflexipass.asp?lang=EN

OR, BUY AS YOU GO

Supersaver single tickets – provide large discounts on selected long distance routes – http://sparbillette.sbb.ch  (limited in number and only 14 days out).
Pro: Good to know about for one-off trips

Con: you can’t book up until 14 days in advance

OR

We can buy as we go on the machines at the train station. You can see timetables and quote trips at:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Pro: flexibility
Con: not as many savings

General Tips:

What is best is to do the math for the individual trips. Example, If you invest in a 150 Half fare card, you can deduct the fares in half, but do the number of trips make up the 150 CHF investment? With the Swiss Flexi pass, are your savings more than adding up the trips? If not, it might be cheaper to buy as you go. Use this URL to quote one-off trips:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Please note that with day passes, Swiss passes and Swiss Flexi passes, you must Validate your ticket in an orange machine, provided on all platforms by inserting the ticket into the slot.

Some things to know about Swiss trains:

-The big train signs that show where to go to catch it always list the end destination. If you are not going to its’ end destination, make sure to note the other stops to confirm it is your train. It will then give you a “Voie” or “Bin” which means the # of the track your train will come on. Sub tips:
-If your destination isn’t listed and its more than 15 minutes until yours departs, don’t assume you are in the wrong place. Trains come through every 10-15 minutes so yours will show up soon if you are the correct Voie.
-Once its time for yours, your board will change. Then the next train that arrives is safe to get on. Also use the clock shown to verify. If its 13:29 (1:29pm), then its too early for the 13:42. If its 13:35-13:40, then this is about the time when it will arrive.

-Take heed to make sure you enter the trains marked 2 if you are in 2nd class. Otherwise, you might be contributing to Switzerland’s economy more than you want. We learned this the hard way.

-They don’t check your ticket to get on the train, but shortly into the trip, someone comes by. You must have all forms of documentation – for example, your ticket plus your half fare card together.

-They have bathrooms

– They do have a drink/food cart and on longer trains, a dining car. However, the food cart doesn’t look appealing and is expensive so consider bringing your own snacks and food (plus a bottle of wine!)

-You do not get assigned seats unless you are going to another country (France, Italy) or riding a scenic train (Glacier Express, Golden Pass, Bernina Express, William Tell). But you might get booted at some point from yours if you are sitting in someone’s who is doing a trip like this.

-If you ride the scenic trains, you need a reservation in addition to your ticket. We can help you get that at the station.

-You can generally get off in a city that looks appealing for a few hours, and hop on a later train to your destination

Bon voyage!

 

Festival International des Balloons à Air Chaud

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Post by Lauren

I bet the suspense was killing you to know if we went back to the Hot Air Balloon Festival!! Well, I happen to have the best husband in the world and am delighted to inform you that my dreams came true of seeing the balloons!

As I mentioned, the drive was a little crazy getting to this little Alps town. But, it was a little less hair-raising to do it in the daylight. Here are a few shots of the drive in through the mountains:

I am pretty much content for the entire year after getting to do this. It was absolutely beautiful.