Switzerland is by far the most amazing country that I have visited to date. The people, cleanliness, organization and sheer beauty of nature make me want to live there someday. In June 2016, I spent 5 days I backpacking by myself from the Northern, German speaking part of the country and ended up in the Southeastern, French influenced part. Just wait to be in shock and awe at the sights that I saw.
Traveling Around Switzerland
Just to warn you, Switzerland is expensive. Compared to Italy for example, a train that would cost you €20 in Italy might cost you triple that in Switzerland. The good thing is that the Euro was a little stronger than the Swiss Franc so I could pay in either currency.
Train is the best way to travel between the cities. The best option will be to get the Swiss Travel Pass. I paid 210 Swiss francs (about $210 USD) and that was good for three full days. Anywhere you want to go by train, this will be covered. The best part bout this is that it includes bus passes and boat passes as well. For example, I took steamboat rides on Lakes Thun and Briense and these were covered as well under the Travel Pass.
*The Travel Pass does not include every piece of public transport in the country. For example, if you want to go to the top of the Jungfrau summit, you will have to pay extra even if you have a travel pass.
A picture (not mine) from the vineyards of Lake Geneva
My biggest piece of advice for Switzerland during the summer is to make the most of sunny days. If you are exhausted, keep powering through because it was raining and cloudy most of the time I was there and any time the sun came out, it was truly special.
When I got to Switzerland, I really didn’t have everything planned out. I was pretty much just making it up as I go along. That’s why I highly recommend the Travel Pass.
Lucerne/Mount Pilatus
I didn’t spend that much time in the town of Lucerne to be honest. It was dreary and rainy that day. Instead, I went to the beautiful Mount Pilatus overlooking the city and the lake. This mountain has two very interesting facts. First, I read that the mountain was named after Pontius Pilate, the man who condemned Jesus to death. According to legend, after his death, Pilate’s body was placed in the Rhone river and ultimately found its resting place in the lake. It is said that on every Good Friday, his ghost rises to wash Christ’s blood from his hands. You can read more about the legend here. Pretty random and cool story.
The second legend is that a dragon lives in the mountain. I love history and I love Game of Thrones so both of these legends were perfect for me. According to the story a dragon flew to the mountain in 1421 and was eventually killed by a farmer and in the process, the poisonous blood from the dragon spurted on the the farmer and he died as well. There is actually a really cool story behind it but it is very long to tell. The creative this about this mountain is that they actually had little dragons on the maps and funiculars too.
The Golden Round Trip (Near Lucerne)
If you have about 3-4 hours, I would recommend doing something called the Golden Round Trip too. You essentially start in Lucerne, take the gondola up to the top of Mount Pilatus. You then take the world’s highest cable car down to the lake below on the other side of the mountain. You will then take a boat ride back to Lucerne as you get a look at the mountain from the lake. Definitely worth the trip!
I did the Golden Round Trip in one day that then I took the train to Interlaken from there. Make sure to have your camera ready for that train ride and make sure you do it when it’s light out!
Interlaken
This is not my pic but this was the one that made me want to go directly to Interlaken
If you love extreme sports, this will be your paradise. Upon leaving Interlaken, I told myself that I will absolutely try to live here one day. I was in love with it that much!
Tucked away in between two lakes and mountains, you will find the little town of Interlaken. It lies on a little turquoise/acqua blue river that connects the two lakes and you will not want to stop taking pictures there.
There are two train stations there (Interlaken East and West). If you are traveling to Jungfrau or anywhere east of there such as Lake Briense, you will need to depart from the East station. For Lake Thun or points west in the country, you will need to obviously go to the Interlaken West station. To walk in between the stations will probably take about 20 min or so but buses and trains are very frequent.
I found an amazing little B&B called Hotel de la Paix. The girl working at the desk was not only the nicest girl ever but she was extremely helpful and beautiful as well.
Here are some websites for extreme sports to look at while in Interlaken:
Outdoor Interlaken Interlaken Adventure
The Lakes Surrounding Interlaken
Lake Thun
I would recommend at least two full days for Interlaken. I move quick so keep that in mind too. I spent an entire day exploring the two lakes, Thun and Briense.
Hotel Geissbach on Lake Brienz
Both are a must see and you can take Steamboat rides on both lakes if you plan everything correctly. Here is a website to the steamboats. For now I will start with Briense. You can take the steamboat directly from the Interlaken East station. The entire round trip is about 3 hours or so. MAKE SURE YOU GET OFF AT GEISSBACH FALLS!!! See the pics below.
In this one picture/view I was able to capture all in one shot: a waterfall, rainbow, turquoise lake and snow covered mountains. It was truly one of the best sights I will ever see in my life.
You can also stop at the little town of Brienz as well. If you are pressed for time, you could always then take the train back to Interlaken and I believe that they run every half hour.
Lake Thun is the other lake next to Interlaken. Definitely make sure you go to the small town of Thun as well. Have a little walk around and then check out Spietz too and you can also take Steamboat trips there.
The Jungfrau Region
This is a pic of the summit but unfortunately I did not get to see this because I had some bad weather.
My second day near Interlaken was spent in the Jungfrau region. I have heard about this place in the past from friends but you need to 100% make this your top priority to see while in Switzerland. I can’t even stress that enough. Jungfrau is labeled as “The Top of Europe”. The most important part is getting lucky enough to have a clear day. I was not fortunate enough to have one so I did not go all the way to the summit.
*Note: If you stay in a hotel/hostel with a tv, there is a live feed from the summit so you can check the weather. Keep in mind that if you want to buy a round trip from Interlaken to the summit without the Swiss Travel pass, it will be around 200 francs (around $200). Since this is so expensive, make sure to utilize the live feed because if you get up there and it’s cloudy, you will have paid all that money to look at clouds.
This website will help you search the ticket prices.
What I did on the other hand was take the train the Grindlewald. I kept calling the town Griswold by accident and that’s what the name of the town eventually became for me ha ha. Definitely go here and get out to take pictures. You can go to information and ask them to see the live feed of the summit and make a decision from there. If not, you can go see the waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen. If you like waterfalls, go here!
To get here you will go back to Zweilutschinen and take the train to Lauterbrunnen.
Train map of Jungfrau Region. Jungfraujoch is the summit.
Once you get to Lauterbrunnen, there is a trail that will take you about 40 minutes that will end at a really large waterfall. Then you can take a bus back to the town as well. Or if you don’t wish to walk the entire way, buses will bring you to and from the town to the waterfall. Here are some pics below of that hike.
Montreaux/Lake Geneva
Sunset on Lake Geneva, June 2016
So at the beginning of my trip I asked many people about the city of Geneva. Everyone said that it as beautiful but I wanted more of a nature trip so I decided to essentially skip the city of Geneva on this trip. Instead I went to the beautiful city of Montreaux. Set aside Lake Geneva, Montreaux was a beautiful and lively little city full of amazing French inspired architecture and it even had a casino where I stopped and gambled for a few hours 🙂
Two things that are must sees are the castle and the Freddie Mercury statue (and no, I did not make up the second one). The band “Queen” fell in love with the city and ended up recording albums there in the past. You can actually go to the recording studio if you want to as well. But if you look on the map of the town you will see the stature of Freddie Mercury (the lead singer of Queen) right there on the water and its a really amazing sight.
Chateau de Chillon
Chateau de Chillon is a beautiful Medieval fortress located right on the lake that is definitely a must see. For best pictures, you can take a steamboat on the lake and they actually go right next to the castle.
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On the Mark Travel Blog 