Switzerland travel tips - You're more likely to find hotels and other accommodation in Switzerland just before and after the northern summer when holiday prices stop being outrageously expensive and just become expensive.If you're travelling to
Switzerland for a holiday, you should plan to spend at least US$100 a day to make the cultural experience worthwhile.Wherever you travel in Switzerland there's a railway and a train that will get you to your destination with a minimum of fuss.
Trains in
Switzerland are fast, almost always on time and, fortunately for budget
backpackers, relatively inexpensive.More than 5,000 kilometres of railway is networked across Switzerland, much of it skirting scenic mountains and lakes or cutting through mountainous tunnels.A one week Regionalpass Bernese Oberland ticket for travel from May to October on trains, funiculars and cable cars costs $US170 for adults and $US85 for children aged six to 16 (2005 prices).
The old town of Bern is a true Swiss city without French or international influences. It retains its medieval layout with largely baroque architecture and is world-heritage listed. Nestled within the banks of the Aare River, Bern is laced with cobbled streets peppered with statues and fountains, and has about six kilometres of arcades. Only trams and buses are allowed within the old town.
Highly recommended is the GoldenPassLine Panoramic train which takes just over five hours gliding past lakes and towns, snow-topped mountains and alpine meadows to journey from Lucerne to Interlaken and then on to Zweisimmen and Montreux on Lake Geneva.
In 2008, a one-way GoldenPassLine train between Montreux and Zweisimmen (five times a day) cost 50 Swiss francs first class and 30 Swiss francs second class. These trains are a fun way to get to the charming village of Chateau-d'Oex, which each January hosts an international hot-air balloon festival with about 100 balloons from more than 20 countries taking advantages of the area's ideal micro-climate.
A hire car can provide an exhilarating few days of holiday travel in Switzerland as the country boasts 10,000 kilometres of winding roads, almost all with spectacular views.
Switzerland is a fusion of German, French and Italian cultures, its 7.3 million residents occupying 41,295 square kilometres of awesome Alpine scenery.
The federal republic of the Swiss Confederation is 74% German, 20% French and 4% Italian, their religions being 49% Roman Catholic and 48% Protestant. In 2007, more than one in five people living in Switzerland was foreign-born.
Naturally, the people speak a combination of German (66%), French (18%) and Italian (10%), although English speakers have no trouble being understood during their holiday travel through Switzerland.Travellers from most western countries don't require a visa for a maximum holiday in Switzerland allowing three months of travel.
As reputed, Switzerland is a very sanitary and safe country in which to travel with the major health risks being altitude sickness, hypothermia and sunburn.
Switzerland's different altitudes create microclimates as diverse as Mediterranean and hot with palm trees in the southern town of Ticino.
Summer temperatures from June to September are usually 20 to 25 degrees C.
If you plan holiday travel through Switzerland, it's worth bringing clothes that are appropriate for different temperatures at different altitudes.
The summer months offer comfortable travel weather which is ideal for outdoor pursuits (except skiing) during your holiday in Switzerland. However, the crowds and prices can be a bit over the top.More than 60% of Switzerland is mountainous and about a quarter is forest. The Dufour summit of Monte Rosa is the tallest peak at 4634 metres.Skiers should look for snowfields from late November till April and make sure they pack quality sunglasses to protect against the blindling white of the snow.
Interlaken is another favorite holiday spot for tourists who for centuries have come to the picturesque city to hike in the clear alpine air. Hiking paths, known as Wanderweg, criss-cross the mountains or you can alternatively catch a train to Jungfraujoch at the peak of the Jungfrau, the highest of the Alpine peaks at 3454 metres and world heritage-listed by UNESCO. This is the highest railway station in Europe and passengers step out onto the scenic Aletsch Glacier. The railway through tunnels and past glaciers is one of the wonders of the world.
Interlaken is the gateway to two mountain valleys, one leading to the wooden chalet town of Lauterbrunnen, and the other to the 1000m resort of Grindelwald dominated by the 3,970 metre Eiger mountain.
If you want to ski or at least see the famous Matterhorn, arguably the world's most photogenic mountain, you're likely to end up in the town of Zermatt, a gorgeous holiday resort town high in a dead-end valley with no high rise buildings and no cars (banned in the 1960s). Travel to Zermatt is via narror-guage mountain railway and then an electric taxi or bus to your hotel. The town has fantastic old architecture and the streets are full of skiiers from around the world. The area has 245 kilometres of ski runs and Zermatt has a boisterous if not raunchy nightlife.
Another popular ski town is nearby Grindelwald, a town full or chalet buildings, hotels, bars, restaurants and shops tucked into a valley at the foot of towering peaks including the Eiger and Jungfrau. Grindelwald is best suited to intermediate and advanced skiers.Other locations worth visiting in the Matterhorn district are the higher villages of Murren and Wengen, and the Piz Gloria restaurant, the world's highest revolving restaurant at 2,970 metres.
A popular train journey into the Switzerland ski fields is aboard the Glacier Express, a seven and a half hour journey covering 170km between St Moritz and Zermatt over 291 bridges and through 91 different tunnels.
Further south near the Italian border is Lake Lugano, where the scenery is spectacular. Overlooking Lake Lugano is Gandria, the southernmost Swiss village in the canton of Ticino. Gandria, which dates to 1237, has tiny, meandering streets, a population around 200 and old houses that lean into one another. A highlight of Gandria is the church of St Vigilio, with is baroque interior and late medieval campanile.
If you want to travel to remote areas in Switzerland that don't have public transport, consider catching a PostBus. Operated by Swiss Post, the large yellow coaches delivery both mail and paying passengers to outlying areas across a network of routes covering 10,000 kilometres, often narrow one-way roads on which the bus has priority. The PostBus service in Switzerland has been operating for more than 100 years and passengers enjoy the stunning mountain and valley vistas for which Switzerland is famous.
On the northern shores of scenic Lake Geneva in the canton of Vaud is Lausanne, Switzerland's fifth largest city with a population in 2009 of 127,000 residents. Laced with cobblestone streets, Lausanne founded the world's first hotel management school and since 1994 has been the Olympics capital. French-speaking, the city is an educational, intellectual and cultural centre dotted with ancient, well-preserved buildings with nearby forests, mountains, fields and vineyards. It's a great college town to explore on foot, albeit hilly. A central feature of Lausanne is the 13th century Notre Dame, Switzerland's most impressive gothic cathedral. Also worth admiring is the Olympic Museum in a manicured park facing Lake Geneva, where more than 87,000 objects are displayed to commemorate 2,200 years of amateur sport (open 9am to 6pm, Tuesdays to Sundays). Lausanne has a fairly temperate climate with little snow, although plenty of white powder can be enjoyed in the nearby Vaudois Alpine area. Notable visitors over the years have included Voltaire, Rousseau, Byron, Dickens, Hugo, James Joyce, Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn.
Strict laws controlling air pollution have been enforced throughout Switzerland since 1986, creating very good air quality with some airborne toxins such as sulphadioxide almost at 1950 levels.
If you enjoy adventure travel there are plenty of trails that can be walked through the Swiss Alps. For example, the 180km Haute Route starts from Chamonix at the foot of Mount Blanc and passes through alpine meadows, picture-book villages and some of Switzerland's most spectacular mountain peaks above 4,000 metres. This trek can be walked solo or a 10 day guided tour can be purchased to ensure prearranged holiday accommodation and a lighter baggage load.
Travel tip... Autumn is a great time to travel through the numerous valleys and hiking trails of the Swiss Alps when the summer crowds have dispersed, the mountainous landscape is picturesque and colourful in the frost, the wildlife is bountiful, the snows haven't yet set in and many hotels struggle for bookings with lower prices. The 100km Engadine Valley in south-east Switzerland is arguably the best valley for hiking late in the season through to late October. A popular hiking base is the town of Samedan, surrounded by a 130 kilometre network of trails and a juncture for road and rail connections. Because of its high altitude, the Engadine often enjoys late season sunshine while the rest of
Switzerland is cloudy and rainy.
Zurich in the north of
Switzerland is a classic Swiss holiday destination. This German-speaking city of about 400,000 lies on the edge of Limmat River and the beautiful freshwater Lake Zurich, surrounded by rolling hills (the lake shores are best from May to October). The city has no skyscrapers but is nevertheless full of business people as Zurich is Switzerland's financial capital. The historic Old Town of Zurich (Aldstadt) has its own hip ambience totally divorced from the business scene and boasts a great mix of bars and second-hand shops best explored on foot. Food in Zurich is notoriously pricey but a cheap curry can be enjoyed every Saturday and Thursday at Roshenhof Square in the Old Town. Zurich arguably has Europe's best public transport system, even boasting free bicycles.It can be worth buying a Tageskarte which provides 24 hour travel on trams, suburban trains, buses and boats. Local publications detailing the city's nightlife and social events are Zuritripp, Zurich Guide and Lautundspitz, and travellers should purchase a Zurich Card from the tourism office for free local transport and entrance to many museums. The Swiss National Museum and the Kunsthaus art museum in Zurich are open all days except Mondays.
Switzerland is a fantastic country in which to enjoy a cycling holiday as there are few cars outside the major cities.The Swiss rural landscape is peppered with cows, most with clanging bells around their necks which create an almost permanent background noise.Thanks to the small size of Switzerland, tourists can enjoy snow-clad mountain peaks, picturesque lakes, city restaurants and medieval castles all within a matter of hours rather than days.
