Something a little different for this blog: I recently spent a whole week in Switzerland, enjoying the gorgeous mountains and lakes! Or at least trying to, when the weather would cooperate… I wrote up a travelogue of my holiday each day and took loads of photos.
You can find my Swiss Travel Tips at the end of the article!
Day 1: Exploring Zurich
Saturday 10th April
Arrived in Zurich at around 12:30. It was blazing hot, 24 degrees at peak, much warmer than London! Unfortunately I couldn’t check into my hotel until 3pm, so I had to wander around with my suitcase for a while. Had lunch in a burger place round the corner from my hotel, then found a nice park to sit in the sunshine. Once I’d checked into the room at 3, I decided to explore the city. Much of it is on a hillside, so I walked towards that area. Stopped off at a video games shop along the way but didn’t buy anything - all the games were brand new (no preowned/second hand) and 40-60 CHF a piece. They had some retro rarities but nothing I had to get right there and then.
I headed further up the hill on the tram, to the Zoo stop - although it was too late to go in to see the animals. I walked along the trail at the top of the hillside and stopped on a bench to relax with a book. This was short lived as it started to rain! (While still being uncomfortably hot…) With me in shirt sleeves and no umbrella, I dashed down the hill, through steep footpaths, getting wet…
Finally reached a tram stop and decided to jump on and get back to the city centre. Found a beer hall type restaurant for dinner; it was very busy, so I was seated on the end of a table with some other people, which felt a bit awkward! Had a German sausage and sauerkraut dish which was good but fairly sharp in flavour.
Lastly, on my way back to the hotel I came across an arthouse cinema which was in the middle of a Joe Dante season! Playing that night was Gremlins 2, which I hadn’t seen for years and years - so I decided to watch it. English audio but subtitled in both German and French! The film was as good as I remembered it, clearly poking fun at the original and basically just a collection of skits with different types of Gremlin.
Day 2: National Museum and Uetliberg
Sunday 11th April
Started my second day in Zurich with breakfast in a modern looking cafe; they did a good yoghurt & granola bowl. Then it was off to the National Museum! Most of the museum is housed in its original building from 1898, which looks like a old manor house and courtyard, but there’s a modern extension tacked on which doesn’t really fit. A lot of historical artifacts and galleries are inside, but the history of Switzerland exhibit was what I really came for as I don’t really know a lot about the country! I was interested to discover that it’s been a confederation or republic for over 800 years and has never had a monarchy.
Had lunch - burger again. There doesn’t seem to be much choice when it comes to inexpensive sit-down meals that aren’t the usual fast food places. Then I took the train up to Uetliberg, on the opposite side of the valley - the track is on one of the steepest inclines for a passenger railway! There’s an observation tower at the top which I wanted to climb - but the cloud cover made the whole area much too foggy, with almost no visibility out over the city. Disappointing but the weather is always a gamble this time of year. I headed back to the city.
After taking a rest back at the hotel, I went to a nearby Italian restaurant for dinner and had a pizza with tuna and red onion toppings. Then I headed over to another cinema which was playing One Battle After Another, last year’s big Oscar winner which I hadn’t seen. I enjoyed it - it’s technically very impressive in its cinematography and has a funny script even with its focus on racism and immigration.
Day 3: Out to the mountains!
Monday 13th April
I left Zurich on a train via Bern, arriving in Lauterbrunnen at lunchtime. The weather wasn’t great - overcast skies and drizzle the whole day, with cloud and fog coming so far down that the tops of the cliffs were obscured. But even without the full view, it’s still breathtaking - the village is surrounded by mountains at the base of a valley.
I went for a walk through the village and down the valley, stopping off at a cosy tavern for a light lunch on the way. The village of Lauterbrunnen itself is almost 100% tourist; all hotels and restaurants, and even a caravan park. I get the feeling that nobody actually lives in these places, it’s just a location for people to stay while they’re here for their mountain activities. Past the end of the village, there’s farms and farmland; these are working farms with animals grazing in the fields. I passed a group of cows, all loudly shouting and barging each other out of the way!
I stopped at the Trummelbach Falls. There’s a lift inside the mountain leading up to a viewing platform for the falls; I didn’t go into the caves as I wasn’t sure I’d be able to see much on the upper levels. I’ll save that for another day when there’s better visibility. Headed back to the village for dinner and a rest after a day of travel and hiking! The hotel restaurant served a decent spaghetti bolognese, and Romancing the Stone was on TV so I settled in to watch that.
Day 4: Down into the depths with St. Beatus
Tuesday 14th April
The weather was cloudy again, but not wet, so I decided to head to the St. Beatus-Höhlen, on the north shore of Lake Thun. No need to worry about visibility at low altitude… and in a cave! I had to take a train to Interlaken and then a bus, which didn’t take long. The caves themselves are amazing: formed from waterfalls rushing through from inside the mountain, the network of tunnels takes about an hour to traverse. It goes in a loop, so you get to revisit all the grottos, underground lakes, stalagmites and stalagtites that you passed on the way through. After leaving the main waterfall area, the caves become very quiet and there’s a peaceful atmosphere - the drier tunnels and grottos were formed when Lake Thun’s water level was much higher and have been the same for centuries.
After leaving the caves, I walked along a cliffside trail overlooking Lake Thun. I found a beautiful spot where I could see all the way out to Interlaken, and stayed there for a little while to relax and read a little of my book (“The Ruby in the Smoke” by Philip Pullman). By this time the clouds had mostly dispersed and it was lovely and sunny. Then I headed back to Interlaken for lunch, and to have a look around the town. There’s honestly not much in Interlaken, it’s more of a transport interchange and tourist spot between the two lakes. I wandered down the road to Bönigen, on the western shore of Lake Brienz; this too was a quiet tourist-oriented town, with many of the picturesque houses being rented out for the high season and deserted now that it’s over.
I spent a little time watching the boats on the lake, then headed back to Lauterbrunnen for dinner. This time I went to a different restaurant in town and had a classic Swiss rosti - shredded potato, bacon and onion topped with cheese and a fried egg. Back to the hotel, ending the day again with a movie on TV: Battleship, the 2012 movie (allegedly) based on the board game but also featuring aliens…
Day 5: Here comes the sun, in Wengen and Thun
Wednesday 15th April
The weather forecast claimed there would be sun, although at 7am I looked out and saw the same overcast sky as yesterday! Nonetheless, I decided to put my faith in it and head up to Wengen on the cog railway. Wengen is a village about halfway up the valley cliff from Lauterbrunnen, towards the peak at Mannlichen. It’s touted as being “car-free”, as there are no roads to drive up there, but I was constantly dodging construction vehicles and vans full of materials - as it’s the off-season, all construction projects take place at the same time while there are fewer tourists around.
The skies cleared as the morning went on, and by lunchtime it was beautiful blue skies and stunning views of the mountains. From the top of the cliff I could see where I was staying in Lauterbrunnen at the bottom of the valley! I took a break to read more of my book near a church, and then headed uphill into the woods on the outskirts to get a birds-eye view of Wengen itself. Crossing the railway track, I bumped into a very content-looking ginger cat, then started my descent down to Lauterbrunnen on foot. As you’d expect, the path down the mountain is very steep, and although it’s definitely not as bad as hiking uphill, going downhill is still hard on your feet and (especially) knees as you’re fighting the incline to stay upright on every step! I ate the sandwich I’d brought with me halfway down, then finally made it back to Lauterbrunnen for a short rest and a chance to plan my next move.
One thing I’d missed the last few days was “civilization”: the villages in the mountains are picturesque but revolve entirely around tourism. I decided to take a train to Thun, on the north edge of Lake Thun about halfway back to Bern. It’s a large town with a decent sized population and it felt good to be around people who weren’t just there to serve tourists! I checked out Thun Castle and museum, although it was a bit bare-bones it had a lovely view from the tower across the town and lake. I rode a bus towards the lake itself but missed my stop and - by complete coincidence - ended up outside one of the only retro video game stores in the country! Gameparadise is well described; shelves and shelves of games from NES to Mega Drive to Dreamcast, PlayStations of all kinds, even some obscurities like VideoPac and MSX. A little on the pricey side, but of course that’s Switzerland for you… I ended up picking out a collection of Breakout style games for PC, and Excalibur for PS1.
Feeling accomplished, I returned to the town centre and found a little bistro which specialised in German flammenkuchen, a pizza-like flatbread with toppings. Headed back to Lauterbrunnen on the train and crashed out early, the morning’s mountain hiking having caught up with me!
Day 6: Journey across the water and down a gorge
Thursday 16th April
As the weather was still so clear and gorgeous I thought I’d take a cruise across one of the lakes. Since I’d been to Thun yesterday, the logical choice was to go across Lake Brienz, the eastern lake. I headed over to Interlaken on the train and hopped straight onto the ferry, starting my journey just as the last few clouds broke across the lake - I got some amazing photos of sunbeams that look like they’re piercing the heavens and sparkling as they hit the lake!
I’m more used to travelling across rivers or seas than lakes; the water is so calm and reflective, I could see the mountains clearly in the water just as well as looking at them directly! Aside from having to dodge obnoxious tourists waving their phones around and getting very annoyed by me walking into their perfect Instagram shots, the journey was pleasant and we arrived in Brienz just before midday. But what to do there? Unlike Thun, Brienz is a small village, not a lively town; there isn’t much there except a main street with shops and facilities for winter sports enthusiasts. I looked at my map for ideas and found the slightly larger town of Meiringen, just a little further to the east - an easy train ride.
Meiringen has two major attractions: the most popular is the Reichenbach Falls, which (if you know your literature) is famously the place where Sherlock Holmes and his archenemy Moriarty met their end. Unfortunately, this being the off-season, the cable car and mountain railway to the Falls was closed and I wasn’t able to go and see it up close. So, after enjoying a rather large lunch in a little kebab shop, I headed towards the Aareschlucht - a rocky gorge that the river Aare descends into. This too was partly closed due to the off-season, as they have to maintain the wooden path along the side of the gorge - it was only possible to go about two thirds of the way along the river before having to turn back. But it’s a fantastic location nonetheless; I felt like I was trekking through the wilderness, with rushing water below me and the top of the gorge only just visible above. There’s apparently an unused WW2 bunker inside the cliffs too, although it’s been sealed off for decades!
Returning to Meiringen, I started thinking about souvenirs, and stopped off in a cheese shop to pick up some raclette for my family. I found a little chocolate too, but I’ll get more of that when I’m back in Zurich tomorrow. Back to Brienz on the train and then back on the boat across the lake, this time for a slightly more peaceful cruise! Finally, back to Lauterbrunnen, where I took the easy option of dinner in my hotel’s restaurant. I had a cordon bleu, which I didn’t know was an actual dish rather than a general expression of quality - it’s pork wrapped in ham and cheese and deep fried in breadcrumbs. The 2023 Doctor Who specials with David Tennant were on TV so I settled in to watch them before bed.
Day 7: Retracing my steps back to Zurich
Friday 17th April
My last day in Switzerland! I’ll miss waking up with a view of the mountains just outside… I had to check out of the hotel by 10am, so I didn’t hang around in Lauterbrunnen too long with my luggage in tow. I caught the train back along the lake to Bern, and then changed for Zurich, retracing my steps. Back in Zurich by lunchtime, I grabbed some quick fast food, and then set out to find some decent chocolate to bring home. The boutique chocolate shops along the Bahnhofstrasse were nice to look at, but completely out of my price range at more than 40 CHF a box! In the end I grabbed some Frey truffles and chocolate bars, making sure to buy one of their “Tourist” bars for myself of course…
Returning to the airport, I allowed more time than was strictly necessary, as I’d heard horror stories about people missing their flights and being trapped in Europe by their new EES passport control system. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried - I went straight through security and passport control, interacting with humans the whole time, and got to my gate almost an hour early. The flight was quick and uneventful, and I touched down back in London in the evening, feeling a bit sore and tired from my hikes but happy to be home again.
Swiss Travel Tips
So, that was my week in Switzerland! Here’s some extra notes about my experience and thoughts on what I’d do differently next time:
Off-season travel: I deliberately chose to go in the “off-season”, which is essentially springtime - ski season has ended, but the summer weather hasn’t quite settled in yet. The main benefits of visiting at this time is that flights and accommodation will be much cheaper, and there will be a lot fewer people around in popular areas. Lauterbrunnen and the surrounding villages were still bustling with tourists, but not jam-packed, and restaurants were much less busy. The downside of the off-season is that it’s when most tourist attractions take the opportunity to close and do maintenance: expect to see a lot of construction going on, and (especially in April) for almost none of the mountain cable cars and some smaller railways to be open.
Food and money: The Swiss franc was roughly 1:1 with the pound at the time I went, which meant I didn’t have to do any calculations in my head as I went, but also highlighted how pricey everyday groceries and food were. Switzerland has a very high cost of living compared to the UK and most of western Europe. I paid between 20-30 CHF for lunch every day, and 30-40 CHF for dinner! This became the number one daily expense for me and I could have avoided much of it by self-catering or going half-board instead of relying on hotels and restaurants. If I go again, I’ll stay somewhere that has its own kitchen!
Public transport: In general Switzerland is very well connected by public transport. Trains are fast, reliable and cover almost everywhere you’d want to go. But paying for single tickets up front will quickly add up! There are many options to help with this, depending on how much travel you’re expecting to do - the most comprehensive (and expensive) is the Swiss Travel Pass which lets you use any train in the country and has a bunch of other benefits. I got by with an Interrail pass, which was slightly less expensive but covered everything I needed, including boat cruises across Lake Brienz and Thun. Plan your journeys and look up the travel pass options, as you’ll save a lot of money.
Weather: April is where the weather starts to get sunnier, but there are no guarantees! I had three days of overcast weather and rain near the start of the week. If it was just a spot of rain that would be ok, but the low cloud cover meant that going up to the mountain areas - even halfway - was pointless as I wasn’t able to see anything! However, there are plenty of things to do at lower altitudes, and even indoors, like the St. Beatus-Hohlen caves. Thankfully, the clouds broke on Tuesday afternoon and it was blazing sun for the rest of the week… but watch out, as it’s very easy to get sunburned!
Evening activities: Most of my exploration was done during the day but I would have liked to have been more active in the evenings. This is a perennial problem for solo travellers as it’s harder to just rock up to a bar and spend the evening having drinks. When I visit cities I like to see what live music or comedy there is, but either due to the season or the scene, there was nothing that really interested me. In the mountains of course, there’s not quite as much to do, and given the amount of hiking I was doing I was happy to relax in my room at the end of the day!
If you enjoyed my little travelogue, let me know with a comment below! I’ll leave you with a few miscellaneous photos…
