Switzerland travel tips

Following are regularly updated travel tips for Switzerland.

The text below is from the comprehensive holiday travel tips to be found at
Cheap World Travel Tips.

April 27 2008 Switzerland travel tips

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.

Among Lucerne's landmarks is the Lion Monument in a small park at the elevated eastern end of the city (near Glacier Garden and the Panorama). The statue of a massive lion dying from spear wounds was carved into a sandstone wall above a small pond in the 1800s and was built to commemorate Swiss soldiers killed in the French Revolution. American author Mark Twain described the Lion Memorial as "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world".

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.

Interlaken is a 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.

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.

Switzerland is a fantastic country in which to enjoy a cycling holiday as there are few cars outside the major cities.

Zurich in the north of Switzerland is a classic Swiss holiday destination. This German-speaking city lies on the edge of 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 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. 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.

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.

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).

Switzerland Travel Tips 1

Top of page