Switzerland: Twin trips back to Paradise

Trip 1: Prague -> Zurich -> Engelberg (Mt Titlis) -> Geneva -> Zurich -> Prague
Parents are visiting us in Prague so after conquering Italy, it was time for a mandatory visit to the paradise of Europe – Switzerland. Being a tourist in Europe you certainly cannot afford to give the Swiss a miss. The first part of the tour was exactly the same as our trip last year and that included a visit to Mt. Titlis straightaway after arrival in Zurich. Mt. Titlis has always been my favorite and I feel it is mandatory for any Indian tourist. Of the two snow covered peaks – Titlis and Jungfrau, I have preferred Titlis as it’s more economical. Jungfrau, I feel, is horribly over-priced.


Day 1
We freshened up at the Zurich station restroom, purchased our Swiss passes and took the 9:04 train to Luzern followed by the train to Engelberg and then the cable car ride to the top of Mt. Titlis. I would not elaborate as the experience was very much similar to what I had described the last time around. The samosa and tea tasted as amazing as ever in the Gourmet India food stall at the base. The weather though was not that favorable. It was raining and windy as well and hence it was not a clear day. This was contrary to what the weather forecasts had predicted and hence we were a bit under-prepared against the cold breeze. Nevertheless, after the highly enjoyable cable car ride we reached 10000 feet atop the Mt. Titlis. It wasn’t the best of days as I said and the visibility in the snow was quite poor. The snowy area was a bit chilly and hence my parents decided to return indoors after a short walk. As I said the lack of proper jackets made it all the more difficult. We had an Indian lunch at one of the restaurants up there and started our decent.

We stopped at Trubzee, a beautiful place one level lower. It was not raining then and the lake was looking beautiful and clear. We walked all the way to the lake, walked around, clicked snaps and just as it started drizzling again headed back to the cable car. The place was buzzing with the sound of the famous Swiss bell hung around the neck of the cows grazing around. As the cows feasted on the grass, the bell made the most memorable fusion music. By the time we reached Engelberg, it was raining heavily so we boarded the bus to the station. Unfortunately, the bus dropped us at a distance so we had no option but to walk in the rain. We reached Luzern and straightaway took the 6 PM train to Geneva. Geneva is a long way away and our hotel was located at a faraway place, in fact, in Annemasse France. We reached Geneva at around 9 PM and were now set for another unique experience of crossing an international border and checking-in to a hotel. We took the tram that would take us to the border towards Annemasse after which we took the bus no 11 that took us to Hotel Ibis. We were not sure whether the Swiss pass works in France so we kept our fingers crossed. Luckily, no one asked and after barely 10-mins we were at Ibis Hotel. Once checked-in we had dinner at a Spanish restaurant opposite the hotel.

Jet d’Eau Fountain Geneva – 140m High

Day 2
The next day we decided not to take any risks in the bus and decided to walk it from the hotel to the border. Basically walk from France to Switzerland. Anyways there were no buses to be seen on a Sunday morning so walking would have anyways been the only option available. We checked at the hotel reception regarding the tourist spots in Geneva and what to visit. However, the lady replied that Geneva is no tourist destination and there is little to see. Even I firmly believe that if you visit Switzerland, you should not be in a city, you should be in the countryside. We still wanted to check-out Geneva. We knew about the huge Geneva Lake which we already seen on our previous trip in Lausanne and Montreux. We took the tram towards Lake Geneva. We reached the lakeside as planned and as expected it looked to be liveliest place in the city. There was a boat stop named ‘Geneve Mont Blanc’ and we decided that we will take the one hour cruise on Lake Geneva at 1 PM. The Swiss-pass would cover the cruise and hence there was no need to buy additional tickets. It was just 11 AM and hence we had ample time to take a walk down the lake side and have lunch as well. The day was hot and sunny and in direct contrast to the day before where we were freezing in Engelberg and Mt. Titlis.
Of all the things happening on the lakeside was a beach volleyball tournament. A sand-pit was built with a make-shift stadium around it with a gallery structure. Bikini-clad ladies were enjoying the summer through a game of beach volleyball. Needless to say, the gallery had good attendences who were concentrating solely on the beach volleyball game. Sandwiches were the only thing we could find to eat before we set off for the cruise at 1 PM. The lake took the shade of a beautiful blue under the sunny skies and looked gorgeous as we cruised through it. Geneva had a lot of makeshift beaches around the lake where rows of people were sun bathing on a beautiful day. The cruise took us through various landmark points; the most prominent of them is the 140m high fountain Jet d’Eau. This could be seen from probably any point from the lakeside in Geneva and as you went closer to it, it looked even more gigantic. The fountain draws its water from the lake and is probably the most significant landmark of the city of Geneva. The next most important point was the one where you get a magnificent view of the snow covered Mont Blanc peak. Being a clear day we could see it clearly and it sure was a grand sight. There were other points which were of considerable interest to my father like the headquarters of the International Labor Organization and other prominent UN offices some of which we could view from the cruise. There was little to do once the cruise was done as Asmi and I were planned to return to Prague the same day from Zurich in the evening (Parents were staying for one more day). We walked along the lake side and checked out the famous flower clock which is one more landmark of Geneva. We set off for Zurich at around 3:30 PM. Since we had the group Swiss pass, parents came along with us to see us off but only till Berne as it would have got late for them to return, cross the border and reach the hotel. We went together up to Berne after which we bought a single journey ticket to Zurich for a whopping 47 CHF per ticket and reached the bus stop well on time. Unfortunately the bus did not. It kept us waiting and waiting when it finally arrived from Spain two hours after its scheduled time of arrival. Parents came back the next day.
Trip 2: Prague -> Zurich -> Engelberg (Mt Titlis) -> Fribourg -> Interlaken -> Montreux -> Berne -> Luzern -> Zurich -> Prague

Bonigen, Interlaken

Day 1
It was time for another trip to Switzerland this time with Asmi’s mother who was visiting us. This would be a three-day trip and we planned it such that we see as much as new places as possible. Mt. Titlis would still feature in our plan as I feel it’s a must-see for any Indian tourist and it’s a personal favorite of mine. So day 1 of the trip was same as both our previous trips. The difference this time (I was determined that there should be something different) was that I took the additional ticket for the Ice Flier where you go down in a chair lift and can enjoy all types of ice sports. The weather was marginally better than what we encountered a month back though it was raining in Engelberg. On top of Titlis the visibility was better. I had a great experience enjoying the ride on the chair-lift and going to the Ice flier. I had a ride on the slay which as expected had its thrills and spills. Thankfully, it was mostly thrill and the spill happened only at the end. We did not stop at Trubzee this time as it started raining so we came straight down to Engelberg. Without wasting much time we took the train to Luzern (not before getting soaked in the rain on the way to the station). We never got a chance to visit the beautiful town of Luzern before so we decided to make full use of the chance today. We were booked at Ibis Fribourg this time which would be just an hour and a half from Luzern so we had ample time. Lake Luzern is just outside the station so that was our first destination. There was a fair going on so we packed some chinese snacks – wantons and prawns for our onward journey. We walked around the lake side from where we spotted the beautiful wooden bridge studded with flowers. It is one the most iconic sights of Luzern. We set off on our onward journey to Fribourg. Fribourg is a small town which is 25 kms from the capital city of Berne. There were no problems for us after that as the bus went directly to the hotel from Fribourg station. As usual we had the room booked for two of us and I had to be smuggled in. There was little trouble in doing that. We were already tired and done for the day. We decided to have dinner in-house in the form of Lasagne. The hotel was on the highway and the most prominent landmark was a Casino next door.

Swiss Country viewed from the Golden Pass

Day 2
We woke up and started early. Our plan was to go to Interlaken and then take the Golden pass train to Montreux. Interlaken was one place where we had been before but could not see it properly as we had less time and then got off at the wrong place. This time we had some idea and hence thought of making the most of it. We took the train from Fribourg to Berne and then the train to Interlaken. The train journey from Berne to Interlaken is a wonderful experience and we had immensely enjoyed it on our previous visit. The Thunersee Lake provides a beautiful spectacle as the train moves forward in breathtaking speed through the beautiful scenery. We got down at Interlaken Ost (unlike the previous occasion where we got down at Interlaken West) and took the bus to a place called Bonigen which provided a beautiful view of the lake. Bonigen was as expected a beautiful place. It was quite, serene and not at all flocked by tourists. I was surprised as to how such a spot in Interlaken could be left out by tourists. Anyways it was good for us. We could see the beautiful wooden houses, the greenery and most importantly the turquoise Breinzersee Lake. The weather was cloudy; there was a cool breeze blowing and the lake sported multiple shades of blue in layers. The photographs made for a typical Swiss picture postcard. We then decided to take the same bus to its last stop Iseltwald. This would be similar to Bonigen but further away. Iseltwald was as beautiful and so was the drive towards it on the bus. We were hungry by this time so we had a quick fish-n-chips meal at Iseltwald which we could not finish and packed it for our Golden Pass ride. We had to take the bus back to Interlaken Ost so we hurriedly packed off our food and boarded the bus.
We were right on time for the Golden Pass which departs Interlaken Ost at 5:30 PM. The Golden Pass provides a panoramic view of the beautiful Swiss countryside and it goes from Luzern to Montreux via Interlaken. It travels through mountains and valleys before reaching the other side of Switzerland to the beautiful French town of Montreux on the banks of Lake Geneva. The train we boarded from Interlaken was a normal gauge train (‘Broad gauge’ in our terms). After half the way, we had to change trains at Zweisimmen from where it was a narrower gauge (‘Meter gauge’ in our terms) railway track up to Montreux. This train was more luxurious and was definitely of a higher standard. The scenery also became more breathtaking as we now climbed up through the hills and through the valleys. On the way we passed a no. of small villages by the countryside like Gstaad and Saanen (The same place where we visited with Rajnish on our previous trip last year). As we approached Montreux, the weather deteriorated and soon we were travelling through torrential rain. Lake Geneva was soaked in rain and it could hardly be seen as we approached it. As it is it was quite late and hence dark and now the rain and clouds added to the darkness. We climbed down the hills and reached Montreux at around 8 PM in torrential rain. Without wasting much time, we thought of calling it a day and moving towards Fribourg. We took the next train to Lausanne which was a train coming from Milan en route to Geneva. We reached Lausanne at around 9 PM and we decided to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant just opposite the station since we saw that there was a train at around 9:45 to Fribourg. We had fond memories of Lausanne on account of our last visit here where we stayed with Rajnish, my college friend. I called Rajnish this time as well but since he was having a party at his house (and hence ‘high’ on spirits) he could not come down to the station to meet us. We finished our dinner and took the train as planned and reached Fribourg early enough to take our bus to the hotel and have a well deserved sleep.

Day 3
The plan today was to go Berne and then to Mt. Pilatus close to Luzern. Like the day before we took the train to Berne. Berne is the capital of Switzerland and a beautiful city. We took a walk from the station to the city center. The Curia Confederations building stood tall with a unique fountain outside it. We had lunch at one of the restaurants at the city center. Most of the shops were closed on account of it being a Sunday.  While walking around, we realized that we missed the 2 PM train to Luzern and hence we would have to wait for one more hour in Berne with nothing much to do. This very much ruled out our plan to reach the top of Mt. Pilatus though we still planned to reach its base in Alpnachstad. We reached Luzern at around 4 PM and immediately took the train to Alpnachstad. This was a short 20-minute journey to the bank of the beautiful Alpnachstad Lake (This is the lake which is often referred to as the ‘Yash Chopra Lake’ as many of Yash Raj films’ iconic shots have been captured on the banks of this lake). The funucular towards the 7000 feet Mt. Pilatus was right in front of the station but unfortunately we did not have the time to go up and come down as we had a bus to catch from Zurich at 7:30. Ideally if you have time the best way to see Mt. Pilatus is to take a 90-minute boat ride on Lake Luzern and Lake Alpnachstad and reach Alpnachstad, take the funucular up the steep slope and then take a cable car down straight to Luzern.
Our time was up. We sipped some hot coffee and then boarded the train to Luzern and then immediately the train to Zurich. We packed some burgers from Burger King for the journey back to Prague. Luckily this time our bus was on time and so did not have a frustrating wait at the Zurich car park (as the bus stand is known). We reached Prague in the wee hours of the morning.