We chose Switzerland on a whim. I just thought the 1.8k flights to Zurich on SQ were pretty reasonable so I booked it, and didn't expect everything else to be so expensive. Luckily, it was a family trip, so all expenses covered by the ATMs, aka the parents haha. My sister booked the flight a couple of weeks after us due to some scheduling problems, but thankfully, due to wonderful SQ, we got seats all together :)
Also, all my pictures are unedited/unfiltered, and blogger seems to reduce the quality of pictures which is really annoying, but real life is definitely prettier than whatever we took!
Day 1 - 11 Jul2017
Our flight was at 1am, and we arrived at 8am in Switzerland. Stupid me left my jacket in the plane so I had to go back to get it, so we missed the 847am train and had to take the 918am train instead to Lucerne. The ride was slightly more than an hour, so we reached around 1030 and walked to our hotel, Hotel Krone Luzern, which is a 10min walk from the station. Luckily, 1 of the rooms was ready so we could check in and leave our luggage then start exploring the old town! It's very pretty, and many many tourists around the chapel bridge.
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| Chapel bridge! |
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| Paintings at the top of the bridge |
First lunch at Manora, which reminds me of Marche. Thoroughly confused cos all the labels are in german only, but thankfully, the people speak English.
After lunch, we walked around more then went to take a boat ride on lake
lucerne at 312pm, which headed to Weggis (where there was nothing), so we just took the boat back. The whole point of this was to use our very expensive Swiss Travel Passes LOL. It kept drizzling intermittently though, so that was abit of a downer.
We arrived back at 5pm, headed to the modern art museum and uh, tried to appreciate Picasso's art works. Haha, it was too abstract for our lowly untrained eyes.
Dinner time! Pasta & ravioli at a place that my sister researched on. Delicious food, and great service. They even gave us free chocolates heh.
We arrived back at 5pm, headed to the modern art museum and uh, tried to appreciate Picasso's art works. Haha, it was too abstract for our lowly untrained eyes.
Dinner time! Pasta & ravioli at a place that my sister researched on. Delicious food, and great service. They even gave us free chocolates heh.
Day 2 - 12 Jul 2017
In a bid to beat the throng of tourists, we woke up at an absurd time and left our hotel at 640am to catch the 710am to Engelberg, followed by a cable car then the Rotair to reach Mt. Titlis! Pretty views (& cows) while we're going up.
Went through the glacier cave first which was COLD. It was in the negatives, and coming from a perpetually tropical country, we were freezing our asses off. And hoping not to slip and fall.
The cliff walk with view of the Alps. Gorgeous. It was such a great idea to be the first up there cos we had the cliff walk entirely to ourselves. It was so peaceful and serene and I LOVED it. I mean, how can you not love this view.
Spent awhile walking through the snow and just enjoying the cold, cos it's something we never have in Singapore.
We got tickets for the chairlift to the other side of the mountain where you can take this plastic sled thingy down a slope. Was abit scared to do it at first, but it was SO FUN, I did it thrice with my sis! The last time, we were supposed to race but I fell and almost flipped lol. So I ended up with abrasions on my hip and frostbite on my hands cos I used my hands to break the fall. FAIL :(
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| So. Much. Snow! |
We got tickets for the chairlift to the other side of the mountain where you can take this plastic sled thingy down a slope. Was abit scared to do it at first, but it was SO FUN, I did it thrice with my sis! The last time, we were supposed to race but I fell and almost flipped lol. So I ended up with abrasions on my hip and frostbite on my hands cos I used my hands to break the fall. FAIL :(
There is a travellator to go back up, and I found THIS scarier than going down! And the fog was really really intense.
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| Before the fog. |
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| Engulfed in the cloud!! |
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After having too much fun and a couple of injuries, we
got back down to Engelberg around 1215. But realised the train was at
1301, so we went to the supermarket (aka the fantastic Co-op) to get food for lunch. They had these hot chicken wings that were surprisingly good. And
lindt chocolates. Must get chocolates anywhere and everywhere we can.
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| Pretty Engelberg |
45min train ride back, went back to the hotel to offload our jackets, then headed to the famous dying lion monument. Which was packed with tourists ._. Ok la, it was slightly more impressive than in the pics haha.
Then we went into the geological museum beside the monument which was quite interesting. It was mainly about climate change and evolution of mankind and Luzern.
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| This is a pothole! |
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| Lookout for the pretty city |
More pictures of pretty Lucerne
Day 3 - 13 Jul 2017
Moving bases and going into the heart of Switzerland today. Took
the train from Lucerne to Interlaken, then Lauterbrunnen and finally to Wengen where we stayed for 3 nights. Its a classic alpine
village and super quaint with awesome views. Really, people who go to Switzerland should be staying in Berner Oberland rather than the cities imo!
We reached around 11, and walked all the way up to our hotel, Beausite Park Hotel, because we didn't know how to
call the hotel to arrange for pickup LOL. I think this is our most expensive hotel of
the whole trip cos everything else looked very suspicious haha. The hotel's exterior was already great and atas-looking, and we got served drinks on arrival :D However, the room wasn't ready so
we went to eat lunch first.
Lunch was just down the street at a random restaurant. We had chicken wings & fries and mac & cheese that was super good! We intended to go to Switzerland to diet because food will be too expensive, but we failed terribly haha.
Went back up to check into our lovely family room! There's no air conditioning but that's fine cos it's really cooling at night. I loved the room. Clean, spacious enough but still cozy.
Our plan for the day was to take the cable car to Manlichen, then trek to Kleine Scheidigg to take the train back to Wengen. At Manlichen, there is this fairly steep slope up to the viewpoint and I was like...dying. It's SCARY! Coming down was even worse lol - my sis kept telling me I had a shuffling gait after I taught her the signs of Parkinsons.
Switzerland likes to have playgrounds in random places, so here's a bowling lane at the mountain.
And then from the Manlichen start point, we trekked 1.5h around the mountain to Kleine Scheidigg. All my exercise for the year. Crazy views too!!
On the train back back to Wengen, we realised that we had to pay 72chf for this 20min ride because our Swiss Travel Passes didn't cover it. Being poor and stingy, it was rather upsetting for us. And so to save money (and cos we were really full from lunch), we dabao-ed pizza back to the room to eat! It was great, too :D
Day 4 - 14 Jul 2017
Started the day with breakfast at the hotel restaurant which had a great spread.
Took the train to Lauterbrunnen, followed by a bus. And then we then walked 2h back to Lauterbrunnen along the stream, farm area and waterfalls! So beautiful and peaceful.
Then took the train to Interlaken to take a boat ride along Lake Thun. The weather was a bit mad - the wind was super strong, but the sun was also super strong and my scalp got sunburnt ._.
We dropped off at Oberhofen to visit their small castle. Wish we had more time, cos it was very interesting!
Then continued our boat ride to Thun where we just explored the place and had dinner. It's a pretty place with a random ferris wheel. My dad thought there was a fair and was so excited (for food at the fair), but there was NO fair hahaha.
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| A 'pocket view' of the castle - as my dad calls it |
As usual, how we find food is to just go to the #1 on TripAdvisor. When we went in, they asked for reservation which we obviously didn't make. So they said we could eat there but there's a reservation at 730. The time then was around 635 - we were out by 715! Fastest diners!
We ordered the risotto, ravioli and salad and they were AMAZING.
Since the train back was half an hour later, we went to get ice cream!
Arrived back at wengen around 930, and oh my, the walk back was super cold. But wow the view of the mountain.
Day 5 - 15 Jul 2017
After breakfast at the hotel again, we caught the train to Interlaken then to Brienz, then a bus to the Ballenberg open air museum! Another place that we decided to go because it was free with the Swiss Travel Passes, and a really unique type of museum.
And
omg it's bloody humongous. It's 'open air' because the exhibits are of old Swiss houses and related
buildings like farmhouses, bakeries, cheese making places, barns etc.
And lots of animals!! Goats, pigs, horses, donkeys, chickens, rabbits,
cows. It was like we went on a zoo trip haha.
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| I think she was making some kind of textile? |
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| Is this not the fattest, ugliest chicken ever?! |
At around 2plus, we wanted to leave, but realised the bus back to the
station is only at 306, and the train timings to our next area (Schynige Platte) meant that we would have like no time there before needing to
catch the last train down. Definitely a lapse in research, oh no :(
But we still decided to go ahead because the alternatives weren't very interesting and there wasn't much time. And so we made it to Wilderswil to take the cogwheel train up....except they had technical difficulties and the last train up was suspended LOL. The person told us that they don't even know whether they'll be going up. And if we do go up, we cant leave the train as it's only to pick people up. And apparently there are alot of people to pick up! Oh my, Murphy's law indeed.
But we persevered and waited a full hour before the train started moving. And then 10min up, the train stopped and we panicked lol. By this time we wanted to give up and go down already :(
But as it turned out, there were other trains bringing people down. And then as we moved higher and higher, the views were seriously amazing. Worth it tbh. (And free with Swiss pass haha)
When we reached the top, there were had hardly any passengers to pick up since almost everyone already got down on other trains. So we continued our photo taking competition on the way down haha. Not the most fruitful use of time, but it was fun nonetheless. Truly, the people you holiday with are as important as the places you go.
But we still decided to go ahead because the alternatives weren't very interesting and there wasn't much time. And so we made it to Wilderswil to take the cogwheel train up....except they had technical difficulties and the last train up was suspended LOL. The person told us that they don't even know whether they'll be going up. And if we do go up, we cant leave the train as it's only to pick people up. And apparently there are alot of people to pick up! Oh my, Murphy's law indeed.
But we persevered and waited a full hour before the train started moving. And then 10min up, the train stopped and we panicked lol. By this time we wanted to give up and go down already :(
But as it turned out, there were other trains bringing people down. And then as we moved higher and higher, the views were seriously amazing. Worth it tbh. (And free with Swiss pass haha)
When we reached the top, there were had hardly any passengers to pick up since almost everyone already got down on other trains. So we continued our photo taking competition on the way down haha. Not the most fruitful use of time, but it was fun nonetheless. Truly, the people you holiday with are as important as the places you go.
The usual way back was to take the train back to Lauterbrunnen, then to Wengen. The second ride had 2 elderly gentlemen who were Swiss musicians and they started playing music for the tourists on the train, which was such a pleasant experience!
We reached Wengen around 830, and headed to eat at the #1 restaurant to have our last dinner here. Great food again! (omg I didn't know we ordered so many dishes! I think the bread and the 2nd item were free though :D)
Day 6 - 16 Jul 2017
Jungfraujoch day!! So my sister was really reluctant to come here because it's exorbitant, but I was pretty insistent. And thankfully, we did!
On the advice of the internet that we should only book tickets when we're sure the weather is good, we woke up super early to buy tickets from our hotel, check out and have breakfast.
Then
rush to the train station! The train was to Kleine Scheidigg to take the
jungfraujoch bahn. And cos we're kiasu Singaporeans, we reserved seats and had
priority in going up hehe.
We headed to the sphinx first for the observatory and it was
freaking SNOWING. It's only my second or third time seeing snowfall, but my sister's first. I'm sure she was happy that I was so insistent. Oh, and it was also also freezing at -1 degrees. Actually, the temperature is ok, but the wind
kills!
So after a long time freezing our asses off to get pics, we went down to the alpine place to see various displays and the history of how the railway train was built. It's quite sad how many lives were sacrificed for this :(
Then went to the ice palace to see ice sculptures! COLD.
So after a long time freezing our asses off to get pics, we went down to the alpine place to see various displays and the history of how the railway train was built. It's quite sad how many lives were sacrificed for this :(
Then went to the ice palace to see ice sculptures! COLD.
And then we finally went out to the snow covered area! COLD COLD COLD!!! But seriously, the views are stunning. I want to cry.
Then had to catch the 1243 train down to Kleine Scheidegg - isn't it just breathtaking.
Back to Wengen, returned to the hotel to get our luggage and catch the train to Lauterbrunnen, then Interlaken, then Spiez and finally Bern. Grrrrrrr 4 connections!! And Bern was burning hot. Body was getting whiplash from the extreme temperatures haha.
We booked Hotel Savoy Bern which is GREAT - 2min from the station, very new and nicely furnished! And the shower is controlled by BUTTONS.
Bern city is prettyyy!
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| An attempt at the instagrammy photos - FAIL haha |
Since Bern is the city of bears, first stop was the bear park which housed 3 bears, and also some contained some information on the history of bears in Bern.
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| Bearbear! |
Day 7 - 17 Jul 2017
The plan for the day was our DIY chocolate train! So first, to Gruyere, a small little village and famous for gruyere cheese.
Which also had a great chocolate shop.
We headed to the castle first
Then to this museum dedicated to the movie Aliens. This is how the counter looks like lmao.
And of course, you must try gruyere cheese when in Gruyere! Yumms, but omg they gave so many potatoes and so much bread for 1 serving. 4 of us couldn't finish even half of that.
Next, headed to Broc for our chocolate factory tour! My sister is an absolute chocolate fanatic, and the biggest fan of Milo, a product of Nestle, so she was EXTREMELY ENTHUSIASTIC lol. The tour covered the history of chocolate, the ingredients and production. And of course, I tried so much chocolate I wanted to die after that. And bought lots of chocolates too!!
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| Raw ingredients for you to try! |
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| Sneak peek into the production process of their chocs |
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| Alot alot alot of chocolates to try! |
It was about 6plus by the time we returned to Bern, and we decided to buy food from the station to bring back to our hotel to eat! Yes that's dinner for 4 people. We're small eaters :D Also featuring my favourite drink, Rivella!
Day 8 - 18 Jul 2017
Our last full day :(
Starbucks and sandwich for breakfast today. And omg the Starbucks is mad expensive! Even in chf, it's more expensive than the sg one ._.
Walked around Bern, tried to shop but failed because everything is too pricey haha. Then we happened to come across a very inconspicuous sign that said einsteinhaus, so we went to Google and found out that Einstein lived in Bern before and was a Swiss citizen. Don't know why we missed this very important fact in our research, but luckily we chanced upon that and found out there's an Einstein museum in Bern! So we abandoned our shopping plans and headed to the museum. There were also other exhibits like Red Indians, which was super interesting too. And of course, the Einstein museum was great! And very cheem haha they tried to explain his theories and I caught no ball lol. Physics was never my thing - that's why I'm studying medicine!
By the time we left, it was almost 12 so we rushed back to check out, then went to grab some ice cream before leaving for the station to take the train to Zurich!
We reached Zurich around 2 and had to walk in the scorching sun to our hotel, Hotel Aldstadt. It was surprisingly nice! We had very little choice but this room is big and comfy. But the bathroom doors have holes ohmygod. We used our brochures to cover the holes ._.
Being museum enthusiasts, we headed to the Swiss National Museum! But we only had 1.5h to work cos they close at 5pm SHARP. Very interesting, and omg so high tech I can't. Singapore has a long way to go before it becomes a smart nation.
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| Being a medical student, I was vaguely amused by the museum displaying medications and HAD to snap a pic >< |
Since we got kicked out of the museum, from 5 - 8pm we went to shop and buy stuff from co-op! All the
chocolatessss. Also got Sprungli's truffes du jour which is their truffle
of the day. We got 8 pieces for 20
chf :O But they're really REALLY good.
Also did some sight seeing. I love travelling in summer to Europe because the days are so long that we can be so much more productive.
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| Miniature version of the building above for the blind with a sign in braille too! |
Final dinner at a traditional Swiss place. Yums!
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| Zurich is pretty at night too! |
Then headed to the airport for our arduous 12h flight home. And of course, we couldn't pass up any opportunity to buy MORE chocolates. We bought quite a selection - I had 1 box to myself, my sis got 1. But ultimately, the Truffes du Jour are the best. Hazelnut was pretty good too!
Post-trip comments
Had the most amazing time in Switzerland. Truly a lovely place and the definition of a first world country. Clean toilets (amazing, for how high usage they are!), friendly people, high tech facilities, great food, breathtaking views. The only thing that's keeping me from going back is the price haha! So expensive, but SO WORTH IT.