Planning a trip to Switzerland? We’re sharing some of the best things to do, must-see sights, local highlights, and tips to maximize your adventure and save money. Discover Interlakenās stunning landscapes, immerse yourself in the alpine magic of Zermatt, and soak in the history and charm of Lucerne. Perfect for first-time visitors or seasoned travelers looking for inspiration, this guide is your key to experiencing Switzerland at its best.
Check out our Switzerland Itineraries: 8 Day Summer Switzerland Itinerary, 4 days in Interlaken, 2 days in Zermatt, & 2 days Lucerne
Switzerland Tips & Must Visit Places Episode Highlights:
- Top of Europe: Jungfraujoch
- Staubbach Falls- Interlaken
- Lauterbrunnen- Interlaken
- Oeschinensee Lake Hike- Interlaken
- Gornergrat Railway – Zermatt
- Riffelsee – Riffelberg via Gornergrat Hike- Zermatt
- Lion Monument- Lucerne,
- Musegg Wall- lucerne
- Stoos Ridge Hike- lucerne
Our top recommended Hotels in Bern, Switzerland
- Hotel Moxy Bern
- Hotel Jardin Bern
- Hotel BƤren am Bundesplatz
- If these hotels are fully booked, you can also check out other great hotel options in Bern.
Check out our Switzerland Activities & Tours for all activities we recommend and even some that we wanted to do but couldn’t get to.
Listen to our other episodes on Switzerland to get more detailed trip guidance: Interlaken, Lucerne, Zermatt.
Find a great flight deal to Switzerland by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year subscription.
Switzerland Tips & Must Visit Places – Episode Transcript
0:35
And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.
Hello fellow travelers, welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.
Today we are taking you to Switzerland to share some of our best train travel and money saving tips, as well as some must visit places across the Greater Interlochen region.
1:01
And although we all went to Switzerland this summer, Jamal and I went on one trip and then Kim went with honorary squad member Charlotte on another.
So we’ve had a few recent Switzerland episodes.
We had an episode on Interlochen Lucerne, Sir Matt, and then we did a side trip to Liechtenstein, which I know it’s technically not Switzerland, but right next to it.
1:22
So we’re going to do this episode a little bit differently since we just did all of those very detailed in depth episode about each place.
Kim and Charlotte did a lot of the same things, but they did this trip differently.
They didn’t rent a car, they did train travel.
1:38
And so they had quite a different experience.
So instead of doing our typical format where we normally dive in day by day, we’re going to talk about the places you should go, things you should do, and tips for navigating Switzerland by train and bus and saving money.
Yeah.
I’m really curious to hear your perspective on Switzerland, Kim, and how you guys traveled.
1:57
Like Brittany said, of course we had the rental car.
You guys journeyed via train.
And so of course, you did have a good amount of time in Switzerland, but also a short amount of time in Switzerland.
So I’m curious to see how with the train schedules you get there, did what you did, etcetera, and just dive into stuff.
2:15
Because even though we did a lot of the same things, I feel like we did several things a little bit differently too, minus the train travel.
So really excited to dive into that and give our squaddies a different perspective of Switzerland travel.
We were there for six days, that includes the day we got there and the day we left.
2:31
So the day we left was very early in the morning.
We were going from Zermatt to Milan.
So truly five days really to do stuff, stuff in Switzerland.
We did a lot in Switzerland.
We stayed in Bern, we went to Tune Spees, Grindelwald.
2:48
We did another hike kind of near Grindelwald called Glacier Canyon.
We went to Lauderburn Inn and Lutzerne.
That’s a lot to do in five days.
We were really go, go, go.
And Thermat.
And Thermat, yes, for aftermath, yes, of course.
And I even worked a couple of those days.
3:04
So we really packed a lot in on this time.
Charlotte was absolutely exhausted.
I really worked her to her core on this part of the trip.
And she wasn’t even the one working.
That’s right, that’s right.
So we were busy, we learned a lot and I believe Switzerland would make a fantastic remote work country.
3:24
If you are looking to go to a place, continue to work remote for your job, but still travel and see things.
I thought it was fantastic.
The time zones make it so that you can do much of your stuff earlier in the day, get back to your home, say around 2:00-ish PM, and then work in the evening.
3:43
If those are your work hours.
There’s other reasons too.
It’s incredibly safe.
Internet is abundant.
I never went without Internet connection here.
It was amazing.
There are so many places where you can sit down, have coffee, have a drink, do some work.
Transportation is really easy and very, very reliable.
4:00
The schedule is the schedule.
It’s not like some other countries like Italy that we’re going to talk about one of the next episodes where maybe it’s not so reliable.
Switzerland is on point.
Yeah, I remember getting ready for this trip.
We were going to do a same hike, the stoves hike, and you said, how is Internet up there?
4:17
And he said, oh man, we had Internet everywhere.
We would.
So you’re like, OK, perfect.
If I have to work here, I can find a place to work and get some stuff done.
Yep, you absolutely can.
So a money saving tip that you could leverage is to stay outside of these main areas.
4:33
We stayed in Byrne, which is a bit out of the way.
If you’re coming to this area, you’re going to go to Grindelwald, you’re going to go to Lauderburn in right stews maybe these are places that are a little bit harder to get to.
If you stay in Bern, it’s a little bit farther out, adds another 30 ish minutes onto your travel, but I highly recommend it if you’re looking to save money.
4:54
It is a lot more affordable and a great option if you’re going by train.
Truly.
We stayed at the Moxie Expo in Bern.
It was right next to the train station.
It was also right next to a coupe, which made it very easy for us to get up in the morning, get some free cappuccino from the lobby downstairs, go to coop, get a croissant, get snacks for the day, and then get right on the train.
5:19
Love how you’re calling it Coop Brittany and I called it Co aw.
That’s incorrect.
It’s.
Coop.
It is coop.
You had a Swiss person tell you this, huh?
Yes.
In fact, we made friends.
We made friends on the train.
They’re actually Irish, but they’ve been living here in Switzerland for quite a while.
5:34
And they said, oh, you said Coop, you said it right.
So if you listen to our past episode, Brittany and I in Switzerland, we said Co-op.
Scratch that.
Apparently it’s a coop.
I think you’ll figure it out when you see it, right?
Of course of what we’re talking about in the store.
But Brittany and I thought it was Co-op because if you actually look at the signage and the colors, it’s like the first Co is a different color and then the last OP is a different color.
5:58
So we thought it was like Co-op but coop.
Good to know.
The main reason we stayed in Bern was because there’s a Moxie hotel there.
Moxie is a part of the Marriott family and between Charlotte and I we had enough points to get 4 free nights at the Moxie.
6:15
This was incredible because even if you were paying for the hotel here, it would have been about 2:50 to 300 a night in August.
It’s also, they told us, usually sold out June, July, and August every single year.
So we used our points.
We saved $1200 if it was $300 a night just on our hotel alone.
6:37
That’s a major benefit to add on 30 minutes of train travel a day.
Very, very good trade off.
My points were direct with Marriott.
Her points were through the Chase Sapphire portal.
We both had points.
And here’s a fun fact, it was about I want to say like 25,000 points for Marriott to get this hotel a night, a night.
6:57
Typically Marriott’s go 18 to like they could go up to 75,000 or more.
Yeah, that’s actually not bad.
I mean, it sounds like Burn was a good spot for you guys to do train travel.
You were right next to a train station, you were right next to a coop, and you saved a ton of money by booking with points.
7:14
And we got free cappuccinos in the lobby.
I don’t think we were supposed to take them, but we did.
But what I was going to say about the points is Charlotte booked through the Chase Sapphire portal.
The hotel did not cost that much for her.
It was 22,000 points for two nights, whereas in Marriott points it was 25,000 a night.
7:31
So that was interesting.
Yeah, there’s definitely a differential of like points in the yeah, point value and like the Marriott system versus like travel portal.
So we could get into a whole different episode on that.
But yeah, definitely good to know.
Now of course the tip is to stay next to a train station.
7:49
We stayed.
It was a one minute walk across the road to the train station.
Made it extremely convenient.
The trains are running frequently all day long.
Like we never waited more than, I don’t know, 10:00-ish minutes for a train, but the one right by our place was constant.
8:04
It’s, we were in a business district, so it’s very, very constant.
I also really like staying in hotels like this because they’re just, they’re reliable, they’re nice, they have the amenities that you’re looking for.
They have a front desk.
We were considering staying more in like Interlochen or in Murin closer into that region.
8:23
And every hotel that was available when we were looking two months ahead of time was still the $300 range, two, 5300, but they were basically hot hostels.
So it’s worth it to stay and burn at a hotel 30 minutes further out.
That’s the other tip.
If you can book well ahead of time, I know for you 2, you booked well ahead of time.
8:42
And there was a lot more options when we were looking.
A lot of stuff was sold out.
But we also only started planning this two months before we went Now for the train.
I do have some other tips.
We did the Swiss Travel Pass for six days.
It’s sold based on day.
So you can do like one day, three days, six days.
8:59
We chose the six days and it cost us less than 500 bucks for the six days and we used it a lot.
But what I found interesting is that no one checks your ticket.
We did have a couple towards the end of the trip, but for four days straight no one checked our ticket.
That’s completely crazy to hear you say that, Kim, because everywhere we were in Switzerland now, in fairness, we didn’t ride the trains moving you throughout the country, right?
9:23
We’re talking like the gondolas as well as the cogwheel trains that’ll take you up the mountain, right?
Everyone checked the ticket but you’re saying they didn’t check it too much in terms of your intra country travel from one city to the next?
Right.
And so we actually don’t even have tickets.
9:38
I learned this very quickly on the first day as well.
When you have the Swiss Travel Pass, you don’t need a ticket, You just have your pass.
So if they do come around to check your ticket, you just show them your pass.
You will use the SBB mobile app.
So make sure that you download that to your phone and that you follow it and that your phone has Internet connection.
9:57
Because if you don’t have Wi-Fi or a phone data plan, you won’t be able to see the train schedules and you need to see those.
There’s tons of trains.
You just type in, say you’re going burn to Grindelwald and it tells you the route.
It tells you different times how long the train route is gonna take.
10:13
Sometimes they vary depending on the stops.
A lot of times you’re getting off of 1 train onto another.
So what you’ll read is the platform number and the times and then the it’ll say the train number that it is.
So that’s how you can kind of verify, OK, I’m at platform 4.
This is train 61.
10:29
I’m on the right train.
I learned the train system very well.
You know me and trains didn’t have a good relationship prior to this trip, but I think I’ve recovered.
I think it’s just the fact that it’s Swiss trains, those French trains maybe that you’re referring to and your bad luck on those ones.
Little bit different.
10:45
Mr. Train in Anaheim shortly after that.
Which one?
Anything American with trains, you can’t count on that either because you know, America’s not known for trains.
So.
That’s right, it’s their fault.
Yeah, I think so too.
But the Swiss train is very, very easy to use and they’re comfortable and they don’t have Wi-Fi on the train.
11:03
Some of them do, but it doesn’t really work.
Like in order to get on the Wi-Fi, you have to get a text to your phone.
So if you don’t have Internet on your phone, you will never get that text.
Or you get a code sent to your e-mail, but you can’t.
So it’s kind of a mess.
I would not count on train Wi-Fi, but you can count on it to follow a schedule and be on time.
11:22
Now, I mentioned Coop before.
Coop has the best food.
We talked about this in your episode as well.
The best food?
The prosciutto croissant, hot in the morning, so good.
The cold caramel latte, Delicious.
You can get cheese, salami, crackers, chips, nuts, fruit, yogurts like they have everything.
11:41
It’s so good.
I’m not going to lie, I’m going to reiterate it here.
My favorite meals of anything that we ate in Switzerland were at Coop’s.
I didn’t really enjoy any of the food in the restaurants.
They were OK to me.
Brittany liked it more than me.
I take that back.
There was like 1 meal that was good.
11:57
But for the most part, meals in Switzerland restaurants, I thought average Coop meals and snacks and things that you could get.
I was big on the rotisserie chicken here, loved it.
Go here.
It’s probably going to be the best food and at the lowest price.
Actually didn’t see a rotisserie chicken and any of the ones I went into.
Oh.
12:12
Man we got the rotisserie chicken multiple times.
That was my favorite go to.
They have different stuff at different coops.
So we’re in a business district.
We had a lot of like salads and bowls and sandwiches, but we would go into them at different train stations and they all had different things.
12:27
We would always get stuff to eat while we were on the go.
So we would just be on a hike and sit down and have a little picnic of cheese, crackers, salami, wine.
We we brought wine with us every single day and drink it out.
I highly recommend doing that.
12:42
Have picnics along the way.
It’s beautiful country for it.
Just sit and enjoy the scenery.
One of the best things I ate.
Me and Charlotte one night we got from Coop.
She got a carbonara and I got a red Thai Curry with rice and they were microwavable and we got back to our hotel at night, microwaved it.
13:00
So delicious.
And saved a lot of money than just eating out because those restaurants cost quite a bit of money.
Yes.
And me and Charlotte kind of went back and forth.
So she we might get the breakfast and the lunch that we got and then later in the day we would kind of always stop in twice, get another, we’d get like wine and more snacks and maybe something for dinner.
13:19
And then I would pick that one up.
So that allowed us to save a ton of money.
And Speaking of money, I know that everyone says Switzerland’s a very expensive country.
And yes, it is higher price than a lot of places.
I actually did not feel like it was exorbitant.
13:37
I mean, we stopped in, we got apparel spritzes in one place and it was 8 francs, not expensive.
When you’re comparing this to like what you’re used to in San Diego or Austin prices.
I mean, obviously coupe wasn’t expensive, but the way that we did it too, going back and forth, we probably spent like $25 or $30 a day each, not expensive.
13:57
That’s a really great strategy.
If you’re going with a couple, a friend or group to take turns making the purchase and share stuff, you will save so much money and Switzerland won’t be as expensive as you think it is.
Another tip I have for you.
So if you’re traveling this way, you’re going to be on buses, you’re going to be on trains, You might be waiting for a train for say, 15 minutes, and you’re going to be hiking.
14:20
Highly recommend sharing air pods with your partner.
One of you has one in, the other one has the other, and you have the same song playing.
You’re laughing, but actually it adds so much to the experience.
No, no, I’m not laughing.
You’re seeing my face, Kim, and I’m smiling because I see and agree with the thought of your vibing on the same page versus doing your own thing.
14:42
It’s another way of while you’re travelling and on the train, really travelling with that person by sharing the experience even.
I mean, it makes a bus a hell of a lot more interesting.
It gives you energy while you’re hiking.
Like there were some moments where we were hiking in the rain and like you could kind of get down in the dumps when that happens, Like, but the vibes, you put the music in, turns it into a dance party.
15:05
You’re having a really good time.
It got to the point on the trip where we’d be like on a bus and we’re like the vibes.
We need the vibes.
And then you put the earphone in and it’s like, it’s a great experience.
And then one other tip I have for you, I just noticed when we were in Grindelwald, we found a souvenir shop that had so much Swiss stuff, chocolates and fondue sets and all this beautiful Swiss and cuckoo clocks and all this stuff.
15:30
We were interested in purchasing it, but this was really like one of our first big days out.
And so we’re like, oh, I’m sure we’ll see this stuff all over the place.
There really wasn’t that many other souvenir stores that we came across actually.
And we did notice A5 pack of chocolate bars was 12 Franks in this Grindelwald souvenir store.
15:49
By the end of our trip, we were in Zermatt.
We were like, this is our last chance.
We did find some and they were 18.
So I do think the souvenir shop in Grindelwald is going to be your best option and pricing for Swiss souvenirs.
My last tip for you is about the buses.
When you get on a bus, make sure that you know which way you’re going because the bus route will be say bus 800 and it goes east and West.
16:13
But if you’re trying to go West and you get on the east bus, you’re screwed.
You’re going to add a lot of time on.
Make sure that when you get on that bus, you’re going the correct direction.
It’s not like the trains where they’re only going one way.
Well, that’s a lot of great tips.
And before we get into the rest of the episode, we’re going to talk about places to see, things to do.
16:31
I want to remind all of you, Squatty, is that we do have itineraries for Switzerland.
We have one specifically for the Interlochen region, Zermatt, Lucerne, and then we have one that ties all three areas together.
So be sure to go to Shop Travel Squad podcast and check those out.
16:49
Places to see things to do in Switzerland?
The first I will say is Lauder Brennan 1000% you have to go here.
I know it’s going to be high on many people’s lists, but I was blown away by this area.
Gorgeous valleys, huge cascading Cliff mountains, beautiful pointy churches.
17:09
This was actually the place that the author of The Lord of the Rings was inspired to write the books right here.
I had no clue that this is where Tolkien was inspired for it.
Yes, absolutely, and it’s gorgeous.
You will feel inspired here.
Of course you’re going to go see Starbuck Falls.
17:27
It’s the little waterfall that comes off the Cliff that you can hike up to.
I would highly, highly recommend you continue by bus on to Tremel Block Falls.
This is definitely one of the coolest things that we did in Switzerland.
It’s about a 10:00-ish minute bus ride.
17:42
You get there, you pay about 13 francs to go in.
The only reason I went here is because I saw it tick tock.
That gave a day itinerary for Lauder Brennan and it said do this bus, then go in a train in a cave and then you can go on to Mirren Valley.
That was the plan, but we started late.
We didn’t get to the rest of it.
17:59
I just thought Trouble Block Falls was going to be a waterfall like Starbuck Falls.
No, no, no, no, no.
I was like, why do you have to pay to go in?
This is a massive cave slash slot Canyon system that has 20 different places to view this extremely powerful waterfall.
18:17
You go up the stairs, you go through it.
There’s like a cave elevator you can take up.
You feel so small.
It’s like truly one of the coolest things that we did there and I think it’s very, very underrated.
Yeah, you know, it was on potential things to do, but it did not make our list.
18:33
But I’m glad you got to see it.
The the reason why we didn’t do it was because we were going to like our gorge and we felt like it had a similar vibe.
No, not at all, not at all.
So I didn’t even know what it was going to be, right?
This TikTok that I saw just said go there.
18:49
It is more like a cave, whereas our gorge is a gorge.
You’re walking on planks through it.
Chamel Block Falls is actually vertical.
You’re walking up it.
You’re walking upstairs through The Cave system.
There’s no wooden planks.
When you see the waterfall, you just see portions of it and it hides away into The Cave until the next viewpoint where you see it flow out again.
19:11
Very interesting.
I’m glad you got to see it and that it was one of the coolest things that you guys did.
And in fact, if it’s raining, I would recommend coming here instead of our gorge, which I’m going to get to right now in just a SEC here.
It’s actually enclosed.
So if it’s raining outside, you would still be able to go in and it would be beautiful.
19:28
It’s not like the water is like beautiful blue and that’s the draw of it.
It’s just this amazing cave system and extremely powerful waterfall.
I’ll just skip on over to Our Gorge since I mentioned it.
I have a bone to pick with this place.
TikTok will steer you wrong.
19:45
They will tell you that it’s a great place to visit if it’s raining because one of the days that we were in Switzerland was very, very rainy.
We were going to do stoves that day.
We decided to switch it up and do our Gorge and then Lauderburn and instead our gorge is not a place you want to visit when it’s raining because our gorge, the draw of it in addition to being this beautiful gorge system.
20:08
Is that the water is incredibly blue, turquoise, beautiful blue, right?
You guys saw that?
We did.
We did.
When it’s raining, that beautiful blue turns into a beautiful poopy brown.
You know that happens a lot of places like Havasupai Falls when it rains, turns brown.
20:24
Same for a lot of other places.
I have no idea why anyone would tell you to visit when it’s raining.
I still think it’s a unique situation, but you’re right.
I mean this one here, if you’re going to compare what you did at Trumelbach Falls versus here, sure.
20:39
But gorge wise, because this one you’re walking pretty straight here at Arch Gorge and you had the rain so you didn’t really get the colors.
Brittany and I did another hike in this region that was also another kind of gorge style hike going through up in a waterfall and around like that.
20:55
So we appreciated that.
I can see how it’s like the falls that you did, whereas this one not so much.
And if you parking back to our old episode on this area, I think I said this is the one that if you’re going to do one of the other, this would be the the skip one here that you had the bad experience on, but you were LED.
21:12
Astray Gorge, Yeah, you mean?
Yeah, where I think somebody LED you astray with the the coloration of the water.
If it’s raining, you’re not going to get it, of course.
Well, The thing is, they completely disregard mentioning that the water will change color when it rains.
And of course you should know that like it’s raining, it’s going to bring in mud and dirt from the washdown.
21:32
But the main draw of our gorge, because there are a lot of gorge hikes and pathways in Switzerland, the main draw is that it’s a beautiful blue.
If you want to see that beautiful blue, just don’t go when it’s raining.
And like I did that Glacier Canyon Gorge hike near Grindelwald as well.
21:49
It was blue.
Not quite as blue as our gorgeous, supposed to be beautiful gorge.
Way less people.
Our gorge was riddled with people.
Not that I would steer me away if I could see the blue, but that’s just something to note for our gorge.
Though I would recommend since in my version, then I’m taking the train.
22:08
If you’re taking the train, when you leave the gorge, you walk down to the train station.
And it was funny because after our gorge, we had a bottle of wine with us from Georgia in my backpack.
We were asking around for a wine opener because we didn’t have one.
22:24
That’s another tip.
Bring a wine opener.
There is a large group of we, what we thought was German men, but they turned out they’re Swiss German.
They’re from Swiss, but they call it Swiss German.
We are like, do you guys have a wine opener by chance?
And they did have one.
22:39
They gave it to us.
Charlotte’s trying to open it.
And then the men are like, pull my beer, give me that.
And then they open it for us.
And it’s this funny thing.
And then we don’t have cups, so we just drink it out of the bottle.
And they all start busting up laughing.
This cute moment we had with these Swiss men.
So we walked down and we’re waiting a little bit, and then the group of Swiss men walk past this and they kind of disappear on the road.
23:02
And we’re like, where did they go?
And so a minute later, we’re going to walk to the train station.
We’re like, this must be the way they went, which is like down into the trees.
Not really a road at all.
But yes, once you leave the gorge, you turn left, you go down into the trees.
That’s the way to the train station.
23:17
And you will be blessed to see a beautiful herd of sheep with bells on them.
There was a cute one that we named Jamal.
I got one named after me.
I hope in a good way and not in a bad way.
He was a cutie.
OK, good.
I’ll take that, but still, nevertheless, minus the way the sheep looked, I hope it was named in good spirit.
23:39
Yeah.
And so we sat there and drank some of our wine and you have the beautiful mountain views and it was all foggy because it was rainy.
And then we have the sheep with their bells and so that was like really picturesque.
I would recommend doing that.
Between the wine and the sheep and the views, it saved the brown water day.
23:55
Next place I recommend visiting.
You all recommended to me actually to go to Luterne and so I wanted to see it.
You said, yeah, it’s a beautiful town.
You could have a drink, be by the water, right?
That was your recommendation?
Yeah, slow travel and get a drink or food right next to the lake.
24:11
And I do think that’s a good idea.
We went towards the end of the day, we were just barely going to see it during the daylight, but also at night.
And we looked at pictures of it at night and it looked really pretty lit up.
So we’re like, all right, let’s go.
We made a mistake though.
We walked directly out of the train station and then around right towards the bigger part of the lake.
24:30
And it’s really boring over there.
What you want to do is walk out of the train station and go left.
This is where the bridges are that you could walk across all the like seating along the smaller part of the lake right there.
We did that after it got dark and it was really beautiful to see at night.
But I don’t think there’s any purpose to even go on that right side unless you’re going into the city.
24:49
Just exit the train station, go left, and enjoy your time over there.
When we were there, they were actually having a music festival on that bigger part, so.
Oh well, we did see a music performance actually, like a whole orchestra was going on right there.
25:04
So that was kind of nice to see.
But yeah, the better places are kind of near the bridges, Chapel Bridge in those smaller canals versus along the Big Lake.
We saw yachts and we were like, oh, let’s go over there.
And then, you know, there was nothing really going on.
25:21
I mentioned Burn in the beginning of the episode.
And there’s lots of reasons to visit Burn outside of just being a more affordable place to stay.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage city that the Old Town is.
It’s really cool to see beautiful old buildings.
25:37
But here’s why you really should go if you’re going to Switzerland in the summer.
All of us have probably seen these reels or TikTok videos about the Swiss people who commute home from work by river.
They put their clothes in a dry bag and they float down the river back home.
25:52
Well, we actually saw it in real life and it was so cool.
Just hundreds of people floating home from work with their dry bags right in front of us in burn.
Did you do it too?
Well, we didn’t know this was going to happen.
We were just kind of walking around and stumbled upon it.
26:09
We were actually at the park and Wasser.
We were having an Aperol spritz and a Rosa spritz on the river.
And then we started seeing these people floating and getting out of the river right there and we’re like, what is going on?
We looked farther and we just see hundreds of people and we’re like, no way, this is real.
26:25
People really do this.
And so we walk over there more where people are getting off.
Come to find out this is Mazzelli Park.
It’s a huge park.
We just see everybody playing smack ball and picnicking and having wine and food and their families are out there.
So people literally just by the hundreds float down the river with their dry bags, get out and then have a picnic in this beautiful park.
26:48
They do have dry bags hanging that you can borrow.
We didn’t have our swimsuits with us so we didn’t do it.
But as anybody visiting, you can go borrow a dry bag if they’re available that.
‘D be a fun way to get back to a hotel.
Just put all your stuff in a dry bag, hop in and let the river take you to where you need to go.
27:06
Yeah, everyone was so happy.
It was a beautiful day.
Like you can walk down as far as you want, hop in the river and float back.
And then in this park where people are getting off, there’s also different pools.
So they were like people swimming and playing games.
And it was like a really, really cool locals experience.
27:23
This park was not a place where there were tourists taking pictures and influencers and all that.
Like it was a true local experience.
A couple of other little towns up by Byrne are Tune and Spies.
Tune is only a 20 minute train ride from Byrne and then Spies is just the next town down as well.
27:40
Spies is super cute little town on the lake with a castle with vineyards on a hill.
We went over there.
We actually took the boat.
There’s a free ferry that you can take with the Swiss Travel Pass.
So we got on the ferry in Tune.
We got off in Spies, but you can actually take it all the way to Interlochen.
27:59
It’s about a 2 hour ride.
We’re back the other direction.
Highly recommend that as well.
So Spees was really cute.
We were there in the morning, sleepy town in the morning and just adorable.
Tune is also really cute.
The castle looks cool.
And then of course they have that ferry there.
So check out those little towns if you can.
28:17
Next up for Stowe’s.
So Stowe’s is actually quite difficult to get to.
Not necessarily difficult, but far when you’re staying in Bern.
It actually took us five hours to get there.
Oh.
My gosh, that’s a long time.
Part of that was our own mistakes here, but you want to catch the earliest train possible.
28:38
We missed one train by like 2 minutes and then had to wait another 30 ish minutes.
So that set us back.
But another like tip before you even go out to Stowe’s is check their website is it will list if the chairlifts are open for Nick Eulers are running.
We we were dealing with some bad weather.
28:54
That’s why we switched it from the day prior.
It was still scheduled to rain later in the day.
So we checked to see if the chair lifts were open and they were on the website.
The day we originally wanted to go when it was raining, the chair lifts were not open.
So it would have been really bad to go and say, oh, whether or no, whether I’m going to do it.
29:11
And then the chair lifts aren’t even open.
Yeah, their website also has webcam so that you can see what the conditions are up there as well.
Great tip.
You can hike up, you don’t have to take the chair lifts.
People are hiking up and down too, if you’re into that.
Brittany yeah, Our itinerary actually goes over both options.
29:29
So for our hardcore hikers, they can do the full loop versus if you just want a good taste of the the Ridge, then we have that option as well.
I’d say just do the taste of the Ridge, there’s no need to hike all the way up.
The taste is like a full meal.
29:44
The the chair lift is crazy.
The Ridge is it’s a 3 hour hike on its own.
So I think him and I are in agreement.
Just do the Ridge, take the chair lifts up.
I would just do the Ridge too.
I’m not going to do the whole thing.
That would take your whole day.
If that would actually be cool to stay in Stowes and be really close to that.
30:00
It’s a beautiful place up there.
So the exact route by train that you’ll take, you would take the train to Schweiz.
There is no train in Stowes.
You have to take the train to Schweiz.
From Schweiz you get on bus 5 O1 going South.
It’s right outside the train station, very easy to find.
30:17
Do not take it N This is why I’m saying make sure you check the bus north or South because we did north and we ended up on the other side, the train stations base basically the middle point.
So we added an hour on to our travel.
Next up after you get off the bus you will walk up buy your ticket to what you want to do.
30:36
The funicular is free with the Swiss travel pass because it’s considered public transportation.
The chairlift is not you do have to buy a pass for that.
The chairlift that you want is Klingon stock.
It is paid.
I was a little bit freaked out on the chairlift because it’s a chairlift.
You’re not seat belted in, you’re open air.
30:54
They do have a plastic covering that you can pull down over you.
It’s meant for bad weather, so you’re probably not going to have it down, but if you get scared, it’s there.
So when you get off of the cool funicular, the steepest funicular, did they say in the world?
In the world, yeah.
31:10
Doesn’t feel crazy steep when you’re in it.
I would say just the way it goes up is kind of interesting it.
Doesn’t feel it when you’re in it, but when you’re looking at it and you’re on it and you look down, you’re like, oh wow, this is actually pretty steep.
But you don’t feel it when you’re in it.
You’re right.
Once you get off of that funicular, you walk up the hill, turn left, then shortly around the bend you will see the chairlift for Kling and Stock.
31:34
There are signages so you can follow those, but just know the chairlift is a little bit of a walk away.
Then you have a three hour hike from that side of the Ridge to the other, and then another chairlift down and back around to the funicular.
You said this was one of your favorite, if not favorite hikes, Kim, Not in this episode, but to us in general, just in our private talks.
31:54
When Brittany and I did this, we had a terrible weather day.
We literally had.
We couldn’t see anything.
We literally had 15 seconds of break that gave us a view of the lake, which was very, very small.
Otherwise it was a cool hike still on the Ridge, Erie with the fog, the clouds, etcetera.
32:11
But you know, if somebody Googles this hike and you see the views, we missed out on it completely.
That’s really too bad because yeah, it’s definitely like in my top three of favorite hikes.
It was gorgeous.
There were lakes all over.
You could see tons of lakes, beautiful blue lakes like Banff, Canada and just rolling gorgeous green hills and cows.
32:32
And yeah, I’m sorry you guys missed that because it was gorgeous.
Would you hike it again, Kim OH.
Yeah, the hike itself is really not that hard.
There are some places where you’re walking up, you know, big steps and it is difficult, but it’s not like one that will kill you.
32:48
I would say it’s moderate.
Couple spots get a little bit difficult, but there’s also spots where it’s flat and easy.
Well, the spot at the very end, if you go in the direction that you talk, yes, that’s where you have a little bit of steepness.
That I would say is the hardest part.
But the reason and why I ask you if you do it again is because Brittany loves Switzerland.
33:08
I’m going to be completely honest, I thought it was just OK.
It’s beautiful.
But lots of reasons which I don’t want to get into in this episode.
I just, I’m not in love with it as most people are.
And Brittany wants to go back, do this hike.
So if you’re willing to do it again, I’m trying to brokerage you to hitting Switzerland back up so that Brittany can check this one off.
33:27
Yes, I would go again, Yeah.
I won’t go next year because next year I’m only going places where the dollar converts higher.
But I would go again in my life, yes.
Wonderful.
We’re gonna have to make a trip out of it.
Go somewhere else too, while we’re out there.
I don’t think you’ve been to Austria yet, have you?
33:43
Not quite.
It’s.
Pretty close, we can make a whole trip out of it.
Amazing.
OK, two last tips for you or places to visit.
So Grindelwald, you absolutely have to go to Grindelwald.
It’s just gorgeous.
There’s so much to do up there.
Even if you’re not into like the adventures, like the parasailing and the zip lining that’s really there, you’re still going to have a great time.
34:04
I recommend you eat fondue at Pinte, which is a hotel restaurant in Grindelwald.
You eat it outside the house.
Fondue is so delicious.
We got it with a side of sauteed vegetables.
It was so good.
And as a tip to save money, they want to charge you per person and it’s like 30 francs per person or 25 francs per person, right?
34:24
If you say that you would like to split it, they will split it for you.
They do charge a little like 5 francs split fee.
And the one person serving was absolutely plenty for two people.
This fondue came with bread and boiled potatoes and then we got that side of sauteed veggies and it was like 25 bucks each or yeah, it was really affordable.
34:46
That’s actually not a bad tip at all, all if they’re going to just do it by the split that way and just give you a charge because you’re right, a lot of places everywhere in Switzerland that we saw was per person for the fondue.
So if you could only eat so much cheese and bread, realistically, I would say, yeah, not a bad idea.
35:03
Do that $5 split charge and then maybe get something else with it.
But I know what I said about Switzerland just a few seconds ago, all right?
Now you’re taking it back.
I loved Grindelwald.
Grindelwald was beautiful, and I know when we recorded our episodes of mine and Brittany’s trip on it, we were telling you to even privately afterwards, like, no, no, no, for your trip, you should go to Grindelwald.
35:24
Did you like it?
I mean, it’s just so scenically beautiful out there, even strolling the town and the streets.
Yes, the little village, so beautiful.
The gondola going up was amazing.
We didn’t do any hiking up there.
We did the Cliff walk and then just walked around.
We we met a really nice man from Singapore.
35:41
He shared our gondola with us.
We had a great time.
We did the same thing you did.
We went down, went up the other gondola to go do the toboggan.
That was really fun.
There was also this like, not a swing, but like a slidy swing that you can go on.
And then there were a bunch of cows right there.
35:57
I actually ran into an influencer from Austin right there in Grindelwald.
I looked over and I was like, Rachel, is that you and she?
Was like, yeah, hey.
Yeah, super small world.
Oh wow.
Crazy.
I want to call you out on something real quick, Kim, because I heard you just say you did the toboggan and I saw the video of you doing the toboggan.
36:21
But when Brittany and I were there, we posted a story and it was a poll story on would you do this?
And you voted no.
And both Brittany and I in the moment when we saw that were like, what the heck is Kim talking about?
Like screw Kim and no.
36:37
And then here you are doing the toboggan and Grindelwald and apparently loving it.
It’s fun.
Well, you guys are influencers because when we did the podcast episode, you shared that you can control the speed.
Yes.
And that’s what sold me.
36:53
And you really can’t.
You can go super slow on it or you can go faster.
They say not to bring your phone.
I did bring my phone.
There’s a reason they say not to bring your phone.
Like I got a couple quick clips, but it can get pretty sketchy when you’re holding your phone and going too fast.
It was fun.
Yeah, I loved it.
37:08
I’m glad you had a great time, that’s all that matters.
Yeah, that.
That’s why I call you out.
It was a lovingly way of doing it.
If you are like afraid of adrenaline and roller coasters and stuff like I am, you’ll still enjoy the toboggan because you can control the speed on it and it’s short too.
37:27
Last place, Zermat.
So of course you’re going to go to Zermat.
You want to see the Matterhorn.
And before I went, I was like, what is the big deal about this place?
It’s just one mountain.
We’ve already seen some of the most incredible mountains I’ve ever seen in my life.
Zermat is just the Matterhorn is just one mountain.
37:43
But then I get there and Zermat is probably the most like people look the most outdoorsy here.
Everyone is wearing hiking gear and hiking poles.
And like other places in Switzerland, people weren’t really wearing like yoga pants like we were.
37:58
They were wearing still regular outfits, which we would have been if it wasn’t for the weather.
But anyway, everybody here is like very outdoorsy looking and you can see the Matterhorn from a lot of places.
But when you’re walking from the train station to where our hotel was, which was the Zermatt on Taurus hotel, it’s about a 15 ish minute walk.
38:17
And it isn’t until around the corner that you can actually see the Matterhorn.
And then you see it and it’s like, Oh my God, it’s so majestic.
It just pokes up so tall out of the ground.
It’s the only mountain with snow on it when nothing else around it has it.
And it’s just the clouds, like, hover there.
38:33
And it’s like, it’s like otherworldly.
It is a very beautiful mountain and I am so glad you got a hotel that had views of the Matterhorn.
We also did as well and it just makes such a great experience, I think.
Yes.
I think a lot of things contribute to just how cool Zermatt is.
38:50
Yes, there’s the Matterhorn.
And you’re right, Kim, it’s just a mountain, or so somebody would think.
I told Brittany, why do we need to go?
We’ve been to Disneyland.
You know, they have the Matterhorn there.
I’m just joking about that actually.
But once you’re there, it’s one of the few places too that’s not really high up in the mountains.
39:06
Of course, the Matterhorn’s high, but the village itself is not.
So it’s one of the few places in Switzerland that’s a low lying village that has no cars.
So when he said it was a 15 minute walk for you, it’s not like you chose to walk because you, I don’t want to take a cab or anything.
You have to walk.
You know, it’s a walkable village.
39:23
It’s clean, it’s pristine, it’s nice.
You have a river flowing through there and then you just have the other mountains.
Yes, but then the backdrop of the Matterhorn.
And you’re right, like something about it is just majestic.
You can’t really explain till you’re there.
Right.
Yeah, absolutely.
39:38
So we stayed at that hotel and we walked in bringing the vibes.
We were like, hey girl, hey to the lobby lady and she totally loved our vibes.
She upgraded our room, she gave us the Matterhorn facing room.
We had the balcony, they had robes and slippers.
39:55
And so we were planning to actually take that cable car up to Blaherd and walk about 15 ish minutes to Celisi, get that mere shot of the Matterhorn.
But when we got there, like I still kind of would have been down, but Charlotte was pushed to her limits and didn’t really want to.
40:13
So it was like fine, like we’re just.
Going to enjoy the robes and sit on our balcony and drink wine and look at the Matterhorn.
It was really great weather, the clouds all cleared.
That was Brittany and I’s first day.
I mean, yeah, we strolled the town a little bit, but let me tell you something.
We went to Coop, we got dinner.
40:29
That rotisserie chicken I was talking about, plus a pasta salad, some wine.
And there’s something just nice about sitting on your balcony that looks at the Matterhorn and enjoying wine in peace.
And then the other reason I recommend staying at Zermatt on Taurus Hotel is because they have a spa there that’s free for patrons.
40:48
Downstairs on the first level, they have this beautiful spa room and it’s Co Ed kids can go in there.
Nudity is allowed, but there was a kid in there, nobody was nude.
It would have been interesting to be in a Co Ed nude spa for the first time though.
Anyway, it has personal jet pools that you can go into, these heated stone beds, sauna, steam room.
41:08
We also got face masks and hair masks to do so.
We kind of had like a little spa day of our own.
So between that, being in a robes and enjoying the balcony Matterhorn, that kind of was all we did in Zermatt.
Still sounds like a really good time and you got to enjoy the mountain just the same.
41:24
You guys packed in a lot in the short amount of time you were there.
And I know you mentioned your hotel that you stayed at in Zermatt, but again, I want to point out to everybody listening, you stayed and burned the whole time.
This is the only time that you stayed the night in another hotel.
41:39
So every time that you went out, did something, maybe went to multiple spots in the day, you’re taking the train system all around and figuring it out too.
So you were able to pack in a lot.
And especially with the Swiss pass that you have in terms of the cost, really good savings that you were able to get because like you said, Switzerland can be expensive.
41:58
But it seems like you hacked it in a way to make it really advantageous for you too.
Yes and Squatty’s I believe in you.
You can make Switzerland a hell of a lot more affordable than you think it is.
Don’t be afraid by everyone saying it’s so expensive.
It’s so expensive and like not go because you’re great of that you can do it a lot more affordably.
42:18
And I mean this is proof of it.
A week in Switzerland for about 1000 bucks is really not that crazy.
Definitely not.
Thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode.
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