October 20, 2022

11D10N Switzerland: The Magical Fairy Tale Land

This 11days trip is like a dream to me. In a glimpse, I am back from this charming Fairy Tale Land. How can time flies so fast?!

Switzerland, you are too charming and too amazing!

In this summary post, I will include some small tips that you can take note (if you want). Then, later on I will expand the stories by days or area, putting up more photos. There are too many to talk about the journeys; some were quite adventurous and some were really tiring but fun, or we call it 刺激 or exciting. Self-planning trip to Switzerland is doable if you study more and plan the route well.

I am glad to I have my brother and Esther to do the planning; and I just zoom myself over. LOL. Many thanks to them for taking me on this trip; to Switzerland, my first ever Europe trip.

You will see most of our lunches were COOP’s bread or pastries cos we were always on the go during the trip, so we kept some bread and pastries in our backpack every day and munched on them when we were hungry; be it in the stations, on the railway, or taking a break at some mountains, picnic-ing.

Supermarkets in Switzerland close quite early, but Zurich one closes at 10pm. We too, brought along some Maggi Cups over in case we ran late back to where we were staying, when we were unable to get breakfast or supper.

Also, do take note, do not follow exactly my itinerary if you are travelling with kids or elderly as my itinerary can be quite a hectic one; wake up early in the morning, catching bus catching train as their bus and train schedules are very on time. And instead of café hopping or area hopping, what we did is … Mountain Hoping. LOL. Yep we went up to a lot of mountains and we love it. Pick only on what you feel like doing, where you feel like visiting.

BEST TIME TO VISIT SWITZERLAND?

This should be the most frequently asked question. If you google, I think most of the answers will be SUMMER and WINTER or from April to October, somewhere around there.

In summer, you can go for hiking, mesmerize the greenery beauty of the grassland and perform many fun activities like mountain cart, flyers, glider, Trottibike, toboggan ride. And yet you may still be able to have some snow fun too as high altitude mountain such as Jungfraujoch has snow all year rounds.

In winter, you can do many winter sports such as skiing or enjoy the snow (weather can be really cold though).

During spring months, you get to see alpine blooms, flowering trees while in autumn, you will get the romantic autumn colours.

We were there in end of September; it is slightly off peak where summer peak was over. Weather gets a little chiller and more comfortable. From what we found, September seems to be the month with lesser rain but luck was not with us. LOL

My experience:
Weather changed quite drastic as compared to early September. There were rains on some days, heavy and some days drizzling all day long; some days were windy. We relied quite a lot on our umbrella. Also, we brought along rain coats (but we didn’t use).

There were also sunny day but for a short while only. Sun came out for a short period of time, and then the mountain was covered with mist. We were lucky to get many important picturesque views of the mountains when the sun was out. We’d tried our best to chase after the sun.

TRANSPORTATION

To drive or take railway?

Railway system in Switzerland is very extensive and also one of the densest. It offers a very punctual service (same like Japan!) and has very spectacular views where you get to enjoy while taking the train.

It is pretty easy and convenient to travel by train. All you need to do is to plan your route ahead, download this SBB Mobile App onto your smart phone. This super app will lead you on how to get to your destination.

For example, there was one day we were going to Montreux from Interlaken Ost. So just click on the “time table”. Key in your train station’s name or bus station name, and also your destination (nearest train station or bus station’s name), it will then give you train/bus departing time and total traveling time too.

It will lead you on which platform to go, which train number to hop on. Very easy and convenient. Another thing I need to highlight again, the train/bus departs very on time. So be sure you reach the station earlier than the departing time or else you may have to end up run for the train (this is always us, running after our trains LOL).

There are few types of tourist pass available. We bought the SWISS TRAVEL PASS that covers every mode of transportation – boat, bus, train; with unlimited ride . With this pass, you can also travel on the premium panoramic train such as Glacier Express (seat reservation fees apply).

SWISS TRAVEL PASS covers some museum at FOC; some mountain excursions such as Rigi, Stanserhorn at FOC too (which is why we were there). Also, it offers discount to few other mountains such as Mount Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Gornergrat, Harder Kulm that we went. Just have to make full use of the pass and you will find the pass is actually not overly expensive.

You may opt for “Flexi travel day” or “Consecutive travel day” for the pass, at 3, 4, 6, 8, 15 days. Without much consideration, we opted for 15-consecutive travel days as we need to use it every day, travelling to north south east west many places. If you were to buy the daily ticket alone, it can be really expensive; you can check it out from the SBB Mobile App!

Another good thing about Swiss Travel Pass: if you are travelling with your children, please check out this page. Your child may get to travel for free if the parent is holding the Swiss Travel Pass. You can apply this complimentary Swiss Family Card for your children under 16 years old. How cool! For details, please read it here!

Now… SECOND CLASS or FIRST CLASS?

First Class car seat pattern is 2 seats and 1 seat on each side while the Second Class car seat pattern is 2 seats on both sides. So it is more spacious in the first class car, and more rooms for luggage.

Also without much hesitation, we opted for the FIRST CLASS ticket. It is about Rm 1.1k more expensive than the second class pass (comparing the 15days pass) but we find it really worth our money spent. It is a lot less crowded in first class car, very spacious. Most of the time, we were all by ourselves in that first class car. We could just take photographs at any seats we want.

Also, with this First Class Pass, we manage to reserve the Glacier Express on the first class seat too.

So, depends on your budget for the trip, choose the one that fits best to you.

To board the First Class Car, it is pretty obvious too. Just look for number written next to the train door, it is written 1 (for first class) or 2 (for second class). And First Class Car will be highlighted in yellow above the train door.

Or you can check from the arrival train sign(?) (Not sure what is that called) at the platform while waiting for your train. They will put 1 (for first class) or 2 (for second class) on A B C D boarding sections. Just wait at the section for your train. For example, photo above showing First Class Car will stop at section B and in between B and C; while Second Class Car will stop at section C and D at the platform.

FOOD EXPENSES

This is another big factor to the travel expenses – FOOD .

On average, a dine-in meal costs around CHF 25 to CHF 35 per pax. If you manage to find those self-service restaurants, you may get a meal at around CHF 20 (exclude drink), look and taste pretty delicious too, completed with carbo, protein and vegetables.

If you don’t make the conversion, every meal cost perfectly fine. However, thanks to our weak currency. For example, a plate of rosti in a restaurant will be around CHF 25 which is equivalent to MYR 125. This is definitely not something we can do it for every meal, but on average, we had one decent dine-in meal per day. Plus and minus, it worked out about MYR 150 to 200 per pax per meal for dine-in.

Portion is really huge too which best fit for sharing. However, some restaurants do not allow sharing, or they will impose small charges (by pax) if you wish to share your dish. So, please ask if you are able to share the dishes or they may prepare 2 pax portions for 1 order you wish to share.

Most meals, COOP and Bachmann’s bread and pastries saved us, cos we are always on the go for mountain hoping. We do not have much luxury sit-down time to dine-in.

Another TIP:
If you have a big cash note such as CHF500 or 1000 per piece that you change it from money changer in Malaysia, feel free to use this free service at Zurich Airport. You can exchange it into pieces of a smaller cash note. If you are holding CHF 100 or 200 per piece, you don’t have to make it into smaller note as most restaurants, supermarkets or shopping place will take the 100 or 200 cash note.

Okay, after this much of talking, now… let’s go into my itinerary!
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11D10N Switzerland: The Magical Fairy Tale Land

	Day 0	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
In	KL/ SG SG/ Zurich	Zurich/ Luzern	Luzern Schüpfheim	Luzern Mount Titlis Mount Stanserhorn
Breakfast/ Brunch			Wochenmarkt (Luzern morning market)	COOP’s Bread/ pastries
See Shop		Airport > Luzern Check-in hotel Luzern > Erstfeld Gotthard Base Tunnel Tour	Luzern > Schüpfheim Entlebucher Alpabfahrt Festival	Luzern > Engelberg > Stand Mount Titlis
Lunch			Random stalls at the festival	Self Service Panorama Restaurant
See Shop Tea		Erstfeld > Rigi Kulm Mount Rigi	Schupfheim > Trubschachhen Kambly Erlebnis Trubschachhen > Luzern Tour around Luzern: Chapel Bridge Lion Monument Glacier Garden Museum Hofkirche St. Leodegar	Stand > Engelberg > Stans Stanserhorn
Dinner/ Supper	Flying with SIA	COOP Kebab from Little Istanbul	Restaurant Alpchalet	Maggi Cup COOP’s Bread/ pastries, ham and wine
Stay		ROESLI Guest House Luzern	ROESLI Guest House Luzern	ROESLI Guest House Luzern

	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
In	Luzern/ Interlaken	Interlaken Jungfraujoch Gridelwald Lauterbrunnen Murren	Interlaken Montreux	Interlaken / Zermatt
Breakfast/ Brunch	COOP’s Bread/ pastries	COOP’s Bread/ pastries	Maggi Cup/ fruits	COOP’s Bread/ pastries
See Shop	Luzern > Interlaken Ost Check-in hotel Paragliding activity	Interlaken Ost > Grindelwald Terminal Jungfraujoch Grindelwald Terminal	Interlaken Ost > Montreux	Interlaken Ost > Zermatt Check-in Hotel Zermatt > Gornergrat Gornergrat
Lunch	COOP Restaurant Interlaken Ost	COOP Grindelwald Terminal	Café Byron	Restaurant vis-à-vis
See Shop Tea	Interlaken Ost > Brienzer Rothhorn Mount Rothorn Brienzer Rothorn > Iseltwald Iseltwald (CLOY spot) Lake Brienz Iseltwald > Interlaken Ost Harder Kulm	Grindelwald Lauterbrunnen Murren	Chateau de Chillon Montreux > Rivaz Lavaux Vinorama Wine Tour Rivaz > Interlaken Ost	Gornergrat Bahnhofstrasse street
Dinner/ Supper	Hooters Interlaken	La Tapberne	Maggi Cup/ fruits COOP’s Bread/ pastries	Restaurant Schäferstube
Stay	Hotel Tell and Apartments	Hotel Tell and Apartments	Hotel Tell and Apartments	Resort La Ginabelle

	Day 8	Day 9	Day 10	Day 11
In	Zermatt/ Zurich	Zurich Kaltbach	Zurich Bern	Zurich/SG SG/ KL
Breakfast/ Brunch	Hotel Breakfast	Maggi Cup/ fruits	Confiserie Sprüngli	Maggi Cup/ fruits/ wine
See Shop	Zermatt > Chur On Glacier Express	Lindt Home of Chocolate	Zurich > Bern	Zurich HB > Zurich Flughafen Good Bye Switzerland 🙁
Lunch	Glacier Express	COOP’s Bread/ pastries
See Shop Tea	On Glacier Express Chur > Zurich HB Check-in Hotel Zurich Old Town: Fraumünster Church Grossmünster Church St. Peter Church Lindenhof Augustinergasse Bahnhofstrasse	Bus to Ruschlikon Bahnhof Station > Train to Zug > Luzern > Sursee > bus to St Erhard, Dorf (2 buses 3 trains in a total) Kaltbach Cave Bus to Sursee > Train to Luzern > Zurich HB Last min shopping in COOP	Zytglogge Clock Tower Bear Park Bern’s minster Bern > Zurich
Dinner/ Supper	Restaurant Pavillon	Sternen Grill	Zeughauskeller
Stay	Swiss Chocolate by Fassbind	Swiss Chocolate by Fassbind	Swiss Chocolate by Fassbind

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1. Checking out COOP for the night’s wine and dinner

LOL. Priority. That’s the very first thing we did after check-in into hotel and threw off our luggage. We went over to Luzern station’s COOP to check out the price for wine, fruits, bread and ham as we wanna do ham platter to pair with wine. We also managed to secure a bottle of prosecco at the price of CHF 8.35, which is about MYR 40 only! Extremely delighted!

500gram blueberries at CHF 4.95.

2. Gotthard Base Tunnel Tour

Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the world, measuring 57km in length! This guided tour takes about 2 to 3 hours; offering a unique opportunity to tour inside this tunnel, learn about the history of this majestic construction project and see the trains whizzing past through the tunnel window.

READ: Gotthard Base Tunnel Tour

We had to wear the fluorescent jacket and helmet for safety purpose and given a bottle of drinking water. The guide then leaded us through the whole journey. English guided tour is available upon request. However, perhaps majority of them speak German, in the end the guide tried his best to explain to us in English too.

Entrance fee: CHF 26 per pax

Getting here: meet at Erstfeld Railway Station.
Advance booking is needed prior to the trip

3. Mount Rigi

Mount Rigi , also known as Queen of Mountains, located in central Switzerland is easily accessible from Luzern. The whole journey from Luzern to Rigi Kulm takes about 1hour 40 minutes.

READ: Mount Rigi

If you are staying in Luzern, please spare some times to come up here, it is fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass (a.k.a. FOC). And you get to experience the nostalgia Swiss historical railway because the Europe’s first mountain railway is here, since 1871. Alternatively, if you are coming from Weggis, you take the aerial cable cars and then cogwheel train to the summit.

We boarded this blue colour Cogwheel Train from Arth-Goldau to Rigi Kulm. This vibrant Cogwheel Train will bring you up to Rigi Kulm. Taking the seats on the right side, you will get to have a breath-taking view along the way, from the view of lake to the view of Alps. Amazing!

Breath-taking Swiss Alps view!

I will continue more stories it its own post later.

Entrance fee: FOC if you are holding Swiss Travel Pass

4. Immerse into the Swiss festival – Entlebucher Alpabfahrt

We were pretty lucky to bump into this festival during our trip, so we decided to head to Schüpfheim where this festival took place. Entlebucher Alpabfahrt is an annual festival which usually takes place in the end of September or early October. The alpine families return to the valley with their animals.

After spending their good sweet time up high at the mountains during summer, it is time for the animals to descent down to their winter barns for cold winter months.

Men and women dressed up in their traditional costumes; there were the alpine people and animals’ parade. You may get to see the cows are festively decorated with the Treicheln (cow bells) and crowned with flowers. Very happening !

There were stalls set up, selling local produces such as cheese made from these Alps around, handicraft and delicious street snacks like bratwurst, beers, Raclette, cheese slices, cheese hotdogs, alcoholic coffee. We tried the bratwurst with bun, it was super delicious!

5. Sample all Kambly’s biscuits in Kambly Erlebnis (Kambly experience)!

In Kambly Experience , there are interactive activities provided (I will talk about it later). What catch our attentions are the rows of shelves, filled with bags of delicious biscuits, and on each type of biscuits, there are samples for you to try on. You may as many as you wish!!! That’s really a biscuit paradise! After trying out all types of biscuits, you may purchase these bags of biscuits that are priced cheaper than those you may find in the supermarket.

Entrance fee: FOC

Getting here: Kambly Erlebnis is located at Trubschachen station

6. Tour around Luzern

Luzern is a charming place with very picturesque scenery. Do spare some time to explore around the old town, the most photographed chapel bridge and dive yourself into history in Glacier Garden and Lion Monument.

Entrance fee to the Glacier Garden: FOC with Swiss Travel Pass
Lion Monument is just located next to Glacier Garden: FOC

7. Up we went to the first snowy mountain – Mount TITLIS

We hopped onto the Cable Car and then TITLIS Rotair that revolved 360 degrees, moving its way up to the summit station at 3,020 metre above sea level. Explored the Glacier Cave and corss the suspension bridge – TITLIS Cliff Walk and of course had some snow fun! Truly enjoyed ourselves here despite the weather was misty and windy and we couldn’t really see anything from the TITLIS Rotair, at all.

Entrance Fee: CHF 96; but CHF 48 with Swiss Travel Pass (after 50% discount) – return ticket from Endelberg – TITLIS

8. Up we went to Stanserhorn

We had an exciting trip going up to Stanserhorn , changing from the nostalgic funicular railway to CabriO aerial cableway. This CabriO cableway is the world’s first cable car featuring a roofless upper deck which is also one of the main attractions. You can get a magnificent view from here, plus some cool breeze along the way.

Up here at Stanserhorn, you can do a bit of walking or hiking, mesmerize the panorama view from the above, have a culinary experience in the revolving restaurant that is designed in a star shape. Myself of course will send some words back home through the postcards.

Entrance fee: FOC with Swiss Travel Pass

Getting here: about 5 minutes’ walk from Stans (station).

9. Paragliding fun at Interlaken!

Woohoo! I did it! It was an ultra-mega heart wowing experience flying high up there like a bird! We signed up with team SkyWings and we had so much fun!

10. Head up to Mount Rothorn by the slow steam locomotive

This cute steam locomotive Brienz-Rothorn-Bahn with its red carriage transported us up to the summit of Mount Rothorn at the 2245 meter high above sea level. The whole journey took 1 hour to reach the summit, alternative you can take the 30minutes journey that reach halfway at Planalp.

I suggest you guys to take the whole 1 hour journey. The view is extremely breathtaking along the way moving to towards the summit. You will be amazed with the beauty of Lake Brienz and panorama view of the mountains. During our time, we managed to catch some snow bits along the way. Also, we have underestimated the weather up there and dressed rather thinly. It was 2245m high yo!.

Entrance fee: CHF 94; but CHF 47 with Swiss Travel Pass (50% discount)

11. Iseltwald

A picturesque village on the shores of Lake Brienz, equipped with cute little houses. Peaceful and beautiful; and the unique colour of the lake, I kept asking myself is it real?

Of course, many people are here for a shot of CLOY scene at the pier!

12. Catch the evening view at Harder Kulm

Harder Kulm is also known as the Top of Interlaken. For just a 10 minute ride, the funicular will take you up to the point at 1,322 m above the sea level. From the viewing platform, you get a view of Lake Brienz and Lake Thun and also Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau.

Entrance fee: CHF 34; but CHF 17 with Swiss Travel Pass (after 50% discount)

Getting here:
Funicular stations is about 5 minutes’ walk from Interlaken Ost railway station

13. To the top of Europe – Jungfraujoch

We departed really early from Interlaken directly to Grindelwald Terminal. From here, we bought our ticket and took the Eiger Express tricable gondola and then exchange on the Jungfraubahn (train) to head up to 3454m above the sea level. The whole journer took about 45mins from Grindelwald Terminal tto Jungraujoch.

There are many things you can do up here in Jungfraujoch. Take your time to run through all over the facilities and have fun! We had our own sweet time running around but due to the snowing condition, some area section was closed.

Yessss, it was snowing!!! We couldn’t really get the great view from here like how others may get to see during summer or during clearer day. But we really had fun in the snow!

I highly recommend you guys to put this mountain into your itinerary, and if you have only limited days in Switzerland, do include jungfraujoch into your plan. It will offer you an unforgettable snow mountain experience.

Not forgetting to send off some greetings from the Top of Europe.

Entrance fee: CHF 142.60 with Swiss Travel Pass (after 25% discount)

14. Short stroll at Grindelwald

We wanted to play some adventurous ride such as Flyer, Glider, Mountain Cart at Grindelwald First and Toboggan ride at Grindelwald Pflingstegg; sadly, these rides are all close due to the bad weather condition. Hence we just have a slow stroll in here in Gridelwald and found some nice photo spots.

15. Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen valley has different scene from the other places! (To be honest, everywhere I went looking different). There are 72 waterfalls here in Lauterbrunnen Valley and Staubbach Falls is the most famous one, located right at the end of the main street.

The main street is lined with restaurants, hotels, quint café, supermarket and shops. It is very nice to stroll along the street.

16. Mürren – car-free village

Oh I love this place! Mürren is a very unique village, sitting high up at 1634m above sea level, totally traffic-free village. It can only be accessible by cable car and a narrow railway that connects Mürren to Lauterbrunnen!

This place is very peaceful, car-free, traffic-free… a completely cut off from car traffic. We slowly enjoy along the way and found a few nice spots for photos.

If you are into another mountain, you can take a cable car ride up to Mount Schilthorn summit, this is the mountain featured in James Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and it is also known as the James Bond Mountain.

I will share more photos in separate post for sure! I really really like it here!

Getting here:
Take cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp and then a train via Winteregg to Murren
Or you can take the direct cable cars (total 2 cable cars) from Stechelberg.

17. Visit to castle – château de Chillon

Located at Lake Geneva. We took a quick visit after our lunch at the Café Byron located just right opposite the castle. Wish we could have more time checking out every sector, but we were rushed off to next agenda as transportation is not as frequent as Luzern or Interlaken.

Entrance fee: CHF 13.50, but FOC with Swiss Travel Pass

Getting here:
Take train to Montreux. from the station, take Bus N201 to Chateau de Chillon station.

18. Wine Tour in Lavaux vineyards

One of my most anticipated agenda has to be this – Wine Tour in Lavaux vineyards!

Lavaux Vinorama is a center that showcases the wines and terraced vineyards of Lavaux – a UNESCO World Heritage.

We took the 2hours 30 minutes train ride from Interlaken to come here, for this special guided tour – Jewel of Lavaux. We signed up this Jewel of Lavaux that is commenced at 3pm on certain days of the week. Our guide brought us to climb up the terrace and walk through the vineyards. Along the way she storied us about the history of this Lavaux area.

There are about 180 wine makes over here, making wine artisanal-ly, at small productions. We get to visit to the cellar with a tasting of 1 white and 2 red wine on the spot. Then another round of tasting when we returned to Lavaux Vinorama, served with 3 tasting of Chasselas from different area in Lavaux region. To my surprise, different area’s Chasselas has got different types of characteristic! We got to taste Chaselas from Dezaley, Calamin and Cully

I have to say I love Chasselas!!! Really really love it!

Wine Tour at Lavaux Vinorama: CHF 49 per pax

Getting here:
From Montreux, take train to Rivaz. Then another 10 minute’s walk to Lavaux Vinorama

19. Gornergrat

For the best views of Matterhorn, you gotta make way here up to Gornergrat that sits high up at 3089m above sea level on Gornergrat Bahn. Gornergrat Bahn is the highest open air railway in Europe; it offers a spectacular view along the way and of course the Matterhorn. For best view, please take up the seats on the right side of the train. You will be amazed with the view of Zermatt and Matterhorn along your train ride.

This marks our last mountain hop and I love it here! Matterhorn seems to play hike and seek with us, a moment it was out, next moment it is covered up again by the mist / fog. We were pretty afraid we couldn’t catch him.

Considered lucky cos it was sunny when we disembarked the train. Next to the train station, there is the perfect area that offers the perfect view of Matterhorn. It only allowed us 30minutes to catch the beauty of Matterhorn and glad that we managed to photoshoot the best view of Matterhorn!

Ma, I’ve got a view with Matterhorn! <3

After 30minutes, it became like this. Slowly covered by the mist or fog. Then the whole afternoon looked like this. We were really super lucky to get that 30 minutes clear sky to get a glimpse of the beautiful Matterhorn.

Entrance fee: CHF 110, but CHF 55 with Swiss Travel Pass (after 50% discount)

Getting here:
Gornergrat “station” is located opposite of the main train station in Zermatt.
Look for the sign – Gornergrat Bahn – the Matterhorn Railway.

20. Ride on the scenic train – Glacier Express

Glacier Express is also referred as the “slowest express train” in the world. The whole journey takes about 8 hours from Zermatt to St Moritz, passing through 91 tunnels and over 291 bridges. We didn’t take up the whole journey, but only around 5 hours; from Zermatt to Chur and then took another train to Zurich.

The journey was super scenic with magical Swiss Countryside scenery. You can get the beautiful view along your train ride through the panoramic sealed windows all the way to the roof. We get a view of changes of different weather during our journey, from sunny to raining and then snowing at the peak where the train passed by! Impressive!

TIP:
Reserve your seat ASAP, especially if you are travel during peak season. Seats are often taken up quite fast. Reserve your seat (at a fee) up to three months in advance; while the base ticket is opened for purchase two months in advance.
With Swiss Travel Pass, you don’t have to pay for the base ticket fee. Also, you may purchase your Swiss Travel Pass later or near to your departure date.

Fee:
Reservation fee for Glacier Express is differ in low season and peak season, also for long journey or short journey. Our journey from Zermatt to Chur is considered as long journey; per seat reservation is CHF 49 (for peak season). We also booked a 4-course meal (CHF 52) to share among us.

Full write up will up (soon, I will try), I promise!

21. Explore around Zurich Old Town

Zurich has its own charm; we walked around to check out Fraumünster Church, Grossmünster Church, St. Peter Church, Lindenhof, Augustinergasse, and Bahnhofstrasse

22. Indulge a course meal in Michelin Star Restaurant

We picked Pavillon , an award-winning restaurant with 18 Gault Millau points and also the two Michelin Stars in Zurich, serving exquisite modern French cuisine that is heart-wowing. I had a lot of first time over here, a very memorable dining experience!

23. Dive into the Home of Chocolate – Lindt

There is so much to do inside this Switzerland’s chocolate museum – Lindt Home of Chocolate . Chocolate lovers should at least pay a visit to this facility. They offer an interactive chocolate tour about Swiss cultural heritage of chocolate, the manufacturing process and you get to try out the chocolate on spot too! Of course, you may purchase more chocolate from their souvenir shop and try our more delicious chocolate related dishes in their café. Kids and adult will love this space.

Entrance fee: CHF 15

Getting here:
from Zürich HB, take train to Zürich Wollishofen, then take bus to Kilchberg ZH, Lindt & Sprüngli that is moving to the direction of Rüschilikon, Park im Grüene

24. Visit to this unique Kaltbach Cave

This is another most anticipated moment – visitation to this very unique Kaltbach sandstone cave which provides perfect conditions for the cheese refinement. We were really lucky that we were able to join this cheese tour. If I am not mistaken, the tour is not always open to public; only open to special arrangement (or so). It was a German speaking tour that only available during our time in Switzerland.

It was indeed an eye opening experience to be able to learn about cheese making. Very very WOW. And thanks to the local who is willing to share a bit of information with me, by translating on what the guide said about their cheese and the cave.

At the end of the tour, we get to taste the variety of cheese produced over here. Also, we purchased some of them and share with our family members. Love their Kaltbach Le Gruyère AOP, Kaltbach Emmentaler AOP, Kaltbach Gouda and Kaltbach Trüffel Käse (truffle cheese!)

Entrance fee: CHF 12 with cheese tasting.

Getting here:
about 10 minutes’s walk from St. Erhard, Dorf bus station.

25. Sunday Brunch in Confiserie Sprüngli

Doing the must do in Switzerland! Sunday brunch is a must!
Shops and retails are closed on Sundays; there is no shopping to be done on the Bahnhofstrasse, so we just booked ourselves a good brunch at Confiserie Sprüngli to start up our perfect Sunday.

Sunday brunch offers the etagères as a base, then you can order freshly prepared warm egg dishes from the Sunday brunch menu, pick up your salad, bircher muesli, baked goods, and juice shots from the buffet section, complete your brunch with hot beverages and prosecco. Priced at CHF 65 per pax.

Ohh, must not leave without trying the Luxemburgerli and chocolate mousse dessert from the display cabinet too! Also, their signature hot chocolate!

Thanks for putting us at the window seat on the first floor overlooking Paradeplatz, that’s so nice to have such a view pairing with our perfect brunch.

26. Bern – the capital of Switzerland

Bern , the capital city of Switzerland, its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this city really has a lot to see. I am glad we opted to come over here because Bern is really beautiful!

27. Delicious food in Switzerland

I heard many saying Swiss food doesn’t taste good, but what I came across taste were really delicious. Cheese fondue, rösti, sliced veal with mushroom, Bratwrust, I really love them all. The only thing I didn’t manage to check out is the Raclette.

28. Fresh from the market

Fresh bread and pastries, cheese and dairy, fresh flowers, vegetables, locally grown produce and the market’s own unique vibe, that’s something we love seeing. We had a short market walk at Wochenmarkt in Luzern which take place on every Tuesday and Saturday from 6am to 1pm. How we wished we have more time so we could slowly discover more of their local produce and try ‘em out!