Switzerland Cool Switzerland - Itinerary |
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Day 1: Zurich - Arrivals and Old Town Walk On arrival at the Zurich airport, you will be met by our chauffeur for a private transfer to your modern luxury hotel in the center of Zurich, right on the Limmat River. In the afternoon, we'll meet our guide and set out for a leisurely walk through Zurich's Old Town, to get an insight into the history of the city and the Reformation movement which defined it. We'll start with the quaint Niederdorf district filled with eclectic boutiques and coffee houses, continue to the famously austere Grossmunster Church, where the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland started, and to the Fraumünster, famous for the beautiful Marc Chagall stained-glass windows that adorn its interior, and end with a stroll along Bahnhofstrasse, a glitzy shopping street, lined with historical buildings and high-end boutiques. In the evening, we'll enjoy a welcome dinner of traditional Swiss cuisine, as we get to know each other and join in a light-hearted discussion about Switzerland's history and present. Day 2: Lucerne This morning, we'll take a train journey to Lucerne, a picturesque ancient city, defined by its covered bridges and the colorful Old Town. We'll start with a guided walk through Lucerne's Old Town, exploring its notable medieval landmarks like the Chapel Bridge, one of Europe's oldest covered bridges, decorated with a series of 17th century paintings, the Old Town with its famous Weinmarkt, and the Musegg Wall, an intact part of the city's ramparts built in 1386. We'll then enjoy a scenic cruise on Lake Lucerne, a vast expanse of water with fjord-like inlets that hide small towns and fishing villages surrounded by the mighty mountains. We'll disembark in Burgenstock, where a funicular will transport us to lunch with spectacular mountains and lake views. Afterwards, we can take an optional cliff walk, along the famous Felsenweg or enjoy this traditional Swiss village. We'll return to Zurich in the early evening, and the remainder of the day will be free to pursue our individual interests in the city of museums, money, and watches. Day 3: Zurich to Wengen, Oberhofen Castle Today, we'll leave Zurich, and head for the Swiss Alps, in the photogenic Jungfrau region of the Bernese Oberland. Our journey will follow one of the most scenic Swiss driving routes, through the land of Wilhelm Tell and the Swiss army knife. Once we reach Lake Thun, we'll stop to tour the medieval Oberhofen Castle, a fairytale, turreted palace started in the 1200s and continued for centuries, resulting in an assortment of architectural styles. After touring the castle, there will be time for exploring the elaborate Alpine gardens that surround it and for lunch. Afterwards, we'll continue to Lauterbrunnen Valley, carved by an ancient glacier, almost two miles deep and lined with a staggering 72 waterfalls. From here, we'll take a mountain train up to the postcard-perfect mountain village of Wengen, sitting on a protected sunny terrace, and surrounded by some of the tallest peaks in the country. Day 4: Jungfrau: the Top of Europe After a hearty Swiss breakfast, we'll set out to experience the true Alpine Wonderland, as we board a mountain gondola to take us up a mountain range, where we'll set out for our Alpine hike. We'll follow the easy Panorama Trail, leading along a ridge with some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. The hike features breathtaking views of the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau peaks above, and down below, the flower-laden Alpine meadows rolling down to the bucolic Grindelwald Valley. The hike will end in the village of Kleine Scheidegg, where we'll board a mountain train to Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe. The track leads past the famous mountains of Eiger and Mönch, up to magnificent panoramas of the surrounding peaks and the Aletsch Glacier. Once we reach the top, there will be plenty of time to tour the space-age-like Sphinx weather station and the Ice Palace, chiseled painstakingly with an ice ax and saw by hand, play in the snow, sled down the mountain, and admire the stunning panorama of the Bernese Oberland Alps. In the afternoon, we'll return to Wengen and enjoy a cozy mountain chalet dinner overlooking the Alps and the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Day 5: Schilthorn Summit This morning, we'll journey to explore the other side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, with the iconic Schilthorn Mountain Summit of James Bond fame. We'll travel by a mountain train, a post bus, an aerial gondola, a cable car, and a cogwheel train, and we'll also take another scenic, yet easy, 2 miles, Alpine hike through a magnificent mountain forest that opens up to meadows bisected by Alpine streams, with the imposing mountain views as the background. En route to the Schilthorn summit, we'll explore the peaceful village of Murren, perched on a cliff above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and the adrenaline-pumping aerial balconies suspended over the cliffs of the Brig Summit. Once we reach Schilthorn, we'll have ample time to admire the 360 degree view of the Bernese Oberland Alps, visit the James Bond World or have lunch at the iconic, rotating Piz Gloria Restaurant. We'll be back in Wengen in the late afternoon and enjoy another intimate dinner with a view of the Alps. Day 6: Interlaken Today, we'll explore the town of Interlaken, photogenically set against the Alps and between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. We'll skip paragliding, instead spending our time at this adventure capital of Europe by taking a guided walk of the town's best sights, before visiting a boutique chocolatier to learn some of the closely guarded secrets of chocolate making and will try our hand at mixing, pouring and shaping the exquisite Swiss chocolate. As we indulge in all-senses-satisfying chocolate making and tasting class, we may get quite messy or overeat on chocolate, but as this is Switzerland, it's expected. Afterwards, we'll take a cable car to Harder Kulm with its suspended observation platforms above the two lakes and below the Alps to admire the stunning mountains from yet another viewpoint. In the afternoon, we'll enjoy having some time for individual exploration of Interlaken, before taking the train back to Wengen. Day 7: Wengen to Zermatt, Gornergrat After breakfast today, we'll leave Wengen and take several trains en route to Zermatt, another car-free mountain village, this one close to the Italian border. Zermatt's fame stems from the iconic, shark fin-shaped Matterhorn and the excellent year-round skiing. The beautifully preserved wooden village houses scattered throughout the glitzy resort and the Matter Vispa River trickling through, add to the town's charms. After checking into our hotel, we'll take the mountain panorama train, itself a masterpiece of the 19th century engineering, to Gornergrat, for expansive Alpine perspectives with the Matterhorn towering above other snow-covered peaks. In the evening, we'll celebrate the views and the experiences of this mountain paradise with a locally sourced, gourmet dinner. Day 8: Zermatt: Klein Matterhorn This morning, we'll take Europe's highest altitude cable car, up 12,740 feet to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at Klein Matterhorn, where we can see 14 glaciers and the highest mountain peaks in Italy (Gran Paradiso), France (Mount Blanc), and Switzerland from its Panoramic Platform. Matterhorn, too, looks very different from here, as if it has acquired a new look. We'll have time to visit the Glacier Palace, made entirely out of ice, with ice sculptures lining ice hallways leading to ice rooms and secret ice hideaways, the Alpine Cinema showcasing different aspects of the Swiss Alps, and to admire the view from the panoramic platform. After all this excitement, we'll return to Zermatt and we'll enjoy some unstructured time exploring this atmospheric mountain village. Day 9: Glacier Express to Chur Today, we'll experience another highlight of our Swiss adventure, as we take the Glacier Express to Chur. The epic 103 miles, slow journey takes five and a half hours and reveals the most iconic and most mood-lifting Alpine scenery. We'll travel by glaciered mountains in the Matter Valley, Brig’s Stockalper Palace, the dark-timber chalets of the serene Goms region, the vast, remote wilderness of the Oberalp Pass, source of the Rhine, the Benedictine monastery in Disentis, the Rhine Gorge’s limestone pinnacles, and the astonishing engineering marvels like the six-arched Landwasser Viaduct and the Bergün-Preda loop tunnel. During the journey, as we watch the incredible scenery through large panoramic windows, we'll enjoy a full lunch, served onboard the train. On arrival in Chur, we'll transfer to our "mountain chic" hotel, and ater some free time in the afternoon to explore the town according to our individual interests, we'll meet in the evening, to enjoy a traditional Swiss dinner at the hotel's upscale restaurant. Day 10: Chur to Zurich via St. Gallen and Appenzell Even though it's our last full day in Switzerland, we're still going to fill it to the brim. After leaving our cozy hotel in Chur, we'll trace the Bernina Express route which offers a front row view of the spectacular Engadine Alps, then we'll travel along the Liechtenstein border to the town of St. Gallen, where we'll tour the famous Baroque Abbey with its exquisite library. Then, we'll continue to the bucolic Appenzell region, famous for its cows and its cheese, the strongest in Switzerland. Here, we'll tour the cheese-producing facility to learn about the Appenzell dairy traditions. After arriving at the Zurich airport hotel, we'll conclude our cheesy adventure with a classic Swiss fondue farewell dinner, before spending our last night in Switzerland. Day 11: Departures Today, we'll have to say good-bye to Switzerland, as we take our flights back home, richer in Swiss experiences and discoveries and the new friendships that this adventure allowed us. The hotel where we are staying is adjacent to the Zurich International Airport, and you can schedule your return flight at any time.
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