The mighty Alps span eight countries, but did you know that they’re also home to a number of…
Times visited: 3 (1 day in 2020, 1 day in 2021 and 8 days in 2022)
Cities visited: Lucerne, Bellinzona, Lugano, Zürich, Bern
Towns and villages visited: Stein am Rhein, Vitznau, Weggis, Kilchberg, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald, Brunnen, Seelisberg
UNESCO sites visited: 3
Switzerland has long been a country I’ve dreamed of visiting, and 2020 was supposed to be the year of my roadtrip around the mountainous country, along with my mum. But the Covid-19 pandemic came along and our March trip was cancelled. We postponed it to November, but that trip was cancelled too.
I did make it to Switzerland in 2020 though, but only for a day during a summer roadtrip around Germany. My detour into Switzerland was mainly to see the German exclave of Büsingen am Hochrhein, surrounded by Swiss territory in the very north of the country. I only spent a day in the area, but I managed to squeeze in a visit to the picturesque town of Stein am Rhein as well as an evening visit to the impressive Rhine Falls, Europe’s most powerful waterfall!
In the summer of 2021, I was very briefly in Switzerland twice. First during a visit to Liechtenstein where my family and I walked over Alte Rheinbrücke to Switzerland, and the next day, on a hike with my mum from Nauders in Austria to Dreiländergrenzstein, the very spot where the borders of Austria, Switzerland and Italy meet! Once we reached the border stone, we entered Switzerland and stayed there for a while, enjoying a snack.
In November 2022, my mum and I finally went on our long-awaited trip to Switzerland! We spent eight days driving around the beautiful country. From our base on the shore of Lake Lucerne, we explored this beautiful lake region, hiking in autumnal forests, driving up to the Gätterli Pass and watching beautiful sunsets. We drove far and wide, visiting the Italian-speaking Ticino region for a day of castles, cozy city vibes and a geographic oddity in the Italian exclave of Campione d’Italia. We spent an afternoon in Zürich, went on a tasty tour at the Lindt Home of Chocolate museum and explored the quaint medieval capital city, Bern. Our favourite day was spent in the Bernese Alps, hiking from the waterfall village of Lauterbrunnen to the car-free village of Wengen, and watching the sunset in the mountainous village of Grindelwald. November was a wonderful time to visit Switzerland, with fewer crowds, mild weather and gorgeous autumn foliage.
