15 days in Switzerland and Austria-Part 1

Help! I have been bitten by the travel bug! Just falling in love with exploring and discovering new places. So excited to write my first travel post about our recent trip to Switzerland and Austria.This trip is extra special, because if you have read the “About Us” page, then you know this blog was born during a casual conversation on a train ride from Lucerne to Salzburg.

Every year we have a two-week window when my daughter gets off from school for the summer and my husband starts his summer semester at the university. So each year we grab this opportunity and set off to explore a new place-this summer was Switzerland and Austria.

We pulled up the maps and decided our itinerary-since Switzerland is all about the Alps and the outdoors, we knew we didn’t want to spend too much time in cities, instead we wanted to be upclose and personal with nature, go on hikes, live like the locals in small towns. We decided to land in Zurich, go to Bern, Grindelwald(the Bernese Oberland Region), Lucerne and then head out to Salzburg and Vienna in Austria. We have learnt that its best to land in one city and depart from another instead of looping back to the same destination to catch the flight back home.These Open Jaw tickets, as they are called are an inexpensive way to save precious time on vacation.

We landed in Zurich at 8 a.m. I really didn’t want to spend too much time in Zurich , but also couldn’t leave without spending a few hours there. This happens to us everytime, when we first land in a new country, it takes a few minutes to get our bearings right, everything from signs to currency, language and people are different. Because we had an afternoon flight from the USA, we three couldn’t sleep a wink on the flight and binged watched movies. We were little tired from being awake all night but also excited to be in the most beautiful country in the world! We found our way to the underground station at the airport itself.There are trains that depart at regular frequency for the main station called Zurich Hauptbahnhof or HB.  Made our way to the ticket booth and a kind Swiss gentleman, who realized we were tourists, helped us get our tickets to Zurich HB. It’s a short ten minute train ride to the main station. Once we got off there, we headed straight for the Information desk, available at all major train and bus station with an “i” on a yellow sign. We first had to find a place to deposit our luggage. Even though we travel light, we couldn’t possibly go sight-seeing with luggage and handbags in tow. We found a large locker, I believe it was 9 Swiss Francs to rent the locker, and were able to fit in everything in one locker! Told you we travel light! We picked up a city map and with some basic directions from the lady at the information desk, we set off to explore Zurich.  We wanted to see Old Town, Lindenhof, the Lake and the famous Bahnhofstrasse, I like to compare it to Champs Elysees of Paris or Fifth Avenue of New York-vibrant and full of high-end stores, considered the worlds most expensive place to shop.

Once you cross the street over from the station, everything is walking distance. 2-3 hours is plenty to see and get a feel for the place. While walking around we came across a bridge with lots of locks. Each one had names, initials and a date on them.This is one of the many bridges in Europe where lovers come from all over the country to secure a lock on the bridge. Legend has it that when lovers put the lock o the bridge and throw the keys into the Limmat river, their love is secure and they are forever locked into love with each other.How can it get more romantic than that!  While walking we also saw St Peters church with the largest clockface in Europe and Grossmunster, the largest church in Zurich. By this time we had walked up to the lake and were beginning to get hungry. Near the lake we found the usual food vendor stalls selling hotdogs etc .The restaurants were setting up for lunch but not serving breakfast. Not wanting to eat hotdogs for breakfast we headed back to the train station to retrieve our luggage and head to Bern. At the station we found plenty of options for coffee and delicious baked goodies. They have a chain of bakery stores by the name of Bachmann, just fell in love with all the goodness there.

The breakfast was rejuvenating, we got our train tickets and headed to Bern. Switzerland offers a variety of options for train travel within Switzerland-from passes to tours to scenic train rides. I looked at the options and decided to buy the Jungfrau Travel Pass for 4 days as we were planning to spend the majority of our time in Grindelwald-the gateway to the Alps.Though we had the option of buying before we left, which is what we normally do, this time we waited to buy till we got there. It was a good decision and I will tell you in Part 2 which I am dedicating entirely to Grindelwald and the Bernese Oberland area.I did look at all options at this website before going-https://traintickets.myswitzerland.com. The most common question asked is should I buy a train pass and the answer is, it depends on how many days you plan to be in Switzerland, what areas and sights you want to see. You have to calculate the cost per section that you plan to cover and see if it is worth it for you. The Jungfrau Pass definitely gave us the flexibility to travel within that region and not have to get in line each time to buy train tickets. Definitely a pro in my opinion and yes, they do come around and check tickets!

The travel time from Zurich to Bern is anywhere from an hour to hour and twenty minutes. Once you get off the train, head for the bus station with a printed copy of your hotel reservation. The hotel reservation entitles you to free public transportation within the city of Bern as well as includes the Gurtenbahn funicular. The hotel will give you the passes for the funicular. Bern is a small town and we love to walk everywhere, to me that’s the best way to really experience a city. We had kept two nights for Bern, so we basically had a day and a half. The city of Bern with its limestone buildings and fountains and beautiful plazas is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Our hotel was right in the heart of town, next to the famous clock tower or Zytglogge as its called. The tourist all flock every hour in front of the clock to see a gilded figure moving its arm to strike. Definitely gawk along with all the tourists at least once at the astronomical clock. We took advantage of the free transportation card and decided to take tram number 9 in direction of Wabern. Get off at station Gurtenbahn and walk a few steps up the hill.Take the funicular to the top. It’s definitely worth a visit. The views of the city of Bern from top were totally worth it. A great place for families, there is a play area as well as a small train ride and the surprise was Tobogganing!!!  Yes,our first time doing it. Loved it, since all three of us did it we couldn’t take a single picture!  After spending a few hours we walked down. By now,we were beginning to drag our feet from lack of sleep and jet lag. Ate dinner and called it a day.

Day two in Bern, we wanted to see the Bear park and RoseGarden. Walked from our hotel to Bear park, the city is named after these bears, and were fortunate to see the bears awake and playing. Spent some time watching their antics. from there walked upto the Rosegarten. Be prepared for a steep climb, but oh so worth it for the views. You can see Old Town and the river Aare. The gardens with a reflecting pool and fountain definitely make up for the climb. The restaurant upstairs is nice with good food but really busy. After spending a few hours, walked down to Old town and to the Federal Building called Bundeshaus. Though we didn’t take the tour, do go to the back of the building, the view is spectacular. You can see the Alps in the distance! Amazing. We walked around some more in Old Town and tried Fondue for the first time. It was goood!!

Had to call it a night as next day we were heading for Grindelwald!

Will write about second half of the Switzerland trip in the next post.

Sharing some pictures of Zurich and Bern

Lake Zurich

Love Lock Bridge

View of River Limmat from Lindenhof

Close Up of Lovelock Bridge

Street View

Going up in the Gurtenbahn funicular

Clock Tower

View of River Aare and City of Bern from Gurten

Bears in action

View while walking to Rosegarden

Flowers blooming in Rosegarden

Rosegarden

Playing chess on the sidewalk

Enjoying Fondue!

Coming soon, Part 2 of our trip!