Last April I had the delightful experience of traveling through Switzerland with a group of travel besties, what fun we had! We spent nine days wandering through the mountains and valleys, riding trains, catching glimpses of waterfalls, and a little too much fondue. 🙂
I couldn’t let spring pass this year without sharing a few inspirational photos and our route though the country in the last week of April. Warning: gratuitous flower photos ahead! Our trip took us via train from Zurich, through Bern, down to Interlakken, then down to Lugano on the border of Italy (with a 48 hour visit to the Lake Region to stay in Bellagio on Lake Como) then back to Lucern by train and ferry and returning to Zurich by train for our departure. We didn’t have time on this trip to wander over to the French side to see the region around Lake Geneva, but I’d been there before many years ago.
Spring was just beginning in the northern part of the country, we landed in Zurich where it was a bit chilly and overcast and the trees had yet to bloom. I feel like we arrived about two weeks early, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the city for two days, and ordering pots of fondue for dinner.
In the evening, my friends and I would stroll up and down the banks of the Limmat River, the light was perfection. Zurich is lovely by day, but in my experience, even lovelier during the evening during a twilight walk when the color of the sky and the lights reflecting off the Limmat River make you feel like you’re walking in a painting.
We rode a very scenic train from Zurich through Bern down to the Interlakken Valley. Your eyes can’t even take in the scenery, it’s incredible. Little Swiss chalets, sheep and cows, a valley of vivid green filled with flowers in bloom. You’ll notice my obsession with the cement flower pots around town. Whomever is responsible for the flower beds around town deserves an award in gardening. 🙂
We certainly arrived in Interlakken at the perfect time in the last week of April, the snow had just melted in the valley the week before. (Although if your ride the funicular up the mountain to Harder Kulm, the seasons switches from spring to winter in ten minutes.) A leisurely stroll through the valley takes your breath away as you make your way past waterfalls and the happiest cows. The walk takes you all the way to Trümmelbach Falls where you can witness the spectacular site of a waterfall inside of a mountain.
From Interlakken we took another scenic train to Lugano where you can feel the shift from German influence to Italian. We ate pizza and drank Italian wine on the shores of Lake Lugano. Did you know it’s so easy to get to the lake region of Italy from Lugano? We hopped a bus that in an hour took us across the border to the town of Menaggio where we then took a ferry and were on Lake Como arriving in Bellagio the very next hour. Bellisimo! I’ll save that 48 hour adventure for a separate post.
Our last part of the loop around Switzerland took us from Lugano to Lucerne. I highly recommend the Gothard Panorama Express train ride, it takes you on a glass domed train from Lugano through the southern part of the country to the edge of Lake Lucerne where you then catch the leisurely 2 hour ferry across the lake to the heart of the town of Lucerne. This was the final highlight of the trip where we enjoyed a beautiful lunch served in front of huge picture windows as the chateaus and castles on the shore drifted by. Stunning!
Switzerland is the most scenic country and riding the trains through the countryside was a dream come true! Late spring and early summer is a perfect time to go. Ask me any questions about our route in the comments, happy to answer!