SWITZERLAND
Official Name — Confoederatio Helvetica (Latin)
Switzerland is one among the smallest countries in Europe both in terms of territory as well as population.
Interesting Facts
The actual name of Switzerland is Helvetia.
This country has the lowest of the crime rates in the world.
The highly paid profession here is teaching.
The country produces a huge amount of chocolates on earth.
This country is the home place for the most famous watch brands like Rolex, Tissot etc.
There are 1500 lakes all around the country.
In case of a nuclear war this country has enough bunkers to house its entire population. Sonnenberg Tunnel is the largest nuclear shelter in the world.
Another feather on its hat, Switzerland is the only country to build an airplane powered by solar energy.
With all these facts, anyone will get an interest to stay in this place.
To apply for Swiss citizenship one should live in the country for at least 12 years.
Let us now get into further details of this Heaven on Earth…
Geography
Around 70 percent of this tiny land is filled with forests and mountains.
The Jura Mountains covers the North Western part of Swiss, The Alphs stands in the South and the central plateau is filled with the towns and bigger cities.
Borders
This land locked country is covered by five countries from all sides.
Austria and Liechtenstein in the east, France in the West, Italy in the South and Germany at the North.
Seasons
From April to June its spring or Good season, July to August its summer or High Season, September to October its fall or Good Season again and from November to March its winter or Low Season.
Best time to visit
In the months from July to August the weather is warm compared to the other months but one drawback is that the cost of anything will be very high in this seasonal time and there will be a lot of tourist crowds too.
So a better option is to visit the country in the months of April to June or September to October when the season is better and there are less numbers of tourists too.
Winter comes between December and March and severe snow storms can be experienced in these months.
For ski trip lovers these months are more suitable.
Administration
Switzerland is made up of 26 provinces or Cantons. These cantons are also the member states of the Swiss Confederation.
The capital city is Bern and the largest city is Zurich.
Area and Population
The area occupied by the country is 41,285 square kilometer and population is around eight million people as per 2014.
Languages
Switzerland has four national languages
Schwyzerdutsch — German dialect spoken in Switzerland — Spoken by around two third of the whole Swiz
French — Spoken by 18% approximately
Italian — Spoken by around 10% especially in the Ticino region
Romansh — Spoken by around 1%
Almost all of the people speak English too.
Religion
Switzerland is equally divided with Protestants and Roman Catholics.
The German speaking provinces are equally divided with both the followers.
The French speaking and the Italian speaking cantons majorly follow Catholicism.
Throughout Switzerland there are Youth Organizations, Women’s Associations, Labour Organizations following both the divisions.
The Swiss political parties are also said to be formed only from the religious variations of the early days.
Now with these details let us as usual look at the site seeing places here…
Zurich
Zurich is the biggest city in Switzerland and has a history that dates back to 6000 years.
The city was founded by Roman who settled there for around 2000 years and called it Turicum.
Area and Population
The city has a surface area of 87.93 square kilometer and population of 391,400 people according to the 2014 census.
The official language is German.
It is said as the financial center of Switzerland and is the home to a large number of banking companies and financial institutions.
It is also a very joyful place for tourists with a large number of attractive well preserved and well maintained places to visit.
The best way to go around the city is via trolley, an older version of tram (with wheels). It takes two hours to go round the city with audio guides in different languages.
The trolley departs thrice a day.
The places that can be visited here are The Old Town, Lake Zurich, Burkliplatz, Zurichhorn Park, Kunsthaus Zurich (Museum of Fine Arts), Bahnhofstrasse, Limmatquai and the Rathaus (Town Hall) etc
Bahnhofstrasse
This is a very famous luxury shopping street in Europe. It connects the main train station of Zurich (Bahnhofplatz — Station Square) to Lake Zurich at Burkliplatz .
The length of the street is around 1.4 kilometers and a simple walk here takes just 20 minutes to reach the other end but if one enters into the world of shopping, there is no time limit then.
There are restaurants, fashion stores, luxury departmental stores, perfumes, jewelers, watch shops and a lot more.
Some of the shops here are Apple Store, Globus, Cartier, Chanel, H&M, Mont Blanc, Hermes, etc.
Paradeplatz, a very famous square in Switzerland is located at the lake end of Bahnhofstrasse.
Two biggest Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse have their headquarters here.
This square is also well known for its chocolate shops and cafes.
Jungfraujoch
A visit to this place is the highlight of the trip to Switzerland.
This is Europe’s highest train station and only cogwheel trains are accessible here.
One has to climb an altitude of 3454 meters via either of the two different routes available to visit this view point — through Lauterbrunnen or through Grindelwald.
Highest wind speed here is 267.5 kilometer per hour and average temperature is -7.9 Degree Celsius.
The Sun God looks at this place only during his leisure, about just 1700 hours for a whole year.
Jungfraujoch is located between the two mountains Minch and Jungfrau. It is at the center of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage property “Jungfrau — Aletsch — Bietschhorn”.
One must be really blessed to witness the sunrise from these Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau mountains. These three mountains are a part of Alps mountain range. The Jungfraujoch is the ridge in between Mt. Jungfrau and Mönch.
Meaning of “Jungfrau” is “Young woman” or “Virgin”. She is actually the tallest of the group of mountains (4158 meters tall) standing in that range. To her left stays mount Monch meaning “The Monk” (4107 meters tall). And comparatively Mount Eiger or Orge (3970 meters) is a tiny one.
The other view points in the UNESCO area are the Bettmerhorn and Eggishorn.
Around about 100 years back it was the idea of the entrepreneur Adolf Guyer-Zeller, that has made a place like Jungfraujoch reachable to anyone easily.
The construction of the route started from 1896 and was completed in 1912 and from then visitors started pouring in, to witness one of the most beautiful places on mother Earth.
Visitors coming from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraubahn (Jungfrau Railway) can experience a thrilling travel inside the Eiger North Wall tunnel for about 7 kilometers. This travel takes about 45 minutes.
The Jungfrau Rail takes a break twice on the way to the tunnel. First at the Eigerwand (at a height of 2,864 meters), and then at the Eismeer (at a height of 3,159 meters).
On top, another tunnel of 250 meters long called “Alpine Sensation” connects the “Sphinx Hall” and the “Ice Palace”.
This Alpine Sensation was opened in 2012 for the centenary celebrations and became a new attraction since then.
This tunnel makes one think about the sacrifices made by the miners to make Jungfrajoch as its today.
There are two halls in this tunnel and a 90 meters long walk way with walls painted beautifully.
At Sphinx hall, at Edelweiss Cavern (a room filled with edelweiss-designed lights all over the walls), there is a globe of snow which is extra large in size that tells one about the life on Jungfrau and Switzerland.
Adding to this there is also a film projection room at the Sphinx hall. To fix this room, at that location, an expert team must have worked hard with immense forecast of issues that would arise both while installing as well as while in long term running of the projector too. This was indeed a bold clever attempt.
Ice palace is a cave filled with penguins and birds, and animals and automobiles and people and furniture and vaulted rooms and anything and everything here is a beautiful replica of the original — but made out of just ice alone. The initiative of this idea of making an ice palace was due to the artistic works of a mountain guide in 1934.
Observation Terrace Sphinx
The Sphinx Observatory is the tallest man made structure located in Europe. It is fixed in a place called Sphinx at a height of about 3571 meters above the sea level. This observatory is 384 ft (117 meters) above the Jungfraujoch railway station.
After Jungfraujoch became reachable, from 1912 the scientists started their works in these areas with temporary shelters till this permanent platform was made in 1937. Researches in different fields such as physiology, astronomy, meteorology, glaciology, radiations, cosmic rays etc are said to be made in this place.
This unit includes four labs, a library, a pavilion for cosmic rays researches, a mechanical workshop, a kitchen, ten bedrooms, a living room and living rooms for the custodians.
The scientific area holds two larger labs, a workshop, two terraces for scientific observations, a weather observing station, along with astronomical and meteorological domes.
The observatory is fully equipped with electricity, water, telephone and internet connections.
The astronomical dome has a 76 cm telescope with Cassegrain and Coude focus and is engaged with the University of Liege in Belgium for the Institute of Astrophysics and Geophysics. A large number of long term experiments are permanently installed in this laboratory.
An elevator is also fixed in this mountain which reaches the observatory from Jungfraujoch train station.
An add on exclusive for tourists is the metal grate terrace that surrounds the building on all sides which gives a breath taking 360 degrees view of the Aletsch Glacier.
The beautiful view from the Sphinx Observation Platform, on clear days shows the Bernese Alps, the Aletsch Glacier and the breathtaking valleys below. If one is blessed enough he or she can also view beyond Switzerland’s border to the Vosges Mountains in France and the Black Forest in Germany too.
The story becomes totally different when the mountains are filled with fog. During winter months the lower areas will be filled with mist and fog. Above the fog line the weather can be expected to be great. One cannot have a look at the valleys below as in a good clear day. But these mountains will look like as if they have arisen from deep sea.
For refreshments of the visitors there are six different restaurants to serve food and drinks with different types of menus. They are open round the year and serve European and Asian foods. The Bollywood restaurant serves Indian foods. The Restaurant Crystal, Restaurant Aletsch are other known famous restaurants here. Apart from this there is a post office, a souvenir shop and also conference facilities too at this destination.
A glacier trekking tour to the Konkordia hut and overnight there (at 2850meter height) can be arranged for the interested visitors. One need not be an expert with climbing skills to spend the night there. Local guides there give their hands for support and safety of such daring guests.
The “Konkoridia Climbing Garden” is not only for advanced climbers, but also a best place for beginners too.
Direct accesses by train are available from Interlaken Ost (West ) to Kleine Scheidegg through Lauterbrunnen or Wengen or Grindelwald. Trains divide in Zweilütschinen and so one should board the rite train depending which route one needs to take.
All tickets are valid through Grindelwald and / or Lauterbrunnen / Wengen — and so one can go on a round trip to see either two or all the three villages.
From Interlaken Ost (West) one can take a bus or a train to reach Wilderswil and a train from there to Jungfrau Region.
The Jungfraubahn runs 365 days a year.
The trip up to the Top of Europe, the Jungfraujoch, is not included in any of the Swiss Travel Passes, but the trip to Wengen and (or) Grindelwald is included. From there one needs to buy a connecting ticket, either from Grindelwald or Wengen through Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch and return.
For non-pass holders the “Good Morning” ticket is a better option between May 1 and October 31. But this ticket is not valid on all trains.
There is another pass called Regional Bernese Oberland Pass which is valid between May and October — (again Swiss Travel Pass holders receive a discount in this too).
Admissions to the Sphinx viewing platform, the Ice Palace and Alpine Sensation are included in all tickets.
All connecting tickets can be bought at any train station in Switzerland on the day of the visit to Jungfraujoch easily. These tickets can also be purchased online in advance but it’s always a better decision to purchase the tickets on the respective days after getting an idea about the weather conditions.
The tickets are not anyway that cheap.
If one puts up a stay In the Jungfrau region it’s better to check with the hotels if they offer packages with trips up to Jungfraujoch along with the room prices. Getting the visitors card also will help in small discounts in activities such as Air-Glacier tours, parks, bike rentals, and Museums entrances etc.
Last and not unknown to anyone — wearing sun glasses, warm layered clothing and good shoes are better in this region even during peak summers. The winds are always harsh on the top of Europe.
Apart from Jungfraujoch there are other beautiful places too nearby for hiking like Wilderswill, Grindelwald (good for skiing), Lauterbrunnen (is rite place to explore the valley with 70 waterfalls) , the Schilthorn or Mürren or Gimmelwald area which is easily accessible to Wengen and the Jungfraujoch.
Wengen (car-free) is rite place for sunrises. From here access is easy to Männlichen, Wengern Alp and Jungfraujoch.
Mürren and Gimmelwald (both car-free) are located at the bottom of the Schilthorn. From here one can get the best views of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. From here the access to the Lauterbrunnen Valley is easy. Hiking and skiing is also possible.
LUCERNE
Lucerne is a cute little town close to Zurich airport with the railway station at a walking distance. A fresher in travelling need not take any extra pains to visit this place.
It is called as Luzern by local Germans.
There are many shopping hubs, museums and monuments and in spite of all this the town is close to nature. Trips to mountain tops via train or cable car and also trips on Lake Lucerne can be done to spend holidays in a more relaxed way.
To the North of Lake Lucerne the beautiful mountain range called Rigi is located. It is an ideal place for hiking and gives great views from the top. At the foot of this mountain range and close to the northern side of the lake, forest based villages like Weggis, Vitznau and Gersau are located.
To the South of the lake the mountains are even higher. Stanserhorn and the snow peaked Titlis, are standing majestically here. The Pilatus stands in the West close to the Lucerne city. The best way to explore this town is on foot. The must visits locations here are
Chapel Bridge
This is a 200 meter long wooden bridge at the center of the city with 111 beautiful paintings in it. There is a water tower attached to it which stands there from 1300. This is at a distance of 5 minutes walk from the train station.
The Jesuit Church (Jesuitenkirche) in the Bahnhofstrasse, 100 meter from the Chapel Bridge, Franciscan Church (Franziskanerkirche), behind the Jesuit Church, Hof Church (Hofkirche) in the Sankt-Leodegar-Strasse, Lion Monument in the Denkmalstrasse, about 15 minutes from the rail station, Musegg Wall (13th century city wall to the north of the town) are the other noted places for a visit.
On the other hand there are different cruises giving a variety of options to choose and enjoy the scenic beauties above the Lake Lucerne which is a not to be missed thing in this place.
Lion monument
This is the most sentimental monument among the Swizz. It is an ever living memory for the bravery and the sacrifices of the mercenaries who lost their lives during the French Revolution at the Tuileries Palace in Paris.
Mercenaries are professional soldiers who are hired to serve in foreign lands.
During the days of French Revolution around 1789, Swiss Mercenaries, was an important and more profitable trade for the country along with agriculture and crafts, with about 40,000 native soldiers serving below foreign banners.
There is an inscription above the Lion which says “Helvetiorum fedei ac Virtuti” meaning “To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss”’.
Dying Lion, Lucerne Lion, Lion of Lucerne, Lion Monument, Swiss Lion — these are the different names by which the monument is referred.
The monument is 10 meters long and six meters in height. It stands beside an old sandstone quarry lake in Lucerne’s Glacier Garden at the east end of the medieval town.
Lucas Ahorn, a stone-mason from Constance in today’s Germany, took the honour of carving the sculpture out of the limestone cliff face in the years 1820 and 1821.
Little ahead of carving the designing of it was done by the sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsenwhilst in Rome in 1819. It was commissioned by Captain Carl Pfyffer von Altishofen.
This Monument was inaugurated on the 10th August 1821 and was purchased by the town of Lucerne in 1882.
Titlis
Uri Alps is a mountain range in Central Switzerland and parts of Western Alps.
Titlis is a mountain in this Uri Alps which stands with a height of about 3,238 meters above sea level. It’s the highest peak in that range. It is mainly accessed from Engelberg on the North side.
Engelberg is a municipality in Central Switzerland which is the largest holiday destination in the country. Around 90% of its inhabitants are directly or indirectly depending on tourism. This place is the base for the ones interested in exploring the Alphs around.
By car
The Titlis valley station can be reached via 30 minutes drive by car from Lucerne. Car can be parked at the valley station.
By Train
It can be reached in 45 minutes via train from Lucerne on the Zentralbahn railway. From the Engelberg train station to the Titlis valley station, its just a walk of 10 minutes or can also jump on to the free shuttle services.
Up Hill
Engelberg is 996 meters, Gerschnialp is 1,262 meters, Trübsee is 1,796 meters and Stand is 2,428 meters and Klein Titlis is 3,028 meters above sea level.
There are Xpress cable cars that transport visitors up hill from Engelberg till Stand station with a break at the Trubsee middle station.
Then comes the world famous Titlis Rotair — The World’s first rotating car.
This car transports the visitors from the middle station at Stand, to the summit station at 3,020 meters above sea level.
The overall journey from below till the top takes around 30 minutes.
The Rotair gives a very beautiful view of the Alps. The trip is approximately for 5 minutes but a must not miss one. The revolving cable car gives a 360 degree view of the Aplhs with a bird’s view showing the visitors the rocks and valleys and the snow peaked mountains from a different height.
At Klein Titlis, a glacier cave is there which is actually said as the Heart of Titlis. The ice present over here is 5000 years old. The cave has a 150 meter long pathway which is 10 meter below the surface of the glaciers. The temperature inside the cave is -1.5 degree Celsius and with a light turquoise blue color this cave gives a very cool experience to the visitors.
The access to this cave is through the corridor from Level 1 of the Titlis mountain Station.
Entrance is free of charge and it is opened round the year except during the railway revival in November.
Next attractive thing over here is the Cliff Walk.
The Titlis Cliff Walk is the highest hanging bridge suspended with steel cables in Europe. It was opened in December 2012.
It is just a meter wide and a hundred meter long and will surely be the most threatening one for those who have a fear for heights.
Ice flyer chair lift is located next to the cliff walk. From Mount Titlis upper cable car station, it is at a hundred meter walking distance. This allows one to fly over the glaciers and gives a breath taking view of it from the top.
The Titlis glacier park is another thing that must not be missed. Snow tubes and sledges are present here to entertain the visitors.
The park is however shifted to Trübsee mid station during winters. During summers, one can rent a rowing boat to go around the lake Trübsee, near the mid station.
Precautions
Titlis station is located at a height of 3032 meters. Special precautions will surely be needed for kids and aged people. Getting a word from the doctor is always advisable if one plans to go above the altitude of 2000 or 2500 meters.
Checking out the weather conditions a day ahead will be helpful.
Getting the tickets booked also can help in saving a lot of time on the particular day of the visit.
Reaching there as early as possible is always better to have enough time for all the activities first and then to play around in the snow and to take some good pictures too.
Pilatus
Pilatus is the mountain close to Lucerne. It is a cluster of many peaks. The tallest one is Tomlishorn which is at a height of 2,128 meters (6,982 feet) above sea level.
The meaning of the Latin word Pilatus is “Cloud Topped”.
There are two ways to reach the town Alpnachstad from Lucerne — by local train or by boat.
Aplnachstad is a small village on the shore of Lake Lucerne and it is the place from where the cog wheel trains start to the top of the mountain.
These trains are one among the steepest ones on earth with an average gradient of 38 percent and at some places 48 percent too. The train reaches an altitude of 1,600 meters in just 4.6 kilometers in hardly 30 minutes and there are trains available for every 45 minutes.
This train was (something impossible) designed planned and implemented by Colonel Eduard Locher — Freuler. The line was opened on June 4, 1889 with a steam traction engine to power up the system but now (from 1937) it is electrified with a supply of around 1550V DC.
The train consists of small cabins each carrying 6 members. The right side gives better views comparatively as the left faces mountains most of the time. The railway goes through thick forests at some places and a tunnel too comes on its way.
At half way through the ride, it takes a break at Alpine hamlet. Wooden houses and cows with bells are seen here and a few get down here for hiking too.
The second part of the ride gives an even better view of the mountain. After around half n hour the train reaches the station on top. The station is a big area especially on top of the mountain accommodating a Dragon Ride, a restaurant and some souvenir shops.
The cogwheel area is at a visible distance from both the train station down hill and the docks.
There are many different schedules aligned for the cogwheel trains in such a ways that no one waits for the trip up the peak.
The train on its way goes through the clouds and few farms too and the spectacular view from the peak is surely a not to be missed one. If the day is very clear, one can view till Italy from there.
To get down from the mountain via the other route one can choose the Dragon Ride.
In this ride one can get down at Fragmuntegg to enjoy the scenic views or to visit the rope park.
Or can go ahead to reach Kriens.
From Kriens with a 20 minutes walk can reach the bus stop where can find many buses to Lucerne.
Rhine falls
It’s the largest waterfalls in Europe located close to the border of Northern Switzerland at the city of Zurich. The height is 23 meters and width is 150 meters.
One can take a boat and can go straight to the center rock of the falls to experience the best of it.
Otherwise can get a spectacular view from Riverside viewing platforms from where the threatening roaring sounds of the gigantic falls can be heard clearly.
One more thing to be noted is this falls is accessible to wheelchairs too. The w/c users can go through the Neuhausen am Rheinfall entrance on the North side.
Then they can go directly down to the Rhine falls basin and through a lift to the boat landing.
The best time to visit is summers in the month of May and June when the force and quantity of the waters will be maximum and its better to choose weekdays or early mornings to enjoy the boat rides with less crowds.
Duration needed to enjoy the falls activities fully is around 2 to 6 hours for sure.
