A Swiss Adventure To Remember Part 2
Place: The Swiss Alps
Country: Switzerland
Towns/Cities: Zurich, Zermatt, Lugano,
Time of Year: August/September 2024
How we got there: Plane, Train, Cable Car, Funicular, Panorama Express
This is part 2 of A Swiss Adventure To Remember! If you haven’t read Part 1 here is the link: https://dawntillduskaz.com/a-swiss-adventure-to-remember-part-1/.
Zermatt & The Matterhorn
I am absolutely in love with the Matterhorn! It has to be one of the most beautiful mountains on Earth! Imagine how excited we were to arrive in Zermatt after our 3.5 hours train trip from Lauterbrunnen to the southern part of Switzerland! Zermatt is a resort town that lies in the shadow of the great Matterhorn! There are no cars allowed in town and as you walk through the streets the Matterhorn rises above you in all its glory! We were quite lucky because the Matterhorn sometimes has stage fright and likes to hide behind clouds where it can completely disappear! But that was not the case on our first day!
Our first order of business was to secure our luggage in a luggage locker in the Zermatt train station. It was too early to check into our hotel and we didn’t want to waste one minute! Across the street from the train station was the Gornergrat Bahn which is the highest open air railway in Europe. This was our ride to the summit of Gornergrat which is a ridge of the Pennine Alps that over looks the Gorner Glacier and has a pretty nice view of the Matterhorn! We used our half fare cards to purchase our train pass.
At the summit we visited the ZOOM Museum where we experienced a simulated glider ride that let us get up close and personal with the Matterhorn! So cool!
Then we had an alpine picnic(with sandwiches from Coop grocery store) and marveled at the incredible views! The Matterhorn was playing peek a boo with the clouds but was never out of sight for long!
We took a quick peek at the church nestled at the summit.
Our next activity was to hike down the mountain in search of the black nosed sheep! These sheep are pretty famous here on Gornergrat and I was determined to find them! In reality is wasn’t really that hard because they wear GPS trackers so we can see exactly where they have wondered.
Today we found the black nosed sheep at home on their farm enjoying a rest! In case you were wondering, black nosed sheep wear bells too! And they have a pretty spectacular view right from their backyard!
After our visit with the super cute black nosed sheep, we continued our hike. The trail was pretty rocky but had some amazing views! It went from icy glaciers and snowy peaks to green rolling hills! I could have hiked that trail all day with the Matterhorn on full display in front of us but dark clouds rolled in and we had to hustle down the mountain!
After picking up our luggage, we made the trek through Zermatt in search for our hotel with rain sprinkling around us. What a cute resort town! Flowers and cute shops were everywhere! We stopped for a few more pictures with the Matterhorn because it is well known that one minute it will be there and the next gone! Never miss a photo opportunity!
To be honest, I was a little disappointed with our hotel at first. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I had originally booked another hotel with a fancy room complete with a balcony view of the Matterhorn. A month or so before our trip the hotel cancelled due to some flooding that hit Zermatt. I quickly found another hotel that promised a balcony room with view of the Matterhorn but found that it was actually a shared deck with the tip of the Matterhorn peaking out from behind the roof and some construction scaffolding. This was where we would spend our 29th wedding anniversary so I was a little upset but got over it quickly as I had to be grateful that I was sleeping right under the Matterhorn and all I had to do was go outside and soak in all it’s beauty! I do have to mention that our hotel was very reasonably priced and served a delicious breakfast every morning!
Here is our hotel:
And here is where I would have rather stayed although I am pretty sure this would be out of my budget!!
That evening we explored Zermatt a little more and found tennis courts with a view (what I wouldn’t give to have my racket at that moment!) and a French fry machine! We had to try it! A machine that sliced a fresh potato, fries them up and spits them out complete with ketchup!
Our 2nd day started bright and early due to the number of things we planned to see and do! We headed to the opposite end of Zermatt to catch a gondola to Glacier Paradise. Again we used our Half Fare Card to secure tickets all the way into Italy! On the way up, our Matterhorn was in full view ready to greet the day! We passed stops along the way like Furi, Schwarzee, and Trockener Steg. More on them in a bit!
We were headed straight to the top to Glacier Paradise. This is the highest mountain station in the Alps. Once there, we donned our winter hats, gloves and puffy jackets and entered Glacier Palace. We admired all the ice sculptures, walked through tunnels of ice, slide down an ice slide, and warmed up in the little café with come coffee and hot cocoa! Crazy to think we were inside a real melting glacier!
From Glacier Paradise we boarded brand new gondolas(5 in all) that would take us on the Alpine Crossing into Italy!This is the highest crossing of the Alps between two countries and it just opened the year before. The weather turned and we were in a white out which blocked the view of the Matterhorn during the crossing but the scenery was breathtaking anyway! We climbed right into the clouds and snow, crossing over skiers, glaciers and aqua blue lakes!
During a cable car change, we were able to put one foot in Switzerland and one foot in Italy!
We arrived in the ski town of Cervinia, Italy where we had a pizza picnic and strolled the streets. We could definitely tell that we were not in Switzerland anymore! I don’t know why I was surprised that they still had squatty potties!
We had to get back to Zermatt so we transferred from gondola to gondola up to Glacier Paradise and then down the other side, this time stopping first at Schwarzsee to see the Zermatt sign! The Matterhorn was still hiding but we knew it was there!
Our next stop was Furi where we hiked to the Furi Suspension Bridge over Gorner Gorge. Once over the bridge we explored the Dossen Glacier Garden. There was the cutest picnic area with wooden animal sculptures and Flintstone style picnic tables!
Did I mention that this day was our 29th wedding anniversary?! After this crazy long day of exploring, it was time to celebrate with fondue! Like I said before, we mostly ate at the grocery stores however we splurged a bit for this special occasion! We devoured our swiss fondue with bread, potatoes, cured meat, apricots and pickles! Yum!
It was super hard to say goodbye to my beloved Matterhorn but the time had come. We took one last walk through town with our bags to get to the train station that would take us on a scenic ride through parts of Italy and ending up in Lugano, Switzerland. I was so happy to find that the Matterhorn had come out to greet us farewell!
We traveled 6 hours by train from Zermatt to Lugano, Switzerland.
On the way we stopped over in Domodossola, Italy for a stroll around town and a picnic in the piazza. Of course we got gelato as well!
It is amazing how different Switzerland and Italy are and you can see the difference as soon as you cross the border. It costs one euro to use the toilet at the train station which I had to borrow from a nice girl from Belgium because I only had Swiss Francs and apparently they are worthless according to the Italian bathroom attendant!
Lugano
We crossed back into Switzerland on another scenic train that climbed over the mountains and into Locarno (another beautiful lake city) and then on to Lugano. Lugano is in the Italian region of Switzerland which lies close to the border. Most people here speak Italian. What a gorgeous city right on the lake!
Our hotel was close to the water and had a nice view of a garden and courtyard.
We had one full day to explore Lugano and we made the most of it! Our hotel offered a transportation pass for the city which included free bus and some ferry rides. The day started with a bus ride to the funicular that would take us to the top of Monte San Salvatore for some awesome panoramic views of the city of Lugano. There are lots of hiking trails, a museum and an ancient church that you can climb to the tip top of and experience even more stunning views!
After riding the funicular back down, we hopped on a ferry boat to cross the lake to another funicular this time to Monte Bre.
A little up hill climb brought us to our next funicular. There were actually 2 funiculars to get you to the top of Monte Bre!
At the top we got a little lunch with a view and then a stroll around the mountain top.
You cannot visit Lake Lugano without a boat ride so with a free afternoon we did just that! What a relaxing ride stopping at all the docks to load and unload. The water was so pretty and the weather was just perfect!
That evening I wanted to try my luck at getting a real Italian pizza like I remembered when I used to live in Italy as a teen. For years I dreamed about having pizza prosciutto but have never come across anything that was close in the States. We choose a random Italian restaurant in the piazza with outdoor seating and boy did we make the right choice! Just like I remembered! I ate so slow to savor every bite! Cesar ordered pasta which was equally as good! We topped it all off with some gelato!
We needed to walk off all this food so a stroll by the water was a great way to end the evening and the sunset was a bonus!
Gotthard Panorama Express
Did I mention that our Half Fare Card included half price on first class tickets on panoramic trains as well?! At the last minute we decided to book ourselves on the Gotthard Panorama Express for our journey back to Lucerne. What an amazing experience this was! 2.5 hours in 1st class learning all about the history of engineering of this incredible passage.
Several times we passed through circular loop tunnels designed by Alfred Escher in the late 1800’s. He died before the project was completed and never got to ride through the Gotthard tunnels, so a wooden figure was placed on the train in his honor and now he gets to ride the Panorama Express everyday!
The scenery was incredible! My favorite part was the warm welcome from locals as we passed through small towns!
We mailed postcards back home right from the train!
And visited the open air car.
We then transferred to a gorgeous steamboat on Lake Lucerne. Again we experienced unbelievable views as we stopped at each little village along this huge lake. It was a 2.5 hour slow ride but oh so beautiful!
Back in Lucerne
When we arrived in Lucerne it started to drizzle and we quickly made our way to our hotel for our last evening in Switzerland. It started to pour but we ventured out anyway into the downpour for a bite to eat. We got drawn into this beautiful historic city and before long we found ourselves crossing the “other” famous covered bridge, Spreuerbrucke and then climbed the cobblestone streets all the way up to the Museggmauer which is a defense wall with towers built in the 1400’s.
Lucerne is absolutely gorgeous and we could walk the streets for days just admiring the architecture. So glad we got to stop in Lucerne a second time as there is so much to see!
The next morning we boarded a train to Zurich to catch our plane home but not before spending our last Swiss Francs on Swiss chocolates to bring home!
Switzerland has to be my favorite country! The pictures do not do it justice! If you get a chance to visit, go and experience the magic for yourself!
Please remember to travel responsibly and leave no trace!
If you are interested in more of our international travel, check out these links!
