MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 15 days Freiburg, Montreux and Lucerne in October
-
This was our fourth trip to Switzerland in six years, and it was memorable in a different way.
Day 0 & Day 1:
We took flights to Zurich that left earlier in the day than our past trips, but landing at 5:20 am at Frankfurt is a bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, there are very few people at the airport at that hour reducing any lines & waiting times. On the minus side, nothing is open until 6 and it really messes with your normal daily body rhythm; basically you’re just starting a new day in Germany when you would normally be going to bed on the east coast in the US.
The passport control area went pretty quickly that early in the day. The next flight was a short hop to Zurich, and after collecting luggage a very quick train ride into the city. Our hotel room was ready for check in early, we drop the bags and take a short stroll through the old town section. The time zone difference is beginning to catch up, but we had enough energy to stop at the SBB ticket station to pick up tickets for the following day transfer to Freiburg, Germany that isn’t covered by our Swiss Travel Pass. Shortest line I’ve ever encountered at the Zurich SBB office.
Day 2:
After a quick breakfast at the hotel (included), we catch the 9:59 train to Basel, continuing on to Freiburg. All was uneventful until we got to Basel, where the train is delayed by a medical emergency on another train, resulting in all those passengers shifting over to our train. The minor inconveniences of travel.
Our Freiburg hotel is straight across the street from the train station which makes for an easy “commute.” We get settled, then head off to go to the Markt Platz by the old Munster church – a daily (except Sunday) farmers market surrounding the church. We head straight for the north side of the church where the bratwurst food trucks are lined up and order a Lange Rote sausage. About 11-12” long, on a long roll, with mustard from the foot operated pump on the side of the truck. Very touristy perhaps, but very, very tasty.
After a quick stop at the Dattler hillside restaurant behind the church for a “Welcome to Germany” beer, we go back down to the market plaza and into the old church. Very impressive! A ton of interior stone carvings, lots of detailed & intricate stained glass windows, an elevated organ station and pipes, hundreds of carved figures above the main entrance archway, and exterior stonework and gargoyles aplenty. It is also very old, beginning construction in 1100 and completed in 1510. Exceptional craftsmanship. If you ever get to Freiburg, don’t miss it.
A little souvenir shopping and then off to find a genuine German beer garden, and it was a good one, the Feierling Hausbrauerei beer garden. A big beer and a pretzel, lots of tables, lots of people but pretty quiet & well behaved overall. A group of adults out enjoying the warm afternoon with good beer, friends, and conversation. Not boisterous at all. So we had a second beer; but by then they were sold out of pretzels. Darn it.
Day 3:
Appropriately bolstered by breakfast we leave to go to the Münsterplatz to get a ceramic beer stein at the souvenir shop – an advance Christmas gift for my son. The market is PACKED. Well the tourist info said Wednesday & Saturday were the busiest days and it was right. If we thought it was busy yesterday, it was at least triple that crowd today. We did buy two jars of spicy & sweet tomato spread and beet spread from an old guy with a long beard at the back of the church, a transaction conducted entirely via gestures as he didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak German. It was actually a quiet interlude from the seeming chaos of the market place. Time to find the bier garden on Schlossberg Hill that I thought we were going to yesterday.
We eventually find it walking up a steep switchback gravel path, and to our surprise when we stopped where the entrance to a restaurant was, there sits an elevator to go down to where we started. There’s an “Aha” moment for you. Two big wheat beers and a leisurely time enjoying them.
Tonight we go out for a “real” German dinner at the Martin Brau restaurant. The place is very busy but we get a table for 2 right away as long as we don’t mind a high top table. We don’t. The dishes were OK, but I think the slight disappointment was in our not knowing what entrée would be more to our liking. But the wheat beer was good, and the Black Forest cake outstanding. Kirsch-soaked cake layers, thick Bavarian cream in the middle, thick layer of Kirsch’d sour cherries on the bottom, with another thin layer of Bavarian cream on top liberally dosed with dark chocolate flakes. One piece was enough for both of us. In retrospect, I’d have been happy ordering two pieces of cake & coffee. And maybe a bratwurst.
Day 4:
Today was devoted to scenic train rides through the Black Forest, as noted in other posts on this site. We bought a Lander ticket and started the journey. If the first leg was part of the scenic ride, we missed it. We arrive at Donaueschingen, “birthplace of the Danube”. After a short walk around town, we retire to the Donaueschingen Stuble, which was a perfect place for another wheat beer while we were waiting for the train. We took a table in the shade next to a gurgling fountain and savored a liquid lunch of Furstenberg Hefeweizen beer.
On to the train to Offenburg and this was the section of the ride we were really looking forward to. Described as spectacular and exquisite with many tunnels and two viaducts we expected some great scenery. What we got was pretty plain Jane, except for a good sized executive business jet parked in someone’s yard; not anywhere near a runway, just in the yard. Eccentric.
The two legs of the scenic Black Forest train ride were anything but. Although it wound through some narrow ravines – you gotta look quick to see them – a lot of it was steep forested ridges outside one if not both windows, and on the upper sections a lot of gently rolling pasture or crop fields that you could see anywhere. And the loops and ravine bridges it shows on maps and in pictures were invisible to us.
After returning to Freiburg, we decide to go back to the Hausbrauerei Feierling bier garden and ordered bratwurst and two big beers. We each got a plate with 2 bratwurst (Bauernwurste), brown Farmers Bread (bauernbrot) and some salad. The bratwurst were great – juicy and really flavorful. No trouble eating all four of them. A very tasty & filling meal at a bargain price of 7.80€ per plate, not counting the beer of course. Big Macs are more expensive here.
Day 5:
Today is transfer day to Montreux, and the DB train from Freiburg to Basel was 30 minutes late. Oddly enough, and very unusual for the Swiss railway, two of the next three trains we need to take in Switzerland are late too, one by one hour. Three trains later, we’re finally in Montreux.
We cross the street from the train station and check into the Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic. Very nice, even the city view rooms, which basically look out at the old train station, but have balconies with chairs. We drop off our stuff, and go down to the hotel bar lakeside terrace for a beer. Two big Erdinger wheat beers, two bowls of olives and two bowls of mixed nuts and we are in vacation mode again. Plus the lovely terrace overlooking Lake Geneva and the hills on the west side didn’t hurt either. May be the Montreux version of the German beer garden. But pricier.
Day 6:
An early breakfast at a table with a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding hills and a slight breeze through the open door to the terrace. Lovely setting. The usual assortments of meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, breads, and hot items, including an appliance filled with boiling water and six egg holders so you could soft or hard boil your eggs. We had not seen that before. And did not experiment with it.
After breakfast we take a walk on the promenade – we got as far as the world famous Freddie Mercury statue and take a few quick pics after waiting for all those [other] tourists to finish taking their photos. Unfortunately, I am beginning to feel poorly, with lots of sneezing, sniffles, and nasal congestion. Nonetheless, we head off to catch the train to Gruyeres. We will be on the infamous Golden Pass train to start, which on this part of its transit are all Panorama Express trains. The PE train leaves town via a series of very tight turns & switchbacks as it gains elevation through the hillside neighborhoods, which makes for an ever changing view of the lake and waterfront buildings along the promenade. The beautiful scenery on this train ride really makes the German “scenic train ride” through the Black Forest pale in comparison.
We arrive in Gruyeres and it’s a half block walk to the La Maison du Gruyere cheesemaking demonstration factory. Our entry is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass (STP) so we pick up our audio instrument and begin our self-guided tour. We each received a three piece sampler of gruyere cheese (6 months, 9 months and 12 months old) as our welcome gift. A nice touch. And darn tasty too.
We follow the tour route to the cheese making room where there is a huge copper vat undergoing mechanical stirring and you can see the curds developing. The audio and story boards are really pretty good, especially once you get past the first 4 or 5 panels with the talking cow. One really interesting element was a series of olfactory exhibits for you to smell all the many herbal, grassy and other ingredients of the cow’s diet.
We finished the tour and stopped at the gift shop to buy a t-shirt and got small packages of 12 and 16 month old gruyere cheese pieces. We eat one of the cheese tour samplers while waiting for the trains back to Montreux. You really can tell the difference a few more months aging makes to the taste of the cheese. The trains & scenery on the way back are just as impressive in reverse as they were on the way up. A worthwhile excursion should you ever find yourself in Montreux.
Day 7:
Our initial plan to do a marathon round trip to Gornergrat today is overtaken by feeling a bit worse, so after breakfast we decide to take a short walk on the promenade, and then decide to hop on the boat for a quick 15 minute ride to Chateau de Chillon and tour the castle. After getting tour tickets, with the 50% discount offered by the hotel complimentary transit card, we begin an exploration of the castle. It dates back to the 11th century, and right off the bat you can tell people were shorter then. The self-guided tour covers 46 rooms, courtyards, and towers. There are three courtyards and they may correlate to the different rulers of the time and the changes/improvements each made. The first of two banquet halls was amazing with the wood work. Dozens and dozens – maybe a hundred or more small wooden panels cover the ceilings and the upper arches leading into the ceilings. Beautiful Lord’s chair, and buffet and dressers with intricate carving around the edges of the room. The hearth cooking area has metal supports for cooking pots next to brazier type fire boxes and it is huge. One of the story boards described the food that was required for a large feast that just boggles the mind. 350 large animals, plus 660 smaller animals, 2000 poultry, 6,000 eggs, wild game, birds (including heron and crane) and a dozen different kind of fish. Not to mention the vegetables and bread. Hosting these feasts was clearly no small undertaking.
The tour took longer and required more effort than we anticipated. Almost all of the lower level floors and stairs are uneven, presenting a constant challenge. Some of the rooms are furnished or have replicas of period furniture while others are barren. Lots of tight passageways and stairs, small windows mostly overlooking the lake. Story boards help understand the context for what you see.
All in all, the tour took us about 2.5 hours including a few “sit down and rest” stops. And the caretakers of the castle saved their last bit of tourist punishment for the end. To get to the final stop at the main watchtower, you go up a couple flights of stairs then another couple flights of stairs then another couple flights of stairs. Seemed like 10 but was probably only 8.
We were both tired and happy to be done with the tour. It was interesting and put in context how difficult life was way back when. We catch the 201 bus back to the hotel and reward ourselves by going down to the hotel terrace for one beer. The afternoon was warm and a bit hazy but we get a table right on the edge of the terrace and enjoy another tall Erdinger weisse beer. And the big olives and nut mixture they bring along with your order. A wonderful way to end the day.
Day, 8:
Wake up to our worst day in terms of feeling healthy, we simply aren’t that well. Fortunately, it is another transfer day, this time to Lucerne. Also fortunate that the hotel is less than 2 blocks from the Bahnhof, which is good because energy levels are low and the walk is slow. A quick trip to the pharmacy for some medication – ACC Sandoz 600, which really helped the symptoms, then to the COOP for light dinner items, and a much needed good night’s rest.
Day 9:
This turns out to be a rest & recovery day. We took a short walk around old town and that was all we could manage today. No excursions, no train or boat rides, no sightseeing or shopping. Highlight was wandering over to the little local park and watching some regulars play chess on the big pavement set ups with big plastic chess pieces. No lack of concentration on the players’ part, and no lack of advice & second opinions on the part of the regular observers.
Day 10:
We take a walk through the small park next to the hotel and find a flea market set up. While we buy nothing, my wife has to investigate every stand and multiple items. I found the vendors & shoppers more interesting than the merchandise; flea markets are flea markets. A bit later we take another walk to the river and through part of the regular farmers market. Several stands are set up with nice cheeses, meats, bakery items, and produce. Although we still had no appetite, one vendor insisted we try samples of dried beef and venison. I’m glad he did because both were outstanding although I thought the venison was better. It was a very nice gesture on the vendor’s part, and I almost felt guilty about not buying anything from him.
We stop at the Opus restaurant on the waterfront as we leave the market for a cappuccino, and do our tourist imitation of locals, just sipping a coffee at an outdoor cafe by the farmers market. I doubt we fooled anyone. But it felt good to us and was restorative both physically and psychologically.
Since we are beginning to feel better, we go down to the docks and get on a boat to Weggis. We know we aren’t up for a charcuterie plate and big wheat beers at Restaurant Oliv but pretty sure we can manage something at the bakery just down the street. We chose a piece of chocolate and vanilla cake and a lemon tart, with a cappuccino each and sat outside on their terrace to enjoy it. The citron tart was the better choice. Back down to the waterfront park and wait for the next boat back to Lucerne.
After a short break, we head back to the local park for entertainment: killer ping-pong games – these guys brought their own net and gauge to ensure the height was exactly correct – and the usual pavement chess matches.
Day 11:
We’re off to the train station to catch the 12:42 train to Alpnachstaadt and Pilatus. A short line for the cogwheel tickets and a moderate line to board. Pilatus upgraded the cogwheels cars this year, nice shiny paint and all the roofs are clear which improves the view but certainly provides some serious solar gain & extra heat on sunny days. While we were in line for the tickets there was a woman yodeling at the little cafe in the plaza at the base station; you never know what you’ll find. We’ve taken this train many times before but it’s still an amazing ride. There were a lot of people doing the hike up to the top; we’d never seen so many hikers. And it is a long and steep hike up topping out at 7000 feet.
It was crowded at the top, no empty tables outside on the plaza, no empty lounging chairs in the picnicking area, no empty table inside, but we finally managed to find one table near a window inside that overlooks the final cogwheel train approach. This calls for two Erdinger weisse beers, so we indulge.
Neither of us are up for the dragon walk this year so we finish the beers and get in the line to go back down. My ticket won’t work and the young lady monitoring the line quickly realized we had the wrong return ticket – ours was for Kriens. She quickly solved this by swapping the one we had for the correct one and off to the train we go. This happens a lot since sometimes the ticket folks at the bottom sell round trip tickets to the same original departure point and sometimes they give you up one side & down the other tickets. But the staff at the top checking the boarding stiles have a batch of each type in their pocket for the exchanges: it’s happened to us twice over the years.
Day 12:
Once fueled with a hearty breakfast for the morning activity, and medicated as preventive measures, we set out for a longer walking tour of old town. We manage to basically walk all of old town in about 2 hours. We also get up to the Chas Barmettler cheese shop and pick up a small piece of their excellent cranberry cheese for 3.95 CHF. It was one of the few things on my shopping list, and well worth the effort.
Once again we catch the next boat to Weggis with the intention of going back to the bakery for a leisurely pastry & coffee before catching the return boat back to Lucerne. A fairly quick ride in the sunshine and very few people getting off at Weggis. Down to the bakery we go, only to find out it is closed for a couple weeks, starting yesterday. Phooey!
Backup plan is the Restaurant Oliv for either a dessert or a beer. Once we find out neither of us can scan the English menu via our phones, we revert to just 2 beers, a small Feldschlosschen lager for my wife and a bigger Schnieiderweisse wheat beer for me. I definitely got the better part of that selection. Back to the hotel for reorientation before heading over to the little park next door for the evening’s entertainment.
No ping pong tonight but two chess games underway. I find it entertaining even though I know nothing about chess. The player hand gestures, comments, observer’s advice and commentary, and personal interactions are interesting.
Day 13:
Feeling a bit better today and off for a Stanserhorn adventure. The walkway construction at the base from past years is done and access to the cogwheel & Cabrio ticket office is much more simple now. No more waiting for the barrier to go up near the station and taking the circuitous walk through a couple of streets in town and a parking lot. They have improved the boarding procedure too, handing out time-stamped tickets to keep things a bit more organized.
We were very happy to hear the cowbells again while riding the old open air railway cars on the first leg up, it certainly puts you in the mood for a relaxing day. We switched to the Cabrio gondola and once again enjoyed the view on the way up from the lower level while most people want to ride on the upper level. We were advised at the bottom to get our time-stamped return boarding pass as soon as we got to the top, which makes for a more efficient return process too.
This year we walked around the summit in what I consider the reverse order; most folks go straight from the plaza up the shorter and steeper path to the summit, then loop around and return to the plaza. All of the work they have been doing for the last number of years to shore up eroded sections and install new posts and cable has been completed now, and we took our time to sit on the benches along the way.
Our return to the plaza demands a tall Appenzeller Weizenbier for each of us, which turned into two beers apiece – and some Zweifel paprika potato chips. Turns out those chips are pretty darn good. Back to the hotel for our last night in Lucerne.
Day 14:
Transfer day to Zurich, and we catch a fast train arriving about noon. We drop the bags at the hotel and decide to do a little exploring. A toss-up between Schaffhausen and Konstanz, and we pick Schaffhausen. The idea is to see the Rhine Falls, and we did in fact see them – from the train window as we rode past in either direction. That wasn’t our intent and shows what lack of research will do. They are quite scenic and we will incorporate a longer and in person visit next time we get back to Switzerland.
Day 15:
Up very early for the quick train ride to the Zurich airport and an early flight. We do however have time for a light breakfast at the Sprungli café, which was much needed. A bit pricey but good.
Final Thoughts:
Falling sick while on vacation is never fun. Although we only had a couple of bad days, we were affected for about 10-11 days of our 15 days. We definitely lacked energy and stamina for most of those days, and had little appetite during much of our time in Switzerland. For perspective, between both countries, we spent a total of $84 on meals out, $89 on groceries for meals in our room, and $200 on outdoor beers (and pretzels). Think about that for a minute: $84 on restaurant meals for two people over two weeks. In Switzerland.
I did lose 3 pounds during our travels (and travails) but I do not recommend catching whatever bug we caught as a weight loss strategy.
The Travelers WiFi, which I have recommended heartily during our previous trips, was a disappointment this year. Our unit did not fully charge despite being on the charger 12-15 hours each night, and would only hold a charge for about 5 hours before giving up. In fact, the unit only fully charged one day out of the 15 days we had it; most days it would only charge to 75% if that. I had a similar problem last year but was able to exchange it for a new unit halfway through our trip and the new unit worked perfectly, as did previous units the prior two trips. This year I didn’t manage to get that done. We were using the WiFi during the day to basically check the DB and SBB schedules, not to surf the net, and I was surprised to have it wear down so quickly. The clerk at the Travelers WiFi store at the Zurich airport was not very sympathetic either when we turned it in. “Send them an email, I’m just a cashier” were his exact words. Travelers need to step up their game in my opinion. I will send them an email. And consider alternatives in the future.
On the plus side, we had perfect weather the entire trip, warm sunny days, temperatures in the 70s, not a drop of rain. Short sleeve weather for the most part although a sweater in the evening and on mountaintops came in handy. Some trees starting to turn color. October was a wonderful time to visit. We will be back. Next time the Rhine Falls is on the list, as is more time in the Ticino region with perhaps a day or two in Italy. We loved it last year, but the Gotthard tunnel shutdown this year put the damper on day trips to Lugano & Locarno, so we skipped it. Just as well, you don’t want to go there if you have no appetite.
-
Hi CabinJon,
Many thanks for your trip report and sharing your tips and experiences.
I particularly enjoyed all the detail in regard to your Chillon tour. Very fascinating.
So sorry to hear you were unwell during your trip – that’s unfortunate but glad you managed to still enjoy your time here with the very pleasant weather. Yes, it’s been lovely weather this month but yesterday it ‘turned’. It’s a lot cooler and we had some ‘much’ needed rain.
Sounds like you already have some plans for your next trip here 🙂
Trust you are both fully recovered now, thank you again for your report.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thanks for your great report and beautiful pictures CabinJon! Happy to hear you still had a good time, in spite of falling ill for a couple of days. I agree that October is a great season to visit Switzerland. You’ll encounter much fewer tourists than in July/August. And, if you’re lucky like you were during this trip, you can still have very pleasant weather.
Too bad that the Traveler’s Wifi didn’t work well this time! I’m curious what their response to your e-mail will be.
Yes, the Zweifel paprika chips are a real treat, aren’t they ;-)?
Hi CabinJon,
Thank you for taking the time to share your journey with us. It was an enjoyable read and I am glad you still managed to move around inspite of feeling unwell on some days. You are the 3rd person that mentioned coming down with a bug during the trip and I wonder whether it was on the plane. We heard many of our friends who flew off and arrived feeling unwell or they came back unwell after their flight. A reminder for us to be diligent in prepping up our immunity.
Looks like we aren’t the only ones who have been visited Switzerland several times – there’s so much to see and enjoy but it is definitely getting more pricey when dining out. I don’t know how you managed to do so on such a small budget – maybe having no appetite helped?
We have always wanted to try the german sausages and you made me salivate 😋😋Wonder if we will get a chance to do so at the Basel Christmas markets when we visit next month.
Great tips during your report and once again thank you.
Stay safe and wishing you good health.
Traveljet,
I believe we caught the bug in Germany. I have any symptoms until we were leaving Germany on Day 4, headed to Montreux. My best guess is the large crowds at the Munsterplatz is the most likely source, but who knows really?
The abnormally low prices for eating out and groceries is almost entirely due to teh fact we were sick and basically had no appetite for many days. We did take advantage of the free hotel breakfasts, and ate a little more than we felt like to fuel ourselves for the day, knowing we weren’t likely to be eating much afterwards.
Ah, the sausages. I’m not sure what type we had at the beer gardens in Freiburg, it was simply listed as bratwurst. And delicious. As was the Freiburg specialty sausage, the lange rote. About the only wurst I don’t care for is the weisse wurst. I was I had time to try more of the local wursts, but you can only eat so many, even when you’re feeling good.
Thanks for your kind words. And thanks to Yolanda & Annika too.
All I’ve heard from Travelers WiFi so far is an automated “we got your email” response.
Hi CabinJon,
Yes anything’s possible if one is in an enclosed space or close proximity with crowds. Thankfully you did get to enjoy a few delicious sausages before feeling unwell. Staying in a hotel that provides a good breakfast is really important so we can keep to one main meal (dinner). We usually bring some assorted nuts for a snack in between. The swiss franc remains strong.
Stay safe.
Hi traveljet,
This is slightly off-topic but have you come across the below link on our site, scroll to no. 3 in regard to food:
Yes, dining out at restaurants in Switzerland can be expensive. As mentioned, supermarkets are a good choice. More and more of the supermarkets (Migros, Coop, Lidl and Aldi) sell ‘ready-made’ meals such as sandwiches, salad bowls, cold cuts, fruit salad and warm snacks for a reasonable price. Most bakeries offer such options too. Hiltl or Titbits restaurants are located throughout the major cities in Switzerland. A vegetarian restaurant but there are many, many dishes to choose from – you’ll find flavours from all over the world. The food is sold by ‘weight’, it can be another economical option.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Yolanda, yes I have. Thanks again for the links. We did look at the offerings at supermarkets. Usually the hotel breakfasts we have, do offer good selections quite similar to what the supermarkets have.. There’s just so much bread my gut can handle before I have issues digesting it.
We enjoy freshly prepared hot meals that are a little different and we are not vegans. Thats the price we will have to pay for dining out in cafes and restaurants. Thankfully its one main meal which is dinner and we can still budget accordingly.
I am hoping this coming trip, we will be able to get hot meals at the Christmas markets eg rosti or bratwurst that won’t cost as much as the restaurants.
Regards.
Hi traveljet,
Yes, the Christmas markets, they are pretty special here. I’m sure the pricing will be less than restaurant prices.
Have fun.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thanks Yolanda😁
Annika,
I received a response from Travelers WiFi today. They apologized for the inconvenience, and indicated they may have been able to resolve the issue remotely if I had informed them when it occurred. I did not know they could do that but I’ll remember it for future trips. They also offered me a discount for a future purchase within the next year. I appreciate that and will no doubt take advantage of it for our next trip to Switzerland. Their customer service is how it should be.
Hi CabinJon,
Thanks for your update! Good to hear that Travelers WiFi addressed your complaint to your satisfaction, and that you trust them enough to give it another try next time :-).
Hi CabinJon,
It’s certainly nice to hear that the Wifi folks caught up with you and did the right thing. Enjoyed reading your trip report. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Regards,
Danielson
- The thread ‘15 days Freiburg, Montreux and Lucerne in October’ is closed to new replies.
