MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial An awesome trip to Switzerland… part 4
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Day 8 (9/11) – Checked out of our hotel in after breakfast (more good coffee) with luggage in hand and took the train from Lausanne back to Montreux. We had decided that it might be fun to buy a Swiss watch in Switzerland. My wife had done this when we were in Luzern. I was looking for a specific make and model. I had done all of my online research and was armed with my best price to meet or beat. While in Montreux yesterday, we met 2 charming ladies at a watch store in Montreux. They were happy to offer me the price I was looking for however the watch (which they had) had a different band. They called the manufacturer and was able to order the band for next day delivery). I offered to leave them a deposit but they said it was not necessary. The store e-mailed me this (the next) morning that the band was in if I wanted to come purchase the watch. We stored our luggage in the lockers at the Montreux train station (9CHF ea this time) and walked over to the store. About 1/2 hour later and 3 expressos each fuller I walked out with my new watch. I don’t know if it is acceptable to post a kudo for a retail store in this forum but the ladies at Bijouterie Zbinden were kind, accommodating and went out of their way for me. Their English was marginal (way better than my French) but my wife, the 2 ladies at the store, and myself had good conversations.
We hopped back on the train (without having to not forget our luggage) and headed to Zermatt. We stayed at Hotel Ambiance Superior in Zermatt. When checking in, they asked if would like to upgrade to a larger room with a Matterhorn view for 20CHF/night. We did and it was well worth it. After walking around the town and picking up snacks at the Coop supermarket (we went to several of those during this trip), we sat on the balcony facing the Matterhorn and polished off one of the bottles of wine we purchased in Lausanne. The hotel recommended a restaurant for good fondue (we had not had any yet) called Swiss Chalet and went there for dinner. We ended up ordering other dishes instead and it was a great meal.
Day 9 (9/12) – The big hike… Up early and on the Gornegrat train at 8:30. We got to the top and started our walk down at 9:00am. We made plenty of picture stops and made it about 2/3 of the way down by around noon and discovered Restaurant Alfitta in Riffelalp with its expansive deck and views. The owner was an engaging man originally from Ireland who spent some time talk with us over a beer. We continued our hike down (not so easy after sitting for 1/2 hour and staggered back into Zermatt an hour or 2 later. I thought walking down would be easy but…. You don’t get winded but our legs were charlie horse for the next 2 days. Pizza for dinner and earl to bed.
Day 10 (9/13) Checked out and headed to the train station. Our hotel in Zermatt was the only hotel we didn’t walk to from the train station. It was probably only 1/2 mile but it is hilly and many of the streets are cobblestone steps. We had reservations on the 9:50 departure of the Glacier Express. I’ve read mixed reviews of this train ride but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The train is clean and comfortable (like all Swiss trains), the scenery is jaw dropping and the train staff were very engaging. Lunch was served to us at our seat in a very professional manner. This is where we consumed our other bottle of wine from Vinorama. The train had a 10 minute scheduled stop at a small town. As we were pulling in, a cow parade came through town. There was plenty of time to get off the train to see the “dressed up cows” and handlers.
We got off of the Glacier Express in Chur instead of riding it all the way to St Moritz because our next destination was Zurich which would have meant doubling back on another train to Chur from St Moritz. We missed seeing all of the viaducts on the Glacier Express but saved 3+ hours of travel. The train from Chur was direct to Zurich HB (no other stops) and we took tram route 4 from the train station to a stop only a block from our hotel (Hotel Adler in the old town).
Day 11 (9/14) Breakfast and more great coffee at the hotel and then we walked through the old town and over to Banhof Strasse. This was our chance to purchase chocolate which we did from a few locations. I would recommend Max Chocolatier for the great looking store, helpful friendly staff and great chocolate. We took a cruise on one of the smaller river boats which did make 2 stops on lake Zurich before returning to the river. On a recommendation, we had dinner at Rheinfelder Bierhalle. Definitely get the “jumbo jumbo cordon bleu.”
Day 12 (9/15) We had coffee and pastries at a bakery off Banhof Strasse and returned to the hotel to pack. We checked out of the hotel but had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant (Swiss Chuchi) and finally had our fondue. We ended up ordering both a cheese and a meat fondue and the wait staff provided specific instructions (etiquette) on eating fondue. It was very good natured and we were told we did it well.
After lunch, we took the tram to Zurich HB and the train to the airport for our flight home. The 12 days flew by and we loved every minute of the trip. There were only a few things that we knew we wanted to do but just didn’t have time. We have a reason to go back.
Thank you to the staff of My Swiss Alps who provided a lot of information that helped us plan this trip. After looking through these 4 posts, I know that they are really long but I didn’t want to leave anything out. I hope that this will help others considering a trip to Switzerland.
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Hi Bseigen and thanks indeed for the 4 part trip report!
Very informative and detailed – I’m sure it will be of great use for members! How was the fondue at Chuchi?
Hi Arno,
although I do like cheese, I liked the meat fondue better. When we were done cooking the meat, they gave us the broth in coffee mugs which was really good.
I think the best part of it was the experience…. which skewer to use for each ( kind of like the original Ghostbusters movie “Don’t cross the streams!”, using the skewer fork and then transferring to the dinner fork before eating…
good food, great experience. The three best meals (food wise) were:
– lunch at Jungfrau Gastronomie AG in Kleine Scheidegg
– lunch at Hotel Steichen in Zurich
– dinner at Rheinfelder Bierhalle in Zurich (that “Jumbo Jumbo Cordon Blue” is up there!
Regards,
Barry
I meant to address the reply to Lucas, sorry about that.
barry
Hi Barry,
We like long trip reports here! People planning their trip really value such practical information. So, thanks a lot for taking the time to share your experiences. The food and drinks experiences are always interesting. So many different beers in Switzerland, you picked a good theme 😉
By the way, you can edit your posts but only within an hour after submitting.
Hi Barry,
Thank you so much for your trip reports. They were fantastic! You did a lot of the same things we did when we were there last September. September was a fantastic time to visit Switzerland! I did pick up a couple of new things to do though on our next visit thanks to your trip report. Thank you.
Michelle
Hi Barry
Thank you for posting such a detailed and entertaining trip report – you certainly managed to fit in a lot of different experiences. We have visited Switzerland many times so there were bound to be some we have also enjoyed but even so we picked up on a couple of things we haven’t tried and would now like to – notably the bunker experience in Luzern and the Victorix knife-making. I think most people visiting Switzerland feel the need to return if possible! I hope you get the chance to do so.
Maggie
Sounds like a good fondue experience!
Thanks for the restaurant tips! Did you mean the Storchen hotel in Zurich?
Hi Lucas,
yes, you are correct on my top 3 restaurants; The Storchen Hotel.
Regards, Barry
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