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| Lucerne |
Last year September we took a trip to Switzerland and Austria. My wife has been longing to visit Switzerland and she has been reminding me about it since we were married.
At first we wanted to plan the holidays by trains but having our son travelling along can be a challenge since we will have a lot more stuff to carry. A 4 year old gets tired easily and sleepy sometimes especially with jet lag. We may end up having to carry him too. So the best way to travel is by car. A self drive holiday. A left hand drive car is something that I need to get use to for the 2 weeks there but I think it is much cheaper and we get more flexibly this way.
Day 1
Arrived at Zurich and picked up a Volkswagen Golf at the airport Avis car rental service. I never expected to run into problems in getting the car started. I didn't know I have to step on the brake before turning the ignition key. It wasn't just me, the couple next to ours also faced the same problem.
Again before we could get on our way to Lucerne I managed to jammed up the parking lot because I could not figure out how to engage the reverse gear. In the end I got help from a very angry looking German who was held up by me. Why do they make car so complicated these days or I have been using my Proton for too long.
Anyway, we made our way to Lucerne on the first day. Parked the car at a underground parking next to the train station and walked with our son on stroller. All the attractions such as the Chapel bridge and Lion Monument were within walking distance.
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| Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) |
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Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal)
We spent the night at hotel Gausthaus Grafenort located at Grafenort , Engelberg Valley that was about 30 minutes drive from Lucerne and 10 minutes drive to Engelberg Cable car station to Mt.Titlis.
It cost about CHF100 for a Double room with shared bathroom.
I forgot to take a picture of the hotel below is the picture from the hotel's website.
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Picture courtesy of Hotel Gausthaus Grafenor
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| Chapel next to the Hotel |
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| Day 1 Route |
Day 2
We woke up early and be among the first to ascend Mt. Titlis via Cable car because at about noon we need to go to Tasch (Zermatt). It was a clear day at the top. We had to get on 3 different types of Cable cars in order to get to the peak. A six-seater cable from Engelberg to Trubsee middle station. Continued to Stand glacier station on the aerial cableway and finally to the summit station with the revolving gondola called the Titlis Rotair . Passengers get a 360 Degree panoramic view during the 5 minutes rides to the summit. The summit station is at 3020 meter above sea level.
We got Swiss half fare card for two Adults while children under 6 travels free on public transport. It was a saving for us to use the card since we have planned to visit 3 mountains (Titlis, Matterhorn & Jaungfrau) . A 50% discount on all public transport and on most cable cars.
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| Titlis Rotair |
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| Talstation Engelberg |
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| Hiking at Mt.Titlis |
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| Glacier |
We made our way to Tasch after lunching at the Summit Station.
The road on the way to Tasch was Mountainous with steep climb and numerous hair pin bends and I am just 2nd day into my left hand drive manual gear experience.
When we reached Realp our car had to go on a car shuttle train to pass thru the 15.4 km Furka Tunnel to get to Oberwald and continued to Tasch.
If you have time you should visit and drive along the Furka pass that we had by passed using the Furka Tunnel. It is considered one of the most dangerous road in Europe. One of James Bond film "Gold Finger" scene was filmed there. If you need to know more Google it.
Frankly, I didn't know about Furka Pass until recently. Google map by passed that part of the route even my GPS only got me to Realp Train station and asked me to get on a Ferry. I know now it actually meant car shuttle train.
Arrived at Tasch after 6pm local time.Stayed 2 nights at Aparthotel Monte Rosa-Tasch that cost about CHF230 . It was cheaper to stay in Tasch then in Zermatt. Furthermore no cars allowed at Zermatt.
Either you leave your car in Tasch and travel by train to Zermatt. Our plan was to stay in Tasch and make a day trip to Zermatt next day by train.
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| Day 2 route |
Day 3
Matterhorn was the highlight of the day. Remember Toblerone Chocolate? The image on the packaging?
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| Matterhorn |
Took the shuttle train from Tasch Train station which was about 10 minutes walk from our hotel. Just a short train ride cuz Zermatt is only about 5Km away from Tasch.
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Zermatt
We took Gornergrat Bahn a electrified cog railway from Zermatt to reach the summit station at Gornergrat.
Electrified Cog Railway
At the altitude of 3089m Gornergrat has a hotel, Observatory, shops and restaurants and the best view of the Matterhorn from a distance. The Gorner glacier almost right next to it.
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| Gornergrat |
Gorner Glacier
On the way back to Zermatt we stopped at Rotenboden station and hiked to Riffelsee lake. Beautiful scenery with Matterhorn at the background. It would have been perfect without the clouds.
You can hike down from here to the next station Riffelberg but we have a 4 year old with us.
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| Riffelsee lake |
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| Riffelsee Lake |
There was a lot to do in Zermatt but we only had one day. So visiting Gornergrat , hike a little and explore Zermatt town was all the time we had for this trip.
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| Day 3 route |
Day 4
After a good breakfast at the hotel we were on our way to Geneva. Along the way we made a short stop at Chillon Castle in Montreux.
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| Chillon Castle |
We got to Geneva in the late afternoon after checking in to
Citadines Genève Ferney Voltaire hotel on the French side. Hotels at Geneva were at higher rate. Furthermore there was no hassle in crossing the border between the two countries . If you are driving a French car you will have to pay for the Swiss Vignette (Toll ticket) to cross into Switzerland. It cost 40 euro and valid for one calender year. Our Swiss rental car already came with it.
At Geneva, our car was parked next to the lake within walking distance to Jet d'ëau. We walked around the city with our son in a stroller.
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| Jet d'eau |
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| Day 4 Route |
Day 5
Our son had fever during the night. Fortunately he recovered and was well enough to travel to Bern in the Morning. We gave him some probiotic supplement and I think that helped. We also had a bottle Paracetamol with us just in case he needed it . I don't know how costly medical in Switzerland is but having travel insurance does give us a peace of mind.
We reached Bern at about noon. We got up late that day because we would like to give our son a good rest.
Bern, is the capital city of Switzerland and was built around a crook in the Aare River. As usual when we arrived at a city , I would park our car near the city and travel by public transport or on foot. Our first stop in the city was the Rose garden. It has a good view of the city Bern from the hill.
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| View from Rose Garden |
Bern actually meant bear in German. There is a bear park located at the east end of the city right on the Aare River.
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| One of the bears in Bern Bear Park |
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| Street Kramgasse of Bern Alstadt (old town) |
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| Building with underground cellar |
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| Clock Tower (Zytglogge) |
By late afternoon after doing some grocery shopping at Coop supermarket we were on our way to our Bed & Breakfast Haussener at Karttigen which is about 10km from Interlaken.
Just to let you know we brought along a small rice cooker from Singapore. It was convenient for us to do simple cooking. It made it easier to cook rice for our son.
The sun has set by the time we reached the B&B. I was really glad that I booked this place cuz it was really wonderful to stay there for 2 nights. The owner allowed us to use my rice cooker and cooked some corns and sardines in their kitchen. The owner Maya and her husband Martin and their 2 young children was friendly and helpful.
Day 6
Waking up in the morning to the beautiful scenery of the Lake Thun was breathtaking.
The B&B has 3 floors. We were put up at the basement next to the sun terrace and garden. This was the only room available for rental.
We had our breakfast at the dining room on the ground floor.
Our mission on the 6th day was to ascend Jungfraujoch the Top of Europe. It was our third mountain since we started on this trip. We drove to the Interlaken Ost train station to begin our train trip up the mountain.
At the the station we took regional train for Lauterbrunnen. At Lauterbrunnen changed to the Wengernalp Railway for Kleine Scheidegg. On the way we made a short stop at Wengen to explore a little.
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| Wengen |
At Kleine Scheidegg changed to the Jungfrau Railway, which took us to the Jungfraujoch (3454 meters) – Top of Europe in about an hour.
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| Jungfrau railway at Kleine Scheidegg station |
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| Kleine Scheidegg station |
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| On Jungfrau railway to Jungfraujoch |
On the way to Jungfraujoch the Jungfrau Railway moved in a 7 Km tunnel in the rock of the Eiger and Monch. The train stopped 5 minutes at two intermediate stations, the Eigerwand (Eiger Wall) and Eismeer (Sea of Ice). There were panorama windows for passengers to view the mountains from inside the tunnel.
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| View from the panorama window |
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| View from the panorama window |
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| At one of the intermediate station before Jungfraujoch |
We were not so lucky this time as the weather was not favorable at the top. Strong wind and cloudy. We knew it wasn't going to be nice before hand from the Jungfrau weather report but decided to go ahead with this trip anyway.
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| Jungfraujoch |
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| Weather was not good at the top |
Bring your own food and water cuz it was very expensive up there.
It was cold up there on that day. Our son refuse to go out and insisted the we go home.
After about 2 hours at the top we decided to descend and this time we will travel from
Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald. Basically, we took the west route up and east route on the way down to catch a different view.
As marked on the map below we took the green route on our way up and came down via the blue route.
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| Grindelwald Station |
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| Grindelwald |
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| Grindelwald |
From Grindelwald changed back to regional train to head back to Interlaken Ost and had our dinner there.
Day 7
Maya the owner of the B&B prepared a good breakfast for the 3 of us before we left to explore the area around Lake Thun in the morning.The plan was to explore the lake surroundings and go to St. Moritz before noon.
Interlaken is situated in between 2 lakes. Lake Thun is one of them , the other is Lake Brienz. We did not have time to explore both Lakes. If you would like to have a good view of both lakes and Interlaken you may visit Harder Klum.
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| Lake Thun |
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| Lake Thun |
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| Spiez |
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| Spiez Castle |
On the way to St.Moritz we stopped at a look out point for Lake Lungern.
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| Lake Lungern (Lungernersee) |
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| Lake Lungern (Lungernersee) |
Passed through Julier Pass.
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| Our rental Car (Volkswagen Golf) at Julier Pass |
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| Julier Pass |
We managed to reached St.Moritz before sunset and stayed at Chesa Albris B&B. Accommodation in St.Moritz was not cheap since it was a resort town.
Chesa Albris B&B was simple but clean. A small queen size bedroom with shared bathroom set us back about CHF120 with breakfast included.
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| Day 7 route |
Day 8
Visited Silvaplana that is about 6 kilometers from St.Moritz. Both towns are located next to a lake and about 1800 meter above sea level.
Enjoyed the morning by exploring both lakes. Strolled along the St.Moritz lake and enjoyed the scenery. According to the B&B owner the weather has been wet for the last few days. It was cloudy in the morning with some slight drizzle and there were low lying clouds next to the foot of the mountains creating a beautify scenery.
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| Silvaplana |
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| Lake Silvaplana |
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| Lake Silvaplana |
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| St.Moritz |
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| Lake St.Moritz |
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| Lake St.Moritz |
Our next destination was Innsbruck Austria.
Make a few stops along the route to admire the beautiful scenery before crossing the border to Austria. I had to get Vignette (Toll ticket) at a petrol station at Martina (a small town before the border), A 10 days sticker cost about 9 euro.
Arrived at Innsbruck , Austria at about late afternoon. Checked into our hotel Gasthof Stern at Natters at about 7.5 km south from the Innsbruck city center. Before the sunset we drove to Innsbruck city center for a walkabout and dinner.
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View from Hotel Gasthof Stern front balcony
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View from Hotel Gasthof Stern front balcony
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| Building on the River Inn in Innsbruck |
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| Golden Roof |
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| Hofburg |
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| Day 8 Route |
Day 9
We didn't get a good view of Innsbruck city yesterday since we arrived quiet late. So in the morning after checked out from the hotel we again visited the city. This time we went up the City Tower to get a better view.
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City Tower
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Innsbruck city rooftop view from City Tower
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Next Stop Salzburg.
We arrived in Salzburg after about 3 hours drive thru Germany and check-in to the Ante Portas Apartment. The apartment is less than 2 km from the city center.
We spent the afternoon walking around Salzburg Altstad (old town) and along the Salzach river.
There was a carnival at the time we arrived.
Salzburg is famous for tourist partly because it was Mozart's birth place and it was also the setting for the musical play and film "The sound of Music".
I have done the sound of music tour the last time when I was here 18 years ago . I was then a student doing backpacking around Europe.
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| Mozart Statue |
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| Mozart Chocolate |
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| Mozart birthplace |
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| Hohensalzburg Castle |
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| Day 9 Route |
Day 10
Hallstatt was an ancient salt mine village. It is a almost fairy tale like village located on lake Hallstatter. I took interest in Halstatt when I saw on news that a rich Chinese businessman loved it so much that he made a copy of the village in China. I Google it and here I am with my family visiting the village and saw for ourselves what made this place so captivating.
It took us about 1 and a half hours drive from Salzburg to reach Halstatt. It was a small village so we just left our car at a car park at one end of the village and explored on foot.
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| Halstatt |
In the mid afternoon we headed back to Salzburg and made a short stop at St.Gilgen. It started to rain and got a bit dark. So we decided to leave and bought some groceries on the way back for our dinner.
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| Lake Wolfgang |
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| St.Gilgen lake front |
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| Day 10 Route |
Day 11
The Grossglockner High Apline road is one of the most fascinating panoramic road in Europe. 48 Kilometers of scenic driving to the heart of the Hohe Tauern National Park.
You need to pay toll to enter and it cost Eur 34.50 per car .
We drove until the Kaiser Franz Josefs Hohe look out point located at 2369m above sea level.
There were 36 hair pin bend turns along this 48 kilometers route enough to get your passengers feeling giddy after the ride.
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| Mount Grossglockner |
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| Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Hohe look out point |
We made many stops along the route to catch some breathtaking incredible view surrounding the Alpine road. Arrived at Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Hohe look out point at about 4pm local time.
At about 5pm we needed to start our descend from the mountains and go to Innsbruck for our last night in Austria. It took us 3.5hours drive and in the dark to reach our hotel apartment Gästehaus Weber at Oberperfuss.
I would not recommend you to drive after dark because route from Zell Am See to Innsbruck was quite remote and some part of the route were mountain roads. Some sections of the mountain road can be quite narrow and dark. I felt relieved once we reached the highway.
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| Day 11 Route |
Day 12
Oberperfuss is on the outskirt of Innsbruck. It is about 18km from the Innsbruck City. We rented the Apartment there on the 11th night. Nice country side with many farms surrounding the Apartment.
The Apartment was nice but a little cold because there was no heating. I don't think we can stay here during the winter.
It cost 80 Euro per night but there was 40 Euro cleaning fee per stay . I was caught off guard I didn't pay attention to the fine prints. It was more suitable for longer stay.
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| Farm land around the Apartment |
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| Our Apartment on Night 11 |
So our plan for day 12 was to visit the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen and then Zurich for our last night in Switzerland before our flight back to Singapore in the next morning.
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| Rhine Falls |
When we arrived in Zurich we checked into the Ibis Zurich west budget hotel. Left our car there and took trams to the city center. We done some shopping since it was our last night.
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| Zurich |
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| Zurich's River Limmat |
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| Zurich Train Station |
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| Day 12 Route |
It has been a fantastic 12 full days in Switzerland and Austria. We enjoyed the adventure in travelling on our own and the amazing scenery from both countries.
Holidays are always too short and not enough time to do everything. We could not cover Vienna this time due to time constraint as the city was at the east end of Austria. Hopefully in the near future we can go there when we plan a trip to the eastern part of Europe.
