Sunday, 28 January 2018

Here's how we planned our trip to Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Every girl on this planet is starry eyed when it comes to her Honeymoon destination.(Though our actual honeymoon was Meghalaya, this one we call it as our International Honeymoon)

Being our first International vacation, we wanted it to be the best. 

Hitting another continent was the target!! LOL!

After few considerations, we zeroed on to Switzerland over New Zealand. Well as u all know, Switzerland is not a cheap country. But there are ways to travel budget, only if u know where to look for it.(Drop in here for Budget travelling tips in Switzerland)

Let’s be honest that Switzerland is one beautiful country which is on everyone’s bucket-list, no matter how costly affair it is.

From the alluring beauty of the Snow clad mountains to Charmingly beautiful lakes to medieval towns, every place in Switzerland was impeccable.

Here’s a sneak peek into our 9 days itinerary.

Arrival in Zurich
As our flight landed in Zurich after 13 hours, long queue in Immigration awaited us. And myraid of questions popped in our mind! You know it's bit tough to avoid the uncertainty of being in a new country all by ourselves.(Being our first International travel experience added to the fire)

Despite all this, the excitement in us was impalpable. After we were done with immigration procedures, we headed to Railway station for buying our Swiss Travel pass.

We had booked our stay for next five days in a hostel with private room in Interlaken west(walkable distance from Rail station! Wink!), which means we can cook our meals whenever we want to in the hostel.
Off we went to Interlaken west which is going to be our base for all our mountain excursions.

 To Top of Europe, Jungfraujoch
Since the next few days seemed cloudy in Jungfraujoch, we set out to Top of Europe on the second day of our trip. There are two directions you can take to reach Jungfraujoch.

Option 1 : Interlaken Ost --> Lauterbrunnen --> Klein Scheidegg --> Jungfraujoch

Option 2 : Interlaken Ost-->Grindelwald-->Klein Scheidegg--> Jungfraujoch

We had taken both the options for our to and fro journeys.
On our way back via Grindelwald
Both the journeys were equally appealing with fantastic views at your window side. More than all that, the beauty of Aletsch glacier is all worth the penny u spend on this day excursion. 


Remember to plan this excursion on a clear day for the best views. Want to know nitty gritty details of how we planned our trip to Jungfraujoch? Head on over here.

Stay - Happy Inn Lodge, Interlaken.

Merry go round in Mt Titlis!

With Swiss cow bells ringing to the tune of wind below, just sit back and let your three level cable car takes you on a journey from green meadows to snow clad mountains with wonderful panaromic views. 

Spend your time by taking a ride in Ice glacier or braving yourself walking the highest elevation bridge in Mt Titlis. On your way back, don't miss to splurge yourself on a journey to the pretty city of Lucerne.

From it's antiquated Chapel bridge to stunning buildings of Lucerne, nothing will stop you from saying 'Wow' at every glimpses of it. Inquistive to know how we spent our day in Mt Titlis and Lucerne? Detailed blogpost is here.

Stay - Happy Inn Lodge, Interlaken.

Vevey and Montreux
The pretty little town, Vevey has got much to offer than u can imagine. Be it the narrow alleys or the Tuesday market, the time we spent in Vevey was quite interesting. 
Vevey Market
Boat ride from Vevey to Montreux Castle was surreal. We spent quite a lot of time in Vevey and Montreux Castle, that we had only little time to explore Montreux.

Nevertheless, we quickly walked the colourful lake promenade area studded with dazzling flowers. When we walked towards Railway station, we were awe struck by the colourful medieval buildings of Montruex.

Look how vibrant it stands!
Each place offers different things to different travelers right? Want to see what Vevey and Montreux has offered us? And how we spent our day in Vevey and Montreux? Check here!

Stay - Happy Inn Lodge, Interlaken.

Lose track of time in Brienz & Thun
From its Turquoise blue coloured lake to calmingly beautiful village, everything in Brienz was picture perfect.

A day in Brienz was not at all a part of my itinerary. But guess what??

This day turned out to be the best day in my Switzerland diary. Spending the evening in Thun was a cherry on top of the already beautiful day. 

Have a look at this picture!
Picturesque isn’t it? Here's a detailed blog on how we lost track of time in Brienz and Thun!

Stay - Happy Inn Lodge, Interlaken.

All set on Glacier Express from Brig to St Moritz
Having booked our reservation for Glacier express from Brig to St Moritz, we set out early to spend some time exploring Brig.

The pretty town, Brig won our hearts with its majestic buildings and its interesting facades. By 11:54 am, we boarded glacier express to experience one of the most picturesque train journey in the world.

When we were travelling in Glacier express, we were bit mystified whether this train journey is overrated. However our views got changed as we went past Disentis. Want to know how? Check out here.
We reached St Moritz in the evening and boarded bus to our stay 'Chesa Albris Bed & Breakfast'.
We refreshed and headed to spectacular Leaning tower of St Moritz and called it a day after treating ourselves with the candle lit dinner.

Stay - Chesa Albris Bed & Breakfast

Hiking to Morteratsch Glacier
An easy trail right from the Morteratsch Railway station lead you to Morteratsch glacier. The trail starts with picturesque pine trees on both sides of the way and a beautiful river flowing along the left side of the trail.
Lest we know that time how this beautiful trail is going to take us on a spine chilling journey of Climate change.


We returned back to St Moritz, after hiking Morteratsch glacier, to board our train to the 6th smallest country. Yey! Liechtenstein! We are coming.

Liechtenstein
Thanks to my friend who invited us to this happy valley and hosted us for the night.

Liechtenstein is a tiny principality snuggled between Austria and Switzerland with no army of it's own. This happy valley seemed to allure me even with just walking along the deserted streets.
I should again thank my friend only who took us to Feldkirch, Austria to buy chocolates. Believe me! The price of the same Lindt chocolate in Austria was less than half the price that of Switzerland.
Feldkirch,Austria
Next day morning, before setting our way to Zurich, we made a visit to Stunning Vaduz castle(Still an official royal residence) perched on a hilltop to make you feel like you are in the land of fairy tales. Want to know how we spent our one day in the happy valley? Head here!

Stay-Friend's house in Nendeln.

Off to Rhine falls
The Niagara falls of Switzerland, Rhine Falls welcomed us with all its awe. 

We were lucky to be in Rhine falls when they were hosting the vintage car show. It was splendid to watch the proud owners driving their vintage cars. 

We didn't take the boat ride to castle as it was super crowded. But the view of the falls was all worth a visit. Though we had planned to visit Stein Rhine(a small town near Rhine falls), we decided to drop it and have some good food in Malabar Restaurant.

Stay - Ibis Budget, Zurich.

Bidding Good bye to the wonderland
Next day morning, after a quick walk around our hotel, we boarded Tram to airport.

Day 1-Arrival in Zurich
Day 2-Jungfraujoch
Day 3-Mt Titlis and Lucerne
Day 4-Vevey & Montruex
Day 5-Brienz & Thun
Day 6-St Moritz
Day 7-Morteratsch glacier
Day 8-Liechtenstein
Day 9-Rhine falls, Zurich
Day 10-Departure from Zurich

And this sums up my Trip to the wonderland of Europe.

I am running in short of words to explain the beauty of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

My visit to these places are an experience almost frozen in time.

I left a part of my heart in Europe this time and I can’t wait to get back there again. 

Month of Trip - End of Sep'17(23.09.17 to 01.10.17)

No comments:

Post a Comment