Fall Break Trip to Switzerland

Well, the summer is over and the kids have been back in school, just long enough for their first break. So the family was off to explore more of Europe. Our planned destination was to Switzerland.
Like before you can follow us on google maps here:

Where we were :


View Trip To Switzerland in a larger map

For this trip, Pam found a great little ski resort tucked away in the hills above the south shores of Lake Geneva . The actual town is a mystery but it is in the area of Val d’Illiez near a village called Champoussin. http://www.royalalpageclub.com/?PageID=159 or Google Maps.  The resort is part of a SKI area known as Portes du Soleil. Portes du Soleil translates roughly to “The Door to the Sun”. It was that indeed. Our little home was some 1730 Meters (5675 feet) above sea level and we looked straight down over a valley and the town of Monthey. The trip from our Chalet to the main motor way in Monthey was almost a 30 minute drive. The kids nicknamed the town in the valley ‘WhoVille”. Those of you who are fans of Dr Suess will understand why. Switzerland is a beautiful country indeed! I was fairly sure that I wanted to retire, grow old and die in Austria or South Germany but now I have to rethink that choice. The lakes, the Alpine villages, and the Alps are truly amazing here. If you are in search of a great place to unwind and get away from all the noise and distraction of normal life, this area comes highly recommended.



Day 1
Our trip started early on Saturday AM with a flight that left Brussels at 06:30. We were bound for Geneva a short 1 hour flight. Pam found some great airfare so we chose to fly and hour vs drive 10 hours. The trip started a bit early and Austin was not feeling well so in typical Hamilton fashion the start of the Journey was a bit “exciting”.

We landed in Geneva early in the AM, picked up our rental car and were off to meet up with some dear friends who had recently moved from Brussels to the Geneva area. After having a bit of breakfast in the town of Lausanne. After that we were off to the gorgeous lake side village of Vevey. We met up with Paul and Carol and the kids and spent the afternoon walking around the lake side and catching up. What a fantastic spot. If your coming to Switzerland, plan a few hours to visit here. You won’t regret it.

The day concluded with the final stage of our journey to our Base Camp. It’s hard to judge, sitting behind the screen of a computer, just how far out and up your chosen lodging really is - the road up was curvy, steep and narrow but, 1 hour later we were checking in. The place was perfect for us.

Day 2
For our second day, Pam, our travel coordinator, had us going to a small village way up in the hills and then over to see a Glacier almost 3000 meters above seal level (Almost 10,000 ft.)

Our first stop was the small village of Gstaad. http://www.gstaad.ch/en/
As it turns out, sometimes it is better to follow road signs than to follow your GPS. We did the later and got a scenic tour drive around the mountain, some car sickness and a few more ticks of the clock. However, we made it and saw some beautiful country. We had lunch in Gstaad and found it to be a fantastic little village. There were plenty of shops, Cafes and pubs. It was an unbelievable little “off the beaten path” village. The sun was shining and the air was cool, it was a perfect fall day. The color was setting in too, making I would imagine, a fantastic setting even more idyllic. In the shade you needed a jacket over your “layers” but in the sun you could have done well with shorts and some sun screen.

Gstaad was beautiful, but the highlight of the day was Glacier 3000. Take some time to check out the information on the web. http://www.glacier3000.ch/en/Summer/
This place was straight out of a book. It starts with the most serious gondola ride I have ever been on. The gondola boards at ~1000 meters and when you alight you are at just under 3000 meters. It goes straight up the face of a cliff! If you are afraid of heights - you will need to think twice. Just looking up there from the road where the ride begins makes your “tummy tingle”. You will see some pictures attached to this blog. It was a fantastic ride. The journey is in two stages. The second had us ascending into and then over the cloud layer. For my flying readers, you can imagine. It was VFR from 1000 meters to 2000, then solid IMC until just about 3000 meters. We broke out on top just before the end of the cable. I think we picked up a bit of trace on the way through. The gondola moves fast too. I think the entire trip was less than 10 mins.

Once on top we were awarded views of majestic proportions. It was brilliant. The air was cold and thin and you could see for hundreds of kilometers, if not miles. Several people were on top x-country skiing, downhill skiing and taking dog sled rides across the glacier at 3000 meters high. They also have an Alpine Coaster on top too, it was a blast and you can check it out here. Alpine Coaster
In all we spent about 4 hours up there. If you are in the area this is something you need to consider. The price of admission is high. Essentially you pay a day ski lift ticket to get up there, but, it’s worth it!

Day 3
Today we drove to the city of Bern. We had planned to goto Lucerne but driving had gotten the best of us. We had a quick bite to eat and then followed the streets of old town to the bear pits. As luck would have it - the brand new exhibit had opened and this was only the second day it was active. The bears were not yet accustomed to their new home so they stayed fairly hidden. Oh well, it was a nice hour our so by the river.

We departed Bern and headed to Interlocken. This is a fantastic little village smack dab between two beautiful lakes parked right beside a huge shelf of mountain masses. There are lots of shops and plenty to look at here. It is a worth while trip if you are in the area.

Day 4
For day 4 we had decided on a “slow” day. It began with a longer “sleep in” and two local trips near where we stayed.

The first was to the St. Bernard museum just below the famous St. Bernard Pass in the valley in a town called Martigny. You can check out the musee here . Long awaited by Pam and the kids - we actually saw more than “the doggies”. We learned a bit about the history of the St Bernard pass and the cannons who ran the hospices in the pass for travelers coming from Italy to Switzerland. If you want to read an interesting story check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_St_Bernard_Pass
It was a fun little stop over with a nice musee. The kicker is that they have actual St Bernard dogs there. You can go out into the yard and “play” with them a bit. Pam and the kids loved that.

After that we made a visit to the Chateau de Chillon. This is a great castle right on the big lake. It’s in a small lake side town of Veytaux. It’s a bit touristy but the castle is fun and they have a well signed tour that gets you from start to finish in an efficient way. Obviously there is a ton of history you can pick up here - but we found just moving from position to position and letting Alex be our ‘tour guide” was quite entertaining. You can check out the Castle here:
We would recommend a stop here too. The views across the lake are outstanding and it’s very easy to get to.

Day 5
Day 5 was dedicated to the Chocolate Train tour. It’s a fun little train ride from Montreux up to a famous cheese and dairy region, Gruyeres and then into Broc for a tour of the famous Chocolate factory of Callier . You can find info here. All in all it was a full day trip, quite touristy, and the actual tours are, well, lame. But the train ride was quaint and the city of Gruyeres was a good visit.

Day 6
Day 6 was the highlight of the entire trip, I think, for all of us. We visited the city of Zermatt. http://www.zermatt.ch/en/
I could write for hours about what exists in this Alpine village - but I will forgo all that and say only the following. Zermatt is a must see if you are anywhere in the region. Pam had been there once before - for the kids and I it was the first time. Pick your passion. Hiking, skiing, climbing, walking, mountain biking, sitting in the pub throwing back a good beer while taking in some of the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine.... or do it all. As I have said before - we have been blessed to have seen many places on this great planet; and I must tell you, Zermatt is in the top 2-3, if not the top itself. I have declared Zermatt as my choice of “grow old and die” retirement locations, Pam declared that when she passes we are to put her Ashes in a Leinenkugals can and place them somewhere in the village and the kids have asked “can we stay there for a month or so next year...” It was a great destination. The drive was beautiful. You cannot drive into Zermatt, by the way, you can only get as far as the city of Tasch. From there you have a few choices. You can take a train into Zermatt, you can bike into Zermatt or you can walk. The train ride is 10 mins or so, the walk is about 1.5 hours at a good pace. The city is “green” so all motor vehicles are off limits.. Perfect!

Day 7
Our final day in Switzerland was a day of visiting friends. We met up with someone I work with in the city of Lausanne and then had dinner and a final good bye with Carol and Paul, Katie and Andrew. Frankly - it was a nice way to end the trip. We miss Carol and Paul and the kids dearly, so it was really nice to spend time with them on the first day of our trip and to say Au revoir to them on our last.


Once again - Pam did a fabulous job planning our week. It was really a fantastic trip and I hope we make another visit there before we move back to the States. The kids are back to school and we are back to work on Monday..... That’s a tough transition from the week we just had....

You can view some of the photos below the blog. Actual photos can be viewed at our PHOTO GALLERY