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Notes from our Trip
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Zermatt - Hotel Dairoli - 3 nights in a dbl room with balcony and breakfast included for 170 Sfr. A very nice room, however, it’s right over the main street next to two taverns and the noise at night is bothersome. Once you know that, and are willing to deal with it, the Darioli is really a nice place and Mrs. M. Th. Dairoli is very pleasant and personable. They have a beautiful old church on main street; so, for the second time in three days, I have the opportunity to attend services, but this time in German. Very, very nice. Behind the church is a cemetery that is quite beautiful but with the graves of some very young climbers - this place is well worth the time to visit. Every morning and afternoon, two young boys bring a herd of goats, with bells on their necks, through town to and from pasture. Most interesting. We had some beautiful views of the Matterhorn on the last day. We hiked up on the Zmutt trail, our first official hike, only to turn around without making it to the restaurant. I am sure we were not that far from it. Next time we will do it. We took a cog-wheel up to Riffleslap and walked to Grunsee, which was an easy walk, but, then continued on to Findeln which Susan found to be too steep, too narrow, too many sheer drops. She swore she would never do it again; plus she got a severe blister on her bunion which took the rest of the trip to heal. All in all, we liked Zermatt, the hotel, the noise, the people and would return for more -- perhaps a little longer stay next time. Yes, we had to dodge "golf carts" and crowds, but the atmosphere of this village was different, and well worth the effort to come here. Murren - Hotel Bellvue Crystal 14 nights with a dbl room with balcony incl. brfst. 140 Sfr. Run by Mr. and Mrs. Kurt and Vreni Huggler. Outstanding accommodations, food and people staying there. This place is located on the upper road just down from the Jungfrau Lodge and just opposite the Steigerstubli on the lower road. Mr. Huggler is the chef and his entire menu is economical and exquisite. I especially enjoyed his "raclette", Hungarian Goulash soup, rosti, and chicken basket. He is an avid hunter, skier, sportsman, musician (plays accordion and trumpet - member of the Murren band) and specializes in cooking venison and mountain goat on the menu on a daily basis. You have to eat elsewhere on Wed/Thur as this is their days of rest but it gives you the opportunity to try a few other places around Murren. In our case, the Eiger, where we met the owner Mrs. Annelis Stahli - von Allmen, and the food at the Eigerstubli was very good too, albeit a little on the expensive side, when compared to ours. The other place we ate at was the Hotel Alpenblick and it, too, had very good food. We had fog and low clouds for 5 days or so, but, when the weather was bad, we left and did a day trip out. We experienced National Day in Murren. In the evening and in the afternoon we caught a parade in Interlaken that was quite extensive and very interesting. While in Murren we did the following, in no particular order or sequence: A.) National Day celebration in Murren was outstanding. The parade was canceled due to rain but the Murren Band played a few numbers at the Bahnhof and then we "fell-in" behind the band and marched to the Sports Center for more music, speeches, and fireworks. The rain stopped and the clouds parted long enough for us to see what I felt was the most spectacular array of fireworks I had seen in a long time. In fact, you could see displays all up and down the Lauterbrunnen Valley that night, including Wengens. Of course, some private individuals also were shooting them off. B.) Day tripped out to Thun by train with a return trip by boat to Interlaken. Walked around "old town". C.) Day tripped out to Brienz by train with a return trip by boat to Interlaken. While in Brienz we had an outstanding perch lunch at the hotel by the boat/train station. Just excellent food and a good view. D.) Took the train down to Lauterbrunnen, hiked out to Stechleberg, visited the Trummelbach Falls, took in the cemetery in Lauterbrunnen (gorgeous), had lunch, and caught the cable car to Gimmelwald. Hiked from there to Murren, with a stop at Walter’s Mittahorn Hotel for a beer and a chat with Walter. Did this trip in reverse a few times also, primarily to see Walter and have a beer. His beer’s are inexpensive and he is a real character. From Stechleberg Station we could watch the "Cable-Car Bungee-Jumping". E.) Caught the funicular up to Allmendhubel for a "yodeling festival" walked to Pension Sonnenberg for lunch and returned to the festival. In addition to the yodeling there were flag throwers and some Alpine Horn players. Susan rode down and I took the panoramic trail back to Murren. F.) Day tripped down to Lauterbrunnen and then up to Wengen -- just knocking around shops and cafe’s. Good food, Good Beer, Good Wine, just loafing. G.) Day tripped to Interlaken and walked around old town, saw the Victoria Jungfrau (a 5-star hotel in the grand European style), the Schuh Restaurant ( had a few beers here when we were in town but found the menu a bit pricey) We enjoyed some pizza a couple of times just down the street. Lots of para-gliding here with landings in the park right next to the Schuh. H.) Day tripped to Bern on a Tuesday and caught the open-air market (really neat -- crafts, flowers, food, etc.). Walked and shopped in the old town area, had lunch, visited with a friend and toured his facility and returned to Murren. I). Hiked to Winteregg on two occasions for lunch and a leisurely day of rest and relaxation. Sausage soup I found out (the hard way) is a clear broth with 2 (two) huge sausages (frankfurters) floating in it. You definitely do not need a ham sandwich with it -- much to my chagrin. The Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau are indescribably beautiful and the camera has not been made that can do it justice. In fact, the entire Lauterbrunnen valley defies pictures, verbal description, etc. You have to see it to appreciate it and enjoy it. Once you’ve seen it you may not want to leave. I know we felt this way and WE SHALL RETURN (using the words of a famous W.W.II General). This place, these mountains, this valley, will etch itself in your memory to the point -- you have to return. On the train from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen the train splits in half at Zweilutschinen with the front half going to Lauterbrunnen and the rear half going to Grindlewald. I took great delight in lowering my window and watching the people "run" to get on the proper half. It was really quite comical especially those with lots of luggage. Zurich - Hotel zum Storchen; 4 star hotel; twin bedded room facing the river Limmat 450 Sfr/ night brkfst included. A fitting, luxury end to a star studded trip. Wrong! This place is at best a 3 star property and should command no more than 300 Sfr on it’s best night. We had construction - all day on the hotel, and most of the night across the river, with church bells in between and nightly, young people diving in the river to cool off under our room. What a sorry hotel this is. However, we did work around it. We were in Zurich in 1984 and found everything that had meaning to us while we were here this time. 1.) The Hotel Ascot. As it turns out, we should have stayed at the Hotel Ascot where we were in 1984 (we will be back to try her out) 2.) The restaurant Kindl. (now called Opus) we did have dinner here. 3.) The knife and pewter shop on Bahnofstrasse, with the same owner. We bought some more pewter to go with what we got in 1984. What a treat.. We woke up the first morning, Saturday, to the "Parade 1998", dyed hair, lingerie, young people, and loud, loud music everywhere. Girls walking by top-less, or wearing thong panties, garter belts, bras, nylons, platform heels and nothing else. Lots of them carrying "Super Soakers" water guns, etc. Good clean fun that started at 8:00 A.M. and went to midnight. NO DRUNKS, NO ROWDYISM, NO MISBEHAVIOR AT ALL. What a treat. Did it bother us sleeping - YES. Did it really bother us at all - NO, NO, NO. What did we do in Zurich? Well 6 nights is too much for starters. We walked the town and then we day-tripped. A.) Took a train to Luzern - walked "the bridge" went through old town and even happened to be in town for an in-line skating race. Had a "superb" perch lunch at the Goldener Stern Hotel, which was absolutely delightful. B.) Caught a train to Winterhur and then on to Stein am Rhein. A very exquisite square, but ruined by the scaffolding in place for 30+ days for a play they were having. Had a fish lunch there, which was grossly over- priced and went on to Schaffausen and walked through "old town". Then back to Zurich. C.) Day-tripped today out to Appenzell; excellent town, excellent day, we are coming to the end, unfortunately. Knocked around town buying last minute gifts, having a beer, a good lunch and then home to Zurich. D.) Took the cruise on Lake Zurich and got off at Kuesnecht for lunch at the Hotel Sonne. The lunch and dining room were superb although expensive (excellent perch). All good things must come to an end and this trip, unfortunately, was no exception. After checking out, we spent our last Sfr at the airport on a final beer and gifts leaving Switzerland, until next year, without a Sfr in our pocket. We had traveled with way too many books and files from the internet, European Travel Boards, and e-mail responses to questions. However, the one book that we found indispensable was Lonely Planet travel survival kit "Switzerland". Every time we got on the train headed for somewhere we dug out the book from our backpack and looked up and read about the place we were going to. Our 30 day Swiss Rail Passes also served as a bookmark. We also made extensive use of the web site for Swiss Rail timetables, printing them out for various destinations and used them in place of the official timetable book. As mentioned earlier, we have started a file for 1999 and we will be going back. Yes, it was that fantastic. We may add an additional week or two so as to include Austria and Germany as well. Notes for the novice/first-time Rail Traveler in Switzerland 1. Use the internet site for Swiss Rail and their timetable search. It is extremely valuable. Or you can buy the books (thick, heavy and somewhat confusing, at first) 2. At the bigger train stations (Bahnhof) they have ever-changing boards that show where the trains are going, what time they are leaving, and the track number. In the smaller stations they have yellow cards posted, almost everywhere, showing departures by time and white cards showing arrivals. 3. As you approach the proper track (Gleis) you will note that they also show Sector A, B, etc. with a series of number 1’s, 2’s. This denotes the class of the car and how many of them there are. This is especially helpful if you have a lot of luggage and you have the luxury of waiting for the train as opposed to running to catch it. Thus, you can then stand at the appropriate place. 4. On regional trains, such as the Bernese Oberland Bahn, they will have the destination on the outside of the car in addition to the class of the car (i.e., a 1 for first class) and Lauterbrunnen. The regular trains also have this, but, not on every car. 5. Rail travel in Switzerland is extremely efficient, prompt, comfortable, and easy to use. We found that the small extra amount that it cost for 1st Class was well worth it. The cars were less crowded and more comfortable. Plus, some of the boats had a very definite difference between 1 and 2. Most of the time, we had the car all to ourselves. See the detailed itinerary, accompanied by restaurant recommendations and a listing of resources Dick and Susan used to plan their trip. Copyright © 1998 Dick Hess Questions about planning a similar trip? Comments for
the author? Dick and his wife Susan enjoy travel almost as much as their three grandsons (including twins). They regularly travel to California and have just begun romping through Europe. Dick’s hobbies include drinking wine and gardening on 19 acres in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Their travel philosophy is to spend time relaxing while eating and drinking the best food and drink the area has to offer. Let the sheep stand in the queues (with "canned travel packages"); we’ll blaze our own trail. Would you like to add an article about your travel experiences in Europe? It's easy to do. Complete Index of Articles on Switzerland Our Favorites Trip Tips and Tools Traveling
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