Switzerland – in a classic and friendly way

Round tour, 6 days, not including transportation to Switzerland. Code: 0401

Rhi­ne Falls – Schaf­fhau­sen – Lau­ter­brun­nen – Jung­frau­joch – Gruy­ères – Mon­treux – Lake Gene­va – Zermatt – Nufe­nen Pass – Bel­lin­zo­na – Locar­no – Lake Maggiore

small, frien­dly gro­ups (up to 7 people) – the big­gest Euro­pe­an water­fall – Mat­ter­horn – the most beau­ti­ful moun­ta­in of Swit­zer­land – H. R. Giger Museum – the highest rail­way in Euro­pe – ride along alpi­ne ser­pen­ti­nes – che­ese and cho­co­la­te factories

Day 1 – Rhine Falls, Schaffhausen

Arri­val in Zurich. A tour leader will pick up the gro­up aro­und noon and we will go to Neu­hau­sen am Rhe­in­fall. A meal in a self-servi­ce restau­rant. A short walk to the Rhi­ne Falls, the big­gest water­fall in Euro­pe, measu­red by the amo­unt of flo­wing water. A full iti­ne­ra­ry awa­its us during this spec­ta­cu­lar show of natu­re. We will take a boat to appro­ach the rocks loca­ted in the heart of the water­fall and the Lau­fen castle towe­ring over it. A trans­fer to Schaf­fhau­sen, whe­re we will stand next to the can­nons on the top of Munot for­tress and take a walk along one of more beau­ti­ful old towns in the coun­try. A din­ner and trans­fer for a night stay.

Day 2 – Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch

After an ear­ly bre­ak­fast we will head to Lau­ter­brun­nen, a town with almost 300-metre high Staub­bach Falls – the second highest water­fall in Swit­zer­land, loca­ted in the Ber­ne­se Obe­rland  This region is listed as a part of the World Heri­ta­ge Site on the UNESCO List. Befo­re noon we will visit the famo­us under­gro­und Trüm­mel­bach Falls acces­si­ble for visi­tors by using a sys­tem of cor­ri­dors and a lift. In the after­no­on we will take a ride by rail­ways to the highest rail­way sta­tion in Euro­pe, loca­ted on the Jung­frau­joch Pass (3,471 m / 11,387 ft high) – one of the most popu­lar tourist desti­na­tions in Swit­zer­land. The tra­in goes thro­ugh 7‑kilometre long tun­nel. On the sum­mit many things awa­it us: a pano­ra­mic view of the big­gest gla­cier in the Alps – the Aletsch Gla­cier, ice pala­ce-maze with nume­ro­us ice sculp­tu­res (tem­pe­ra­tu­re of ‑3^oC / 26.6^oF), a new­ly-ope­ned tun­nel with the alpi­ne Sen­sa­tion exhi­bi­tion (to mark a cen­te­na­ry of the Jung­frau Rail­way) and a vie­wing plat­form next to the Sphinx rese­arch sta­tion, whe­re we will get to by the fastest lift in Swi­zer­land. A return to Lau­ter­brun­nen, a din­ner and a trans­fer for a night stay.

Day 3 – Gruyéres, Montreux, Lake Geneva

A bre­ak­fast and a visit in the well-known Cail­ler (Nestle) cho­co­la­te fac­to­ry in Broc. An inte­re­stin­gly pre­sen­ted histo­ry of cho­co­la­te manu­fac­tu­ring and a degu­sta­tion of a wide ran­ge of cho­co­la­te pro­ducts awa­it us the­re. Next, we will head towards Gruy­éres loca­ted near­by whe­re we will visit a che­ese fac­to­ry that pro­du­ces world-famo­us and award-win­ning Gruy­ére che­eses. We will spent the after­no­on in the medie­val town loca­ted on the hill near a castle. The­re will be an oppor­tu­ni­ty to try the tra­di­tio­nal Swiss che­ese dishes like fon­due and rac­let­te in one of the local restau­rants. Then we will visit a castle with a gar­den and a modern art exhi­bi­tion as well as a museum of H. R. Giger, a famo­us artist that cre­ated Alien, a movie cha­rac­ter. To end our stay in Gruy­éres we will pop in to H. R. Giger bar, a pla­ce of asto­ni­shing deco­ra­tion that was desi­gned by the Swiss artist. A trans­fer for a night stay to a city of Swiss Rivie­ra – Mon­treux, loca­ted at Lake Gene­va. An eve­ning walk along the famo­us pro­me­na­de, full of flo­wers, palms and sculp­tu­res, with a view of the moun­ta­in mas­sif that sur­ro­unds the lake.

Day 4 – Zermatt

An ear­ly bre­ak­fast and a trans­fer to the town of Täsch in the can­ton of Vala­is. From Täsch we will take a tra­in to Zermatt (1,608 m / 5,275 ft high), one of the most well-known tourist and ski resorts in the coun­try. The town is car traf­fic-free. The second highest moun­ta­in rail­way in Euro­pe will take us up to the sum­mit of Gor­ner­grat (3,089 m / 10,134 ft high), from whe­re we can admi­re a pano­ra­mic view of the most beau­ti­ful and one of the highest moun­ta­ins in Swit­zer­land – Mat­ter­horn (4,475 m / 14,681 ft high) and the Gor­ner gla­cier. In this sur­ro­un­ding we can enjoy a meal in a self-servi­ce restau­rant. From Gor­ner­grat we will descent to Roten­bo­den (2,819 m / 9,248 ft high), from whe­re we will take a walk to a small Lake Rif­fel­see on the sur­fa­ce of which you can see the reflec­tion of Mat­ter­horn. After return to Zermatt in the late after­no­on we will have some free time to relish your­self in the atmo­sphe­re of this char­ming moun­ta­ino­us town and take advan­ta­ge of many sto­res offe­ring local spe­cia­li­ties. A trans­fer for a night stay in the area of Täsch.

Day 5 – Bellinzona, Locarno, Lake Maggiore

After a bre­ak­fast we will head towards Bel­lin­zo­na, a capi­tal city of the Ita­lian-spe­aking can­ton of Tici­no. Our way will lead along a pic­tu­re­sque Nufe­nen Pass (2,478 m / 8,129 ft high), the second highest road moun­ta­in pass in Swit­zer­land, open for car traf­fic only in Sum­mer. In Bel­lin­zo­na we will visit three castles towe­ring over the city – Cor­ba­ro, Mon­te­bel­lo and Castel­gran­de, all of them listed on the UNESCO World Heri­ta­ge List. A trans­fer to Locar­no. A mona­ste­ry church of Madon­na del Sas­so will end our sight­se­eing of monu­ments for that day. A pic­tu­re­squ­ely loca­ted on the rocks over­lo­oking the city and Lake  Mag­gio­re with abun­dan­ce of deco­ra­tions and pain­ting gal­le­ry, it is one of the most impor­tant monu­ments in the Ita­lian-spe­aking part of Swit­zer­land. The last eve­ning of our jour­ney thro­ugh Swit­zer­land we will spend in the cen­tre of Locar­no, taking a walk along the pro­me­na­de. Free time.

Day 6

A bre­ak­fast and arri­val in Zurich (3.5 h) Say­ing good­bye to tour participants.