Locarno – Cimetta – Contra Dam (Verzasca Dam) (with hiking)

Locar­no, loca­ted at Lake Mag­gio­re, is the hot­test city in Swit­zer­land. Medi­ter­ra­ne­an cli­ma­te and flo­ra. We will visit a well-known pil­gri­ma­ge church of Madon­na del Sas­so. We will go up to Mount Car­da­da by cable car, from whe­re we will walk fur­ther (1 h) to the vie­wing point on the sum­mit of Cimet­ta (1,671 m / 5,482 ft high). A meal in a self-servi­ce restau­rant. After return to Locar­no we will take a walk along the lake­si­de pro­me­na­de. Next, we will go to the fourth highest dam in Swit­zer­land – Con­tra Dam (Verza­sca Dam, 220 m / 720 ft high), whe­re a famo­us jump sce­ne for the Gol­de­neye (James Bond) movie was shot. An option for bun­gee jumping.

Option 2: Inste­ad of visi­ting Con­tra Dam (Verza­sca Dam), you can enjoy birds of prey show in the Fal­co­ne­ria park in Locarno.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 120  + CHF 36  for cable cars / railways

With guide: CHF 130  per person.

Links: www.cardada.ch / www.falconeria.ch

Principality of Liechtenstein – Vaduz and Malbun

Despi­te its small size, the Prin­ci­pa­li­ty of Liech­ten­ste­in has a lot to offer to visi­tors. Befo­re noon we will see the cen­tre of the capi­tal city, Vaduz, take a walk to the Par­lia­ment buil­ding and visit an inte­re­sting histo­ry museum of the Prin­ci­pa­li­ty. From Vaduz we will go to the moun­ta­in vil­la­ge of Mal­bun whe­re we will ascent to the sum­mit of Sare­is (2,003 m / 6,571 ft high) by cable car. After a meal in the local self-servi­ce restau­rant over­lo­oking Liech­ten­ste­in, Austria and Swit­zer­land, we will go down by cable car to Mal­bun for a uni­que birds of prey show (eagles and hawks). After return to Vaduz we will also visit the wine­ry of the Prin­ci­pa­li­ty of Liech­ten­ste­in, whe­re we will taste the Prin­ce­’s wines

From Tues­day to Fri­day addic­tio­na­ly with the Prin­ce­’s winery.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 115 + CHF 19 tic­kets (Erleb­ni­spass)

Links: Erleb­ni­spass Liechtenstein

Grindelwald – First – Lake Bachalp (with hiking)

The vil­la­ge of Grin­del­wald lies in a val­ley, at the foot of huge mas­sifs blan­ke­ted by gla­ciers and is one of the most popu­lar tourist towns in the Ber­ne­se Obe­rland. In Grin­del­wald we will ascend by cable car to Mount First (2,167 m / 7,110 ft high), from whe­re we will go on foot to the moun­ta­in lake Bachalp­see (2,265 m / 7,431 ft high). A very popu­lar, easy and pic­tu­re­sque route with a view of four-tho­usan­ders reflec­ting in the sur­fa­ce of Lake Bachalp­see. Mar­ching return time is 2–3hrs, depen­ding on the cho­sen trail.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 120 + CHF 58 cable car

With guide: CHF 130 per person

Links: First — Bachalp­see — First hike 

Höllgrotten – Caves of Central Switzerland (half-day tour)

In the town of Baar in the cen­tral Swit­zer­land the­re are one of the most famo­us and spec­ta­cu­lar caves in this coun­try. A fasci­na­ting under­gro­und world full of ama­zing forms of sta­lac­ti­tes, sta­lag­mi­tes and ponds, pre­sen­ted in a modern, colo­ur­ful ligh­ting. In the forest restau­rant you can cho­ose a local cake – Zuger Kir­schen­tor­te and a beer from Baar.

Depar­tu­re points:: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 70 + CHF 12 ticket

Links: www.hoellgrotten.ch

Niesen – the Swiss Pyramid (2,362 m / 7,749 ft high)

A cha­rac­te­ri­stic, pyra­mi­dal sha­pe, a gor­ge­ous pano­ra­ma of the Ber­ne­se Obe­rland and Lake Thun as well as one of the lon­gest funi­cu­lar rail­ways in Euro­pe with 68% slo­ping and over one hun­dred years of histo­ry make Mount Nie­sen one of the gre­atest attrac­tions of this region.  Along the rails the­re are the lon­gest steps of the world, listed in the Guin­ness Book of Records. On the sum­mit the­re is a restau­rant, a play­gro­und for chil­dren and an edu­ca­tion path with many inte­re­sting points abo­ut the histo­ry, geo­lo­gy, flo­ra and fau­na of the region, among others.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 120 + CHF 55 funicular

Links: www.niesen.ch

Trift – glacier and suspension bridge (1,720 m / 5,643 ft high) (with hiking)

One of the highest and lon­gest (170 m / 557 ft) pede­strian suspen­sion brid­ges in the Alps is suspen­ded over 100-metre deep pre­ci­pi­ce in front of the Trift gla­cier in the Ber­ne­se Obe­rland. Ente­ring this nar­row, wob­bly brid­ge requ­ires cer­ta­in coura­ge and undo­ub­te­dly is a real tre­at for people looking for extre­me expe­rien­ces in the alpi­ne land­sca­pe. A way to the brid­ge encom­pas­ses a ride up by rail­way and a hike (2h one way).

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 115 + 24 CHF kolejka

With guide CHF 125  per person

Links: Trift

Crestawald military fortress of Grisons and Roffla and Viamala gorges

Swit­zer­land is known for tho­usands of civil and mili­ta­ry bun­kers. In the pic­tu­re­sque val­ley of Beve­rin land­sca­pe park, near the Splügen Pass that links Swit­zer­land with Ita­ly, we will take a look at the insi­de of moun­ta­in mili­ta­ry for­ti­fi­ca­tion. In the sys­tem of rooms and tun­nels caved in the rock the­re is a mili­ta­ry museum. Along the way we will visit two well-known gor­ges of the Hin­ter­r­he­in. The smal­ler of them, Rof­fla gor­ge, was made acces­si­ble for touri­sts thanks to the efforts and deter­mi­na­tion of a Swiss fami­ly. In the fami­ly restau­rant run by the­ir descen­dants we will have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to try the local spe­cia­li­ty – fresh tro­uts. The second of the gor­ges, 300-metre (984 ft) deep Via­ma­la (“evil road”), is a pla­ce whe­re in the Roman times alre­ady exi­sted a dan­ge­ro­us road thro­ugh the Alps.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 120  + CHF 20 tickets

Links: www.crestawald.ch / www.rofflaschlucht.ch / Via­ma­la­schlucht

Underground geological laboratory NAGRA in the Grimsel Pass (1,730 m / 5,675 ft high)

In the beau­ti­ful Grim­sel Pass that links the Ber­ne­se Obe­rland with Vala­is the­re is an under­gro­und geo­lo­gi­cal labo­ra­to­ry. Here scien­ti­sts from many coun­tries con­duct rese­arch rela­ted to the possi­bi­li­ties for radio­ac­ti­ve mate­rial sto­ra­ge. A visit in the labo­ra­to­ry takes 2 hours and con­si­sts of a lec­tu­re, a walk in the adits (tem­pe­ra­tu­re of 14^oC / 57.2^oF) and sight­se­eing of a cry­stal cave Ger­ste­negg that was disco­ve­red in 1974 during the con­struc­tion of the laboratory.

Option 2: A visit in Grim­sel Labo­ra­to­ry can be com­bi­ned with many other attrac­tions for the after­no­on part of the trip. It can inc­lu­de, among others, a hike aro­und Lake Gel­mer (1.5 – 2h), a ride by the ste­epest rail­way in Euro­pe, a visit in the Mar­mot Park, an alpi­ne che­ese fac­to­ry, 70-metre (229 ft) long suspen­sion brid­ge, a visit in Obe­rha­sli AG water power sta­tion, a ride along a pano­ra­mic route to the gla­cial lake Obe­ra­ar and an easy hike to the gla­cier, suita­ble also for chil­dren. Hiking to the gla­cier and back takes aro­und 2.5 h.

Depar­tu­re points: Schaf­fhau­sen / Win­ter­thur / Zurich

Pri­ce per per­son: CHF 115

Links: Geo­lo­gi­cal labo­ra­to­ry NAGRA