Switzerland 7: Chamonix

Saturday, September 22

Here we defer a little from the Swiss themed itinerary, with our final night planned in Chamonix, Mont Blanc. On yet another early morning, we found ourselves leaving Montreux for our final destination. We had a leisurely paced drive to Chamonix, in eastern France, at the base of the iconic Mont Blanc.

Mont Blanc, the Alps

Travelling at the edge of the peak summer season, we'd experienced some good and bad weather for our journey. Most days were still sunny and warm, but we occasionally hit some mountain rain. Today was no exception - it was time for the fall weather to catch up with us.

Top of Mont Blanc (2009)

Due to some rather torrential rain, we went to the only indoor place we could find - the marketplace. There were few shops open in the mall, so we geared up with rainproof attire to face the damp outdoors. We hovered from shop to shop down the main street of town, and when the rain had cleared temporarily we stopped by the fresh food market for some strawberries on our way back to the car. They were the good kind of strawberries - small, sweet, freshly picked, with nary a bruise and clearly not genetically modified like the ones in North America. (I'm not on the pure organic locally produced wheat-free etc etc bandwagon, but I don't like the giganticised and starchy texture of genetically modified fruit).

Chamonix town centre

With check-in time finally upon us, we arrived at our hotel, which was about 5 minutes walk from the town centre. This hotel felt luxurious compared to the B&B accommodations we'd been staying in previously, and perfect for a good nights sleep before our flight home.

Since we had just walked around the town, we drove out of town to see what there was to do in the area. If the weather was better, we'd have taken a gondola to the mountain top. We thought we'd try to drive to Val-d'lsere, because Mike had heard it was a nice town to visit. We hesitated when the road turned up a toll road tunnel, of unknown length, with an estimated over 30 minutes wait for traffic to enter the tunnel. This wasn't what we were expecting, so we turned back to Chamonix. Somewhere along this route, we stopped at a tourist sign for a waterfall. Apologies that I can't for the life of me remember the name of the falls, or exactly where along this route, nor can I find it online to show you. It was a short uphill hike to see the falls, but the path was blocked part way up for maintenance, so we didn't see the entire thing either.

Mont Blanc

Back in Chamonix, we researched places to go for dinner and reviews, then got disappointed when our two top picks (both a 5 minute drive from town) were closed. We decided to try our luck in town parked right next to the restaurant we ended up going to. After wandering and browsing menus unproductively, we decided to return to the car, and discovered the right restaurant to top off our gourmet culinary tour of Europe. They had a price fix menu that was perfect for what we wanted. Right down to the chocolate souffle dessert. This was the kind of restaurant to bring a small appetiser before the first course, and a cheese plate before dessert. Even with all of the good food we'd enjoyed on our trip, the Panier des 4 Saisons still managed to impress us.

With that, we settled in for the night. The following morning we departed via Geneva Airport.

Previous: Montreux

Switzerland 6: Montreux

Thursday, September 20

As I mentioned, we were a bit tapped for time in Interlaken. We could have easily spent 2-3 days exploring the town and surrounding mountains and lakeside. 

But, after hang gliding we set off again. It was almost 2 hours to drive to Montreux. We experienced a slight hiccup checking into our airbnb here (it seems the price has fluctuated a bit on this one since our stay too), mainly because without a phone, it was not clear to us how to go straight into the locked building, where our host was expecting us to arrive at the apartment on the top floor. So we waited outside while he waited inside for about half an hour, until some residents of the building allowed us in to go upstairs. No matter, once we reached the apartment we received a warm welcome and some great suggestions of what to see, how to get around, and where to eat dinner. 

UNESCO Heritage - Lavaux Vineyards

After settling in, we explored the local area. We were intentionally very nearby the lakefront boulevard, as I had been to Montreux prior to this trip and my main memory was of the beautiful lakefront. We went for a walk to view the Chillon Castle, and on the way back detoured towards the inland streets of the ‘old town’ Montreux. Like the other old town centres, again this featured my beloved narrow stone-laden laneways.

Montreux lakefront promenade

We followed our host’s suggestions to take the car out to dinner that night. He had drawn us a crude map that took a route south out of Montreux, along Col de Chaude Sonchaux, with a right turn onto Route des Raveyres to our restaurant, where we followed the hairpin turns up a mountain, and arrived to our restaurant just as the sun was setting. It's good to have the map because our GPS didn't know what we were talking about. He had recommended this place specifically for the atmosphere and their fondue. Surprisingly, we had gone this whole time in Switzerland without trying the fondue yet, but for a reason. My last time in Geneva I went for some overpriced fondue in their tourist district and was severely disappointed. This time, I wanted a place that was recommended, to know I was getting a well made Swiss style fondue. The Auberge de Sonchaux really delivered on this front.

View from Sonchaux at sunset

We were seated by the window, overlooking the sunset on the lake, when the waiter brought us the ceramic fondue pot and some fresh baguette. He brought as much baguette as was needed to finish the pot of fondue. When we thought all was done, he ensured that we dig up the crusts of cheese at the bottom of the pot, and tickle me pink if that wasn’t the best part of the meal. We shared the fondue along with a salad, since it’s fairly rich on its own.

Friday, September 21

The plan for the day was to see Les Diablerets – the Glacier 3000. I have done this trip before, as a tour from Geneva that honestly, I don’t recall being too expensive, and I was a student at that time! In the morning, we drove first to Gstaad, which is a charming town about 45 minutes out from Montreux. This town showcases the quaint Swiss log-style buildings and cabins.

Gstaad

We warmed up with some hot chocolate from one of the only places that was open that morning, with the town clearly seeing mostly afternoon traffic (much of which is from tour bus groups). Gstaad is a small town and it only takes an hour or so to adequately see the area. We had lunch at the supermarket, which had a variety of prepared meals offered Ikea-style, as a less expensive lunch option.

Glacier 3000

We then made our way to Les Diablerets, with the intention of going up the mountain. For some reason, I got the impression that a single cable car ride would not be that expensive. But there is only one payment option – 77 CHF for an all-day cable car pass. Now, in winter this would make sense to me, since you would be skiing down the mountain and taking the gondola back up. But in summer, when tourists are clearly only going to go up once, this pricing scheme made no sense.

Now, if you haven’t seen the Glacier 3000 before, it really is spectacular up there, especially as an Aussie that had never seen a glacier before let alone walked on one. It really is one of my most memorable Swiss experiences for this reason. But having already done it once, it just isn’t worth that kind of money to me to go again. Having seen glaciers in Alberta and Alaska, the novelty of walking on one has worn off a little too. And Mike, growing up in Montreal with seasonal access to snow and ice, also felt that money could go to better use. So we gave this one a miss for this time. If you haven’t seen or walked on a glacier though, I don’t think you’ll regret the money spent on this experience. They also have sled dogs that will take you for a ride on the glacier if you’re interested in that.

UNESCO Heritage - Lavaux Vineyards

We made alternative plans to stop by the UNESCO heritage terraced wineries just outside of Vevey on our way back into town. If you take a bus or train from Geneva to Montreux you will no doubt see a great view of this world heritage site. It’s the main reason I returned to Montreux, to be able to drive and walk around in these fields. There is a small town at the south shore of the wineries that we walked through that was so adorable, although we didn't see much else to do there except walk through it.

Vevey

Our next order of business was to check out Vevey. Yet another beautiful town, we sojourned in a shopping mall a short while in the heat of the day, then explored the outdoor shopping district and lakeside promenade.

For dinner, we went to Chez Gloria in Montreux's old town for a spectacular meal. Just when we thought the food we'd experience in Switzerland couldn't get any better, this dark basement medieval-style restaurant impressed us yet again. The service here wasn't as good as elsewhere, we waited a while for our meal and drinks, but we were glad to be sitting down and enjoying the rustic decorations so that wasn't an issue for us. 

We tried really hard this whole trip, to go to restaurants recommended by locals, and I feel it made a huge difference in the quality and authenticity of the food we received. You know, at any tourist destination you go to, there will be those restaurants that will cater to what they think the tourists want, rather than to the strengths of their local cuisine, and this is what we want to avoid. Our local host's recommendations were spot on every time for what we wanted.

From here, we ran home in the rain, stopping at the Coop minimart for some snacks to get us through the next morning's road trip to Chamonix Mont Blanc.

Previous: Interlaken   Next: Chamonix

Switzerland 5: Interlaken

Wednesday, September 19

Today was a treat. This journey just keeps getting better and better. After a restful sleep at our cozy airbnb, we followed the road along Lake Como's south shore towards Milan, and returned to Switzerland (yes, this is a mainly Swiss trip, remember). To this point, most of the drive was unremarkable. Our next stop: 

The Verzasca Dam

You may remember this Dam from such filmography as - the opening scene in Goldeneye. Yep, this is where James Bond bungees to the base of the dam and then swiftly takes out the bad guy on the toilet. This dam is so much better than filmed!

Now, to start off, we had some trouble locating the dam thing. Heehee, get it? I should have printed a map to this, because the GPS sounded very confused when trying to locate the Dam. We tentatively followed it's directions for an hour in what felt like the middle of nowhere, until we finally reached a small town. Then the GPS said we'd reached our destination. We were lucky to have found within that town, a single sign towards the dam. Following that, it was a while before we saw another sign. So my suggestion? Firstly, bring a map, or a googlemap printout, something to get your bearings. Then, you may have better luck and confidence locating the nearest township - eg: Selvatica, or Gordemo, then finding a sign to the attraction from there.

Getting back to our time there. Man, do I wish we had packed a picnic for today! We saw the dam, you need to pay for short term parking at the attraction. There's a visitors centre and some restrooms here. After this, civilisation was sparse, and what few restaurants we did see either didn't appear appetising, or didn't appear open. The dam doesn't take too long to see, but it's a stunning vision. Now, for any die hard fans out there, there is a company that does the 007 bungee jump from this location. How cool is that! Sadly (and thankfully) for us, we arrived a week after peak season ended, so this company only ran trips on weekends and we couldn't rotate our itinerary around that. I'm not too fussed about missing it, I doubt I'd have the guts for this. Usually bungee jumping is over a body of water, but this one is into a narrow gorge alongside a slightly concave concrete wall. It feels like you'd be closed in on 3 sides doing this jump.

Verzasca Valley

Verzasca Valley

From the dam, we headed further up the road into the Verzasca Valley. This valley feels like a step back into another era, it almost feels enchanted. The road winds around the mountainside, and in the escarpment below you can see a crystal river flowing across the shallow green-tinged rocks towards the dam. Then you discover medieval-looking buildings. We would have loved to find a way down to the riverbed, or drive further into the valley than we went, but eventually our hunger got the best of us.

Verzasca Valley

We returned to the nearest Coop supermarket for some snacks. I also picked up some Coop brand Gianduja chocolate - at about CHF 1 for 100g, it's the cheapest Gianduja (hazelnut melt-in-mouth chocolate) I've ever seen, and I regret not buying more for my trip home.

Sustenstrasse

Our day took another spectacular turn as we drove to Interlaken. All I know, is that this is the name of the street we took, according to our GPS. I can only imagine how spectacular this road would be in full visibility, because we were dropping our jaws with every turn and we could barely see ten metres in front of us.

Either we were up in the clouds, or it was really foggy. As we reached the valley on the other side of the pass, it was raining heavily. It's possible the low visibility added mystery, adventure and beauty to this road, but I can't imagine how it could be less impressive when you can actually see it. And even if not, it's a fun drive with lots of turns.

Brienz

Brienz waterfront

On the way to Interlaken we stopped by at Brienz, which is a town on the lakeside. We visited the free Brienz wildlife park, which is just inland of the lake, you follow signs to the parking lot then walk up a hill through the woods - then you see some enclosures with animals, and there are food dispensers to buy food to feed the animals with. It was a fun way to spend a half hour.

Brienz Wildlife Park

Trümmelbach Falls

Trummelbach Falls

This waterfall flows through a slot canyon. You can walk within the canyon tunnels to see some parts of the waterfall, and outside of the mountain to see other parts. We checked this out as a side note on our way to Interlaken, mainly out of spontaneity. It's an easy walk to the waterfall. If you don't want to walk too much uphill, there is an elevator available to take people closer to the top of the falls, so then you only need to walk down.

Interlaken

We arrived at Interlaken before dark, and checked into our hotel. Our hotel was off a pedestrian-only zone. This made it a little tricky to figure out where to park. We ended up parking in a pay zone for a short time to walk and find the hotel, then they told us how to reach the free parking which was about 5-10 minutes walk away. The hotel was associated with a Mexican restaurant, which we had our included breakfast at the following morning.

We browsed the streets and did some window shopping before settling on a restaurant for dinner. Honestly, I'm struggling to remember where we went for dinner, because the place was great and had a price fix 3 course menu. I want to say it was the Belvedere Brasserie based on its location, so if not this restaurant, it was one nearby that provided a price fix menu with mainly French/Swiss cuisine on offer, and faced the Hohematte park. I mention this because yet again, we were very content with the quality of our meal, and felt the value was good for the price fix.

Thursday, September 20

Having taken full advantage of our first opportunity to sleep late, we went downstairs and found a brochure for the Schilthorn, which is yet again, another James Bond fan site, which boasts a panoramic mountain-top view and restaurant. We had plans for the afternoon and didn't have the 3 hours it would take to see this site without the stress of getting back in time. If I were to do it all again, I'd have woken up earlier and gone to the Schilthorn for breakfast. We had a lazy morning shopping the main street of Interlaken.

On to our exciting afternoon plans - hang gliding! Now, I've been wanting to go tandem hang gliding for a long time. And not the kind where you're pulled up by another vehicle, but the kind where you jump of a mountain and fly. It's a really tough thing to find, and I couldn't find it anywhere I've travelled in Canada. Where is more perfect to do this than in Switzerland?

Our tour guide was Eddie, an Aussie bloke that decided to drop everything and move to Switzerland for his dream. He picked us up promptly at noon, and we drove up a mountain to a take off site. We only had one guide for this trip, sometimes there are the two guides that will go up together. So Mike and I each took off separately, and watched each other glide down from the landing site. That was a great photo opportunity so we were happy with that. You have to help carry the equipment about 300 metres to the take off site from the car drop off, and he showed me how to assist assembling the glider and then checked my work afterwards.

Then on to the challenge - running as fast as you can down a steep hill, then jump! It's a bit nerve racking to run down a hill at a speed that you know you won't be able to stop. We had a few practice runs before bringing the glider with, because you have to jump at the right time. Then, we were up in the air. We were up for probably about 10-15 minutes, although I wasn't looking at the time. The view from the bird's eye is spectacular. We had clear blue skies, a stunning blue lake, and tree studded mountains. If you're up for some tricks, and the conditions are safe, the guide will happily do some dives and spins. Eddie took some photos of us from the air, with a camera attached to the glider, and Mike and I chose to purchase the photos later - hey, it's once in a lifetime!

I couldn't be happier with my experience through this company, and if you've ever wanted to try hang gliding, this is the best location I can think of for it. If you're in the area, and you're a bit hesitant, I can't imagine how you'd be disappointed if you bite the bullet on this one - go for it! It is expensive to hang glide with these guys in Interlaken (currently at 235 CHF), but I certainly don't regret a single cent.

Previous: Lake Como   Next: Montreux

Switzerland 4: Lake Como

So here is where we temporarily drift from our Swiss itinerary into an Italian detour. Having driven across the border to Bormio, the next items on our list became James Bond fanfare. We were never going to be closer to Lake Como and the Verzasca Dam. This brings us to:

Varenna, Lake Como

Tuesday, September 18

Varenna

We left Bormio early, with this being our only day planned to spend at Lake Como. We decided to take  a scenic route along the lakeside, by heading towards Varenna (about 2:30 away). We found parking in Varenna's town centre. Yes, another old town but this time Italian style, with brightly coloured narrow townhouses, narrow lane ways, and of course the beautiful Como coastline.

Walking along the coastline, there are several restaurants to choose from for lunch, which we were thankful for after the slim options in Bormio. We selected a restaurant based on wherever had reasonable prices and room on the terrace. At the end of the day, this felt like a tourist hotspot and the restaurants didn't seem fussed with providing outstanding food or service with the crowds of tourists guaranteed to come by.

There were a few stands at the shoreline for boat rentals, but none of them had service representatives. It's probably easier to contact rental companies by phone if you'd like to rent a boat. We wanted to rent a boat to travel to a couple of towns on the other side of the lake, but ran into trouble arranging this without having booked in advance, both here and in Bellagio.

Varenna's lakefront

Before leaving Varenna, we drove up the mountain to the Castle of Vezio to see the birds, the view and the historical fortress. The parking for the castle is not clearly defined, but when you can't drive any further, that's a good sign to park. You have to make your way through the town, and the residents minded their own business while we got lost in the maze of laneways. Eventually we found the beginnings of a garden, down a long and straight path, with a sign towards the castle.

Panoramic view from the top of the Castle of Vezio

The bird show was too late for us to see, but the birds were on display outside. They were tethered to posts for guests to see, attached by little anklets on their feet. The information sheet specified that the birds are rotated between their shelters and the display posts.

Falcon at the Castle of Vezio

We headed to the ferry terminal. It was pretty easy to find, as we had noticed it on the way into town. As I recall, the ferry for the car came every 30-40 minutes, so if you miss it it's not a big deal. The ferry was docking just as we reached the terminal, so Mike got the tickets and I ran to the boat, and they waited for Mike to bring the car, along with another car behind us.

Castle of Vezio

On the ferry to Bellagio, we got out of the car to enjoy the view.

Varenna - view from the ferry

Bellagio

The famous Bellagio, made home to celebrities like Madonna and George Clooney. A town of prestige and culture. There's a casino in Vegas modelled after this town.

Bellagio - view from the ferry

We first checked into our airbnb accommodation, which was about 10 minutes drive from the town. This was a great find and very well priced! Our host tried to help us connect to the internet and call some boat rental companies, but we were unable to arrange a boat rental since they prefer you arrange them in advance. This was a bit disappointing, but entirely my fault for assuming it could be arranged on the day. We were hoping to take a boat across the lake to visit a couple of James Bond sites, like the Villa la Gaeta (featured in Casino Royale) in San Siro (the one on the lake, not the one in Milan), so yes, after all that fuss, that plan fell through.

Instead we returned to Bellagio, easily found paid tourist parking by the coast, and took to foot. It's a pleasure to walk around this quaint town. Mike went shopping for Como silk ties as souvenirs, they were selling for pretty cheap (around 18-20 euro each), and Mike wishes he had bought more while he was there.

On a good recommendation by our host, we went to Lezzeno for dinner, at the Hotel Villa Aurora. This was a modestly priced restaurant for the area, and the food was probably better than anything you'd get in the tourist district. The restaurant also has some limited parking and an outdoor patio by the lake, making for a relaxing atmosphere. Looking at the website now, it appears to have been a favourite on Trip Advisor for 2013.

Now, as for our B&B, we couldn't have been happier. There were minimal breakfast supplies in the kitchenette - some packaged pastries, some eggs, coffee and milk, the usuals. The kitchenette and living area was shared with the residents of the other room, but they weren't around much. We had a private bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom had effective blackout shades and was 100% soundproof. I have never had such a good night's sleep! Everything about our stay here was very comfortable, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're willing to stay a short distance from Bellagio on a budget.

Previous: Bormio   Next: Interlaken

Switzerland 2: Davos

Sunday, September 16

After a delicious traditional Swiss breakfast provided by our gracious airbnb hosts, we collected the white Yeti from parking and set off on the 2 hour drive to Davos. The roads, as with all roads I've experienced in Switzerland and Italy, were well maintained and smooth sailing.

We checked into our hotel first, which was a basic private accommodation with a shared bathroom (although it didn't appear we were sharing it with anyone for the duration of our stay, the hotel felt pretty quiet).

Our plan for Davos was simple, we were going to rent mountain bikes and enjoy biking down the mountain trails. Our devilishly laid out plans were thwarted when every rental store in the town was closed by noon on Sundays. While deciding where to go next, we randomly drove as high as possible within the town limits, and stopped at the highest point to eat our Coop sandwiches. 

The plan became to take the gondola up the top of one of the mountains for a hike. It's really tough for me to nail down which mountain we went to and which gondola we took - there's a few in the town - and honestly we struggled to locate the gondola departure point from town while driving around with the car. I imagine all of the mountains are just as beautiful though, so I really don't think you can go wrong.

We followed a trail that wound around the mountain to a second gondola station that would return us back to town. We forgot to bring water so had to buy the overpriced water at the top of the mountain. I feel the photos are self explanatory for this part of the journey. We did see cyclists on mountain bikes, and, having walked the trail, as amateurs to mountain biking I am very glad we couldn't get bikes that day - there were some parts of the trails that were unexpectedly dangerous if you don't have the experience to look for them. One wrong move could be very tragic, though the idea of mostly downhill slopes sounds fun.

We consulted the concierge at our hotel about where would be best for dinner. He indicated that most places in town will be touristy and nothing special, and suggested that we take our car to a small town Monstein which was a 15 minute drive away. We reached the town just before sunset, and spent a good 20 minutes just walking through the one-street town and soaking in the vista of the valleys below.

Monstein

We went to Hotel Ducan for dinner as advised. Again, the mains were pricey but food was incredible. This restaurant, and the town, was a great surprise after being in Davos which overall has a bland feel to it in comparison. We were impressed with our second dinner in Switzerland. The restaurant offered some game meats and Mike ordered the venison while I got the steak frites. My only slight annoyance with the restaurant, was that because my main came with frites, they brought a giant bottle of ketchup to the table which made the meal feel a little cheaper and made me feel like an out of place foreigner. Most people would probably find it considerate, but for that price I guess ketchup should come in a little side bowl. Maybe I'm just being picky.

Monstein

Anyway, I'd strongly recommend visiting Monstein if you are ever in the Davos area, and it's worthwhile arranging dinner at Hotel Ducan - which probably requires reservations during the peak season.

We drove back to Davos in the dark, and took a randomly selected unpaved road uphill into a forest, until we found a clearing to stop the car. We used this opportunity to watch the stars, in perfect darkness.

Previous: Zurich   Next: Bormio

Switzerland 1: Zurich

Here it is, Switzerland in 9 days. This is my dream vacation, the one that was so perfect that I would happily go back and do it the exact same way. Okay, so it wasn't only Switzerland. We also saw a bit of Italy and France, but that only makes the deal sweeter. This trip was designed around a couple of pinnacles - my idea to visit Switzerland, followed by Mike's idea to do the Stelvio Pass, a drive that he saw featured on Top Gear. The idea of some James Bond sites fuelled us further - like the Verzasca Dam, the Villa La Gaeta, and unintentionally the Schilthorn fitted into the itinerary too.

And so was built, our ideal holiday. Think pristine roads, gourmet food, blue skies and charming towns.

9 Day Switzerland Itinerary

Trip Style: Self directed

Transportation: Rental Car

Average Accommodation Cost: CAD$105/night ($80-130, excluding Bormio's luxury accommodations)

Travel dates: September 15-23, 2012

Saturday, September 15

We arrived near midday into downtown Zurich. We had picked up our Scoda Yeti at the airport, GPS included, and found some paid parking downtown near our airbnb accommodation. Mike's quite a car fanatic, and his response to our little Scoda Yeti - that's an ugly car! By the end of this trip, we dream about the days spent in that reliable little fuel conservative car, and I even find it cute. But more on that little car later.

We only had a day to explore Zurich, so we had to make it count. From our airbnb we followed my prearranged walking tour map. Our route took us through Neiderdorf [B], which is the city centre area full of boutique shops. My favourite of which was the Sprüngli store and associated restaurant. For anyone not familiar, if you look at the packaging of any Lindt chocolate, you will see the brand name is actually Lindt & Sprüngli. Here they incorporate their chocolate into all sorts of desserts. Sadly I couldn't read their menu, but I saw the desserts brought out to people on the terrace and they looked delicious. Their store sells not only Lindt chocolates, but a variety of other candies and macaroons.

We walked down multiple alleys searching for the famous Augustinergasse [C], which is a narrow alley that was actually fairly difficult to find because it was poorly signed. But looking for it introduced us to the entrance to the old town, Lindenhof [D]. We explored the old town extensively, enjoying the cobblestone pedestrian-only plazas, the boutique stores, cafe terraces and gardens.

We eventually meandered our way towards Bellevue [D], the riverside promenade. This area was associated with a more modern pedestrianised area. We stopped for some street food and watched as a colourful parade of sorts (or possible it was a riot, but it certainly looked celebratory) marched across the bridge.

We followed the riverside back to the Platzspitz park as the afternoon drew to a close, and hung out there for about half an hour until returning to the apartment. We stopped on the way at the Coop mini-mart across the street for some minor groceries. We fell in love with the Coop, and ended up getting lunch from this supermarket nearly every day.

The view across the river from Platzspitz (not in any way reflecting what the park looks like)

Our hosts were just wonderful. They made a great suggestion for dinner that night, and provided us a delicious traditional Swiss breakfast in the morning. By recommendation we went to Drei Stuben for dinner. This was the best rosti we had in the whole trip. Rosti is a traditional Swiss dish of grated potato that has been roasted, although each restaurant had a different variation on this (think the way home fries can differ so much depending on where you go). The restaurant had a traditional and homey atmosphere, with wooden tones and warm lighting. The price was high, but standard for the country and well worth it given the quality of the food. Overall, when it came to dinner, mains averaged about $40 each. Keep in mind, tax and tip are included so for a high class meal, this price competes with Canadian restaurants. We were charged for water everywhere, except for in circumstances where we purchased another drink, then most restaurants provided complimentary water in addition to the drink.

Next: Davos