Switzerland 2024

Guten Tag!

Our inaugural post on OOO With the Babicks takes us back to our most recent trip - Switzerland! Please bear with us while we figure out our writing style, but at the moment it’s somewhere between a resource for others looking to take a similar trip and “entertainment” for those looking to live vicariously. I suspect most won’t make it through to the end - no hard feelings - there’s no quiz!

Day One - Leaving the States

We boarded a mid-morning United flight bound for Chicago O’Hare (ORD) where we’d have just enough time (about two hours) to grab lunch before connecting to Zurich (ZRH) on United. We boarded in Chicago and were informed we’d have to deplane due to a maintenance delay - our 7:45am arrival was looking more like 10:00am. Fortunately, our only plan the rest of the day was to take a train and we booked a day pass as opposed to a ticket on a specific timetable anticipating an issue like this… patting myself on the back right about now.

Flying on United’s 767 with the 2-3-2 seat configuration made economy feel like a discount business class on the nine-hour flight as Kaleigh and I booked both an aisle and a window seat without having to share the row or having to hope nobody would sit between us. This was my first experience with such a seating configuration and I will definitely do what I can to make it happen again!

Day Two - Train Travel, Zermatt, & Early to Bed

Clearing customs and collecting checked luggage in Zurich was a breeze, literally couldn’t be faster! From there we made our way a short distance to the train station to get a chocolate muffin and pretzel breakfast sandwich before boarding our train, or series of trains, to Zermatt.

Being that we made the trip in April we took a gamble on the weather, it was looking like we made the right call as the views out the train window were stunning the entire ride. Stay tuned over the next several days for the plot twist!

Nestled in the Alps at the base of the Matterhorn, Zermatt is only accessible via train or helicopter… being Switzerland is expensive enough as it is, we opted for the former. As we rounded the corner into Zermatt we were greeted with clear skies dotted with paragliders before looking all the way up into the sky to see the Matterhorn towering above the small town. Zermatt has been on my bucket list for quite some time, ever since I learned a town exists where cars are non-existent and one of Europe’s most iconic mountain peaks is visible from just about everywhere (think Toblerone) it was a must see. I am happy to say it lived up to my expectations with one caveat - I didn’t think through the logistics of the whole “car-free” town. The electric taxis are everywhere, while I was a bit surprised to see them the drivers are respectful of pedestrians and the vehicles are quiet - as one friend put it “a town free of combustion engines” - I find this to be a bit more accurate than the internet’s claim of a “car free town.” After seeing the hill our hotel sat atop I was glad we had the option.

We checked into our hotel, Hotel Ambiance, and were blown away by the views of the Matterhorn and Zermatt - just divert your eyes from the construction crane. Our room had a beautiful balcony on which we would sit many hours over the next few days listening to the sounds of the town, people conversing on their way to & from their outings, electric taxis humming by, and the birds chirping away.

Quite exhausted, we went and explored the town a bit on our way to dinner before heading back to the hotel and unwinding in the (lukewarm) hot tub for a bit before turning in early. Dinner was an Italian restaurant, Osteria Bella Italia, quite good and we’d recommend. Makes sense when you consider Italy is just the other side of the Matterhorn and connected via cable car.

Not a bad first day in Switzerland.

Day Three - Matterhorn Glacier Paradise & Zermatt

The plan was to wake up early to be on one of the first cable cars up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, however, we opted for vacation-time and slept in ending up on the cable car mid-to-late-morning. Being that we missed breakfast at the hotel we grabbed a light bite from a cafe on the way and settled in for a scenic ride up to the top! As we ascended up from the valley, we got our first look at Zermatt from above. The town was just as picturesque from above as it was on the ground and it looked like we were to be blessed with another clear day.

The ride to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise took only about an hour with a few changes and time added for pictures at those stops. Once at the top, we got our photos of the Matterhorn before retreating from the wind and the cold back inside. I’m not sure if it was the elevation, the jet lag, the view, or some combination of the three, but the lunch we had here ended up being some of the best. This was our introduction to Swiss food - we had rosti and truffle fries, alright, the latter may be a bit less Swiss. Rosti is made of shredded potatoes topped with (in this preparation anyway) cheese, ham, and green onions. I still want more of this dish!

It was at lunch we started chatting with a couple (with their dogs) who live in Switzerland. They were shocked to hear we were spending so much time in Switzerland given it is such a small country. I was equally shocked given the amount of places we had to skip as we didn’t have enough time!

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise sits at 12,739 ft (3,883 m) above sea level and is the highest mountain station in Europe. We would later find that all of the alpine destinations we visited were the highest in some form or fashion, nevertheless, the fact that such amenities could be found at such heights and accessible only via cable car was impressive!

Give yourself 10-15 minutes to explore the ice tunnels before heading back down. The ride down was just as scenic as the ride up and we continued to be welcomed to the Swiss Alps by clear blue skies! Upon arriving back in Zermatt we roamed the streets discovering what hidden gems this little town had in store for us. Perhaps we were in the wrong part of town but the hidden gems were neverending cow bells, Swiss cuckoo clocks, and fondue pots!

Dinner was at Old Zermatt, on the patio with a view of the Matterhorn. We walked by earlier and were drawn in by the faux fur throws on the patio chairs, the smell of the cheese, and the proximity to the hotel. I had another serving of rosti and Kaleigh had fondue.

Note: while here we learned Toblerone features the silhouette of the Matterhorn when purchased in the states, but the European market has a different mountain on the box. So close one eye and then the other when looking at our photo.

Day Four - Gornergrat & Zermatt

Having adjusted to the time zone we awoke earlier today to be on one of the first trains up to Gornergrat - the highest open-air railway in Europe. Remember, everything was the highest something-or-another when qualified correctly. The ride to Gornergrat was much shorter than the ride to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise taking just a little over 30 minutes. The train sits on a cogwheel track so it is by no means fast, covering just under six miles in that time.

Once at the top of Gornergrat we walked around taking in the views of the Matterhorn as well as the other mountain peaks and glaciers. There’s quite a bit of hiking to do from Gornergrat and at the various stops on the way up, but unless you are prepared to snowshoe (we were not) April is too early to take advantage.

After returning to Zermatt we had our sights set on lunch - we may or may not have caved and had McDonald’s (we 100% did). Apart from my curious spirit wanting to compare and contrast similarities and differences (despite the fact we don’t eat there back home), there are a few things I enjoy about a foreign McDonald’s:

1. It’s a “taste of home” and offers a certain degree of comfort

2. In the midst of being somewhere unfamiliar (granted Switzerland isn’t the most exotic of destinations) and foreign suddenly everything is familiar when you walk through those doors

3. There’s no language barrier to navigate when ordering from those touchscreen menu boards

4. In some ways (comfort, familiarity, reminding one of home) it’s almost like an unofficial embassy - full disclosure, I’ve never visited an embassy

After lunch we continued to wander Zermatt without much of a plan for the rest of the day, we found a grocery store and stopped in to see what we could find. Almost as exciting as a McDonald’s in a foreign country, we both love checking out the grocery stores to see what tasty snacks we can find or sometimes just to see how the food is packaged differently. Snacks and drinks in hand (Coca-Cola, please bring the blueberry lavender Vitaminwater state-side) we headed back to the hotel amid some light rain with plans to watch the rain roll in from our balcony and take it easy the rest of the afternoon… perhaps a brief nap? Maybe we hadn’t adjusted the way I thought we had.

For dinner, we opted for something a bit less Swiss - Indian! Golden India brought the flavor! We enjoyed butter chicken, chicken biryani, and naan before going back to the hotel to gear up for a travel day tomorrow.

Day Five - Zermatt to Grindelwald & Jungfraujoch

We awoke to snow flurries, they were forecasted, but living in Texas we’ve become accustomed to seeing snow on the forecast and knowing it won’t show up. The whole morning as we had breakfast and prepared to go to the train station we were talking about how cool it was that it was snowing in Switzerland - we’d soon come to regret such a statement. 

We got to the station mid-morning, grabbed two pretzel-baguette sandwiches for the journey, and boarded the first of four trains en route to Grindelwald; Zermatt to Visp to Spiez to Interlaken to Grindelwald for a total of about three hours. We had decided to use Grindelwald as a basecamp for the broader Jungfrau region, it would mean more time on trains but we’d be able to leave our luggage in one place rather than hauling it around. Our accommodation for this leg of the trip was the Sunstar Hotel Grindelwald. Located just a short walk from the train station (though they have a complimentary shuttle, the driver refused to accept a tip - we found tipping culture to be inconsistent in Switzerland), the hotel offered spectacular views and comfortable rooms. This was probably our favorite stay of the trip.

We were welcomed to Grindelwald by blue skies, snowcapped mountains, and the greenest hills - unfortunately, we had checked the forecast and knew this was a tease. We dropped our bags at the hotel and headed back out to journey up to Jungfraujoch - The Top of Europe - named as it sits at 11,332 ft above sea level and is accessible by train. Again, it’s about qualifying these titles correctly, Gornergrat is the highest OPEN AIR train whereas Jungfraujoch has tunnels. Regardless, we opted to take the more scenic gondola up halfway before boarding the train. The view from the gondola was stunning looking back at the cabins that dotted the lush green valley. Despite the clear skies at the bottom, the top was windy and visibility was reduced to less than 100 feet. Fortunately, we have pretty strong imaginations and enjoyed the experience nevertheless.

Dinner was just something we found on the way back to the hotel - nothing noteworthy. If memory serves it catered specifically to American tourists but we didn’t care.

Upon our return to the hotel we opted to relax in the indoor pool and watched a snow shower roll in - little did we know this would be more than just a shower when we awoke the next morning.

Day Six - Grindelwald, Schilthorn, & Lauterbrunnen

It was a good thing that Kaleigh loves the snow, because if I was by myself the sight from the balcony would have kept me in for the day. We opened the curtains to find several inches of snow on the ground - we later saw a report that there was 11 inches of snow across a 36 hour period. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel before venturing out to see just how bad it was. Walking across the parking lot I immediately questioned why all I brought were sneakers and why we, two Texans, had decided walking through this was a good idea… if only I knew how bad it was going to get!

We got to the Grindelwald train station and waited a short bit for the train to Zweilütschinen where we’d transfer to a train bound for Lauterbrunnen, take a gondola to Grütschalp, a train to Murren, walk a half mile, and take another gondola up to Schilthorn. Our idea here was that we would get to walk through Murren which we had seen some stunning photos of as opposed to taking the more direct route. We anticipated some snow but little did we know it would be so much deeper than it was when we left our hotel. This was easily the longest half-mile walk of the trip as we negotiated the steep pathways taking care not to slip on the ice under the snow. Looking back on it we were both glad we walked through the town as it seemed like we had it to ourselves and it really was quite photogenic with the snow.

The ride to Schilthorn was quite bizarre - the snow was coming down hard and there really wasn’t anything to see ahead or behind. As we neared the top the cliffs and ridges started to come out of the abyss and the silhouette of Schilthorn started to materialize. As an avid James Bond fan, Michael was thrilled to be at one of the locations in which they filmed one of the 007 movies. Piz Gloria, the rotating restaurant atop the summit, served as Blofeld’s (James Bond’s archnemesis) headquarters in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Upon our arrival to the villain’s HQ, we took a tour of their James Bond exhibit and had lunch followed by a picture with Mr. Bond himself, or rather the George Lazenby cutout, before heading back down the mountain.

Opting for the more direct route, and bypassing the snowy walk in Murren, we took the cable cars all the way to the base to catch a bus that would take us into Lauterbrunnen. We considered doing a hike that was recommended to us but opted to minimize our time outside in the elements. Lauterbrunnen was like something out of a fairytale! Cabins and chalets covered in snow with limestone cliffs in the background interrupted only by a waterfall draped over the edge. We would have liked to have spent more time here, however, the time on crowded cable cars, trains, and busses paired with trekking through snow and the rapid ascent and descent to Schilthorn had taken it out of us! Only things on the agenda for the day was getting ourselves back to Grindelwald, finding dinner, and sleep.

Day Seven - Grindelwald First & Lucerne

One final attraction in Grindelwald before we left town was just across the street from our hotel and up a 25-minute cable car ride. Grindelwald First is a bit of a summer destination in that there are many activities which are closed with snow on the ground. The draw for us was the cliff walk - a 300-meter metal walkway suspended from the mountainside. While it is open in the winter, unfortunately, it was closed as there had been too much snow and they hadn’t been able to keep up with clearing it. Fortunately, there was one section that was still open that we were able to walk out on. We took a picture of the poster they had just for a comparison, the fog was typical of our time in Grindelwald but perhaps that is to be expected with an April visit. Back down the mountain to retrieve our bags from the hotel and have the shuttle take us back to the train station.

To get to Lucerne we caught a connection in Interlaken, the second leg of our trip was on a panoramic train which would have been well worth it if it weren’t for the fog. Even still, the views were spectacular in their own right. 

We disembarked in Lucerne and were instantly inundated with crowds. While Lucerne is by no means a large city, it was the largest we had been to the entire trip. A quick walk a few blocks to our hotel, the Renaissance Lucerne, to drop our bags before heading out to explore the city. We didn’t have too much planned in Lucerne, our “plan” was just to wander about and see what we could find. At check-in the front desk gave us a tourist map - we figured why not use this as our guide. As if we didn’t already stick out as tourists I took a photo of the map so we weren’t “those people” walking around clueless and confused by the paper map, rather we’d be clueless looking at a phone. 

For dinner we had a great meal at Restaurant Fritschi and dessert at Cuckoo Ice Cream Luzern. Those of you who know me (Michael) know how much I hate ice cream, however, something about this place’s was just so creamy! I was a fan!

Off to the hotel to get some sleep and book a boat tour for tomorrow.

Day 8 - Lucerne

A quick breakfast at the hotel before heading out to the docks to catch our boat tour. This was the only tour we booked during our time in Switzerland and I’m not sure tour is the most accurate description as it was really just a boat ride, however, it did offer SPECTACULAR views of Lucerne and the surrounding area, plus it was reasonably priced, especially by Swiss standards. 

We opted to spend the remainder of the day getting intentionally lost in Lucerne old town and tracking down the quintessential Swiss souvenir - chocolates! Our favorite was Laderach, followed by Bachmann, and finally Lindt. Yes, we’re aware some of these are available back home but they’re prepared locally and taste very different from what’s available stateside.

For dinner, we opted for one final fondue fix at Fondue House DuPont. Tourist trap? Maybe. Would we go again? Absolutely! Their three-course fondue - cheese, oil, and chocolate - was very tasty!

Day 9 - Rhine Falls & Zurich

A bit of a relaxed morning on what would be our final full day in Switzerland. We awoke and had breakfast at the hotel before a not-so-quick short walk with luggage to the Europcar location (Google Maps was not aware of the road closures). When we picked up the car they asked us where we were heading, when we told them they suggested that we take the electric car. We drove off in a Polestar 2. This was my first time driving an electric car and I was excited! I had heard quite a bit about the instant torque - that is no lie. The car was quite a bit of fun to drive!

The drive from Lucerne to Rhine Falls was short - a little over an hour. After parking and paying entrance fees, it was a relatively short walk to the viewing platforms. The sheer volume of water rushing by was quite impressive and hard to fathom.

We drove down to Zurich to turn in the rental car and check in at the hotel to drop our bags. Fortunately, we were staying at the Hyatt Place which was a three-minute walk from the train station and check-in counters.

After checking in we caught a train to Zurich and explored a bit. We didn’t go in with much of a plan for Zurich as our goal was to spend most of our time in the smaller villages. Unfortunately, the rain was pouring when we boarded the train at the airport and didn't improve any by the time we got to Zurich. While it was nice to avoid crowds, we were paying the cost by being out in the rain. After wandering about and seeing the cathedrals we opted to pop into Raffael's Bistro to get out of the rain with a slice of sacher torte and a cup of hot chocolate. This ended up being a very good decision because shortly after we left the rain stopped and the sun came out. We killed a bit of time with souvenir shopping before heading to dinner. Even with the initial rain, Zurich was beautiful and a good note to end on.

Despite my initial disagreement with the couple we met on day three that talked about how small Switzerland was we soon found they may have been right. As we walked along the river we were approached by a familiar face - the gentlemen who sat behind us on our flight from Chicago and asked us where we bought train tickets when we followed each other to the train station! Small world indeed!

Day 10 - Heading Home

We awoke quite early and praised ourselves for spending a little extra to stay at the airport - the short walk to check-in was wonderful!

We said farewell to Switzerland as the plane ascended for the short flight to Frankfurt where we had a short layover before catching a flight on Lufthansa into DFW.

Despite the weather challenges or Michael’s five days of traveler’s stomach (wouldn’t wish that on my enemies), this was a trip we would do again sometime (perhaps during the summer when any chance of snow is in the past and with proper medication). Thank you, Switzerland, for keeping us on our toes and ensuring there was a different view around every corner. The sheer scale of the mountains and cliffs for such a small country was jaw-dropping!