This has to be the highlight of my trips in 2018. Still in my early days of photography, I chose to travel to Switzerland because of its beautiful landscapes. I considered doing a multi-country Europe tour (like most people), but I decided to focus on a specific country this time so I can fully explore the place. Switzerland was a good choice since English was widely spoken. Landscape views, mountains, and the countryside of Switzerland are also among the best. A nice break from the fast-paced city living in Asia.
In my 8-day travel to Switzerland, I visited a total of 6 cities: Luzern, Interlaken, Zermatt, Geneva, Bern, and Zurich. Traveling around was really easy thanks to the convenient train and bus system (and getting the Swiss Travel Pass!). The pass allows you unlimited access to most public transports and discounts to certain attractions when you travel to Switzerland. Having visited multiple cities and attractions, it was definitely a catch!
Table of Contents
Luzern – Engelberg
The first part of my Switzerland trip was to mainly see landscapes, and pushed the city tours towards the end. I arrived Zurich airport in the early morning and was able to catch the first train going to Luzern. My plan that day was to check-in to my hotel in Luzern (Hotel Monopol), buy a local sim card for data, and then take another train to Engelberg and go to the top of Mt. Titlis via cable car.
Winter was starting when I traveled to Switzerland, so it was ski season already (unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance). At the top of Mt. Titlis, there are attractions such as the Cliff Walk, Ice Flyer, and a coffee shop. The view was spectacular and it was my first time to experience temperature below 0 (-5 degrees to be exact). Quite a memorable first day of travel to Switzerland.
Interlaken
My next stop was Interlaken, where I stayed at Hotel Interlaken. Unfortunately, it was not a great time to do the Top of Europe tour in Jungfraujoch as it was very foggy and very low visibility, sorry that I do not have flattering photos for sharing. Do check out their website if you are interested, as it is still an amazing experience to ride the train all the way to the top. The experience was memorable as I think this was the first time I’ve been at this high altitude in a while. My ears were definitely popping on the train ride and at some points, I felt a bit dizzy.
The trip to Harder Kulm, however, was one of my favorites among these Switzerland highlights. The train taking you up was just around the town and the viewing point at the top gives you an amazing scene. It was also a great place to rest as there is a small restaurant where I tried my share of Swiss cheese pot and hot chocolate. It was great way to stay warm and try Switzerland delicacies.
Zermatt – Finding Switzerland’s most photographed mountain
After Interlaken was a stop in Zermatt for the famous Matterhorn (a.k.a. Toblerone Mountain). This is probably one of the best places to visit when you travel to Switzerland! It’s a must! The train ride took between 2 to 3 hours, but was very smooth. Again, I was not too blessed with more than nice weather, but it was not too bad and I am still satisfied with the shots I took. The hotels were probably the most expensive in Zermatt when I was browsing through, and I stayed at Best Western Alpen.
Zermatt was small town, and it is interesting as they did not allow cars in the town. So, I decided to try my luck and maximize the low light pollution area. However for safety reasons, I did not try hiking at below 0 temperature. I just took some night shots at the town area. They are not perfect as I did not have a wide angle lens and took them in a parking lot. These will do for now though! My first time trying some astrophotography!
Zermatt was my last stop for the mountain views, and I don’t think I went to as much mountains as I should have. I will definitely travel to Switzerland again to capture more highlights (probably during the summer season as well).
Geneva, Bern, and Zurich – Travel to the main cities of Switzerland!
Honestly, I did not think much about the cities at first because I was so focused on landscapes. I was completely surprised! Geneva, Bern, and Zurich each offer their unique city highlights. Although it rained when I was in Zurich (and mostly bought souvenirs around), I found Bern really unique (no wonder it’s a UNESCO site). Bern also offered my favorite sunset sighting during my this Switzerland trip. Quite unexpected as I spend so much time above mountains!
So that’s a summary of my 8-day travel to Switzerland views and some of my favorite shots. I hope I gave the place justice as Switzerland is a beautiful place for travel. It definitely increased my interest in landscape photography and traveling. I loved how the people were overall friendly, surroundings were clean, stunning mountains and lakes, convenient transportation and everything else that made the trip easy to handle. However, Switzerland does sit on the more expensive side budget-wise for travel, but it’s all worth it for the experience. Although, spending 8 days there already made me miss the food in Asia. If you’re interested in other landscapes across Europe, do check out my Iceland trip for some views!