Sun, Snow and Rain in the Alps (Switzerland)

Switzerland has always been on WJ and my bucket list, and when I had to go there for a work trip, we took the chance to extend it another 9 days for a holiday.

While March wasn’t the ideal time to visit, what with the unstable weather, it was too good a chance to pass up!

Where we went

Titlis

Titlis was the very first mountain we went up in Switzerland, and we had so much fun at the Trübsee snow park!

Free snowtubes, balancers and minibobs were available to use and you just had to take them from the general area they were displayed. We played with the minibobs countless times and it was so fun riding them down the slope. The balancer looked tricky to, well, balance on so we didn’t try it out (we’re such cowards).

The snowtubes were the most popular and were difficult to get a hold of, but we managed to near the end! I giggled all the way down the slope and even flew up into the air at the bumps.

At the peak of Titlis, we walked across the swaying bridge, also known as the Cliff Walk. When people are walking across, it can really sway but with the railings and netting on both sides of the bridge, it felt secure and safe. I think even my phone wouldn’t be able to fall through the spaces of the netting – but of course, I did not test this out!

There was also a glacier cave which was a little slippery to walk through with sneakers. We thought the cave was pretty cool until we went to the one at Jungfraujoch (read: even cooler).

We stayed in the pretty town of Lucerne, and made our way to Endelberg where we first took a cable car to Stand station. This is where the Trübsee snow park is located.

We then took another cable car – this time, on the world’s first revolving cable car, the Rotair cable car! It was extremely crowded, but a great way to get a 360-degree view on the way up or down the peak.

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Jungfraujoch

Hello Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe!

I just want to jump in here with the correct pronunciation of the mountain – which is “yuhng-frau-yuhk” and not the literal “jung-frau-jock”. My boss chuckled heartily when I pronounced it that way…

People sure weren’t kidding when they said Switzerland was expensive. Eating out was burning a hole in our pockets, but WJ and I got major sticker shock when we were buying tickets for Jungfraujoch at the counter. It costs 142.60 CHF (S$207.01) per person from Grindelwald Terminal, and this was after the 25% discount we got from the Swiss Travel Pass (which was pricey to begin with). The price is also without skiing or sledding, and just for the return journey to the peak of Jungfraujoch.

There was a long queue to take photos with the flag on the actual mountain, so we took one indoors instead.

The glacier cave, known as the Ice Palace, was huge and a lot bigger than the one in Titlis. Surprisingly, we also felt colder walking through the ice Palace at -3°C than outdoors!

There is even a Lindt experience store at the peak! We didn’t spend too much time here though, as we had tickets to visit the Lindt Home of Chocolate in Zurich a couple of days later. And unfortunately, the Snow Fun Park was closed when we went so we couldn’t go snowtubing again! It’s only open from mid-May to mid-October.

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First

We tried our hand(s and feet) at snowshoeing for the first time… on the mountain aptly named First.

Hiking for 6 hours with two short breaks in between was tiring, especially after not having exercised for such a long time. The snowshoes also took a little getting used to – we had to walk with our legs further apart than usual and felt heavier the longer we walked in them. And even with the snowshoes helping to create a good grip on the snow and stop us from sinking, I still managed to fall into the snow twice. One of the times, one of my feet sunk deep into the fresh snow and I lost my balance. If I wasn’t wearing snowshoes, my whole body might have gone through!

For the last 2 hours, we took off the snowshoes and hiked through the melting snow and ground, and it was way easier to do so – although a little slippery through the icy paths. Unfortunately for WJ, the hiking shoes the guide lent him were small and his feet were hurting before he changed out of them! Silly him should have changed out of them way earlier, but he said that he couldn’t feel his feet until he took off the shoes.

We stayed in Grindelwald for both Jungfraujoch and First, and just coming out of the train at the Grindelwald station took our breath away. The Alps were so close to us and so beautiful!

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Gornergrat

Sadly, the weather wasn’t great on the days we were in Zermatt and Gornergrat, so we didn’t manage to get a glimpse of the Matterhorn. On the train up to Gornergrat, it was foggy and a sea of white. We couldn’t see far out from the peak too, so we headed down pretty quickly.

We stayed in Zermatt, and really should have gone up the mountain on the day we arrived because it was the only day with good weather!

Food in Switzerland

I have to admit, Swiss food is not much to shout out about. Aside from rosti, cordon bleu, fondue, and raclette, we didn’t see any other swiss dishes where we went. Granted, we were trying to stick to the cheaper alternatives with an average of CHF 28 / S$40.65 per dish, so there may be things we missed out on.

And with the price we were paying for food, we were also expecting something of much higher quality! Most of the food we ate was passable, but not something we’ll typically fork out that amount for. In hindsight, we should have gotten sandwiches from the stands more often instead. While still expensive, they were about a third of the price in restaurants with similar or better taste.

I don’t want to look like I’m complaining, because let’s face it, it’s a known fact that Switzerland is expensive. Just take this into very serious consideration if you’re planning a trip!

How much we spent in Switzerland

Item	Expenditure
Accommodation	$1,589.46
Food	$745.66
Transport	$1,156.15
Attractions	$949.42
Miscellaneous	$1,986.73
Total	$6,427.42

We spent a total of S$6,427.42 for the both of us over 9 days, excluding flights.