Switzerland–A Beautiful Country!

Coffee in Gornergrat, Zermatt, Switzerland.  Mount Matterhorn is pictured in the background.

I recently traveled to Switzerland and had an incredible trip!  I will separately write about each segment of my trip:

Once I landed in Zurich, I picked up my rental car and drove to Zermatt, a small town in the Swiss Alps.  The views along the way were amazing!  I booked a “Whatever car is leftover” category from Dollar Rental at the Zurich Airport.  “Unfortunately,” only a BMW 1 series was available.  It was a great car, especially at a price of ~$40 per day.

Takeoff and Arrival

The views on arrival to ZUR were amazing!  You can see the snow-capped Alps to the South.

Upon landing in Zurich, I rented a car and drove to Zermatt, Switzerland.

Driving

Google Maps said the drive would take 3.5 hours but the closed mountain pass added an additional 90 minutes on my drive.  Fortunately, the views on my drive were awesome!  Green grass valleys were surrounded by jagged, snow-capped mountains.

The roads wound through the mountains, often popping in and out of tunnels.

Saddle-back roads were often used to scale the sides of steep mountains.

Furkapass:  Attempt 1

Given that Zermatt is nestled deep in the Swiss Alps, you must traverse a mountain pass to reach the town.  Unfortunately, all mountain passes were closed on my way to Zermatt but I was unable to read the signs that warned of the road closure.  I drove for an hour down a very sparsely populated valley before reaching the closed mountain pass.  As a result, I needed to drive back to Interlaken to drive my car onto a train that would take me through the mountain.

The mountain passes are free but the car train was not.  However, I was surprised at its efficiency.  It started moving soon after I arrived and the disembarking process was similarly smooth.

The views from the train were amazing.

Interlaken

The photos don’t do it justice but Interlaken looked gorgeous.  The water was bright aqua.  The mountains were perfectly covered in dark green plants.

The city appears wedged between a mountain and the lake.

The marina is barely hidden by the highway guardrail.

Conclusion

While I loved driving through the Swiss Alps, I will likely take the train next time due to the unpredictability of the mountain passes.  The views from the car were breathtaking.

Be the first to comment on "Switzerland–A Beautiful Country!"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*