Swiss Bliss. Review on Switzerland, General

“What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

These first few lines of W.H. Davies’s legendary poem ‘Leisure’ aptly describe what I felt when I landed in this heavenly country known as ‘Switzerland’. As I looked around , it seemed as if time has stopped for me. God is unfair at times and he has been unfair to this country. The entire country is picture perfect, you shoot the pictures from any angle and they turn out to be good.

The country is known for its great diversity and is divided into three different regions, the Jura, Plateau and the Alps. Though English is not spoken widely, since German, French and Italian are the main languages of the country, people do understand English. Moreover, the people are very helpful and will help you out with your queries regarding places, hotels etc.

Some useful tips are

Travel - It makes sense to buy a Swiss Train pass before you leave for Switzerland. Passes can be flexible or for consecutive days and are available for different time spans. In case two people are travelling, it makes sense to buy the Saver pass. We bought the Second class saver pass and never regretted not buying the first class. Trains are very clean and spacious and there is not much difference between both the classes. Though passes may appear to be expensive, in reality, they cover all your train and bus travel and boat travel at some destinations are save you from the bother of buying individual tickets all the time which could prove to very expensive.

Timetables and information brochures are available at all major stations and the first thing one should do on reaching the station is pick up a copy of the free timetable available there. Also, make sure to collect the free maps which are available at the Information Office everywhere. The Information Office people speak English and are more than happy to help out tourists with their queries.

Accommodation - Accomodation can be expensive. Rooms are small in size and generally may not have many facilities. However, in my view, it makes sense to book an apartment in case one plans to stay for a week. For example, we stayed at an apartment in Lucerne for 7 days and were charged 590 Euros for the same. Kitchen facilities were there and proved to be very convenient.

Supermarkets - Coop and Migros are the names you will find everywhere and you get good deals at reasonable prices.

Food - Food is expensive and Swiss Fondue and Rosti are the most famous national dishes. However, most of the food is cheese based. One can get a variety of breads and cheeses. Pizzerias can be found everywhere. Also people craving for Indian food will find that there are Indian Restaurents at most of the major places but are very expensive.

Places - We went to the Lucerne (Our base), Bern, Lausanne, Lugano, Rhein Falls and Schauffhausen, Geneva and Interlaken and Mount Jungfrau.

Main Shopping attractions/Souveniers - Cuckoo Clocks, Swiss military knife and watches, Cow bells and Chocolates (Lindt and Frey are good brands).

To sum it up, I would say that I have been to many places but none as beautiful as Switzerland and given a chance would love to go there again.