Jaimes' Friends' Switzerland Visit: Mountains, Cows, Chocolate, Cheese and Watches

So my blogging friend Jaime reached out to me with the following question.

Friends of hers will be visiting my country for two weeks, starting mid-August, and they'd like some recommendations on what to see and do.

Without knowing much them and their preferences, except culture, food, scenery, let's dive in and talk about what Switzerland has to offer. You may have a general idea: mountains, cows, chocolate, cheese and watches.

That's a start!

Mountains

There are three general areas where you get to experience the Swiss Alps:

Grisons, Bernese Highlands and Valais.

I would go to two of these regions.

My personal favorite is Zermatt in Valais. Here's a whole entire post about how to get there, and what to see or do while there. From Gornergrat at 3,100 meters (10,170 feet) you'll get a spectacular view not only of the Matterhorn and so many snow-capped mountains but the Aletsch Glacier as well. 

In the Berner Oberland, sort of a must-do is to take the train either from Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen and hop on the cograil that takes you from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungraujoch aka Top of Europe. You will find yourself at an altitude of  3,454 meters, that's 11,332 feet, and I have to warn you, if you have a tendency to suffer from altitude sickness, it's not worth your time and money. 

Instead go to Kandersteg, take a 10 minutes' gondola ride and walk for about 20 minutes to Oeschinensee. it's an easy hike, mostly flat or even a bit downhill. To get back there's an electric bus. 

In this post I talk about recommended trips and things to consider when in the mountains: gear, weather, emergency plans,... 

Cows

If you're going to the mountains, you'll see cows grazing everywhere. Currently there are about 700,000 cows living in Switzerland. Considering we only have about 8.5 million human citizens, the ratio is pretty impressive ;-) For a special cow experience however, try to attend an alpine descent, aka Alpabfahrt. 

What is it? 

In spring the farmers and their helpers dress in ancient costumes, gather their cows, strap gigantic bells on them and take them up to their "summer camp". This procedure - while always been a tradition - has become a colourful tourist attraction, accompanied by a festival offering food stands and musical performance, think yodelling and alphorn!

The cows stay at the alps - located above the tree line - for about 100 days, after which the cows come home (again with an elaborate ceremony, called the alpine descent) 

This is the 2023 schedule, sadly it looks like your friends will just about miss it.

Photo Credit: Mom in Zurich

Moving on to

Chocolate

Here's a general post I wrote about Swiss chocolate. I don't know how interested your friends are in visiting a chocolate manufacturer, if they are, there's quite a few that offer guided tours.

My blogger friend Tanya put together an overview, check it out.

Not to worry if you can't take the time to visit an actual factory. Every store, no matter how small, offers a variety of Swiss chocolate, and while there are differences in ingredients and quality, it's really hard to settle for a favorite. You need to judge for yourself!

Cheese

Cheeses of Switzerland are roughly 450 varieties of cheeses made in Switzerland, the most popular being Emmentaler, followed by Gruyères, Appenzeller and Raclette. 

Their AOP label (Appellation d’Origine Protégée = Protected Designation of Origin) guarantees that the milk is sourced, and the cheese is actually produced, processed and refined in clearly defined regions of Switzerland. 

If you can only visit one of these regions, I say, go to Gruyères. It's a medieval - and car free - small town (only some 2,200 people live there) located at the top of a hill overlooking the Saane River Valley and the Lake of Gruyère. Many cozy restaurants - and their outdoor patios - are inviting you to sit down and enjoy!

There's more though. visit the Castle, the Giger museum or the Chocolaterie.

The actual cheese factory is located at the bottom of the hill, right next to the train station. Find all the info on tours and timetables here.

If you're looking for a scenic place to explore and conclude your day with a cheese fondue in a special restaurant you want to go to Murten and eat at Freiburgerfalle.

Watches

The industry is divided into four big players:

• Swatch Group: Swatch, Omega, Harry Winston and Tissot, 
• Richemont: Montblanc, Piaget, Cartier, Alfred Dunhill
• LVMH: Tag Heuer, Hublot, Zenith
• Rolex: Rolex and Tudor

Want to shop for a high end watch? You may want to do so in Lucerne or Geneva. 

Looking for something more affordable? In 2019 Swatch inaugurated its new headquarters in Biel, it is a  snake-like timber structure, built by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. At their museum you can admire thousands of models. It's also where you get to purchase your watch in a drive through. Yes, for real!

This concludes Part 1. I have a Part 2 in mind where I introduce you to the major cities and other places to see.