• Work Less Travel More
  • Work Less Travel More

Snow in June? Switzerland 2013

A short but fine adventure by Work Less Travel More Read more
  • Trip start
    May 31, 2013

    An early start

    May 31, 2013 in England ⋅ 🌫 12 °C

    So we decided on a short weekend break in Switzerland to ride on the famous (?) Glacier Express. Booked through the Swiss Travel Centre in London who were very helpful (and I couldn't find a better price even buying things separately).

    An early start on Friday morning got us to the parking area at T5 and a ride on the "pods" - automated personal transport.

    Just time for an early breakfast in the T5 lounge and then onto our flight to Zurich.
    Read more

  • Swiss Railway Journey 1

    May 31, 2013 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Arriving at Zurich Airport after a 2 hour flight, and bearing hand luggage only, we made swiftly for the station which is right below the airport. We already had tickets in our hand courtesy of STC and we hopped onto a train for Zurich Hauptbahnof straight away. The airport is fairly close to town so less than 20 minutes later we were off the train and bags dropped into left luggage.

    Torrential rain and flooding was hitting much of central Europe and Zurich was no exception. Had we come prepared for cold yes, had we come prepared for rain NO! Nonetheless we spent an hour or so trotting round a bit of the town getting drenched followed by lunch in a pizza place near the river.

    Next we headed for our destination for the evening - Chur. Trains are frequent and reliable so we didn't have long to wait. The line to Chur runs south alongside the Zurichsee for a while and then heads into more mountainous territory; the rains dies away along the way. Arriving in Chur and getting off the train the air feels cooler and somehow much cleaner.

    It takes a few minutes to get our bearings for the correct exit and then we walk the 100 metres or so to our hotel for the night. Polite and helpful staff and a clean, large room with a view of the streets around and the station. We never hang around in the room so we're quickly off for a walk round this smallish town and looking for dinner (we don't just go from restaurant to restaurant - honest).

    The Susswinkel Brasserie is our chosen spot for dinner. Very nice and homely and, even better, the last available table is now ours.

    We stayed at the ABC Swiss Quality Hotel - Ottostrasse 8, Chur, Switzerland
    Read more

  • The Glacier Express

    June 1, 2013 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    Our train is not until 1127 so we have a little while to have a look round Chur. Then it's off to the station for the Glacier Express. The carriages have panoramic windows for the best views of the spectacular Swiss scenery. Plus there is food!

    The journey heads up into the mountains where there is snow at the highest point (Oberalp). Then we head downwards again, changing at Andermatt for a local train and finishing our journey at Zermatt, our home for the night.

    Dinner at the Brown Cow pub

    We stayed at Hotel Excelsior - Postfach 343, Zermatt, Switzerland with a view of the Matterhorn a short walk from the station.
    Read more

  • Up the mountain

    June 2, 2013 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌫 10 °C

    We stayed in Zermatt which is situated at the base of the Matterhorn and from our hotel window we have a great view of its peak. This is also our destination for the day using the Gornergrat Bahn which uses a rack system to climb the steep slope to close to the peak.Read more

  • Trip end
    June 3, 2013