• Robert Allan
  • Robert Allan

Switzerland 2017

A trip to Switzerland, touring around with a Swiss friend as my guide. Meer informatie
  • Schaffhausen

    23 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Schaffhausen, a town that made it's money from transporting goods from the upper Rhine to below the Rheinfall.

    Beautiful old town, with ornately painted buildings and covered balconies.

  • Munot

    23 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The Munot is a circular 16th century fortification in the center of Schaffhausen. It is surrounded by vineyards and serves as the city's symbol. The ring-shaped fortress was built in the 16th century.

  • Stein am Rhein

    23 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Stein am Rhein is a small town west of Lake Constance (Bodensee), full of preserved, half-timbered medieval houses with painted facades, clustered around Rathausplatz in the old town. On a hilltop overlooking the town, Hohenklingen Castle dates back to the Middle Ages.Meer informatie

  • Zurich

    24 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Today I walked around Zurich, a city I'd been to before a couple of times, but never explored

    I walked around the old town either side of the Limmat river,exploring all the small alleys down to the Zurichsee (Lake Zurich).Meer informatie

  • Interlaken

    25 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Today's trip was into the mountains in the centre of the country, starting at Interlaken. Not a great day weather wise, but nothing will stop me.

    A few big old hotels here tells how much it's been a popular destination over the years.Meer informatie

  • Schynige Platte

    25 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Back down the funicular, and straight onto another train to Lauterbrunnen. A short distance from Interlaken I get off at Wilderswil, where I get on the old cog train up to Schynige Platte. A very slow train, but great views.

    At the top it's pretty cool temperatures but dry. So I do a quick circular walk up the mountain a bit, for even better views of the split valleys below to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. The cloud doesn't quite clear to show the iconic Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. But I can see snow on the base of these peaks.
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  • Wengen

    25 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Once down to Wilderswil, I transfer onto a train to Lauterbrunnen again, where I change onto the mountain train to Wengen. But pouring down there, with no view of the surrounding mountains.

    Overall I used 13 modes of transport today, including a funicular, cog trains and intercity trains. The maximum transfer time between trains 12 minutes. Superb!!Meer informatie

  • Bellinzona

    26 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today's daytrip was like visiting another country, through the newly operational 57km Gotthard tunnel, which allows train speeds of up to 160mph (250kmh). This took me to the south of Switzerland, and the Italian speaking part, and Bellinzona, the capital of the Swiss canton of Ticino. The most prominent thing about Bellinzona is it's three castles.Meer informatie

  • Lac Souterrain

    27 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Once off the train it was down twisty roads to the valley below. We stopped at Lac Souterrain at Saint-Léonard. The subterranean lake is located along the Rhone valley, between Sion and Sierre in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

    With a length of around 300 meters this is the largest natural underground lake in Europe which can be explored by boat.
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  • Notre-Dame de Montorge

    27 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Then it was onto Sion. It’s known for 2 hilltop fortifications: the 13th-century Tourbillon Castle ruins and the Valère Castle complex, with a basilica housing an organ over 500 years old. The 15th-century Cathedral of Notre-Dame-du-Glarier and the conical Witches’ Tower are in the old town.

    When we arrived we walked/hiked up to a 792m hilltop overlooking the airport and city. On it was the ruins of an old fort called Notre-Dame de Montorge.
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  • Fiesch

    28 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Day two in Valais. A night in Sion before heading eastward up the Rhone valley to see two glaciers, the spectacular Aletsch glacier and the Rhonegletscher.

    Both have been affected by global warming, but the rapid decline of the Rhonegletscher is quite staggering, and sobering.

    Gondola from Fiesch up to the viewpoint is a 5700 ft (1730m) ascent.
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  • Aletsch glacier

    28 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    And at the end of the gondola, what a view. The Aletsch glacier, the largest in the Alps at 23km long, 1km deep at the deepest. Stunning views everywhere and the clouds disappear as we get there.

    Four smaller glaciers converge at Concordia Place. On a very clear day you can see fourteen peaks over 4000m (13,100 ft) . One of those is the Matterhorn way off to the west.
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  • Rhonegletscher

    28 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    After the Aletsch glacier it's onwards up the Rhone valley, to where it's very narrow, and very twisty roads. A huge scar shows where the Rhonegletscher ice used to be in very recent history. The Belvedere hotel sits near the glacier and in the 1930's the glacier ice was at the same height as the road to the hotel.

    Dust on the ice absorbs the heat more, increasing the melt. On some parts special white sheets have been laid on the glacier, slowing the ice melt by about 10m height compared with non-protected ice. The sheet covered ice allows it to be stabilised somewhat, enabling access to ice tunnels which are bathed in a blue light. This is the filtered sunlight, and is only observed about 15m below the surface.

    In 1870 the ice reached the bottom of the valley, where the small river almost reaches the twisty road.
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  • Basel Zoo

    29 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Saturday was a lovely day out to Zolli, officially Zoologischer Garten Basel, and is Switzerland's oldest (1874) and largest zoo (by number of animals). It's a huge attraction as it's in the centre of the city.

    The zoo has elephant's, a huge monkey house, Indian rhinoceros, greater flamingo, cheetahs, okapi, pygmy hippopotamuses, and every Somali wild ass (a donkey) in zoos worldwide is related to the population in Basel, where this species' zoological breeding program was started. It has a great breeding record for a lot of animals.
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  • Königsfelden, Windisch

    30 juli 2017, Zwitserland ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    My final day on Sunday in Switzerland was a quick tour around Vindonissa, located in what is today called Windisch. It was an important Roman legion's camp being the only one in Switzerland and probably established in 15AD. A Roman barrack's has been recreated, with actors going through legionnary way of life.

    The monastery church of Königsfelden, which is well known for its unique glass windows (that date back to the 14th century), is located in the middle of these ruins.
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