Discovering the Unfiltered Beauty of Switzerland on Our 9-Day Adventure

If you have ever seen pictures or videos of Switzerland, you may have been skeptical about how good it looks. Either they captured the perfect moment or edited the footage some. I can tell you that that is in fact not true. It's really unreal how amazing everything looks and how awestruck you will be.

We did a 9-day trip in Switzerland with another couple and their 1-year-old. It really was an amazing trip (though extremely expensive). I do recommend everyone who likes the outdoors and mountains to add Switzerland to your bucket list.

If you do decide to go, it is extremely important to plan, research, plan more, and stay flexible. If you take anything away from this post, it should be to invest in your planning and research. Whether we are talking about investing your money in guides or time in research, I say do both.

Switzerland seems small but you could spend an entire year there and not run out of things to do or places to go. So you really need to do research and be smart. More importantly dont try and spread yourself too thin. There will ALWAYS be something else you could have done but if you are constantly going from one thing to the next you wont actually enjoy it and it ill be more expensive.

Better yet, just check out Alpins In The Alps YouTube channel and blog. They are Americans who have lived in Switzerland, and I exclusively used their channel to plan everything. All of their videos, I purchased one of their ultimate guides (Berner Oberland), and they even do one-on-one consults. Seriously, they are great.

On to the trip!

Where we stayed

Since there is so much to do and different types of train passes we decided to just do the Berner Oberland region and get the Berner Oberland pass which got all of our transport within the region including gondolas, cable cars, boats, etc.

There's so much to experience in this region, and we could have easily spent another month exploring everything it has to offer. We got an AirBnb in Thun for the week.

I think Thun was perfect, as you can see it's just about dead center, and the train station is a pretty large hub. The place we stayed at was also residential, so it didn't have a ton of tourists or noise. Also, with an Airbnb, we did breakfast and dinner at the house, choosing to just do one big meal (lunch) out. This saves a ton of money in a very expensive country.

Day 1: Grindelwald

Grindelwald was high on all of our lists plus it got us up in the mountains and the weather was perfect this day.

We walked around the town mostly and had what I think was the second best lunch of the trip. The views were so epic, and the smash burger I had was one of the best I've ever had. Oh, and some delicious beer. There was a lot of delicious beer we had on this trip.

I knew of a cafe (Cafe 3692) highly recommend by Alpins In The Alps and google said it was about a 12 minute walk away so I can yea lets do that. What google doesn't tell you is the grade of the walk, and this one was basically straight up.

I think I had the crew on day one questioning my planning.

The cafe was worth it though. More great views and some really awesome deserts and refreshing drinks.

Day 2: Montreux

Today is a bit of a cautionary tale. For starters, the reason we wanted to do this was because there is a specific scenic train that takes 3.5 hours from our area to Montreux, and it's included in the Berner Oberland pass. BUT you need to make seat reservations, and since we didn't nail down days ahead of time, there weren't any seats left. We decided to still go and take a normal train, hoping for some still scenic views.

The second mistake we (mostly me) made was choosing the wrong train route, which took us out of the Berner Oberland region into another area where our passes weren't valid. We were caught on the way back and had to pay for tickets while on the train. Fortunately, we weren't fined. Learn from our errors.

Other than that, Montreux was very cool, very chill, and relaxing. It's a smaller city with a huge lake and a long, pretty path around the lake with a small castle. If we had to redo one day, it would have been this day, either to make sure we got in on a scenic train or went somewhere else in the mountains.

So if you need a chill day, this could be worth it, especially if you book in advance and get seats on the scenic train. There were way more seats available on the return train back to Interlaken, but that train left at like 2 p.m.

Day 3: Bern

This was a wild day because we intentionally had an easy day the day before so we could wake up early and do our long day to Schilthorn. Well, listening to the great advice of the Alpins, I kept checking the weather on Meteo Swiss and looked at the live camera footage from the mountain the morning of. Fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave, I called an audible and pushed it to later in the week when we would have better weather.

We kept Bern as a flexible option for a spontaneous day, and we decided to go for it. I must say, Bern ended up being our favorite city or town that we visited. It truly impressed us.

This city has such an awesome laout and vibe. The river meanders and twists through it at sharp angles that the old town almost feels like an island. Then you cross a bridge and there are parks and more hills and views.

What was particularly unique about this city, something we haven't encountered elsewhere, is that as you stroll through the streets of the old town, you'll notice double cellar doors facing the street. Historically, these were used for storage and similar purposes, but now they've been transformed into bars, restaurants, galleries, shops, and more. It's really fascinating. We took a break at a beer bar located in a cellar, with tables set up at street level.

First and foremost, we headed straight to the old town, crossed the bridge, and had lunch. Despite the slow service, the food was excellent and offered us some great views. It was located at the base of a large hill that led to a playground, which also featured a restaurant with takeaway drinks and a stunning view.

We returned to stroll along the river and found that just outside the restaurant where we ate, there was a brown bear exhibit. Real, live bears have a fenced-off area by the river. The flag of Bern features a bear, and although we know there's some history behind it, we didn't learn about it.

More meandering along the river, back into town and up another hill where we got ice cream, stopped for another drink and checked out the church before heading back home.

Seriously add Bern to your list. Whenever we go back to Switzerland when Landon is older, Bern will be a must-visit.

Day 4: Brienz and Giessbach Waterfalls

Originally we had an AirBnb booked in Brienz and im glad we switched to Thun. Its much smaller and more suited for tourist season and weekends.

However this day was possibly everyones favorite overall day and a top highlight with Giessbach Waterfalls. We took a boat from Brienz (which was included in our Berner Oberland pass). You will have to pay for the funicular unless you want to hike all the way up.

The waterfall was absolutely epic, and there is a trail that weaves up to halfway and then behind the actual falls.

After that we had lunch at the hotel at the base of the falls. Seirously the best overall lunch we had. The food was very good (liz keeps talking about the soup) and the views were on matched. On one side you can see the waterfalls and on the other is the full lake views. Really an unmatched place for lunch.

We then returned to the boat and traveled to Interlaken. These boats feature restaurants, and some are historic paddle steamers where you can watch the engine in operation. Additionally, they have playrooms below deck, which is a bit of a catch-22. It's great for Landon to play in, but now he believes that every boat has toys.

Day 5: Lucern

Today isnt much worth mentioning and i have zero pictores because it rained all day. this was the short relaxing day, we basically just went to lucern for lunch, and saw a little of it because it rained all day. Hard to have feeling on Lucern but i know there are cool view points all around the city.

Day 6: Schlithorn

This was the long epic mountain day we had to audible because of weather. And we had absolutely perfect weather on this day, clear skies, and the day before, the rain we got in Lucerne was snow up in the mountains. Since the first day, Landon could see the snow on the peaks, and every day he was asking us to go find the snow.

To reach the peak of Schlithorn we had to take two trains, one bus and 3 cable cars. It was absoutely worth it. Also once again. the Berner Oberland pass is included in all of those rides.

We also made a short detour in Murren at a cafe on the way up for a drink and snack. Also the next cable car was on hold due to "technical difficulties", which is what you always want to hear from a cable car going very high.

We all dressed in layers and were almost overly prepared for the mountain peak. It was indeed cold, but the sun was shining and there wasn't much wind. However, the views were absolutely epic. This is exactly why you visit Switzerland. The stark contrast from green to white snow and the full 360-degree panorama is hard to surpass.

In classic toddler fashion, the snow Landon had asked for all week he was honrey about it. What can you do.

There is a restaurant at the top, and for you James Bond fans, there is a free James Bond exhibit because that location is where they filmed On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

We made our way back down and had our awesome lunch. The views were slightly limited but the food and once again the beers were amazing.

This was a must-do in our mind, and I think everyone should make this day a priority, especially if you have the Berner Oberland pass.

Day 7: Thun & Interlaken

This was our final full day before we head back to Zurich. Even though we stayed in Thun, we pretty much just walked from the house to the train station, so we took a bit of a detour. The park by the lake was a real hidden gem, and I think everyone should check it out. There is also a historic castle-like hotel there that I'd assume is way out of our price range, but you can grab a drink or lunch there with a view of the lake.

We walked to the old town of Thun, but unfortunately, the best parts were up a hill that was not stroller-friendly, stairs only unless we backtracked. But I did find Thun to be like a mini Bern; it had those same cellar bars and covered walkways that Bern has.

Then we took a boat intending to take it all the way to Interlaken but we decided to get off at Spiez because that boat was way too packed and we wanted to get to lunch.

If you don't know about our Germany trip or my taste, I absolutely love schnitzel. Being in a very German-influenced part of Switzerland, I was expecting much more schnitzel, and at this point in the trip, I had yet to have schnitzel. Until this day. I finally found a place with schnitzel, and I think I influenced the rest of the group because everyone got schnitzel this day. It was, as always, delicious.

pretty relaxing day through those towns. A lot more people were in Interlaken than most places we went to but that makes sense its sort of the central hub of that region.

Day 8: Zurich

Today we left the AirBnb and headed to Zurich and checked into our hotel. Then we headed down to the old town for a very quick lunch. Unlike other days we opted for some Thai which is one of mine and liz's absoutle favorite. This place was like mall style scoop on a plate and eat and man was it good. But we had to get out of there quick cuz it was hot in there and hot outside, like in the 80s which is rare for Switzerland.

Some other stops for a drink, the couple we were traveling with popped into a church while Landon napped in his stroller, and we just followed the river around.

It was extremely busy since it was a Saturday and the final day of May. June marks the official start of tourist season in Switzerland; in fact, some of the funiculars in Switzerland don't begin operating until June 1.

This was mostly just a half day, and with how hot it was, we didn't have much energy or desire to get into much. Liz and I did have a layover here on our Christmas Market trip and absolutely loved it. Seriously, Zurich during Christmas, a perfect layover stop.

Wrap up

And that was Switzerland. There really was a lot of planning that went into it, and there were a few things I wish we had a chance to do, and even getting an earlier start to cover more, but we really did make the most of it.

Key Points

• Research, research, research. Watch love of youtube, buy guides, mark places on a map, write out mock day by day itinerary with audible days.

• Pick a region, don't try and do the whole country unless you have more than 10 days. This will also save on train passes

  • DONT automatically think the Swiss Pass will include everything

• Switzerland is EXPENSIVE so be prepared. Do breakfast at your hotel/Airbnb. bring snacks, just do lunch out or do some picnics.

• Use the MeteoSwiss app for accurate weather, and check cameras on the mountain. (Just google the mountain/place with live camera)

• You will spend a lot of time on trains and public transport, most of our days had 60-90 minutes one way.