Switerland Train experience
On the first day we all met at London City Airport which is a delightful small airport. We flew to Bern with SkyWork Airlines who are a small Swiss owned airline flying out of Bern to selected places. We flew on a Dornier aircraft which is very small and takes about 17 passengers.
We arrived in Bern and transferred to the lovely 5 star Schweizerhof Hotel, located right by the train station. We checked into our beautiful contemporary rooms. The hotel has 99 rooms in total and the famous Jack’s Brasserie where delicious Swiss meals are served. In the evening we watched the Son Et Lumiere in Bern’s old town before going to dinner in the old city.
The next day we had a guided tour of the old town and learned all about the cantons in Switzerland and how the city was built. There is some interesting architecture and Bern is a wonderful little city with all its cobbled streets and lovely shops. Most of the exteriors of the shops are canopied so that you don’t have to walk in the weather. We had lunch at the Allegro Hotel over the north bridge. This is very much a business hotel and would not be suitable for families or couples wanting to experience Bern.
We caught the train to Luzern via the Emmenthal Region and over the Brunig Pass to Interlaken. We stopped in Luzern for half an hour and we were able to cross the famous Kapellbrudke (Chapel) Bridge. We arrived in Interlaken and checked into the 4 star Hotel Interlaken which is a delightful chalet type hotel, not far from the station and in the east part of Interlaken. Dinner in the hotel was a traditional fondue and was very delicious.
We all put on our winter woollies the next day for the excursion up via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, to Europe’s highest railway station at Jungfraujoch. It is at 3454 metres and it was -8 degrees! We did venture out on the viewing platforms and the views are stunning. We visited the ice museum and had lunch at the top. We descended via Grindelwald and back to Interlaken.
In the evening we visited the most wonderful Christmas market in Brienz which is a delightful little town well known for its wood carvings.
We boarded the lovely trains again, this time to Montreaux on the Golden Pass Line. We had lunch at the Grand Hotel Swiss Majestic on the shores of Lake Geneva and then took the train via Lausanne back to Bern.
The trains are wonderful and all work very well. They are never a minute late. It snowed much of the time so was a beautiful winter wonderland. Switzerland would make an excellent holiday for both summer and winter breaks.