10 days in Switzerland (and a bit of France): Travelog!

How should you spend 10 days in Switzerland? Well, we're definitely not Europe travel experts - having visited only once in the last 5 years - so we can't answer that question definitively, but perhaps our travel video will give you some ideas!


We flew in to Geneva, did a couple of day trips to nearby French lakes and mountains, then headed gradually to Zurich via the Zermatt and Jungfrau areas.

In Switzerland, we traveled mostly via the excellent Swiss rail, ferry, and gondola network - offsetting some of the high costs with the Half Fare Travelcard.

Anyway you can check out the breakdown of the places we visited in the video; Do let us know in the comments if you've got any questions and we'll try to answer them to the best of our ability!

📅 Detailed Itinerary 📅

Day 1: Tour of Geneva
✓ Lake Geneva / Jet d'Eau
✓ English Gardens and Flower Clock
✓ Geneva Old Town / Shopping Area
✓ Patek Philippe Museum
🍴: 🤤 Cafe Du Centre, 🤤 Auberge de Saviese

Day 2: DayTrip to France (Chamonix)
✓ Chamonix
✓ Aiguille du Midi
✓ Montenvers / Mer de Glace
🍴: 😒 Café de Paris Genève

Day 3: Day Trip to France (Annecy)
✓ Annecy Old Town
✓ Le Palais de I'lle
✓ Jardins de l'Europe
✓ Château d'Annecy
🍴: 🤤 Glacier des Alpes, 🤤 Restaurant MS Libellule, 😒 KFC

Day 4: Zermatt / Matterhorn
✓ 3½hr Train to Zermatt
✓ Gornergrat
✓ Partial Hike down to Zermatt
🍴: 🤤 Chez Max Julen

Day 5: Zermatt / Wengen
✓ Mountaineer's Cemetary
✓ Zermatt
✓ 3½hr Train to Wengen
🍴: 🤤 Da Sina Pizzeria

Day 6: Jungfraujoch
✓ Jungfraujoch
✓ Partial Hike down to Kleine Scheidegg
✓ Lauberhorn Crazy Golf
🍴: 🤤 Kleine Scheidegg Restaurant, 🤮 Pasta & More

Day 7: Day Trip to Bern
✓ Bern Federal Palace
✓ Bern Prison Tower
✓ Zytglogge Tower
✓ Einstein's House
✓ Bern Cathedral
✓ Bern Bear Park
🍴: 🤤 Metzgerstübli, 🤤 La Golosa Gelato, 🤤 Brasserie Chez Edy

Day 8: Männlichen and Grindelwald
✓ Männlichen Gondola & Royal Walk
✓ Summer Gemel (luge) to Grindelwald
✓ Grindelwald & Grindelwald Reformed Church
🍴: 😒 Eiger+ Cafe Lounge, 🤮 Jungfraublick Wengen

Day 9: Rigi Kaltbad
✓ 4½hr Train and Ferry to Rigi Kaltbad
✓ Mineralbad & Spa Rigi-Kaltbad
🍴: 😒 Rigistübli, 😒 Restaurant/Hotel Alpina

Day 10: Zurich & Home
✓ 2hr Train to Zurich
✓ Reformed Church
✓ Fraumünster Church
✓ Bahnhofstrasse
✓ Zurich Old City
🍴: 🤤 Crepes and Meat skewers in Zurich's Old City

Trains in Switzerland: Should I take the Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card?

Like many other things in the country, travelling in Switzerland is expensive - particularly if you're spending at least a week or more there. That means that you'll probably be visiting several different cities or tourist attraction hubs, racking up hundreds of Swiss Francs on train, bus or ferry rides.

The easiest, least-planning-required way to reduce these fares are via purchasing the Swiss Travel Pass, which allows you 'free' travel on the majority of Switzerland's public transport network - with some caveats, of course. However, if you're willing to do put in just a little more planning legwork, the Half Fare Travelcard could save you even more money!


Note: This is not meant to be a comprehensive Swiss travel post, I'm far too inexperienced for that. What this post is, is a simple comparison for my own personal one-week journey in Switzerland between the Half Fare Card and the Swiss Travel Pass starting from Geneva and ending in Zurich, with stopovers in a couple of the country's most popular tourist destinations in between!


In the table below, I've compared the price difference between buying individual tickets with the Half Fare Travelcard, vs having the 8 consecutive day Swiss Travel Pass, versus having no discount card at all. We see that the Half Fare Travelcard has the lowest overall cost, but why? A few reasons:

a. For many of the more touristy trains and gondolas, holders of the Swiss Travel Pass still need to pay 50% of the fare - identical to the Half Fare Travelcard.
b. For (arguably) the most touristy train - the one to Jungfraujoch - holders of the Swiss Travel Pass pay 75% of the fare, instead of the 50% paid by Half Fare Travelcard holders.


c. As tourists, we can sometimes take advantage of 'super saver tickets' during lower-peak timings, which are discounted further on top of the 50% off from the Half Fare Travelcard. In the Zermatt to Wengen itinerary below, for example, the super saver train ticket stacked with the Half Fare Travelcard ends up with a cumulative 70% discount over the full fare ticket.

That's pretty reasonable for a 3 hour train journey!


Of course, the Swiss Travel Pass does have its advantages other than price - for example, on trains, buses, and ferries which are 'free' you don't have to worry about checking schedules or buying at ticket: You can just hop on and hop off as you desire. And these calculations change significantly based on your own specific travel plans, so there really is no one size fits all.

Nevertheless hopefully this quick comparison helps to give you an idea of what sort of options you have available when planning travel in Switzerland ... and how much it might cost in general (yes, I really did spend over 500 Francs in a week). Happy holidaying!

Look See Eat's Guide to Switzerland: A weekend in Geneva!

Glorious Geneva. Despite its (relatively) miniscule size, it's one of the most well-known cities in Europe - and possibly the most famous one in Switzerland. How miniscule? It's got a population of just 197,000 - contrast that with the 7 million of UK and 3½ million of Berlin!

Geneva's the headquarters of a host of International Organisations and a plethora of private banks, so chances are you're visiting the city for work, or business, rather than for leisure. If you are, have got the weekend off and are wondering what to see and do, we've totally got you covered. Presenting the Look See Eat Guide to a Weekend in Geneva!



Start off the morning with a coffee and a croissant or a pain au chocolat, and take a stroll around the lac Léman. The city's most iconic landmark is the Jet d'Eau: A huge jet shooting water over 450 feet in the air. The current jet was installed in 1951 and is turned on from sunrise to sunset, except when the wind's too strong.


Jet d'Eau from the Right Bank (West of the Lake)
If the weather's warm enough, consider buying a gelato cone from one of the many shops on the lake banks and meander through the Jardin Anglais (English Garden) to the L'horloge Fleurie (Flower clock). This 5m-diameter clock was created in 1955 as a "symbol of the city's watchmakers and dedication to nature."


One of the many sculptures in the Jardin Anglais


L'horloge Fleurie (the Flower Clock)
The sightseeing continues with a detour to the Vieille Ville (Geneva Old Town) - a delightful maze of cobblestone'd paths perfect for wandering, people watching and admiring Swiss architecture. Turn off your phones, put away your maps, and just explore for a while.


Vieille Ville (Geneva Old Town)
Depending on how long you wandered, you might have time to squeeze in some shopping (window or otherwise) on Rue de Rive / Rue du Marche - Geneva's main shopping boulevard - before lunch. At the very least stop by Auer Chocolatier and pick up a box of their divine Amandes Princesses chocolate-coated almonds.


Time now to grab some lunch! Geneva is an expensive city. The second most expensive in the world, in fact (according to UBS), so eating out can be rather alarming to the wallet. Food's generally decent, though, so pick a cafe or restaurant around the area that tickles your fancy.

If you'd like some recommendations, you probably can't go wrong with Café du Centre or Brasserie Lipp. Both are within walking distance.


Jamon Iberico at Brasserie Lipp, Lobster Risotto at Café du Centre
With stomachs replenished, let's put our free Geneva public transport cards to use by hopping on an electric tram or bus. Destination: The Patek Philippe Museum (CHF 10 entrance fee), which is a breathtaking homage to hundreds of years of Swiss watch-making tradition. Keep an eye on the clock: We need to wrap up our horology gawking by around 3pm.


Patek Philippe Museum. Sorry no photos allowed inside!
Our final destination of the day is a 30-40 minute tram ride away: The United Nations Office at Geneva. Technically this isn't a tourist attraction per se; UNOG is an actual office of the UN, with all sorts of United Nations activities going on. They do provide guided tours for CHF 12, which are amazing as you'll get to walk around the premises admiring the various meeting halls, with your guide giving expert commentary. Generally the last tour of the day departs at 4pm, but do check the website for more up to date information.


Not quite the UN HQ, but good enough for a visit!


Touring the many conference halls in the premises
By the time you're done with the tour pretty much everything else will be closed (or closing soon), so there's not much else to do than to head back to the city to have some dinner. Some reasonably-priced options: Chez Ma Cousine (Roast chicken with gravy; pretty good, if a tad salty) or The Hamburger Foundation (Burgers and young, attractive, english-speaking waiters). Or if you're hankering for something more 'Swiss,' the fondue and raclette at Auberge de Savièse are solid choices that won't break the bank.


Meat platter at Auberge de Savièse, Burger at The Hamburger Foundation
It's back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation after a long day out on your feet. Get an early rest as tomorrow you'll need to be up and early: We're heading out of the city and across the border to France to visit Chamonix and the majestic Mont Blanc mountain - the highest peak in the European Alps. Stay tuned for the full post coming up soon, but in the meantime if you've got any questions do feel free to ask in the comments below!


Coming Soon: Chamonix and the Mont Blanc mountains!

Six Best Swiss Chocolatiers in Geneva!

Sometimes a sky-high reputation can be hard to live up to. For example, the Swiss are well known for their skill in watch and chocolate making. And yet for as long as I can remember, I haven't really been all that impressed. I mean yes, confectionery from Toblerone and Nestlé isn't bad, and some Lindt chocolates are even quite good, but by and large they aren't (in my opinion) that much better than many other brands available on our shores.

The secret, though, is that the best Swiss chocolate isn't made by multinational manufacturers, but by the dozens of small individual boutique artisan shops around the country. By nature of their (relatively small) size, they don't actively export any of their chocolates outside the country - so for those of us in Asia we really do need to fly to Europe to buy and try. Or ask someone else flying there to buy on our behalf, of course!


So without further ado, here's our in-alphabetical-order mini-guide to Six of the best Swiss Chocolatiers in Geneva! For maximum convenience we've chosen only stores that are within walking distance of Geneva's main shopping street, so you'd totally be able to visit all the stores within an hour or two.


Auer Chocolatier
Amandes Princesses - 15.00 CHF
Auer's signature Amandas Princesses are almonds in crispy sugary coating, and then further coated in creamy milk chocolate with a dusting of cocoa powder. This was one of our favorite chocolates - the sugar gives just the right hint of crispiness to go along with the creamy chocolate and crunchy almonds. 4.5 stars.


La Bonbonnière
Alcohol-center chocolates and Pavé de Genève - 26.00 CHF
These spheres (a variety of liqueurs including vodka, brandy, whisky, etc) are alcohol'ed on steroids - the teetotalers amongst us could actually get tipsy on a couple of these. The Pavé de Genève (those cube things) literally translate to "Geneva's Pavement," and are named after city's cobbled sidewalks. These are rich, silky, and supremely luxurious - but perhaps slightly lacking the complexity of Du Rhone's version (see below). These are best eaten cool - they're a little too hard if eaten straight out of the fridge, but melt too quickly if they're out too long in our Singapore heat. 4.0 stars.


Du Rhône Chocolatier
Moccas Glacés - 25.50 CHF
These coffee-flavoured Pavé de Genèves are absolutely delicious - the coffee adding a depth of flavour that's absent from regular offerings. Du Rhône won the Gault & Milleau Prize for these chocolates and we think it was well deserved! 4.5 stars.


Favarger
Avelines - 9.70 CHF
The most 'commercial' chocolatier on the list, these were also the least enjoyable chocolates for us. Don't get us wrong, the hazelnut praline sandwiched between layers of smooth chocolate are still pretty good; just that they're a little weak in comparison to the others. 3.0 stars.

Note that Favarger sells two additional 'colors' in their Aveline range with green and blue wraps (milk and dark chocolates). These aren't worth the effort to buy and carry back to Singapore.


Läderach – chocolatier suisse
Assorted Chocolates - 24.20 CHF
These assorted chocolates are typically made by hand and priced by weight. We quite liked most of the choices - particularly the ginger ones, although some were perhaps a tad on the sweet side - like the dulce de leche. 4.0 stars.


Teuscher
Truffes au Champagne - 31.50 CHF
A tad bit disappointed here. Teuscher makes a big deal of these truffles being made with Dom Pérignon Champagne. But we couldn't detect any hint of alcohol, and the truffle overall was really really sweet (bordering on sickly sweet). 3.5 stars.

We hope this mini-guide helps you on your quest to find the best Swiss Chocolate in Geneva! If you noticed, the prices aren't exactly cheap, so if you're on a budget we'd recommend definitely trying Auer's crispy/crunchy almonds and Du Rhône's coffee pavement slabs. Happy chocolate hunting!

At time of writing, 1.00 CHF = 1.43 SGD.