Zurich, Zermatt, Milan and Colmar - whirlwind week

The wonderful thing about being in Europe is the ability to travel to another country relatively stress free. At the beginning of March I flew into Zurich, Switzerland from London City Airport and was blessed with early spring sunshine. All Covid PCR tests are now not required for us so getting through border control was a breeze. Apart from having to wear a face covering on the flight, it has all started to feel 'normal' again.

My best friend has lived in Zurich for a number of years and it's always best to be guided by a 'local' who knows the city well. My first couple of days were spent walking around the city centre getting a feel for the place. I had been there once before about 5 years ago but it was only a day either side of a trip to Italy for a long weekend, so can't say I really saw that much of it.

This time though we had planned a number of day trips, the first being a train journey to Zermatt in the south of the country near the Italian/French borders. This meant getting up at 6am to catch the 7am train in order to get the maximum hours from the day. Zermatt lies just below the iconic Matterhorn peak and we were lucky to get such a beautiful day to enjoy walking around this picturesque village with it's boutiques, cafe's and restaurants. We stopped for a drink on the sun terrace of The Omnia Hotel with a prime view of the mountain and the surrounding area. It was a beautiful day and there were a number of people paragliding over the nearby slopes. What a spectacular view that must have been!

Our next day trip was to Milan in Italy. Since the pandemic, the rules have changed and you must now book a reserved seat on the train which was a direct run through to Milano Centrale. The stop at the Italian border took a little longer than usual as all health passports were checked as well as whether we had the correct masks. It's mandatory to wear one indoors and on all public transport. All of the people complied with this rule which surprised me and I didn't see one person in breach of this law.

Milan has always been a favourite of ours and it was lovely to be back after almost 3 years. The weather stayed sunny and mild and we had a great day shopping and enjoying lunch al fresco. All that pavement pounding was tiring so we finished our day with a glass of prosecco before catching the train back to Zurich.

Since we were definitely on a roll, the following day we met with a friend and embarked on a road trip into France to Colmar in the Alsace region. The journey only took about an hour and a half from Zurich, skirting around Basel before entering France.

Colmar is well known for it's preserved old town and beautiful architectural landmarks. Again we were blessed with a stunningly beautiful spring day and walked through the town admiring building after building, each more picturesque than the next. It has a lovely array of shops and restaurants each sympathetically blended into the shop fronts. We ate lunch at the Restaurant Bartholdi which serves French cuisine with Alsacienne and fish specialities. 

We spent about 2 hours in total enjoying 3 courses and a bottle of Crémant which is the local sparking wine from this region. 

It was leisurely and relaxed with time to digest between courses. In my opinion, the best way to eat - if you have the time of course. 

I had white asparagus for starters and the main course of river trout with toasted almonds was cooked to perfection. Not one for desserts as a rule, I just had to try the meringue with berries and ice cream. C'est magnifique! 

Bucket list for the week's day trips well and truly ticked, we spent the next few days in Zurich mainly walking to different districts for food and sight seeing. We took a walk along the lake on the Sunday and it was brimming with people. 

Families enjoying the sunshine, people walking dogs, and even budding street artists honing their talents at the Rote Fabrik art and cultural centre.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Zurich is all about banking and being one of the most expensive cities in the world, and you'd be right in one respect, but it has so much more to offer.  Needless to say, I'll be back here again very soon!

Fun fact - did you know? Zurich is avant-garde: it was not only home to Dada, but also the place where the Freitag bag and world-renowned Helvetica typeface originated. SWISS TOURISM

If you want to travel around the city by train, tram or bus get yourself a Zurich Card, where you can enjoy Zurich in all its diversity and save time and money. The card can be purchased in the Zurich City Guide App. where all the information about discounts are to hand on your phone.

Cost - CHR 27 for 24 hours and CHF 53 for 72 hours

 

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