Back to Switzerland and a day trip with a difference

Going back to my last blog post I alluded to the fact that once you're in Europe it's relatively easy to get around to visit another country. Switzerland borders three European countries - Germany, France and Italy and they can all be accessed via train or by road.

Fortunately for me, I have a friend who lives in Zurich so I was able to go back again and do a bit more exploring. On the day I arrived we spent time walking around the city centre and relaxing with a glass of rosé at Mövenpick in the early evening. 

We had planned a trip the next day to Lucerne and bought a day pass ticket which covered trams in Zurich, the train there and back and boats on the lake. Such good value at 75CHF, approximately £60. 

The train journey took about 40 minutes and we wandered around the town for an hour or so until our ferry to the Bürgenstock Hotel was ready to depart. I had seen this luxury hotel perched on top of a mountain with it's amazing views featured on a tv program. Although it's way out of my price range to stay there, going for lunch at one of their restaurants is perfectly doable and reasonably priced. 

It was so relaxing gliding along the lake taking in the mesmerising view until we docked at the pier to take the funicular cable car up to the top of the mountain. This was an extra cost of 50CHF about £40 for the return journey, but totally worth it for a truly spectacular experience both ways.

We had also booked in advance for their Spices Kitchen restaurant, which offers a mix of authentic dishes from Thailand, India, China and Japan. The magnificent panoramic view is like nothing else I have seen and the food and service was exquisite as you would expect from a hotel of this calibre and it's unique location.

After our wonderful lunch we were back on the funicular and the ferry to Lucerne where we picked up another boat and spent another 2 hours cruising on the lake and witnessing the fantastic scenery and lakeside towns till we reached Brunnen where we disembarked and caught the train back to Zurich.

Coming up next - a four day long weekend to the Burgundy region in France.

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