A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

Yellow trail markers - Joujou  / pixelio.de It's summer in Switzerland and that means the hiking season is upon us. If you've ever spent some time walking or cycling outside in Switzerland, you must have seen noticed the classic yellow markers showing you the direction, the time it takes to reach your destination and the type of trail you'll be hiking. These are part of a national network of hiking trails. Hiking Trails in Switzerland Thanks to a long and old tradition of hiking in the valleys and mountains (and the flatlands), an extensive network of hiking trails all over Switzerland was developed over the decades. Currently, there are over 60'000km of hiking trails cover all of Switzerland. Almost as many km as roads since Switzerland only counts with 71'400km of roads! Most of the hiking trails are located in the mountainous cantons of Grisons, Berne and Valais - including some challenging alpine hiking trails. However, there are always plenty of hik...

William Tell Monument, Altdorf (UR) - at Swissminatur Last weekend, I spent a few days in Milano. It's a city worth seeing and as it is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from Zurich almost a must do for every expat in Switzerland. You can take a train to Milano as well which might save you the hassle of being stuck in traffic jam near the Gotthard tunnel. However, driving with your own car give you the options to see some sights along the scenic highway A2 that goes through Switzerland's Italian speaking part, the canton of Ticino. Swissminiatur - a Ticino Attraction One of the most popular attractions in the Ticino area is the Swissminiatur . As it's name already says, it is a miniature Switzerland . Over 100 miniature versions of famous Swiss buildings, institutions and installations have been built for this park.  Titlis Rotair, Engelberg (OW) A path leads through the park and the Swissminiatur guide book explains what each miniature is and where the building...

Rainy Day - Uschi Dreilucker / pixelio.de The weather has been so so these last few days and will remain rainy and rather cold. This is not unusual for Switzerland but nobody likes a bad weather forecast, right? This means no swimming in one of the many lakes of Switzerland, going on a nice bicycle ride or playing soccer outside unless you are willing to endure some heavy rain.  Some people actually like to be outdoors when it rains. I do sometimes as well. That's why I created this list of 10 Fun Things to Do Outdoors on a Rainy Day in Switzerland. For everyone else, please continue reading! 10 Fun Things to Do on a Rainy Day in Switzerland There are plenty of fun things to do in Switzerland even on rainy days. Here's the list of my current favourite rainy day activities: Alpamare : It's the biggest water park of Switzerland with dozens of water slides and pools. It's open all year round since most of the baths and slides are indoors. It is perfect for a ...

No Thieves in Switzerland - Dieter Schütz  / pixelio.de Switzerland recently has had the honors to be included in the top 10 of world's safest travel destinations by Travelers Digest (the site has gone inactive in 2015) . Although it is definitely nice living in a safe country where street crime is almost non-existent, I was a bit bummed that Switzerland didn't make any of the more attractive top 10 lists. I mean who wouldn't want his country to feature one of the Top 10 Adventures for Thrill Seekers Top 10 Best Airports of the world Top 10 Best Cities to Live In Top 10 Best City Skylines Top 10 Best Places to Watch Sunsets Top 10 Best Wildlife Viewing Top 10 Countries with the Most Beautiful Women The alps, great paragliding locations, bobsledding, snowboarding or river rafting in Switzerland are not considered thrilling enough I guess. I would claim though that Zurich Airport is one of the nicest and most organized airports in Europe. It's tough to...

The sled is waiting - tokamuwi  / pixelio.de Temperatures have been below zero for almost a week now and -5 C surprisingly feels quite warm.  If you don't consider the freezing temperatures, the weather has actually been quite good here in Switzerland. Most days have been dry and sunny with some light snow in between. This means, if you wrap yourself in warm clothes, cover head, hands and face, you can actually have some great fun outside. A Visit from Friends & a Day of Sledding When some friends from abroad came to visit me last week, I was worried they would suffer terribly from the cold. Surprisingly, they handled it quite well and so I decided to take them up on a Swiss mountain and go sledding with them. Since there is no sledding slope on Mount Pilatus  I took them up another mountain in central Switzerland: Mount Rigi. The Queen of the Mountains, as Rigi is also called, is 1797m high and a popular destination for tourists and locals and only abou...

In mid-January, winter is usually already halfway over. High time to spend some quality time in the mountain area of Switzerland. The Swiss alps are high enough to guarantee enough snow for winter sports even in relatively dry winters. We didn't expect much snow when I planned to spend a weekend with some friends in the grison village of Arosa . Little did we know that this weekend would be one of the snowiest of the winter so far. Good thing we brought along snow chains for the ride up to Arosa. At the latest from Chur onwards, there was simply no way to advance without them. Snow was falling non stop and streets, houses and cars were quickly covered in thick layers of snow. Yet, even with the snow it took us only two hours to drive from Zurich to Arosa. Hurray for small countries! Arosa - manwalk  / pixelio.de Arosa - perfect for skiing in the Swiss Alps Arosa is a beautiful village in the Swiss alps featuring about 2000 inhabitants and at least as many tourists on ...

Zurich is Switzerland's biggest city. Yet, compared to New York or London, Zurich seems small with it's half a million inhabitants. Nevertheless, it features a great number of interesting places and fun activities for people of all ages. One of the more interesting places of Switzerland is located in Zurich: the Zurich Zoo. Although I'm personally a bit ambivalent towards the existence of zoos and the keeping of animals in compounds, a zoo can truly be a great place to visit. As a child, I was a frequent visitor to the Zurich Zoo and I remember loving the elephants and the peacocks. The polar bears were another favorite and the monkeys always good for a prank. Plus, there used to be a real long slide for kids which I totally loved. Ape - Dieter / Pixelio.de Founded in 1929, the Zurich Zoo is located on one of the hills around Zurich. According to its website, the zoo has been constantly enlarged and modernized over the last years and, today, is the home for hundred...

Once in a while I have friends from the abroad visiting me in Switzerland. Like any host, I usually want to to show them Switzerland from its best side. At the same time, I like to avoid traveling long distances to get to my destination. That's why I usually take my friends to central Switzerland. Lucerne is only about a 45 minute drive from Zurich and if you climb one of the mountains around lake Lucerne, for example the Rigi or Pilatus, you have an exellent view of the Alps. Also the city of Lucerne is quite nice and always good for a stroll along the river or the lakeside. Indeed, there are plenty of fun things to do in and around Lucerne to keep you busy a day or two. Glas Art by Glasi Hergiswil - Joujou  / pixelio.de Visiting the Glass Factory in Hergiswil A personal favorite of mine is the glass factory in Hergiswil, called ' Glasi Hergiswil '. Especially on a rainy day or in the cold of winter this is a perfect place to visit. There are several fun act...

Usually, this is a blog about Swiss life, Swiss food, places and people in Switzerland . I will make an exception to the rule for the wonderful German city Konstanz . It that lays right on the border to Switzerland and is so close to Switzerland one could almost call it a Swiss city. In fact, there are probably more Swiss people visiting Konstanz every weekend than Germans themselves. Konstanz is located on the shores of beautiful Lake Constance, one of the biggest in Europe. By now, the German city has pretty much merged with its Swiss neighbor Kreuzlingen. If it weren't for the signs, you almost wouldn't notice when you actually cross the border. It has a beautifully maintained medieval center with lots of old houses right at the lake front. There are many fun things to do in Konstanz all year round, with shopping probably being the most popular for Swiss visitors. During the holiday season and in the summer months there are special events that draw even more people to th...