the ultimate switzerland roadtrip

How did we land on Switzerland for our honeymoon? Hard to say really. Our original idea of Japan was off the list because it was still in lockdown. Hawaii felt too cliché (though I argued to Marco it was cliché for a reason). The biggest factor; however, was that I was in a Broadway show at the time, and we wanted somewhere we wouldn’t lose whole days to travel. And that, my friends, is how we landed on the gorgeous country of Switzerland for our honeymoon.

We were warned EXTENSIVELY about how expensive Switzerland is; however, after over a decade of living in NYC it didn’t seem quite so bad as everyone was saying — for instance, I found lodging to be extremely reasonable. Where you will really notice the steep price tag is transportation. We decided to drive the country, but if you are planning to take the train I recommend looking into the Swiss Travel Pass and/or the Swiss Half Fare Card.

*Views along our drive to Interlakenfrom Zurich*

DAY ONE | ZURICH TO INTERLAKEN

After picking up our rental car in Zurich we got on the road and headed towards our first stop of the day Lucerne. Lucerne is a small city in Switzerland known for its preserved medieval architecture. When we arrived, there was a farmers market happening in the center of town where we grabbed some local cheeses, an espresso and walked the famous Chapel Bridge before getting on our way to Interlaken.

En route to Interlaken you will pass Lake Lungern and Lake Brienz. We were exhausted after our long flight, and decided to stop in Iseltwald to have lunch at Hotel Chalet du Lac (and a quick nap in their parking lot). I found the food to be a bit underwhelming, but the views from the terrace more than make up for it. From here it’s a short 15 minute drive to Interlaken.

CHECKING IN | MAISON BERGDORF

For most of our time in Switzerland we chose to stay in boutique B&B’s — I cannot recommend this enough. It pains me to tell you that the B&B we stayed in during our time in Interlaken has since relocated. It was one of our favorite stays on our trip. They have since moved West to a beautiful 300 year old manor in the stunning Val-de-Travers in the canton Neuchâtel. If you travel to that area I highly recommend you booking a room.

*One of our favorite Bed and Breakfasts from our trip, Maison Bergdorf (since relocated)*

DAY TWO | HIKING THE FAULHORNWEG

*View from our ascend to Schynige Platte*

After a restful evening we got up bright and early to begin the Faulhornweg. Touted by Lonely Planet as “the holy grail of day hikes” the Faulhornweg is considered by many to be one of the best day hikes in the world (not to be dramatic). The 11.68 mile hike begins at the cogtrain station of Schynige Platte and has an elevation gain of 3,760 ft. Early hikers will be rewarded with views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. To get to the trailhead you will take the Schynige Platte Bahn from Wilderswil and descend using the Grindelwald-First gondola cable car.

Quick Tip! There is a special ticket for hikers that you can purchase which allows you to ascend in one location and descend in another, plus travel back to your starting point. I promise it sounds more complicated than it is. I plan to do a more in depth post about the ins and outs of this hike in the coming months.

Upon returning to Maison Bergdorf from our hike, we took a nap, showered and headed to Bistro Alpenblick for dinner — a one michelin star restaurant famous for its modern take on Alpine cuisine.

DAY THREE | LAUTERBRUNNEN

When you close your eyes and picture Switzerland, chances are the above image is the view you have in mind. Lauterbrunnen is a picture postcard little town with ample hiking and the famous Trümmelbach Falls. If we were to do this trip again, we would have spent some extra time in Interlaken so we could have done more hiking in the Jungfrau Region. Unfortunately, Marco got sick, so after this we returned to our B&B so he could rest. I took the Harderbahn up to the Harder Klum lookout for a romantic solo sunset before heading out the next day.

DAY 4 | INTERLAKEN TO ZERMATT

We debated whether or not Zermatt was worth a stop… Yes… the Matterhorn, but people went on and on about how touristy it is and… that’s not really our vibe (is it anyone’s?). Plus, while the idea of a no car town sounded charming, it also sounded daunting. At the end of the day we decided to spend two nights in Zermatt and it was THE BEST decision. We used credit card points and splurged on two nights at the Cervo Mountain Resort. Wow! Best decision ever. While Zermatt can certainly lean touristy, Cervo is perched further up in the mountains (Don’t fret, there’s a private elevator down to the street level) and is a luxurious world all it’s own. A holistically designed hotel, with thoughtful details and casual luxury…it was hard for us to leave. After settling into our hotel, we cleaned up and headed into town for a wonderful dinner at Le Gitan.

DAY 5 | ZERMATT

*Stumbled upon some sheep on our 5 lakes hike*

Waking up in Cervo Mountain Resort with views for days in the comfiest of sheets…it was hard to muster up the energy to leave the resort. But we came to Zermatt for one reason and one reason only…to get up close and personal with the Matterhorn.

One of the best things about hiking in the Swiss Alps, is that the entire country is literally set up for it. The trailheads in Zermatt start at roughly 2500m elevation. So you have views THE. WHOLE. TIME. Our initial plan for the day was to do the seven mile five lakes walk and branch off to make our way to Gornergrat. This was….not our best laid plan. Basically because we ended up hobbling together one moderate hike and 2 difficult hikes to get to our end goal. We certainly could have seen all the same views with much less effort had we planned a little better, but alas…you live, you learn. After hiking nearly 15 miles, we took the train back down to Zermatt, had a hamburger and headed back to the Cervo Mountain Ashram Spa to lick our wounds.

*Marco taking in the views at Gornergrat*

*The Matterhorn and it’s reflection in the lake below*

DAY 6 | LUGANO VIA THE GRIMSELPASS

After another delicious breakfast at Cervo’s Bazaar (have I mentioned how much I love that all the hotels have a bougie breakfast included) we made our way back to our car and began the journey to Lugano. Lugano is a bit out of the way, so if you wanted to you could skip this stop. If you are traveling via train, I would recommend skipping Lugano and taking the The Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz.

Lugano is the Italian canton of Switzerland…where there are italians there is usually good food and wine (plus I swoon anytime I get to hear Marco speak Italian). So off we went!

*Views from our balcony at Relaise Castello di Morcote*

CHECKING IN | RELAIS CASTELLO DI MORCOTE

Marco and I stayed at the Relais Castello di Morcote and I could not recommend it enough. I don’t know how I stumbled across this hotel. I was struggling to find anything that looked aesthetic and wasn’t a gazillion dollars. Then one day, I was perusing the ethers of the interwebs when I found this gem. If I could live in this hotel I would. It is STUNNING and perched atop a promontory entirely surrounded by the lake.

On the property is the castle of Morcote, the only medieval fortress in the Lugano territory and heart of the family’s vineyard, where high quality wine, olive oil and honey are produced. All of which you will have the pleasure of sampling during your stay. Marco and I spent most of our time here walking the vineyard, checking out the castle and basking in the sun on the lake.

*One of the many amazing breakfasts we had in Switzerland*

For dinner in Morcote we took a small winding road up to the top of the mountain to Ristorante Vicania. As you reach the end of the road you are greeted by horses grazing in the pasture, and a beautiful stone barn surrounded by olive trees and twinkle lights. It was a magical evening to cap off our one night in Lugano. In the morning we rented a boat to take out on the lake before heading to our next stop — the Engadine.

DAY 7 | LUGANO TO ENGADIN

*When the sky turned purple, that was our cue to pull over and snap a pic.*

My dear friend Rachel spent a year in Switzerland. In fact, she met her husband studying in the Swiss Alps. When I had told her our honeymoon plans, both her and her husband insisted we check out the Engadin. This area happens to be where the Swiss National Park is located so we, of course, added it to our trip.

CHECKING IN | VILLA FLOR

Unconventional, unique and anything but ordinary - the Villa Flor in S-chanf combines decades of tradition with artistic modernity. Art and nature lovers alike will find a very special home here, on the edge of the Swiss National Park.

From the moment Ladina (owner of Villa Flor) greeted us, we knew we were arriving somewhere truly unique. She showed us around the 7 room in and promptly made dinner reservations for all 3 nights we were staying including our favorite meal of our trip…The Colani Bistrot.

DAY 8 | HIKING THE ENGADINE

It pains me that I cannot for the life of me remember the hike we did in Engadine, because it was one of my favorites. If you go and stay at Villa Flor, Ladina will give you the route. A fun little story that happened along the way…Marco accidentally took me on a trail that was closed (he insisted it wasn’t) and we almost died. But shortly after we were greeted with the most charming alpine restaurant and all was forgiven and forgotten. So let this serve as a warning to follow all trail markers and signs.

Our evening ended with another incredible meal at Dal Mulin — a modern country restaurant in the heart of St Moritz.

Unfortunately for us, DAY 9 ended up being a bit of a bust as a storm rolled in and we were forced to abandon our dreams of visiting the The Swiss National Park. We were a bit heartbroken, but were happy to spend the day curled up in bed and recharging our batteries before moving onto the smallest city in the world Fürstenau .

DAY 10 | FÜRSTENAU

There’s something you should know about me…if there is a bougie restaurant that has been written up by the Michelin Guide in the middle of nowhere…I’m gonna want to make a special trip to go there. That, my friends, is how we ended up in Fürstenau. If I had known a little more about how close this was to Engadine, I honestly would have just stayed an extra day at Villa Flor and driven to Casa Caminada for dinner.

DAY 11 | TAMINA THERME BAD RAGAZ

By day 11 Marco and I had reached our hiking limit for the trip. So after waking up to another gloomy day, we were grumpy and ready for a change of pace. Which is how we ended up at the Tamina Therme Bad Ragaz.

Here’s how Tamina Therme works…upon checking in you are given a bracelet that scans you into your locker, the baths and (for an extra fee) the Sauna World. After hanging around the baths for a while we were a bit…bored. To be honest, it didn’t feel as secluded and luxurious as I was imagining it would. We saw some people going into the sauna, so Marco and I decided to check it out. OMG am I glad we did. It bears mentioning that the Sauna is co-ed and does NOT allow swimsuits. As we entered the locker room and everyone began to disrobe, I turned to Marco and said “if you’re a bird, I’m a bird'“ and off we went.

As we sat down in the dry sauna, we noticed a shockingly large amount of people following in behind us. A few minutes later and healer in a towel came in, dimmed the lights and performed an experience infusion ceremony. The sauna got up to 120 degrees and the performance included snow, dance and music. It was a wild experience (especially since we had no idea what we were walking into). I highly suggest checking it out.

DAY 12 | A COW BEAUTY PAGENT IN APPENZELLE

Is that a cow in a headdress? It sure is. When I began researching Appenzell, I quickly discovered we would be in Switzerland during the EVENT. OF. THE. SEASON. The Appenzell Alpine Cow Descent. During September the Alpine cattle descent is the best-known of all traditional mountain festivities. After more than four months of grazing in alpine pastures, cows make their way down to the plain. Each herd is led by the 3 most beautiful cows (this is actually how it’s described) who are dressed to the nines in head dresses and big bells. So it goes without saying that we had to attend. We tasted delicious local alpine cuisine, watched a pig race, and came home with pounds of Alpine Cheese.

DAY 13 | SCHÄFLER & AESCHER – PANORAMIC HIKE

I was pretty pumped to hike in Appenzell. When we first started planning our trip I actually had hoped to stay in one of the Alpine Lodges, but none of them were available during our stay. So day hiking it was!

After taking the Ebenalpbahn to Mountain Station at Ebenalp we hiked over the Chlus Alp up to the Berggasthaus Schäfler (approx. 1 hour walk). Even with the snow this was a relatively easy path to the Chlus Alp, from there things get a bit steeper as you ascent to the Schäfler (at 1925 m). But the extra push is absolutely worth it as we were rewarded by the most jaw dropping snow capped mountains.

From here we we hiked back to Chlus Alp and then turned off to the right. We continued down a narrow path until we finally saw the backside of the Äscher hut (the most photographed inn in Switzerland of which i don’t have a photo of). It was here we stopped for some traditional Alpine food before making our way through three caves and back to the Ebenalpbahn and then making our way to the Zurich.

DAY 16 | ZURICH

After two weeks on the road we made our way to our final destination of the trip…Zurich. After MUCH research Marco and I decided to stay at the Signau House & Garden Boutique Hotel and couldn’t have been happier. A beautifully remodeled villa in Zurich-Riesbach, a neighborhood very close to the popular Seefeld-quarter, Signau house is secluded enough to feel like an escape, but close enough that you can walk anywhere in the city.

Our time in Zurich was mostly spent getting lost in the city. We strolled the streets for hours, stopping for espresso when the spirit moved us and popping in specialty stores like La Flor and Limited Stock. We ended our evening with an incredible dinner at La Muña in La Réserve Eden au Lac Zurich and finished with after dinner drinks surrounded by Picasso’s at Kronenhalle.

The next morning we hopped on a plane back to the states — exhausted, stuffed to the gills and ready to plan our next adventure.