The Unknown Ahead

The land of mountains, fondue, and chocolate. Yes, please! Honestly, you had me at fondue. But let’s get real, the views here are nothing short of amazing. Look left – sheep! Look right – waterfalls! Look up – mountains! The views do not quit. Add in some great Christmas markets, and you have yourself a great little November trip.

So the pros are mostly cheese and views; however, if you’re traveling during American Thanksgiving, there are a few quirks to Switzerland too. First of all Do.Not.Trust.Google. This goes against the very fabric of my being. I love Google Maps. The first thing I usually do when trip planning is hop on Maps and favorite a bunch of stuff. But let’s be clear…Google Maps lies when it comes to shoulder season in Switzerland. The most frustrating thing about traveling in November is that when Google says it’s open…it’s probably not. OR Google says it’s open at 9AM, but only for hot chocolate and coffee until 11AM. There are no rules.

Was traveling in Switzerland a little frustrating in November? Yes. It was sometimes tricky to find open restaurants, some of the gondolas weren’t always running, etc; however, it’s hard to be mad when looking at the Alps. My biggest piece of advice: if traveling during shoulder season be flexible. Have a plan for the day? Great. Have a back-up plan too. In fact, have a second back-up plan just to be safe.

I will say that the train situation runs like a Swiss watch. Trains everywhere, every day, at every hour. Easy. Definitely download the SBB app to map out your train routes. We stayed at three different “home bases” and did not rent a car. It was SO simple to use trains, gondolas, and Uber.

Let’s get to the itinerary! I’m going to include how we spent the week…and how we wish we had spent the week. November is so tricky because some things may or may not be open year-to-year depending on the weather and snow. I’ll be clear as to which activities we actually did vs. activities that we had planned to do and failed.

Come hungry, get ready for amazing views, and here we go!

Day 1 Lucerne

• We flew into Zurich and hopped right onto a train to Lucerne. Download the SBB app (linked above) and you can easily hop on a train. I’d also suggest getting a Swiss Travel Pass for your stay. Since we’re moving to a few different stops, I very much recommend backpacks for this trip. Every family member is responsible for their pack. The trains do have racks for luggage, but giant roller bags are going to be cumbersome. Fun fact – every train has a children’s car! Look for the car with fun characters painted on the sides! These cars are more family-friendly and have playgrounds in the car! Even though our kids were a little older, they found it really amusing that they could go down slides and enjoy a playground while on a train. Genius.
• Since you’re fresh off the plane, you’ll need a place to stash your luggage as you wander Lucerne. I highly recommend checking out the Radical Storage website. It hooks you up with spots to store your luggage all throughout Europe, and there are a ton of convenient options for Lucerne and other Swiss towns.
• Once our stuff was stashed, we started off on foot toward the Chapel Bridge. This bridge offers gorgeous views and was built in the 1300s! This is Europe’s oldest covered bridge, and it’s covered in beautiful paintings. Stop to take some photos and take in the beauty of Lucerne.
• Once on the other side of the river, you’ve arrived in the center of old town. Check out the shops, enjoy some chocolate, and eat!
  • Find the Läderach Chocolate Shop! What a great start to Switzerland!
  • Wander to the famous Lion Monument
  • Check out an old clock tower from 1535 – Zytturm
  • Another clock tower is the Rathaus Stadt in a cute plaza near the shops
  • Need another clock tower? This one has views! Walk up 125 steps to check out the Männliturm.
  • When you’re done with the historic area, go back across the Spreuerbrücke bridge and find some lunch at Wirtshaus Galliker. This restaurant is the perfect introduction to Swiss food! Open since 1681, this spot has been serving rösti and other Swiss favorites for hundreds of years. Plus, it’s really kid-friendly.

• When you’re done exploring Lucerne, we’re going to hop back on a train and head to our first “home base” in Interlaken.
• Interlaken is very easy to navigate and it has two train stations. We got an Airbnb since we were traveling with another family and needed four rooms. I also love to have a kitchen for ease of kid breakfasts, a little charcuterie in the evenings, and a bottle of wine on a balcony. There were several great choices in Interlaken that would suit any family’s needs. We took an Uber to the house just to get rid of luggage, but in general, we walked everywhere with ease.
• Once you get settled in Interlaken, it will likely be time to find some dinner. What says “Hello Switzerland” like fondue?! It’s our first dinner in country, so let’s make it a good one! Check out Hirschen Hotel Restaurant for the best fondue and rösti in town. Although it’s not Swiss food, we also enjoyed a great meal at Hopplá Bistro in Interlaken.

Day 2-3 Interlaken & Day Trips

Interlaken is a great “home base” because it’s so close to other little towns and fun activities. Here are some things that you can do in and around Interlaken that will definitely take up a day. Remember that things are somewhat flexible here in November, so you may want to inter-change days depending on the weather. If it’s cloudy, swap out the scenic overlook with a different activity. It’s all about the mix-and-match!

• Paragliding – Are you crazy? Nope! This is a super popular tourist attraction here. There are several companies you can use, but we had a great experience with Skywings. They pick you up by the train station, drive you to the top of a mountain, and off you jump! It’s so easy that my 12 and 9 year old did it too! It’s a tandem jump, so you’re connected to a pilot the whole trip. I was amazed how smooth and tranquil it was up in the air. You’re basically just sitting in a little swing and enjoying the views for about 15-20 minutes. This was a huge highlight of our trip!

• Harder Kulm – This is a scenic viewing point up above Interlaken where you can see the town and the two lakes, Thun and Brienz. There is a little gondola up to the top that takes about 10 minutes. You can find a timetable here for the gondola. In addition to a viewing platform, there is also a really cute playground for the kids, a cafe and a few hiking trails. Although I enjoyed the views here, this is where we began to realize that restaurants didn’t always function as we thought they would on this trip. Our plan was to get there early in the morning, enjoy the view, have breakfast at the cafe and continue with our day. According to the website, the cafe opens at 9:30AM, but what they don’t tell you is that it’s only open for drinks and there is no food until much later in the day. Oh well. I do recommend checking it out, but maybe bring a granola bar or two…

• Lauterbrunnen & Mürren – Hop on a train and head out to the town of Lauterbrunnen. There are trains here from Interlaken about every 10 minutes, so you can be flexible with your schedule. Not only is Lauterbrunnen a cute little town, but it’s famous for waterfalls. The most iconic waterfall is Staubbach Falls which can be seen from town. We walked around a little bit, but never really found the main hiking path. Evidently, there are 72 waterfalls in this region that you can hike to when the weather cooperates. From Lauterbrunnen, you can hop on a gondola that takes you to Mürren. This is where we started to see a lot of skiers! The mountains surrounding Mürren are nothing short of awe-inspiring. Since we were there in November, not a lot was open. We wandered around and found one cafe, Alti Metzg, that was open with outdoor seating to enjoy the view. The hot chocolates, mulled wine and hot aperol were great.

• Bern – This is a big city and about a one hour train ride from Interlaken. Bern itself was really pretty. There’s a giant bear pit…yeah, bear pit. Of course in November those bears are hibernating, but it’s still badass to have a bear pit in your town. There was a little zoo (Dählhölzli), several cool playgrounds (look up Spielplatz Längmuur), lots of good food, river views, and…wait for it…an epic Onion Festival. This really deserves it’s own blog post, but I’ll do my best to describe it in a few sentences. So, once per year on the fourth Monday of November you can enjoy Zibelemärit! We finally found a thing that shines in November! Hooray! Guys, this is not just an onion festival, it’s a full on street party meets confetti explosion. My husband was a little skeptical about an onion festival, but this did not disappoint. Not only was the food exceptional, but there were tons of vendors, people galore, plenty of alcoholic beverages, and confetti fights for the children. I’m not kidding when I say there was an inch worth of confetti on the ground by the end of the day! If you’re traveling during American Thanksgiving, I highly recommend this festival! Side note – we’re still finding bits of confetti in our coat pockets a month later!

• Gimmelwald & Grindelwald – Yes, these are two different places. So here is the portion of the itinerary that are options from Interlaken, but things that we did not do (or could not do) based on the time, weather, and gondola closures. These two spots are ideal for skiing, so the weather wasn’t quite on our side. However, if you get a snowy November, it’s possible you’ll want to ski in Gimmelwald. Grindelwald is more like Mürren – just a cute Swiss town with great views. In my opinion, it seems like if you just want to experience an adorable Swiss town in the mountains, Mürren and Grindelwald have a similar vibe.
• Schilthorn – We were really excited to check out Schilthorn, and it was one of the places that was supposed to be open year-round. Well, call it bad luck, but the gondola was down for repair which made it completely inaccessible. If you get luckier, you can visit this spot by jumping on another gondola in Mürren to keep going up into the mountains. This place is supposed to have it all – skiing, sledding, hiking, fondue, viewing platforms, and playgrounds for the kids. It was also a filming location for a James Bond movie, so there’s supposed to be some cool 007 stuff up there as well.
• Other activities that we considered from Interlaken included:
  • Beatus Caves
  • Boat rides in Lake Brienz
  • Jungfraujoch – We chatted with another family who did this and the consensus seemed to be that it was really expensive for a good view. It’s the highest railway station in Europe which is pretty cool, but for $110 USD per person, you better get a clear day to enjoy those views.

Day 4-5 Zermatt

It’s time to venture up into the Swiss Alps and head to the tippy-top of Europe. Zermatt is easy to get to by train, so just consult with your SBB app for train times. Zermatt is a medium-sized town and does not have cars. If you’re in need of help to get your luggage from the train station to your hotel or rental, there are plenty of tuk-tuks at the train station to help. A few things to note here – first of all, the tuk-tuks know they are your only option, so it’s expensive. In general, I say walk, walk, walk when in Zermatt. On the main road by the river, there is a bus that takes tourists toward the city-center but it can be really crowded with skiers and ski gear. No cars – sounds so tranquil and romantic! Not really. Although there aren’t cars on the streets, there are a ton of electric service vehicles zipping around. It makes sense that restaurants and shops need to have a way to transport goods, but to say that Zermatt is car-free is a little bit of a lie. I had to yank a kid to the side of the road a few times to avoid getting run over despite it being “car free”. If I’m being honest, it was a little annoying.

Here are the things we did in Zermatt:

• Enjoy the town itself. Zermatt is a really cute spot for souvenirs, shopping, enjoying the views of the Matterhorn, ice skating, eating, etc. The main street is right by the train station, so it’s easy to start exploring as soon as you hit the town. There’s a great Lindt chocolate store with every flavor Lindor you can imagine. There’s also a super cute bakery called Fuchs that is loaded with great cookies and other goods that will keep the kids happy.
• Right in the middle of town is a huge ice skating rink and several playgrounds. We bought the kids a few flimsy sleds and set them loose while we enjoyed an outdoor drink at an adjacent cafe. The views were beautiful and the sun was shining!
• Glacier Paradise – I would say this is a “must-do” for views. This is as high as you can get in Europe at about 4,000 meters. You can see Switzerland and Italy while enjoying mountain peaks and glaciers. To access Glacier Paradise, hop on a gondola from downtown Zermatt. From there, you do up a series of gondolas (don’t worry – it’s foolproof) for about an hour. The views don’t quit and we even saw wild goats and sheep. The gondolas are heated and really comfortable. When you get to the top, there is a little cinema telling the story of the Matterhorn, a gallery full of ice sculptures, a viewing platform, and a restaurant. The ice sculptures were actually really interesting and a great spot for photos. The restaurant here is legit. Really good Swiss and Italian food is served up cafeteria style with amazing views. The ride to the top is a little pricey at about $100 USD (kids are half price), but I think this one is worth the price tag. There’s a special “crystal” gondola with see-through floors, but I really don’t think you need this perk. The views are amazing in the regular gondolas, I promise. When we were there a few of the ski runs were open, but not many. If you’re avid skiers and get lucky with snow, I’m sure it’s pretty epic. One thing to consider – you ascend a lot of elevation in a pretty short amount of time. When we stood up after that final gondola, a few of us were a little dizzy. The elevation gain is real. Make sure to hydrate and go slow. We acclimated after a few minutes, but just something to be mindful of with kids.

• Gornergrat – Full disclosure, we did not do this personally. We were going to combine this with the Glacier Paradise and do one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but after being on a gondola for several hours, we weren’t sure the kids would love getting on a train for what promised to be similar views. We were saving it for the following day, but the weather was rainy and not ideal for views. However, if we had an extra day (or better weather), I would have loved to do Gornergrat! This is a cogwheel train that takes you 3100 meters to the glacier. The station is right across from the main train station in Zermatt, so it’s easy to access from airbnbs and hotels. The price for the train is about $100USD and can be booked in advance online. In the right weather, you can do several winter activities here like snowshoeing, sledding and hiking.
• Matterhorn Museum – Ok, this is where I lost my mind a little bit…according to Google, this museum is open year-round and a guaranteed thing to do in Zermatt. We had a rainy morning, so we all walked to the museum only to find a handwritten note taped to the door that it was closed for the day. Uuuggghhhhh! Maybe you’ll have better luck, because it looked pretty cool.
• OK, let’s have some food! Are you tired of cheese yet? I didn’t think so! There are so many great restaurants in Zermatt, including a Michelin star. Since it’s shoulder season though, some places are closed before the madness of ski season begins. Be sure to get a reservation or call ahead to make sure they’re taking diners.
  • Osteria Bella Italia – You are really close to Italy, so why not try some Italian food? This place makes carbonara table-side in a giant wheel of Parm. Pretty cool.
  • Restaurant Schäferstube – This was my favorite restaurant in Zermatt. It’s an old barn that was converted into a restaurant and has been serving up classic Swiss dishes for countless years. The ambiance is warm, cozy, and cabin-like.
  • du Pont – This is a great lunch spot for raclette and fondue. Evidently, it’s the oldest restaurant in Zermatt.
  • Zermama Bistro – Eat outside with fire in the middle of your table! Perfect for a little apres ski shot, a cocktail, and some modern cuisine. Bonus points, because they have a kids menu too!

Day 6 – Montreux

Gather up your luggage for one more quick stop before heading home. The one good thing about traveling in November is that the Christmas Markets are open! And the market in Montreux does it with a flair for the dramatic. Our other stops have been primarily German speaking, but Montreux is a stones throw from France, so get your s’il vous plaits ready. Although there are plenty of fun things to explore in this small city, we were mostly there for the market.

Adorably situated along the lake, there are a plethora of little stalls to visit. Enjoy some gluhwein, hot chocolates, and plenty of amazing street food. Ever tried roasted chestnuts? They’re actually pretty tasty. Need a piping hot churro? No problem! Need a BUMP OF CAVIAR? Ummm…yes? I’m here to tell you that you DO need a little caviar in your life! Follow it up with a shot of vodka or some champagne. I’ve never seen caviar as a street food, but I’m going to fully endorse the experience!

The coolest thing about Montreux is the flying Santa. Every evening at 5pm and 7pm Santa literally flies across the sky wishing everyone a happy holiday season. The kids watched with jaws on the floor. It was really pretty special.

If you need more Christmas markets in your life, we also hopped on a super short train ride to Vevey. Just one town down, there’s another market with similar shops and food, but also a skating rink. It’s a fun town to explore in its own right too.

All good things must come to an end. The airports in Zurich and Geneva are both very easy to navigate. The trains connect right to the airport, so no need to worry about taxis.

Although this trip didn’t turn out as effortless as I’d like, I would still very much recommend Switzerland as a destination. Honestly, I’m not sure that I’d do it in November. I’m not a ski bum, but if we did this trip again, I’d probably target months that are ideal for hiking. The views really are breath-taking, the public transit is nothing short of inspirational, and the cheese is…well, cheese…so amazing. Given the season that we were there, I would have added more time to Interlaken given the number of easy day trips from that spot. Zermatt was gorgeous, but I’m not sure November did it justice.