Cindy Fan

Break with convention in the Swiss city where public transportation is religion and unplanned travel is a sin.

In Switzerland, public transportation is religion and I’m standing on holy ground, Zurich train station, reverently gazing at the schedule board. It’s 7am and the weather forecast for this summer day is glorious. I haven’t decided where to go and feel giddy at the possibilities.

This story was published in The Australian’s Travel+Luxury on August 19, 2023

Coming to the station without a plan feels like a sin. Planning and preparation are  tenets of Swiss culture, but the irony is that micromanaging is virtually unnecessary. When I enter a destination into my Swiss railway app, all upcoming departures and routes appear, which may include trains, buses, cable cars and boats. There is no need to purchase tickets days in advance or fight for seat reservations like in France or Italy. Select the departure time and buy the flat-fare ticket before stepping on to the train.

Since 2014, I’ve spent almost every summer in Switzerland exploring the country’s sublime natural beauty. Though new places always beckon, today I feel like revisiting a favourite spot. But which one?

ASCONA, TICINO

After 20 minutes zipping 200km/h underground through the Gotthard Base Tunnel – at more than 57km, the longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world – I’m jolted from half-snooze when sunlight floods the carriage. We’ve crossed the figurative polentagraben or “polenta trench”, leaving the German-speaking region and entering the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, one of the warmest, sunniest regions of the country. The Italian ambience is palpable. Palms, pink bougainvillea and olive trees along the azure lake intimate a Mediterranean clime and temperament.

The town of Ascona sits on the shores of Lago Maggiore, a lake that mostly belongs to Italy, save for the northern chunk. Lining the waterfront promenade are hotels and cafes painted in gelato hues. Couples quaff Aperol spritzes on terraces. “This is Italy,” is my first impression, except Ascona is organised, clean, bike and pedestrian-friendly, and has excellent transportation. The Swiss, those polyglot phenoms, aren’t fussed if you don’t speak Italian; they will switch to German, French or English without attitude (on second thought, not like Italy at all). Still, being in Ticino inspires la dolce vita.

My first order of business is renting a paddle boat. Pedalling out into open water, I spend the next hour alternating between diving in and sunning on the boat before hunger drives me back to shore. The idea of pizza at a lakefront cafe is tempting, but a meal in a grotto, a traditional cantina, is a must. My favourite is Grottino Ticinese. For atmosphere head to Grotto Baldoria, a ramshackle collection of tables in a stonewalled courtyard and a daily set menu of whatever the restaurant’s patriarch decides. Salami immediately comes to the table, then salad before the main course: polenta, the regional staple, drowning in meat ragu. It’s peasant fare – simple and hearty. I’m scraping my plate clean when a cheese board is plonked on the table, along with shot glasses and three bottles: grappa, limoncello and nocino, a local liqueur made from green walnuts. It’s an honour system. Tell the server how many you’ve had, if you can remember.

The PostBus departs hourly for Valle Verzasca, a 25km valley carved by an emerald river. Centuries-old villages dot its banks. Most visitors hop off at “Lavertezzo, Paese” to swim at Ponte dei Salti, a much Instagrammed double-arch medieval bridge. I plunge into deep pools of sparkling glacial water until numb, before splaying on a hot boulder like a lizard.

ALETCH GLACIER, VALAIS

The IC8 train passes through the capital, Bern, then winds along Lake Thun before disappearing into the Bernese Alps via the Lotschberg Base tunnel; 16 minutes later we emerge in the German-speaking half of Valais, a canton known for popular ski towns Zermatt, Verbier and Crans-Montana. After a quick connection in Brig, I’m on the Matterhorn-Gotthard rail easing up the verdant Rhone River valley, the gateway to the Aletsch, the Alps’ largest glacier.

I disembark at Morel station and in mere steps I’m in a cable car soaring over pines and grazing cows. This is what Roald Dahl’s Charlie must have felt on his first ride in the great glass elevator. Breathtaking views unfurl the higher we climb.

It takes 12 minutes to reach Riederalp (1925m), one of three car-free villages of the Aletsch that are hubs for hiking, mountain biking and winter sports. Blessed with clear skies, I can see the snow-capped Pennine Alps, including the iconic pyramid-shaped Matterhorn, gleaming in the distance. A second cable car carries me to Moosfluh, the panoramic viewpoint at 2333m.

I’ve been to the Aletsch upwards of 10 times yet I still let out an audible sigh at the sight. A titanic field of ice 1.5km wide and 23km long descends from a fortress of mountains. Depth perception is distorted; the scale of the Aletsch doesn’t register until you spot a helicopter, a pixel moving along the row of peaks higher than 3800m. Like a camera sharply coming into focus, you understand all at once how dizzyingly immense the glacier is.

Trails, ranging from moderate to extreme, lead down to the glacier’s edge or along a ridge to other viewpoints and cable cars; tackling these requires planning and suitable hiking gear. That’s for another day. Sensibly, I return to Riederalp to indulge in bratwurst on a sunny terrace.

LAKE GENEVA, VAUD

I arrive to Spiez in time to join the GoldenPass Express departing at 09.38am. Launched December 2022, this special train travels from Interlaken to Montreux via the Bernese Highlands four times a day without requiring the usual change of trains midway at Zweisimmen.

Adjusting a two-stage journey into one sounds simple enough, but it meant inventing a train that could switch from a metre-gauge track, necessary in mountainous terrain, to a standard-gauge in seconds, while creating carriages that “grow” to meet the higher platforms. It’s a lot of effort just to avoid an interchange. Nevertheless, it’s the type of conundrum Swiss engineers relish, so here I am, enjoying one of Switzerland’s most scenic train rides in a seamless three-hour, 15-minute journey.

Though the views are no less magnificent on the regular train, the GoldenPass Express is kitted with panoramic windows, food and drink service, and a luxe Prestige class, in addition to first and second.

We glide past layers of rolling farmland, forests and peaks, through one rural outpost after another before the valley opens up at Gstaad, a resort village synonymous with the royalty and jetset who favour its ski slopes. Minutes later, we cross the German-French language border and slip down to the shores of Lac Leman, better known as Lake Geneva, arriving into the heart of the Swiss Riviera.

The Belle Epoque never left Montreux. The town is a postcard of turn-of-the-century buildings and palatial hotels boasting grand lobbies, chandeliers and views of the vast lake, which is ringed by snow-capped mountains and vineyard-covered hills. First-time visitors should see the impressive 11th-century Chillon Castle perched on the water’s edge, then stroll the lakefront to the bronze Freddie Mercury statue; Queen’s lead singer was one of many notable artists and writers who frequented or resided here. Lord Byron, Coco Chanel and Vladamir Nabokov all found respite in Montreux’s refinement.

Pretty as it is, Montreux is too posh for my taste. I take the bus to neighbouring Vevey, a touch more down to earth. Its leafy shoreline promenade comes to life in the late afternoon. Children cycle the bike path, people ditch their workwear to swim, kayak and sail. Terraces bustle for apero, the Swiss ritual of pre-dinner drinks and snacks. The fruity white wine comes from the slopes above town, the perch from the lake, the cheese from Gruyere, just 10km away.

The French are known for savoir-vivre, knowledge of how to live well and with elegance. It’s clear the Swiss French possess the same spirit.

IN THE KNOW

Train tickets can be purchased via the SBB mobile app, website or at stations. Search in advance for supersaver fares on select departure times for discounts of up to 70 per cent. Seat reservations, at extra cost, are recommended for the GoldenPass Express.

myswitzerland.com

This story was published in The Australian’s Travel+Luxury on August 19, 2023