Free activities  along the Grand Tour of Switzerland

Creux du Van - Jura Three Lakes 

Enjoy the stunning view of Switzerland's own Grand Canyon, the Creux du Van. The up the hike along the cliffs and if you are lucky you can even spot some the famous ibex.

Wine Route - Valais 

Choose your favourite part along The Wine Route, from Martingy to Loèche, hike through the vineyards of Valais and enjoy a delicious picknick along the way.

Playing Ukulele at Lake Maggiore - Ticino

Music is the best! Playing the ukelele, singing and having fun together at the Lake Maggiore. There are several nice places at the Lake to enjoy the evening.

Castle Valère & Tourbillon - Valais

In the middle of Sitten, the capital town of the canton Valais, you find the castles Valère and Touribillon. A short walk up the hill brings you to a quiet place where you can climb on the ruins, enjoy the great view or simply relax.

Wildlife watching @ Swiss National Park - Grisons

The valley Trupchun is part of the Swiss National Park and popular for its animals. During the hike, you can see deers, ibexs, chamois, marmots and eagles.

Outdoor Yoga in Dottwil - St. Gallen

Take a deep breath and enjoy your own Yoga lesson on the top of Dottwil (SG) with a beautiful view of the Lake Constance. Close to the Castle Dottwil, there is a nice place to escape from the daily routine.

Absinthe Hiking Trail - Jura Three Lakes

Discover the secret of the "Green Fairy" along the Absinthe Hiking Trail. It brings you through the Val de Travers crossing  the beautiful landscaped of the Swiss Jura.

Montreux Riviera - Lake Geneva Region

On a sunny day in Montreux there is nothing nice than take a walk along the riviera. You can stroll around the markets and stalls in Montreux or continue the walk along the lake of Geneva to the famous castle of Chillon. When it's warm enough you find vary bathing spaces along the way to take a refreshing dip into the water.

Culinary delights along the Grand Tour of Switzerland

If you like good food and tasty drinks this article is for you. We gathered our favorite culinary encounters along the Grand Tour of Switzerland. Scroll down to see all:

Chilli Cheese @ Fromagerie Mignot, St-Georges

At the Fromagerie in St-Georges you find everything the heart desires when it comes to cheese. Our favourite was "le St-George Piment", the chilly cheese. 

Bergführerbrot from Zermatt @ Bakery Fuchs

The bread we bought in Zermatt is called "Bergführerbrot" which means it's the bread of the mountain guides. It is produced after an old recipe. The recipe is a secret but what we do know is that it contains fresh apples, figs, nuts, and raisins. You can buy the bread at the bakery "Fuchs".

Rösti with sausage @ Berggasthaus Aescher

On our hike in the Region of Appenzell we stopped for dinner at the Berggasthaus Aescher. Their "Rösti" (a Swiss national dish) is made from fresh potatoes and pan-fried to a perfect crispness.

Absinthe @ distillery Bovet

Talking about cocktails. If you like your alcohol straight then Absinthe is for you. Absinth is made in a little valley, the "Val de Travers" out of different herbs such as vermouth, fennel, and green anise and is also called "green fairy". The clear spirit turns milky when mixed with water. We dare you to try the taste at the distillery Bovet but watch out - Absinth has a very high proof!

Local Delicacies @ le Soliat, Creux du Van

The restaurant "le Soliat" located at the Creux du Van offers simple meals with local products. We went for the cold cut platter with freshly beaked bread - the perfect snack on the panoramic hike.

Wine @ Lavaux, Lake Geneva Region

The Lavaux is famous for its huge vineyards and its great vine. We did our tasting at the Bovy winery with an unforgettable view of the vineyards and Lake Geneva. 

Spanish Chocolate Apricot Tart @Focacceria St. Gallen

After an already delicious filled focaccia bread we decided to also cater to our sweet tooth. And believe us the combination from chocolate and apricot, that fruity and sweet combination just wowed us. Go check it out yourself in St. Gallen at the cute Focacceria.

Pear Juice @ Migros, Valais

In the canton Valais you can find many local specialties in the Swiss super markets Mirgos & Coop. That way you can debuts many regional products on a budget.

Beer @ Bierhüsi, Interlaken

If you are a beer lover this is the place for you. At the "Bierhüsi" you find various beers from all over the world. Cheers!

Lebanese Falafel @Valentino's Chur

What's better than crispy falafel in flat bread after a long drive and a first cocktail? Nothing, and that's why you have to try it yourself. Valentino's is centrally located in the old town of Chur.

 

 Apricot beer @ St-Léonard

Last but not least the apricot beer from the Region of the Valais made it in our list. The Valais is famous for their apricots - almost the whole supply of Swiss apricots in Switzerland is grown there. That's probably the reason people started experimenting with the fruit - and why not add it to beer? We enjoyed the taste of it next to the underground caves of St-Léonard.

Home again - Interlaken to Wittenbach

Leaving Interlaken, the Lake Thun and Lake Brienz behind us we chose one last time to challenge our rolling home by taking the road leading us over the Brünig pass. From the bernese Oberland straight through Central Switzerland, passing Luzern, Zug and Zurich until we arrived in Wittenbach, St. Gallen.

Road over the Brünig pass.

Welcome back!  Hospitality is important to Gerold Huber, the owner of Rosita - The Rolling Vintage Hotel. After we had some drinks and told him all about our trip he also let us try out the electro Smart with the "Dübener Ei". Driving an electro car for the first time, we were impressed how quiet they were and how fast they gathered speed. And, even though we thought that our Paul was a very light trailer we were still impressed how light the "Dübener Ei" was. You don't even notice that you are actually driving with a trailer at the back. Happy and a bit nostalgic, that's how we drove off into the sunset.

Arrival in Wittenbach

Test driving the electro Smart Cabrio.

Nice view of Wittenbach surroundings.

Posing with the "Dübener Ei".

Driving off into the sunset

In and around Interlaken

Arriving in Interlaken we immediately realised that Interlaken is The Backpacker Mekka of Switzerland. Instead of looking out for our place for the night we were basically lead to it by all the people with different origins and cultures. The Balmers, a hostel in chalet style, is located on the road that is leading through Interlaken and you couldn't miss it if you wanted to. We were getting really excited about this. Having travelled and seen backpackers all over the world this was actually the first time we stayed at a similar place in Switzerland. We parked Paul and Paula at the famous tent village which also belongs to the hostel. This really cool accommodation only pops up in summertime and invites you to hang around. Even though the tent village was really cool we were curious about the new hammock room of the hostel so we walked back to check it out. The hostel made a very welcoming impression. First thing we noticed were the delicious water dispenser at the entrance of the common area.

Refreshing water at Balmers

The hammock room

Testing the bed for the night

Common area at Balmes

Interlaken is the place in Switzerland where you can do everything. You are close to the highest mountains of Switzerland and can experience everything from river rafting over rock climbing, paragliding to canyoning. However, our mission was to find something more chill and relaxing. Leaving  behind the stress of a long day of driving.  Since Interlaken, as you already suspect from its name, is located between two lakes it had to be something with water. Have you ever heard of SUP yoga? We haven't but we were curious to find out more about it and made our way to the Mountain Surf Shop located at the lake Thun.  Well, since we were not only beginners in yoga but also on the stand up paddle we decided to take a regular tour and try out some yoga positions when we got used to the SUP.  Lea our SUP guide however, showed us how yoga on a SUP would look like. Trying it out we were unfortunately not as successful but nevertheless we had heaps of fun. So if you are a yogi and already accommodated to the SUP we definitely recommend trying out SUP yoga.

Mountainsurf 

Paddles

Mountain surf shop

Getting ready to go into the water

Trying out some things

Yoga on the SUP

SUP yoga for pros

Relaxing for a moment

Best thing you can do after an exiting day in Interlaken, having a beer at the "Bier Hüsi". The Pub offers many different kind of beers. We are sure you will find your favourite. And it also offers delicious snacks to go with our beer. Enjoy!

Bier Hüsi

Yes, we like it.

Through the bernese Oberland

Leaving Fribourg we drove over the Poya Bridge - what a spectacular ride. Further we drove along the Lake of Gruyère, a Swiss reservoir, and marvelled at the stunning views. Crossing three cantons in one day it was a long drive. Nevertheless we were able to enjoy few stops along the way.

Poya Bridge

Photo stop along the way.

Dam wall of the reservoir.

Beautiful view of the lake

Our first destination was the ancient town of Gruyère. Along the way we passed a little village named Broc and made a detour to the Maison Cailler.  We were all hungry for some delicious Swiss Chocolate and decided to go on the adventure and explore the Broc region with the scavenger hunt app. Treasure hunt and chocolate what could be better?

Getting ready for the next excursion

Only a short drive from Broc we reached the ancient town of Gruyère. I guess it was never easy to find a good parking space for Paul and Paula. A quick walk up the hill and we were able to enjoy the beautiful views around Gruyères Castle including the village of Broc. Even though Gruyère is a more touristy place than we actually targeted we have to admit it was definitely worth while. The views, the history and of course the delicious Swiss cheese specialties is something you should not miss when in the area. However, since we were still full of our little chocolate adventure we decided to postpone the traditional swiss lunch to our next stop.

Adjusting the camera.

Fooling around at the ancient walls of Gruyères Castle

and enjoying the wonderful view

Le Château

Back on the road

Road tripping makes you hungry. Taking in everything around us couldn't stop us from thinking about swiss cheese. So we were happy to reach Château d'Oex, our tipp for pure swissness - the mountains, the meadows, the cows, the chalets and not to forget the cheese.  Even though the temperature reached over 25°C we could not resist trying a fondue with homemade cheese and forest mushrooms at le Chalet - just yummy.  By the way did you know that Château d'Oex is famous for its ballooning?  They even have their own international balloon festival.

Château d'Oex

Le Chalet - restaurant and cheesemaking 

Enjoying some well earned Swiss dishes - it's all about cheese