Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities, the so-called Bundesstadt (“federal city”). The country is situated in Western and Central Europe, where it is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found; among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zürich and Geneva.
This trip started and ended in Zürich and I was traveling with a friend so we decided to arrive a day early so that we could explore Zürich. What we did not realize is that the day we arrived was the first day of the Zürich Festival which takes place every four years. Don’t get me wrong it was a great festival and we took full advantage of all the beer and food vendors but it meant when we met our group early the next morning at the train station, well, we were not in too good shape. Luckily we were starting the trip with train ride out to Reichenbach Falls (of Sherlock Holmes fame), so we had some time to come back to life.
Other than starting and ending in Zürich we stayed in small towns and even spend one night across the border in northern Italy. I cannot find the itinerary so, unfortunately, I cannot be more precise on where we traveled. If you happen to recognize any of these places, please leave a comment and I will update the page accordingly.
Logistics
This trip was organized by Mountain Travel Sobek and was only offered once. IT was to be a trekking trip rated at 3+ (out of 5) but it turned out to be more of a 2+ due to adjustments made by the guide. She said it was due to weather and snow still being in the passes but I feel it was more a case of some of our travellers not being physically able to do a moderate trek. The first day we had to buy boots for one person as they didn’t realize it was a hiking trip, one other person got sent home two days early as they had physical issues walking on anything that wasn’t level, and one family that thought the trip should be all about them. it was not a fun group, but I feel the tour provider needed to do more to make sure that people were physically able to do the trip before taking their money.
This was the first time that Mountain Travel Sobek disappointed me with a trip. 🙁
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