Favorite memory of Switzerland

Very fond older memories of staying at Lena's old hostel (5CHFa night) in Gimmelwald and finishing long hiking days having a drink at Walter's (Mittaghorn Hotel). Great times back then, 85 and 88.
More recent fond memories are of days of hiking with my wife from Gimmelwald. Great evening discussions with other guests and Walter's manager Tim after the all day hikes.

Staying up at Obersteinberg's Berghotel. A great hike to get up there too.

Fond memories of time based at Sonogno (pop.90) in the Valle Verzasca. Beautiful area, gorgeous little villages, great hiking, stayed in a great little hotel with a wonderful host.

First trip to Europe in 1972. Just graduated college.

Never good at geography.

Who knew Geneva had a lake?

That’s my memory of Switzerland.

Claudi,
who knew LA had an ocean? Thx for the laugh!

Hiking down from the top of Grindelwald First and hearing yodeling further down the mountain led us to seek the source of the music. At the Waldspitz restaurant we found it- a local men's yodel club. It was a magical moment.

As we recall from a quarter century ago, this was on a Sunday so we are planning to take the First on the same day of the week, hoping for a repeat performance!

My first visit to Switzerland was in February, 1967, but I do not have a favorite memory of that trip. I was a student in Germany, and 5 of us rented a car to drive to Engelberg for a ski weekend. I was a California and had never been on skis before. It did not go well for me. I wasn’t hurt, but it wasn’t fun.

Skip forward to my next visit, 35 years later; a 2-week hiking trip with my local alpine club (Seattle Mountaineers). I have lots of fond memories from that trip, one involving an experience like the one described by bee maybe above. We were returning to our hotel Alte Post in Grindelwald after enjoying a nice dinner outdoors on the terrace at Hotel,Spinne. We heard the hauntingly beautiful sound of yodeling, coming from the outside tables at our hotel restaurant. It was a local yodeling club, men and women, enjoying a practice session. They basically sang for beer. 😏 it was nothing like the jokey raucous sound I associated with yodeling; more like a capella harmony without words.

Another from the following day—I was walking back to the village on my own from the Grindelwald Grund station. A young Asian man carrying a huge backpack laden with climbing and camping gear stopped me to ask directions to the backpackers’ campground, in German. I responded in German, “I am sorry, I do not know. I am a foreigner here”. He responded in surprise, “A foreigner? But you speak perfect German!” I smiled and said “And so do you!” We both laughed and continued on, heading in opposite directions.

I have returned to Switzerland with my family 5 times since then, and we are taking our grandchildren (and their parents) in September. We will stay in Mürren but visit Grindelwald for some activities there, and I hope to hear the sweet sound of yodeling again.

How beautiful the stars were on a clear mountain night!

These are all wonderful!!

I can't pick just one 🥴. Number 1 is a single event. Numbers 2-4 are all part of the same experience to me.

1. Sleigh ride in Davos in the early 80's while on a US Army ski trip.
2. Visit to Zermatt via train from Täsch as a part of a 2-week driving trip through the Alps in 2011. Most affected by the graves of those who died climbing the Matterhorn.
3. Driving through Switzerland from the Italian border to Zermatt (Täsch) and from there to the French border enroute to Annecy.
4. Flight over the Swiss Alps from Florence to Stuttgart to rent the car for that trip. The weather was perfectly clear and the plane didn't fly very high. I loved looking down from my window seat, but it made my husband nervous. 😉

Best memory, The wild blueberry tart I had after hiking from San Luc to the Hotel Weisshorn. Funniest memory, getting Sierre and Sion mixed up and getting off the train in Sion thinking that the train was early for Sierre. Then realizing my mistake and this is Switzerland. Trains are on time, neither early nor late.

So many because, like Carrie and others on this forum, I love Switzerland and have been there at least 15 times over more than a 30-year travel period.

My all-time favorite is seeing the Matterhorn on the third attempt after traveling to Zermatt twice before only to find the iconic peak "hiding" behind clouds. On the third try, the sun was shining. As I exited the train station to the main street, there it was - all of it and so beautiful. I just managed to control myself from dancing in the street.

Sliding down the ice tube inside the glacier at the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise. I was on an escorted tour and our tour guide grabbed a mat and showed us the slide and everyone looked at him like he was crazy but I thought when would I ever get a chance to do something like this so I grabbed a mat and down I went at the age of 62, the first one, and screaming all the way.
I also often think about those paprika potato chips Carrie alerted us to and wish I could have them again.

These are all great, keep ‘em coming!

Waking up to light snow the morning after our RS tour group arrived in fall 2019. It was so incredibly beautiful. And the pictures I took around that area were postcard perfect. My dad actually thought I stole them from the Rick Steves website. 😆

Jill M — what time of year did you go? just curious. 😊

Another from me-
Swiss National Day in Villars-sur-Ollon. The parade through the village was amazing- cows, sheep and goats bedecked with flowers, bell-ringing citizens, alphorn players and ...best of all...the wine barrel accompanied by village girls who poured glasses from it and passed them out to the spectators!
Hoping for a cow parade when we are in the Berner-Oberland in early September!

A parade would be amazing to catch!!

I'm not sure I can pick just one, so I'll mention a few that come to mind.....

• Waking up in a beautiful wood-panelled room in the Gimmelwald Pension in about mid-October. The bed was provided with a thick comforter but when I threw that off in the morning, I was quickly reminded what time of year it was. The mornings were chilly!
• Paragliding from Mürren to Stechelberg is one of my most memorable experiences in Switzerland. I was a bit anxious when we passed over some high voltage power lines, but thankfully there were no problems.
• Watching the "cow parade" arrive back at their winter home in Lauterbrunnen. I just happened to be there the day that occurred, and it was a very unique "Swiss moment".
• Watching a street musician perform in Lucerne - https://eagle07.smugmug.com/Travel/Switzerland-2016/i-63TSVFt/A . He had a rather eclectic and unique set of "musical instruments" and they made surprisingly good music, including one device that belched fire in time with the music. Unfortunately the people in a nearby hotel didn't appreciate his talent, and they were yelling insults at him from their rooms. He replied with a profanity laden tirade in English that could have set a new record for swear words in a sentence. The whole performance was rather entertaining to say the least, and certainly memorable.
• Watching a musical performance of a local band in the city hall in Appenzell one evening. This was the group that performed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdNZ8Pa03ko .
• During the same visit to Appenzell, I happened to be in town during the commemoration for a fire that destroyed the town several hundred years ago, which went on for at least a weekend. People were dressed in period costumes, marching through the streets, and they had booths showing what life was like in those days (such as how they used to bake bread) - https://eagle07.smugmug.com/Travel/Switzerland-France/i-8hQz3TR/A .

Thanks to all for sharing your favorite memories. I just returned from my two-week trip to Switzerland and can share mine:

1. Hike from Mannlichen to Kleine Sheidegg, easy, but with such beauty. Enjoyed the comradery with fellow hikers from around the world. I stopped to rest on a lone bench, with a spectacular view of the Eiger's north face.
2. Hike from Grutschalp (after taking cable car gondola from Lauterbrunnen) to Murren. Then hike from Murren to Gimmelwald that passes through the small patch of forest that separates the two villages. Fell in love with the alpine cows -- their sweet faces and melodious cowbells. Magic.
3. Golden Pass panoramic train from Montreux to Interlaken Ost -- I bought a first class ticket, the incredible windows made it worth it. Not recommending, necessarily, but we enjoyed it.
4. Brienz -- Ballenberg Swiss Open Air Museum. Outstanding museum of Swiss culture -- past and present, focusing on outdoor living, farm life and skills Demos for bread making, cheese making, more, more. Easy bus ride from the Brienz train station. I stumbled upon the "Swiss Fiddle (Violin) Festival" which comprised of workshops with a master and jam sessions. Had lunch at nearby "Trauffer's" just up the street from the museum's west entrance--a Swiss restaurant and shop, with only locals. I returned to Interlaken Ost via slow (slow!) ferry.
5. Beer, alpine cheese, hearty fare and pastry for lunch and snacks at inns along hiking trails.

Disappointment -- I wasn't traveling with kids, so First was way too commercialized and entertainment-driven. The hike to Bachalpsee Lake was crowded, loud and not very relaxing. But I am sure kids and teens would love this.

Thanks again to all of you for your comments. Enjoy your travels!

So many, but I'll give you a history/art geek answer. We made sure to visit St Martin's Church in Zillis, which has one of the most amazing and beautiful early medieval ceilings in Europe, much less Switzerland. Truly fantastic. But if read the materials carefully, they are a little cagey that about 30 or so of the panels are reproductions. They don't say which ones or why, and there are literally hundreds of panels, so no big deal.

A few days later we were in Zurich visiting the Swiss National Museum. Walk into a gallery and guess what's on the ceiling? The other 30 or so panels. Obviously some portion had been moved back in the day to be part of the national collection. But it was a fun feeling to be able to say we'd seen them all -- just in two places!

@Bree88 It was a late September/early October tour.

Just dug through my email to look it up, September 28th through October 11th.

Can’t give a favorite memory, like others been there several times. Cows are the best. One followed us down on a hike for awhile, clanging. Just arriving in Wengen and hearing the cow bells. One anniversary trip coming around by train from France to Geneva to Montreux around the corner, beautiful late afternoon. First time seeing Eiger. So many memories, and more to come. Watch out you will become addicted.

As mentioned - many years ago and can’t recall the name of the little village I was in near Luzern while visiting American friends who had moved there - being in a bar when a group of men burst out yodeling. Honor system farms to buy apples and apple juice outside Luzern (came across on a walk) .

Two recent visits to the Aescher cliff side restaurant on Ebenalp. Amazing views.
Changed ownership and menu so miss the hash brown- style potatoes with salad I had 7 years ago - but enjoyed the most delicious sausages and beer last year on my sons 15th birthday!

(Bree - I’m looking for a longer moderate- to- difficult hike when in wengen - maybe I should try the one you mention gruttschalp - murren - gimmelwald?)

Gazing at the Eiger from our chalet in Grindelwald.

I’m so very thankful that we are creating our favorite memory right now! We arrived September 6 from the US. Trained to Wengen and are in love with this town. It’s quiet, but has everything we need. And no cars except service vehicles. We’re in an Airbnb apartment that is perfect. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the Jungfrau Marathon was yesterday. The 4000 participants ran right in front of our apartment deck. So exciting!
The Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg hike (easy) is a must. We also really enjoyed going up to Jungfraujoch. Go as early as possible. It starts to get really crowded around 10:30. Lauterbrunnen was crazy busy, but the falls are fabulous.
Today we visit Grindelwald and Murren. Tomorrow will be a Lake Brienz boat ride. Then Tuesday to Chur, Bernina Express over to Tirano and on to time in Italy.
The Berner Oberland is absolutely stunning!