I'm planning a Best of Europe tour with my 10 year old son. He wants to see cheese and/or chocolate being made. Is there a better option than the chocolate train? Something less touristy than the Model Dairy?
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
http://www.jungfrauregion.com/murren/index.htm
"Mürren Tourist Information Center organizes an enjoyable visit to an Alpine dairy. Meeting point: Every Tuesday at the Alpine Sports Centre..."
Posted by
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
213 posts
Heidi, If you can't make it to Murren on a Tuesday, simply ask in the village where there is an alp (mountain pasture) where you can see cheese being made. There are a few above Murren. If you were an intrepid hiker, you could hike up to Obersteinberg--a 5km (3 miles and a healthy climb) hike west Stechelberg at the end of the Lauterbrunnen Valley--and stay an overnight in the berghaus there. Vicki von Almen, an American transplant from Pennsylvania, makes cheese there in as rustic and alpine setting as you'd find anywhere. She'd be glad to show you. You'd see cheese-making in the least touristy and Model-Dairy setting possible.
Where you see cheese being made depends on where you are going in Switzerland, of course. In Alpe Campo da Torba, south of the St Goddard Pass on the Italian-speaking side of the mountains and above the Sambuco Valley is a place to see cheese-making. However, I've heard it's gotten to be fairly touristy. All the regional cheeses (Appenzeller, Emmentaler, etc.) have cheese factories you can visit. However, do not expect them to be the quaint places you'd find at an alpine pasture in the mountains.
By the way, with the name "Heidi" you'll fit right in in Switzerland!