🇨🇭SWITZERLAND🇨🇭
Visited March 2025
HISTORY
When I was about 2 years old, (2009 or 2010), my family had moved to Switzerland to pursue their new jobs. I was too young to remember anything, but have always been told stories of how beautiful of a country it was. The rolling hills, mountainous terrain, and beautiful lakes have always stood out in pictures, and were even visible in pictures of when I was young.
Again, I don’t remember much from living in Switzerland, seeing as we stayed only one year and me being too young to remember, but it’s always been a place I’ve wanted to return to. Luckily for me, I’ve been given that chance to return and experience as an older and wiser person, really able to take in the beauty of the cities and nature that Switzerland has to offer.
ARRIVAL
On Thursday, Mar. 13, my dad and I were dropped off at the airport, with a 2.5 hour flight to Philadelphia and another 7.5 hour to Zurich from there ahead of us. The travel was lighter than I expected, having been to only one other overseas flight that I remember, (United Kingdom). Although the travel duration was long and the jet lag made my stomach ache, it was worth it when I arrived.
When we stepped out of the plane in Zurich, we were immediately greeted by a magical train ride to customs where the incoming passengers and outgoing passengers were separated by a wall, making entering/exiting the train so much more efficient.
“The Swiss are always efficient!” – My Dad
The reason the train ride was so magical was the aesthetic of the trip to the customs building. A bunch of images of the Swiss Alps were displayed on either side of the train as we went through a tunnel. We went so fast that they looked like an animation or a mini video. Along with the cool visuals came some yodeling and music that fit the vibe of Swiss culture.
We arrived at customs and everything went smoothly, surprisingly, unlike my trips to Honduras and Turks & Caicos, where we were asked many questions and had to fill out multiple questionnaires. As soon as we got through, we activated our Rail Passes, (used all throughout Europe), and hopped a train to Schaffhausen.
SCHAFFHAUSEN
Our first destination in Switzerland was Schaffhausen, a town very dear to our hearts seeing as we visited very very often when living there. My dad felt lots of nostalgia when we went back, recognizing places and pointing them out to me. We took about a 45-minute train ride out to Schaffhausen, arriving at around 8:30 to 9 in the morning. We hopped off the train and debated whether to leave our bags in a locker that we could rent in the station there, or just take it with us. We decided on leaving it there, so we spent about 20 minutes trying to get cell service, figuring out how to work the website, and making sure the locker would stay closed.
We eventually got our stuff in and set off to explore the city. Our first stop was in the city square, where we walked around, pointing out stuff that we recognized or that my mom told us to find and send her pictures of. Overall, I would rate the city square a 10/10 as a safe and super happy place to go.
We visited many old places in the city square:
SCHAFFHAUSEN MUNOT
After visiting the city square, we went up a series of steps located in an alleyway in the city. It looked a little bit sketchy to me at first, like we were trespassing onto someones property, but my dad reassured me that it was the way to the Munot, a fortress up on a hill with a lot of history and a beautiful view of Schaffhausen.
After a long trek up the stairs, we reached the top, where a beautiful medieval fortress awaited us. Built sometime between 1564 and 1589, the Munot was used as a stronghold and watch tower to help fortify the city in medieval times.
The views from the top themselves were simply incredible. It was like looking over a small piece of a medieval kingdom. The ringing of the church bells and the chirping of the birds made the whole place a vibe. We walked around the top a little bit, but lots of the fortress itself was under construction, so we focused mainly on the views before heading back down.
If you ever happen to be in Schaffhausen, the Munot is a great place to go for good medieval vibes, cool history, and overall views of the city.
RHINE FALLS
After leaving Schaffhausen, we visited the Rhine Falls, the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe. It was only about a 4-5 minute train ride from Schaffhausen, and our unlimited train rides made that easy and light. We got off the train at the station dedicated to the falls, and took two elevators down to the viewing platforms, where we were able to capture amazing views of the falls from up close. Afterwards, we walked about a mile down and back from another viewing platform, where we could see the falls from the front.
All in all, the Rhine Falls are a must see if in the Schaffhausen/Zürich area, and a great place for anyone to visit.
ZÜRICH
After leaving the Rhine Falls, we took about an hour train ride back to the biggest city in Switzerland, Zürich. Immediately when getting off of the train in the city center, we noticed the beautiful bridges and architecture that were seemingly more modern than Schaffhausen. Another thing I picked up instantly from Zürich was the openness of the city. The streets and sidewalks seemed much bigger and larger than what I had seen in previous European cities. The city had many great smells and sounds, but we had to save them for later in the evening as we were exhausted and half asleep from our long flight and lack of sleep, so we went to our hotel to rest.
The hotel itself was cool and retro, but the beds were uncomfortable and they only gave us one flimsy pillow. The shampoo was in a packet and the soap had no scent to it, which made the showers kind of suck, but it did the job for that night.
After resting for a couple of hours, we went to go explore Zürich. We began by walking from our hotel to the Grossmünster, the most famous landmark in Zürich. The Grossmünster is a huge Romanesque cathedral founded by Charlemagne, the “father of Europe”. The story tells that he discovered the graves of Zürich’s patron saints, Felix and Regula, and built a church on top. The church was super cool to see, and fit in super well with Zürich’s atmosphere.
After leaving the Grossmünster, we set our sights on seeing the Zürich Opera House, on the south end of the main city. Along the way, we found the old streets of Zürich, with some really cool shops and just an overall super cool aesthetic.
After making our way through the old streets, we made it to the huge opera house and the northernmost point of the Zürich Lake. The opera house was magnificent, one of the coolest buildings I’ve ever seen. Definitely my favorite building in Zürich, with the Swiss flag visible on the top. We didn’t go inside of the building itself, but there was a massive square in front of it with chairs scattered everywhere. The view of the building itself was amazing.
We left the Opera House and crossed the river to the other side, where we came up on the lake behind and looked at the gorgeous views while having to deal with the swans coming right up to the shore.
After walking back from the lake on the opposite side of the river, we went through a famous street in the heart of Zürich called the Bahnhofstrasse. This street has many different designer stores and expensive products including many $100,000+ watches in the windows. It was super cool to look at and explore this street. It runs straight through the old town in Zürich, leading north to the Zürich HB (Major train station).
All in all, Switzerland is a wonderful country and non-debatably one of the best in the world. There is so much nature to see, and the cities are just perfect. The only downsides that come with Switzerland are the high prices on literally everything. Whether it be food, amenities, or literally anything else, your wallet will end up with a pretty large dent. But if you can look past the steep costs, the experience is absolutely worth it. Switzerland is a country that is hard to beat.