Here is a notice for all of our Swiss UnTour guests. As our Swiss UnTour includes a Swiss Travel Pass that covers rail travel, guests spend much time exploring the best scenery by rail. From 2017, the Wilhelm Tell Express will be replaced by the Gotthard Panorama Express (GoPEx). But as before, travelers will still…
Meet the Robinsons. Paul and Eleanor recently traveled to Switzerland with us, spending two weeks on the Swiss Heartland UnTour. As Paul said when he returned from their trip: “We have been on other structured tours in Europe. They have been great, but this one was super great. Why? We could check the…
Our Swiss Ticino UnTour offers the perfect marriage of Italian romance and Swiss efficiency, with spectacular hikes, excellent train connections, and picturesque lakeside towns. Here are 6 reasons to fall in love with Locarno, homebase of our Swiss Ticino UnTour. 1. History Locarno was settled before Roman times and was an important glass-making…
On a recent visit to the Kunstmuseum in Basel, I was overwhelmed by the size and breadth of the museum’s modern art collection. A friendly guard explained it succinctly. “Yes, Switzerland and America have the largest collections of modern art because they could collect and protect ‘degenerate art’ while Hitler was marching through Europe.” I’d…
At UnTours we’re big believers in slow travel. What is slow travel? It’s slowing down, staying among the locals, spending more than just a few days (maybe even a few weeks), and immersing yourself in the local culture and ways. With travel becoming more accessible to more people than ever before, traveling to small European…
This really happened. It seemed like a fairy tale. But it is a true story. It was during our Swiss Heartland UnTour in 2004. We had decided to spend the day in Brienz. It was a beautiful sunny day. The lady in the Tourist Information Office suggested that we take a walk in the older…
Above: Walking the St. Bernard. Copyright Switzerland Tourism: swiss-image.ch/Christian Perret If you’re a kid or traveling with a kid, there’s just so much to do in Switzerland, from its well marked hiking trails to its pristinely clean and swimmable lakes. You can get your train fix, take a boat, or fly down a mountainside on…
UnTourist and author Janet McCrea Dieman shares her travel adventures here. She has shared the Swiss UnTour and other travels with her grandchildren. All grandkids should be this lucky! You may be thinking about taking children or grandchildren to Europe and wondering what the best age is to plan a trip. Most people…
Here is some Swiss travel news from the desk of Cathrin Baumbach, who just returned from a work trip to Switzerland and the 2015 Swiss Travel Mart (an international meeting of Switzerland travel professionals) in Zermatt. Read these up-to-the-minute updates of all things Swiss. The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest and deepest rail…
Above: The Museum Tinguely in Basel and the sculpture ‘Gwendolyn’ by Niki de Saint Phalle. Photo by swiss-image.ch/Christoph Schuerpf We love to talk (and write) about the sylvan beauty of small Swiss mountainside villages, pristine lakes and hiking trails, and the old traditions of the Alps. Don’t ever doubt our love of cows and their pastures….