Week 2 - Switzerland
- charlieharoon-doyl
- Jan 24
- 3 min read
Switzerland is Switzerlicious (don't come for me - that was funny and you know it). We have flippin' loved being in Switzerland for so many reasons; nice food, nice people, mind-blowing scenery... it's such a good vibe here! It's also pretty dog friendly too.
We started out by driving across the border from La Bresse, France and into Basel, Switzerland. This was a very simple border crossing where we purchased a vignette (windscreen sticker) to allow us to drive on Swiss motorways. This was a one-off purchase for 40 CHF (£36.09 at the exchange rate of the time).
From Basel, we drove past Bern and headed out to the countryside to a small farming community of Gysenstein; it was here that we wound find home for the next 3 nights on a cow farm. Not just any cow farm. Super sweet, small, brown and white cows and calves who were exceedingly friendly. Every morning and evening I would go and see the cows, stroke them and often talk to the farmer Andreas about the cows. There were only 14 on his farm, all of them were named and were very well taken care of. He described it as 'working together' with the cows and said he wanted them to enjoy their time on his farm and have a nice life before... becoming burgers. He also had some very free range chickens who wandered around of their own accord before going into their coop at night, illuminated by a heat lamp. [I could go on and on about how much I loved the cows but I feel it is prudent to move on. For what it's worth, I think they sensed I was a vegetarian and therefore they liked me].
We used one of our days on the farm to take the train into the centre of Bern with the 3 dogs. It was a slightly complicated process (needing an app to buy a ticket, all in German etc) but it was worth it. Bern is an old city, with beautiful gothic architecture, a wide variety of shops and museums and other points of interest. We had a really lovely day, people were very friendly and would smile and wave at the dogs and by extension us too. We also had our first McDonald's of the trip which cost a whopping £38.89 for 2 people (Ayman nearly keeled over). That's the thing about Switzerland - it is very expensive.
After 3 nights on the farm it was time to move on to another beautifully scenic stay; Camping Jungfrau. Based in Lauterbrunnen, around 45 mins from Bern, Camping Jungfrau is a famous campsite situated in a valley at the base of the Jungfrau mountain in the Alps. This place is like paradise. I have never seen or experienced a place like it and still can't comprehend the nature I have seen. We have been blessed with some snow on the ground and sunny days during our time here and it could not have been more picturesque. Much of the surrounding villages to Lauterbrunnen are accessible by helicopter/cable car only which is why....
We took a helicopter ride over the alps! See our Instagram for photos/videos. It was terrifying (for me, I don't like heights or flying) but one of the most insane experiences of my life. The pilot was very nice and informative about what we were looking at (not that I really remember) and from here we took the short and scenic walk back to camp to see the pups.
Camping Jungfrau is well known for taking care of those who partake in winter sports and is what we would describe as a luxury campsite. During our time here we have:
had access to proper showers, toilets, washing up facilities, washing machines and tumble dryers, kitchen and a large drying room for clothes
visited the local restaurant
walked into Lauterbrunnen from the campsite
took a cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren (a ski location but also good for scenery)
drank hot chocolate while looking at the alps (it was obviously delicious)
played in the snow with the dogs who go NUTS for snow So far, we are having the best time! Next stop will be in Germany...
family photo
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