Switzerland 2015 Day 11 – Montreux to Zermatt and Matterhorn

Woke up as early as the alarm sounded and got ready for the day ahead. It was to be some travelling and therefore we needed the extra time. First stop today was to catch up on the Chateau de Chillon that we missed the day before.

Went to move my car as the time was almost up, and fortunately there weren’t many cars this time so I shifted the car park to the one right opposite of the B&B. Loading the luggage was then much easier.

Had the not much variety breakfast in the B&B and proceeded to check out. Drove about 5 mins and we were back at the chateau, this time not as many cars at the car park. Parked my car easily and we proceeded to the chateau. It costed 12.50CHF per adult and with the audio guide, it was more expensive. We didn’t take the audio guide as we were short of time.

Small buffet spread for breakfast.
Small buffet spread for breakfast.
Morning view of the lake.
Morning view of the lake.

The chateau was really an old castle, very different from those that we saw in the Loire Valley, big and beautifully decorated. It was still interesting to walk around. What was unpleasant during the visit was the presence of children who were making a ruckus and we were concerned that it would wake our sleeping baby. Luckily he slept through.

Chateau Chillon beside the lake.
Chateau Chillon beside the lake.
Nice view at the entrance of the chateau.
Nice view at the entrance of the chateau.
Basement which was used as a prison.
Basement which was used as a prison.
Dining hall
Dining hall
Room with coat of arms painted on the wall.
Room with coat of arms painted on the wall.
Looking over from the 2nd floor.
Looking over from the 2nd floor.
Room with a fireplace and wooden walls.
Room with a fireplace and wooden walls.
Toilet.
Toilet.
Corridors within the walls.
Corridors within the walls.
View from the chateau.
View from the chateau.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
View of the chateau on the lake.

Without walking the full circuit of the chateau as recommended by the brochure, we drove to Zermatt train terminal in Tasch. There was a huge parking area for many cars and parking was pretty straightforward. Went over to purchase the return tickets to Zermatt and bought some hot pastries that we brought up the shuttle train of 10mins ride.

Snow capped mountains in view en route to Tasch.
Snow capped mountains in view en route to Tasch.
Tasch station.
Tasch station.
Shuttle train tickets.
Shuttle train tickets.
Train boarding gates.
Train boarding gates.

Zermatt was also full of people. We got to the information board where there was a map that showed the location of our hotel. It was about a 5 mins walk to Admiral hotel.

Upon checking in, we were quite disappointed to have received a room without the Matterhorn view although we thought we had paid for it. There were ongoing renovation works on the top 2 floors and as the reception tried to offer the available ones, those were too low and the view was blocked by their own pine trees.

Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Bathroom.
Balcony.
Balcony.
View from the balcony.
View from the balcony.
Admiral hotel.
Admiral hotel.

We prepared the cold wear and went to the Gornergrat train station to purchase tickets up. However we we dissuaded as the staff advised that it was not good for babies below 1years old to go above 2000m and so she recommended that we go to Riffelalp instead, at about 2200m. We took the return for 80CHF for 2 and boarded the train.

Gornergrat ticket counter.
Gornergrat ticket counter.
Tickets to Riffenalp.
Tickets to Riffenalp.
Gornergrat train.
Gornergrat train.

The ride up was easy and baby K fell asleep. He didn’t looked uncomfortable anyway so that was ok. The ride up was about 10mins and we got off to walkabout. The stop was actually more meant for customer staying at the luxurious Riffelalp resorts but we could walk around as would any other hikers.

View from the train en route to Riffenalp.
View from the train en route to Riffenalp.
Riffenalp resort.
Riffenalp resort.

We were able to see Matterhorn at a closer view but the clouds were covering its peak. Stayed long enough and went back to Zermatt instead.

As we walked back to our hotel, the peak started to clear up and so presented a photo opportunity.

Matterhorn unveiled in a rare moment.
Matterhorn unveiled in a rare moment.

Satisfied with the photos, we went to walk around the town of Zermatt and along the shopping street which was just infront of the train station. There were just lots of shops selling souvenirs, watches and clothing. We didn’t walk through everything and instead went for dinner at the Timeout Sports bar and grill. Had a burger and some curry, which was actually tasty, before returning to the room.

Shopping street of Zermatt.
Shopping street of Zermatt.
Time Out sports bar.
Time Out sports bar.
Curry chicken.
Curry chicken.
Burger and chips.
Burger and chips.

It was an early return and a welcome one since we really didn’t have much time to rest since the start of the journey. With all the shops closed as 7pm, there wasn’t really much that we could do then to return to the room, do baby stuff and then take a nice short break from the holidaying. More to come tomorrow when we go north towards Bern.

Escape plan to Switzerland and France June 2015

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Switzerland and France 2015:

Total duration 15D14N
Singapore is 6hrs ahead of Switzerland and France.
Flight time is 12hrs 40mins on Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Zurich.

Morning flight on 12th June at 1:20am and arrival in Zurich at 8am.
Return flight is on the 26th June at 11:45pm and arrival in Singapore at 5:55am.

Day 0 Preparations for long trip and the flight
Day 1 Zurich City
Day 2 Basel and Strasbourg
Day 3 Nancy stopover and Reims
Day 4 Usines Center Paris Nord and Rouen
Day 5 Normandy Beach and Mont St. Michel
Day 6 Blois and Chateau Chambord
Day 7 Chateau Chenonceau and Lyon
Day 8 Galleries Lafayette and Annecy
Day 9 Annecy and Geneva
Day 10 Lausanne and Montreux
Day 11 Zermatt and Riffelalp
Day 12 Gruyere and Bern
Day 13 Brienz, Lungern viewpoint and Lucerne
Day 14 Mt. Rigi and Zurich
Day 15 Home Sweet Home

This escape plan hijacked the initial plans of progressively extending flight time for our baby. The SG50 promo that gave 50% discount on amount of Krisflyer miles redemption on selected destinations were just too good to be missed. What better time to travel to Europe with such low miles required? Zurich was one of the destination and we had to decide between Central Europe or France/Swiss. We chose the latter as it gave more assurance in terms of higher probabilities of modern facilities should we urgently require for our baby.

Budget nature: Euros were somewhat low but high Swiss Francs made the trip a little expensive.

Even without the tickets, the entire trip came up to be around SGD5k for the whole family. The travel in France was rather bearable with the weakened Euros but the Swiss standard of living was just too expensive, made worse with the decoupling of the Francs against the Euros.

Complexity: Getting around in a car was easy in France, but difficult in Swiss.

Driving in France was fairly easy, but long distances to cover. Reststops along the highways were good for rest and lunch. Driving in Swiss was extremely difficult in cities. Parking were hard to find and roads were crowded with other modes of transport. The long distance travel with crying baby in a uncomfortable car made the journey really unpleasant. Tolls along the French highway collect quite a sum of coins while vignette issue in Swiss was covered since we got the car from Zurich first.