Cheese, Chocolates and Schnapps: Switzerland to Germany

If you get a chance to visit a new country with just a day to plan, would you jump in – that was my short but wonderful trip to Zürich and Rust.

My travel plans were finalized on a Saturday, and we were off with our packed bags on Sunday. The plan was pretty straightforward- one day in Zürich, cross borders and spend a few days in Germany and fly back the same way.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Zürich? Cobblestone streets? The smell of cheese fondue? Cowbells? Great architecture? Or is it Chocolates, a Swiss watch, and Swiss banks – place is full of iconic items to add to your bucket list.
And Rust, Germany – a nice amusement park, sleepy towns, willow trees, barn houses, and colorful buildings.
I came back exhausted but refreshed, with a few positive lessons to practice learned from hard-working people who care for the environment.
Read on to know more about what I enjoyed most.

Zurich, Switzerland

We landed in Zurich and had exactly one day to enjoy the city. Even though you cannot cover it all in a day, if you plan well you can experience most of the famous points of interest. Read about how to get the most out of a single day in Zurich.

Things to Remember

• Culture: This is a city that is located at the crossroads of different European nations and hosts many international organizations. Switzerland is bordered to the west by France, to the north by Germany, to the east by Austria and Liechtenstein, and to the south by Italy. The culture of the country is influences by so many peoples passing through the nation for thousands of years. You will be able to see buildings dating from the old Roman era and paths that was travelled for thousands of years. Zurich has a mix of old and new architecture, with medieval buildings and modern skyscrapers coexisting in the city center.
• Visa: Citizens of the United States with a valid U.S. Tourist passport (blue passport) can travel to Switzerland for a short stay of up to 90 days. Check for any changes or country specific requirements here : https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/switzerland-visa
• Currency: Swiss Franc. Its very comparable to USD. Every place we went had credit card readers and we didn’t have to convert any. You can use any credit card issued in US.
• Language: Official languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. I found navigating the country pretty easy and most people we asked for help spoke English. An interesting fact I heard is that people speak a local Swiss version of all the official languages and so even if you know German you may not understand the Swiss German. But not to worry, you can get away with English and Google translate.
• Travel and Accessibility: Zurich is famous for its public transportation. You can pretty much take a tram or train to anywhere including border countries. The best way to navigate the city center is by walking. All places we saw were stroller friendly. The road signs are very clear and easy to understand. Every place we went to seems to be accessible with many ramps built in to make it easier for people with limited mobility. I was actually surprised to see a lot of visually impaired during our walk, it seems Zurich is one of the most supportive towns for visually and hearing impaired.
  • By Car:
    • I recommend sticking with public transportation if at all possible and do not recommend renting a car. We didnt have much choice so we did
    • Zurich is not a well planned city with grid like roads, its a old city with many layers of roads and tunnels all over. Even with Google maps we got lost many times. It was a navigation nightmare
    • Rent from the airport, park near city center and start a walking tour. Parking is plenty with both covered parking lots and coin parking(or pay through app) available through out the city
    • Both car rental and parking was expensive compared to other modes – we spend around $50 for a days parking
• Climate and Cloths: Best time to see the place is in Spring and Summer (unless you like snow). We are from Chicago, so seeing snow was not as exciting for us. Spring that we experienced was wonderful with many flowering trees and bulbs
• Tourism: Being one of the most expensive cities in the world, expect everything to be expensive and be prepared.
• Food: Fondue, Raclette, Chocolates, Swiss Wines & Swiss Cheese
• Stay: You can find all standard hotels that you see in US in all range of prices- from shared hostels to luxury hotels
• Shop: Coop is the best place to collect souvenirs, cheese and chocolates to bring home. Buying it anywhere else will be expensive. Coop is a grocery/ department store and you can pretty much get everything you need there. Remember to stock up on local fames.

Highlights of the trip

Here are some of the best experiences we had in Zurich and Rust.

Old Town Walking Tour

The city as such is very small albeit being the financial capital of Europe. The city has a old town, with lots of buildings dating back to a thousand year and newer city center with major corporations are hosted.

If you are on a short stay and want to just cover the major landmarks and colorful buildings, the first stop should be the old town.  The old town in the city is a few kilometers of city block around the river Limmat. The river is crisscrossed by many walking bridges and you will be surprised to see crystal clear blue water flowing with life.  It is best to start at one end of the city block and walk around in a loop. In between there are plenty of cute cafes and restaurants to take breaks. Some of the major land marks on the walking path.

1. Swiss National Museum : This is right across the train station. The building itself has two rivers next to it- the Limmat and Sihl. The architecture is stunning and if you chose to go inside, you can get guided tour.
2. Muhlesteg Bridge (Love lock bridge)  : After visiting the museum if you cross to the other side of the train station, you will hit a walking path along the river. This path is great for pictures and enjoy some beautiful flora and fauna around the river. Keep walking until you see a walking bridge covered with different colors of locks. Tradition is to hand a lock and throw the key into the river to make your love last forever. It is worth exploring the locks with names- you will be surprised how old some of them are.
3. Bahnhofstrasse: If you like window shopping, Zurich hosts a shopping paradise with all modern high end shops. Even if you are not up for spending money, the place will give you a very high-end window-shopping experience.
4. Lindenhof: This is a mountain park right in the old town. You have to walk up a path, to reach the top. The place is considered best to take pictures of the entire city and get a birds eye view of the old town
5. Grossmünster & Fraumunster: These marks the 2 most prominent landmarks in the walking path. They are across from each other on the two sides of the river. Both great places to visit and reflect. They also have clock towers that you can climb up to get a good city view. The churches have great a lot of stained glass windows and beautiful architecture. Good place to take a break and enjoy.
6. Cobblestone streets: While walking around old town, don’t just stay close to the riverside. If you walk one block inward, you will see many cobblestone streets and cafes with outdoor seating etc. Plan to have lunch or dinner, the famous Raclette factory and Adler Swiss Chuchi , both just walking distance.
7. Lake Zurich: On one end of the old town, you will see the famous Lake Zurich. Since we have a small town in Chicago burbs, next to where we live, named after it, we stopped and took a lot of pictures. The lake is beautiful, with clear water and lots of cruising options. If the weather is good, there are pockets where you can jump in for a swim.

What we missed

1. Chocolate Tours and Classes: Being the chocolate head quarters of the world, you get to visit outlets of Lindt, Nestle etc. and enjoy some time learning how chocolates are produced. Because of time crunch, we skipped it and instead stopped at Coop to buy a whole bunch of Swiss chocolates to bring home.
2. Main Zurich City: We totally skipped the newer part of the Zurich city with all the major financial institutions. Coming from a big commercial city, it didn’t seem much interesting to see big building, so we decided to immerse ourselves in old town history instead.

Drive from Zurich to Germany

The drive from Zurich to Germany was picturesque but was not as exciting as I hoped. Near the Swiss side you will see mountainous landscape since it is the foothills of Alps and with many long tunnels cutting through mountains. On the German side, the land is flat and covered with farm lands. If I compare with the road trips in US, the German side will remind you of Wisconsin where as Swiss side is more like Tennessee.

There is no border crossing between the two countries. You can just drive through without any issues.

Rheinfelden : The best experience we had was when we took an unplanned exit to get coffee on our way. We stopped at a beautiful old border town of Rheinfelden right before hitting the Swiss/German border. This place will remind you of old German story book land. I highly recommend getting an exit and enjoying a coffee or hot chocolate here. We went to Mona Lisa café- this was one of the best of our trip.

Europa Park & Rust, Germany

The main purpose of our trip was to attend a tech fest in Europa Park. Rust is the small town near the border and Europa Park is one of the biggest amusement parks in Europe.

We went to a few local restaurants for dinner, note that no one really speaks English but you can get by with Google translate and if you pay attention, you will catch the similarity of German to English. I found German language much easier to understand than Swiss. The town we stayed in had a very lazy laid back vibe – by the end of the trip I was dreaming about retiring there and enjoying the peace and quiet.

The town of Rust and the suburbs are beautiful. Walk outside the park and take picture, there are spots with beautiful canals and willow trees. Since our trip was in spring the daffodils, cherry blossoms and lilies lined the narrow roads making the whole place look colorful.

Instead of staying in a named hotel, we chose to stay in a small guest house outside the park. The experience was different from the standard hotel stay. One interesting observation, especially if you travel from United states or Asia, you will be surprised how environmentally conscious people are. Even the smallest towns recycle and avoid wastage. There is no extravagance, and people are extremely conscious about waste management. One example was when I saw an older man directing a four-year child to use the right kind of recycle bin for paper and plastic waste. It was educational and eye opening.

What we missed

I didn’t get a lot of time to enjoy the park as I was busy with work, but managed to get on the biggest roller coaster

Books, Media & More

Watch some movies, read some books: here are my favorites.

Shining Through : Movie starring Michael Douglas and placed in World war two era is a really nice romantic movie.

The great Escape: The all-time classic is not to be missed. The movie shows Steve McQueen in a motorbike chased by Germans near the Swiss boarder. The movie shows the barbed wire fence between Switzerland and Germany where he gets caught.

Dil Wale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ): This is one of the most famous hindi movies shot in the area. If you were a teen in the 90’s in India, you probably have seen this movie a hundred times. This brings back a lot of memories from my college days when I have bunked classes countless times to see it again and again.

Mark Weins food tour of Zurich: My all time favorite food blogger

Food & Wine

• Schnapps: No surprise there. Try as many varieties as you can while in Germany
• Swiss Wine: White wine is recommended to accompany cheese dishes. We just asked our waiters to recommend the best based on the food.
• Raclette: This is a traditional Swiss dish. Highly recommend having this while you are in Zurich. Best place to enjoy is Raclette factory in old town. The staff is very friendly and was super enthusiastic to share what combinations work best. Raclette is not a very fancy dish, a slice of cheese melted and eaten with potatoes, pickled onions and dills. You can also order sausages to go with the same. There are many varieties of cheese that you can try here.
• Cheese Fondue: Based on what a friend explained, Swiss population was very poor and depended entirely on farming. They fed big families in peak winter by melting cheese in big pots and eating it with stale bread. The cheese fondue these days is not a frugal meal – its classy and definitely something to try when you are there. We went to Swiss Chuchi in old town based on a lot of internet reviews and they didn’t disappoint us. One order was good for the two of us.
• Coffee & Pastries:  Indulge in Macchiato and Cappuccinos while you are there and enjoy with a good Croissant. All items from the bakery were exceptionally good.

Itinerary

Here is the bulleted itinerary