Switzerland Trip Part 4 - Uetilberg

Uetilberg

We did not have any plan on our last day in Switzerland. Hence, we just wanted to explore Zurich again and hunted for Pokemon haha.

We walked around the Toni Areal to catch some Pokemon, we were excited since Niantic just launched the third generation of this game. From there, We took tram no.8 until the last stop.

Inside the tram

Surprisingly, the view from there was beautiful. We could see Lake Zurich (Zurichsee) with the snowy hill as the background. Luckily, it was a beautiful day yet still cold and windy 

We took another tram from there with a different route. No specific destination, since we only wanted to explore the city.

After exploring the city with the tram, we went to Lily's, one of the recommended restaurants in this town. I ordered Beef Pho, it was delicious with a rich and tasty soup. About the price? As always, expensive for me hehe. But it was worthy especially in the cold weather. 

Beef Pho at Lily's

We sat there for a moment to discuss where to go after this. Suddenly, I remembered that there is a place to see Zurich from the top from Uetilberg. To go to that site, we took train S10 from the central station. The trip to Uetilberg was around 25 minutes. 

Uetilburg train stop

Happy to see some snow again in this area :) and we walked around 15 minutes to the point where we could see the city from the top

By the time we reached there, the scenery was breathtaking. We could see the city, with the lake and Alps! It was super worthy to come here, but it has to be in good weather too, otherwise, (i guess) you will not see anything

Before it got dark, we went back to the central. Another tip for you is to manage the time when you come here. The train ticket is valid for a few hours (I forget to be exact for how long), therefore you do not need to buy a new ticket to go back. No ticket = save money :)

We decided to have dinner before we went to the hotel. And again... The choice was visiting Asian restaurant (Suan Long around The Old Town) haha. I should try more local foods, but the temptation of eating Asian foods was too big especially we walked a lot plus the weather. 

Fried Rice

Fried Noodle

Afterward, with our happy tummy and full of energy after the carbo load, we enjoyed the city light in Zurich on our last evening here

Switzerland Trip Part.3 - Bern

Merry Christmas from Switzerland!

Our agenda for the day was to stay in Zurich since my friend was feeling not well with his stomach. However, we changed our plan when he felt better and today is the day for BERN!

Foggy Bern from Rose Garden

We went straightly to the train station from our hotel. We checked the train timetable as well as the promotion ticket on the tram. Sadly, we had some problems where we could not book the ticket from the apps. By the time we reached the station, we had checked the price on the ticket, but there was no discount. From there, we went to the SBB office to ask them how to book the ticket from the apps still it was always failed. We tried several times but still did not work. Then, I tried to book it via the browser. Luckily, it was working, but we needed to wait for an hour for the train – with promotion ticket.

We had lunch at Nordsee at the train station. Here, we ordered some seafood menu - Paella Seafood, and Alaska Seelachs. 

Alaska Seelachs

Paella Seafood

Then, we took the train to Bern. The trip to Bern took around an hour from Zurich Central Station.

Bern is a city in Switzerland that well-known as its old town area. The weather was same as the day before – cloudy and foggy with colder temperature, -1°C. For our first stop, we went to Rose Garden to see the city from the top. It could be reached by walking, but we took a bus there because it was so cold outside. Unfortunately, there was no rose nor flowers in the garden since it was winter. But still, we could see the city from the top. It was astonishing scenery of the old town. The river Aare made the view more beautiful. Sadly, the view was not clear because of the fog. 

Rose Garden with rose and treen in the winter

From there, we went back to the center to explore the old town. Most of the stores were closed since it was Christmas holiday. Even, it was hard for us to find any place for lunch. We took some photos around the city, and we were freezing! But it was sooo cold…

Then, we decided to have our late lunch at a restaurant at Bern central station and stayed there for some hours to keep warm. It was already dark outside at 4pm and still foggy, but we agreed to explore the city before we left. It was dark already but because the city light was beautiful.

Bern City Light

Bern Central Station

Switzerland Trip Part 2 - Luzern & Pilatus

Today, we were planning to visit another city near Zurich - Luzern. Also, we would visit Pilatus.

Pilatus Kulm

We started our day around 10am and took the train from Zurich Central Station. We had booked the ticket in advance to get the discount for "super saver ticket" - It's better for you to check on SBB website or from the apps and book in advance to get promotional ticket price.

The trip to Luzern took around an hour, and we enjoyed the scenery during our journey. By the time we arrived and out from Luzern train station, we could see the famous wooden bridge on the left side. We walked around the city and visited St. Leger Church. There was a mass when we went there, and we stayed there for a moment to enjoy the voice of the church's choir.

St. Leger Church

The surrounding around the church

Inside the church

Not many attractions to see around the city, hence we went back to the central station to go to Pilatus. Yet, we went to the wooden bridge first and took some photos there.

Kapellbrücke or Wooden Bridge

Around the wooden bridge

We took the wrong direction at the beginning to Pilatus. Therefore, we needed to change our bus again. From the bus station, we continued by walking to the gondola or cable car station. It was cloudy and foggy at that time, and we were surprised with the price since it is expensive, CHF 57.60 per person. However, since we were already there, we decided to buy the ticket to the peak of the hill.

My friend and I were a little bit scared since the weather was not clear and foggy. From the cable car, we could see the neighborhood from the top. I was wondering how it feels to live on a hill full of fog. After around 10 minutes, we were surprised since suddenly it was sunny with blue sky and we saw that we just passed through the mist. It was lovely, especially after we passed the first stop (Krienseregg). There, the land was covered in snow, and we could see a restaurant, playground, and many people played snow sliding and tracking. The journey to the next stop (Fräkmuntegg) took around 15 minutes, but we experienced our cable car stopped before we arrived. A bit scary, because it kept swinging due to the wind. Luckily, it worked again, and we arrived at the next station.

Foggy way to the top

The sun was suddenly appearing

It gets brighter and brighter 

The next gondola was bigger than the previous one, and there were more people inside. The scenery was so beautiful, and we could see the Alps from there. It took another 10 minutes to the top. Surprisingly, the weather was warmer compared to the lower altitude even though it was full of snow there, maybe since we were closer to the sun :p

Bigger Gondola

We climbed to the higher place to have a better view. It was a bit slippery when we went up. Hence we needed to be careful, same as on the way back.

Go to the higher place

We went down and had some time to play and took pics around Frakmuntegg stop. When we went ow, the view changed again when we were getting lower and lower, no more blue-sky and sun and it turned into another cloudy and foggy area.

From Sunny...

  

To Foggy...

We were so hungry since we hadn't had our lunch. So, we bought Burger King at the train station before we went back to Zurich.

There was a funny story on the train. We had not booked the ticket ever since we wanted to catch up the train we just jumped to the train as soon as we could. Then we booked the ticket on the train, HOWEVER, we could not buy the ticket because the transaction was always failed. Scary... since we were afraid the ticket checker would come. Luckily, he/she did not come, so we jumped off as soon as we reached the first station - Zug station. From there, we bought the ticket from the ticket machine and safely arrived at our hotel :)

Lesson learned from this trip: better for you to plan your trip and book the ticket in advance. Moreover, you can travel without any worry and stress and if you are lucky, you can find some ticket promotions.

please check my video about this trip: https://youtu.be/GwlPYvO1n7A