Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Switzerland. . . Every traveler's dream is to visit this fabulous country. It is always well known: a high standard of living; amazing nature; chocolate; clock; fondue; ski resorts and much more, is known to every inhabitant of the planet Earth.
We decided to fly via Amsterdam.
We stayed for 3 nights at the Acasa Hotel, which is located in the Oerlicon area. From the airport there is a train, 2 stops. Very comfortably. It's not downtown but great location. Great rooms with kitchen. Restaurant, beautiful seating area.
Price — $300/day. The food in the hotel is expensive. However, as elsewhere, in Switzerland. We ate delicious steak, venison, fish, drank local wine. I do not remember exactly, but the average dinner cost 120-130 francs, with a tip, for two.
In order to somehow save money, these days, we did not rent a car. But, of course, we took it, later. Otherwise, you won't see Switzerland.
The central street of the city is Bahnhofstrasse. One of the most expensive in the world.
It starts from the central station, and ends, resting on the lake.
Expensive stores. . . Similar to Rodeo Drive and 5th Avenue, in the USA.
Switzerland has great coffee. About 5-6 francs, for a cup, in a cafe. Lots of street food and chestnuts for sale. They are brought from Italy, although I hardly saw them there. Here it is on every corner.
In the lake area, there are many restaurants and shops. In the same place, the famous Zurich Opera House is located.
The prices in the cafe are 2 cups of coffee, 2 croissants and some sushi rolls - 45 Swiss francs.
Good women's local shoes - 230 francs. Everything made in Switzerland is expensive.
Expensive for the Swiss themselves. One of the evenings, we decided to eat street food, in the underpass, near the trains. This is a whole underground city. Everywhere there is hustle and bustle and queues in shops. It seems that all the stiffness of the Swiss disappears here. We bought hot sausages and bread.
And in another stall - beer. If I didn't remember that it was Zurich, I would have thought it was Kyiv. But the scale is bigger. Cheese and chocolate everywhere.
We rented a car, almost new, at the airport. A normal jeep or minivan costs about 70 francs per day. With partial insurance, up to 700 francs.
Lichtenstein is two hours away, on a beautiful road. Perfect cleanliness around. There are very few people on the streets. Beautiful views of the snowy peaks of the mountains. We put souvenir visas in passports. 6 francs, for a passport. We sat in a cafe and bought souvenirs. One day is enough to get to know the city, the other is worth devoting to museums.
Parking is all paid. . . Sometimes you can leave the car on the street, but you need a special vignette on which you indicate the time. In a rental car, it is already included in the price.
After Vaduz, we decided to go to the most Italian Swiss city - Lugano. The road was long, with many tunnels.
Sometimes beautiful meadows and fabulous houses were shown, as in an advertisement for Milka chocolate.
Once, we noticed a cafe on a hill. We decided to take a break and turned off the track. The road turned out to be very narrow and all the time led up into the mountains. Unsightly houses were stuck around and it was impossible to turn or turn around. High in the mountains, finally, we were able to somehow turn around. We went down for a long time and several hours, drove along country roads. Didn't make it to the cafe.
Switzerland is different. . .
Our Swiss phone card is out of stock. Almost nowhere, there is free Wi-Fi. It seems to be there, but you can’t connect to it...
It was already dark when we got to Lugano. In the darkness one could see the lights of houses, on the mountains and the glow of hotels. It was impossible to park to find out if there was a free room. There were cars everywhere. And where to go - we had no idea.
Finally, we managed to find some kind of hotel where we could drop by car. But there were no empty seats. . .
Thanks to the girl in the lobby, she found us a place in another hotel. It turned out to be a multi-storey building, an old building, converted into a hotel.
Leaving our things, we rushed to the first restaurant we came across.
We ordered fish, pasta and a bottle of wine for 45 francs. Then, walking along the embankment, we drank the wine from the bottle. The lights of cafes and restaurants shone brightly, the evening was warm, with a spicy smell of flowers, love, water and happiness. The day went well!
Morning lit up the roofs of houses, snowy peaks could be seen in the distance. Breakfast was included in the price and was a good choice of food and excellent taste.
It happens that you feel warm and comfortable in an unfamiliar city. This is how Lugano turned out!
Palms and flowers grew everywhere. Blue sky reflected in the blue water of the lake. The mountains, covered with snow, sparkled in the rays of the bright sun.
People drank coffee on the terraces of numerous cafes. I fell in love with this city! On the emerald grass, swans slowly roamed, beat fountains and small yachts floated on the glassy surface of the lake. I couldn't believe myself that it was cold Switzerland in the middle of November.
We wanted to be taken on a boat, but it turns out that you need to have permission to do so. The Swiss are law-abiding citizens.
Actually, Switzerland is a country of lakes! They are in almost every city.
I didn't want to leave the resort Lugano. By the way, not far from the city, there is the largest shopping outlet in Europe. With huge discounts.
The highest peak of the Alps, also in Switzerland. But I wasn't sure if it was possible to get there without chains or special tires. We didn't care where we went next.
On the Internet, we found an interesting ski resort, Samnaun. The annual Santa Claus World Cup takes place there.
It is located at the junction of three countries: Austria, Switzerland, Italy. At an altitude of 1850 meters.
480 km of world-class trails.
101 lifts and 145 high-mountain slopes! There are descents, with an angle of 70 degrees. Almost free fall...
We drove for a very long time, almost the whole day. To get to the resort of Silvretta, you need to drive a long serpentine road, all the way up.
It was snowing, the navigator was buggy, and the endless turns were dizzying. But at the top, in the headlights, the snowflakes swirled in a light fall, gently covering the road with their lace.
After sunny Lugano, we are in winter!
Hotel Silvretta! $500/night, excluding breakfast, in the cheapest room. All made of wood, it smelled of forgotten childhood and a Christmas tree. A large restaurant with two halls, a SPA complex, a huge swimming pool. The room is spacious with a balcony. Large bed, slippers, bathrobes. Daily cleaning.
We ran to the restaurant. And they were unpleasantly surprised.
Since we had the simplest room (ooh, $500), we could have dinner in another room. Although the main one was 70% full. But the menu is the same.
There is venison, wild boar meat, local fish, seafood.
You can try the cuisine of the Engadine and Grisons. We drank local wine. Of course, the prices - mother do not worry. But we are already used to it: it is unlikely that in a good restaurant the cost will be less than 120 francs for two.
In the hotel lobby, there is a large fireplace and a smoking room. You can smoke a cigar while watching snowflakes fall, in the light of a lantern, on a pole. What was thought? Probably about a fairy tale. About the eternal. About a beautiful, but terribly expensive, life. The fact that such moments cut into the memory, leaving a trace as bright as a meteorite fall.
The morning surprised by the abundance of snow. Our car was not visible, at all.
Samnaun is a free trade zone. Kind of Duty Free. The hotel gives another 5% discount in some stores.
The snow was falling and the lifts were not working. There was shopping and walking.
We booked the Hilton, near the Zurich airport. For a few days. We had to drop off the car.
There was a shuttle to the airport.
On the way to Zurich, we decided to stop by Davos. Heavy branches of fir trees were bent from the snow. The road did not have time to clean, and the car skidded. On the right is a rock, and on the left is a cliff. Still circling, in a waltz, snow. But it was warm and comfortable in the car, and outside the window was a cold white beauty.
On the farewell evening, we ate fondue in the hotel restaurant, served with small potatoes and white bread baked in many squares. They drank wine to return to this country.
Wonderful trip! I really liked Lugano. In the country, everyone speaks English. Not counting German, French and local dialects. A lot of tunnels and this is not just a hole in the rock, but a marvel of engineering. We did not see homeless people, beggars.
He came again, by mail, a fine. For speeding. When traveling in Europe, this is very annoying. The fines are just over 200 francs or euros. No matter how hard you try to drive carefully, cameras are everywhere and will be caught at the most inopportune moment. But the car gives freedom and the opportunity to go where you want.
And if you want - everywhere!
