We’re traveling again, this time heading for Europe. We started off the first part of our adventure (Nov. 16-28) with a Rhine River cruise from Basel to Amsterdam aboard AmaWaterways, after completing a pre-cruise excursion to Zurich, Lucerne and Basel. Then we flew to Rome and met the beautiful Viking Neptune ship for an ocean cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale, Florida Nov. 30-Dec. 23. I’m obviously a bit behind on my blogging due to our busy schedule, but I’ve been typing as fast as my fingers will fly during the “at sea” days while we approach Florida on the trans-Atlantic portion of our trip. This is the first in a series of posts about the adventure that will close out 2023 for us.
Let me start at the beginning. Of course, sometimes the best-laid plans are not immune to surprises that bring big-time stress. Our bags were packed and the house was shut down and locked as we waited in the driveway for our airport transportation to arrive. At the expected pick up time, the driver called to report he was over 2 hours away. We would have missed our flight if we had waited for him, so we immediately started calling around for help. Fortunately we found our “travel angels”, as Dave and Sue came to the rescue and got us to the airport with time to spare. They were life savers and we can’t thank them enough for turning a disaster into a pleasant ride with friends!
We arrived in Zurich after 13 hours in the air (Phoenix to San Francisco to Zurich), tired but excited. This was our first visit to Switzerland, the land of Swiss chocolates, Swiss watches, Swiss Army Knives, Swiss Alps, Swiss Guards, Swiss cheeses, Swiss banks, etc. And another thing Switzerland is known for is it’s nature. The beautiful lakes and mountains are Switzerland’s greatest pride, and we experienced several of them during our visit.
These travel posts will be clipped versions with mostly highlights, but I’ll include many pictures from the countries we visited. I’m already forgetting some of the things we did during our port stops, but thankfully I have the pictures to remind me!
Zurich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, located in an Alpine setting at the northwestern end of Lake Zürich. The setting gives the city everything to make it worth a visit – lakes, rivers, museums, churches and an Old Town. And importantly, it’s a very walkable city too!
The city has 1,200 old and new fountains of varying style and design which provide a supply of fresh, top-quality drinking water that passers-by can use to fill their water containers. Wish we’d had one!
exclusive shopping avenues in the world .
I included this shot of our room at the Park Hyatt Hotel. There was a sliding opening between the tub and the bed. We don’t understand the idea here, do you? It would have been a lot nicer at the window 😉
Lucerne and Lake Lucerne
What a charming and pretty place! The lake surrounded by majestic mountains makes this a very picturesque city. It is best discovered on foot, which is exactly what we did during our one and half day visit.
and the most photographed monument in Switzerland
that chronologically display Lucerne’s history
We visited the Swiss Museum of Transport, which features a wealth of interactive attractions and brings its road, rail, water, mining, air and space focal points to life. It was a huge and engaging museum that requires a lot longer visit than the three hours we had. Every mode of transportation has a building housing its collection. It was a must-visit for us, especially the display detailing the massive tunneling project through the Swiss Alps.
Basel
Basel was scheduled to be the embarkation point for our Rhine River cruise, but Mother Nature had other plans – more on that in our next post. In the meantime we enjoyed a city tour to while away the time. Located along the Rhine River and close to France and Germany, Basel is a city that boasts both modern innovation and a beautifully preserved Old Town:
The Roche Building (on the left) is the tallest office building in Switzerland
Our 4-day visit in Zurich, Lucerne and Basel went by in a whirl. Each city had its own character to show off, but for us Lucerne was an easy favorite.
Next Up: A slight change in our itinerary
Comments
9 responses to “Time for Fall travels – Switzerland”
So glad Dave and Sue were available to be part time Uber drivers that day. Beautiful cities and spectacular mountains. But, brrrr, definitely winter.
Oh yay, another international adventure with you two! :-)) Looks like you had a great “taste” of Switzerland in your four days there. Isn’t it wonderful to have good friends to lend a hand? So glad you were able to make your flight. Happy travels, and happy holidays!
Loved your photos and story, as always.
Switzerland has long been a favorite of ours, and you brought back pleasant memories. We’re glad we could help!
We’re loosely planning a trip to Switzerland this coming Fall, so this post is serving up some serious inspiration. Such beautiful views. Oh, and Hooray for Sue and Dave saving the day for you guys. Maybe this is karma paying it forward after you saved the day for us! I’m just glad it all worked out.
Chocolate, walking, and drop-dead gorgeous views? Yes, please! Though it was short, it sure looked sweet.
Beautiful photos as usual. Thanks for taking us along!
After our river cruise in summer 2025, we want to spend a week in Switzerland. I’ve always loved the photos I’ve seen of Swiss chalets in mountain meadows. There are walks up in those mountains to waterfalls that I would love to do!!!
Triple WOW!!! I noticed the fast and furious rivers in your wonderful photos, figured something was up . . . looking forward to your adventures!