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A MONASTERY and a MOUNTAIN pass in one day
This time our day trip was a good mix of CULTURE and NATURE! The first target was the IBERGEREGG mountain pass at just 1.406 meters a.s.l., a beautiful, sometimes steep (13 %) 20 km drive from Schwyz to Oberiberg. In the winter the area is crowded with skiers and snowshoe hikers, in summer a paradise for hiking and mountain biking. In clear conditions, views to…
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BASEL OLD TOWN, Switzerland
The OLD TOWN (Altstadt) of BASEL includes a lot of historic buildings, some of which are around 700 years old and most of them in very good conditions. Luckily maintenance of these beautiful houses has a high priority. Most of the old town areas are easy to walk through, and some steep streets and steps here and there just add to the charm of the…
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MODERN ART? In the middle of beautiful nature…
HURRY UP! If you want to enjoy this spectacular modern piece of art, a suburban house completely covered by mirrors on all walls and even the roof, you will need to come to Schönried soon, the mirror house, called Mirage Gstaad, will only be on display until February 2021 (perhaps to March)! From the parking spot by the railway station in Schönried, it is just…
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LÖTSCHENTAL, beautiful Swiss valley
LÖTSCHENTAL, a long (27 kilometers) and quiet valley in the Bernese Alps, offers about 200 kilometers of hiking trails in unspoiled nature with rivers, glaciers, lakes, forest, and view to lots of surrounding 3 – 4.000 meters high mountain peaks. At the end of the main road through the valley, the starting point for hiking is a huge parking place with a fantastic view of…
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STEIN am RHEIN, medieval village in Switzerland
STEIN am RHEIN, literally, Stone by the Rhine, and originally just a fishing village, is a small town with just about 3500 inhabitants. The more than 1000 years old historic medieval center, still with the old gate towers and walls, is full of the most beautiful old houses with fantastic frescoes painted on many of the facades. Most of them around the town hall square.…
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Hiking by the Thur Waterfalls in Toggenburg
In May we went for our first hike in the Toggenburg area. Close to the town Unterwasser, we wanted to see the Thur Waterfalls, Thurwasserfälle. We parked by the Hotel Sternen, but there are also parking spots for Mobilhomes just 100 meters away from the path to the waterfalls. The path follows the river Thur and into the Chamber Gorge (Chämmerlitobel). Arriving at the waterfalls,…
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MOUNT PILATUS, Switzerland
MOUNT PILATUS, another very well-known mountain massif in Switzerland with lots of hiking opportunities, can be reached by foot, cable car, or by the steepest cogwheel railway in the world – opened way back in 1889, with a gradient of up to 48 %!!! So, guess which one we decided on! After parking on the huge parking lot (chargeable) by the foot of Pilatus, in…
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Hiking and viewpoints in TICINO
ASCONA and LOCARNO in TICINO can be starting points for many excursions and hikes. After parking next to the cable car station Orselina, north of the two cities, the cable car took us to the first stop at Cardada in 5 minutes. At Cardada, at 1340 meters above sea level there is a viewing platform, stretching out over the treetops, with perfect views over Ascona,…
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WEG der SCHWEIZ II, The Swiss Path II
Another stage of Weg der Schweiz, The Swiss Path. This time we hiked the short but beautiful part from Bauen to Isleten. The whole part of this trip is almost flat as it follows the shore along the Urnersee, but sometimes through old and dark tunnels, which is actually the originally old road to Bauen. In some of these tunnels, there are “windows” with…
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Vertical cliff hike at Galerie Défago, Switzerland
After our first interesting short hike along the Vièze River, we had also planned another hike in the area, being of a completely different character. The first part of the Galerie was opened in 1864 by the local entrepreneur Emmanuel Défago, thus the name. The view over the valley, to the Vièze River and Champéry is fabulous. Most of the trip is secured by a…
