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A medieval village, SAINT-URSANNE, Switzerland
SAINT-URSANNE, set in a narrow valley by the river Doubs, is a beautiful medieval town in the canton of Jura. Apart from the abbey church, many of the old houses, some from the 14th century, together with the wonderful four-arched sandstone bridge from 1728, gives a fantastic medieval atmosphere in the streets and alleys of this quaint town. A good number of restaurants having outdoor…
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SONOGNO, village and waterfall, Switzerland
SONOGNO – when driving through the beautiful Verzasca Valley, with its lots of photo stops, Sonogno will be the end station, at least when arriving by car. (There is a parking lot, including places for motor homes just before the village.) Despite the low number of inhabitants, less than a hundred (they even speak their own language!!), this beautiful little 800 years old village lists…
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The BRIDGE in Sigriswil
The Panorama Bridge by Sigriswil is yet another pedestrian bridge mainly built to make a (safer) school way for kids from Sigriswil and Aeschlen. The 344 meters long steel bridge hangs elegantly 182 meters over the bottom of the Guntenbach gorge, also called the Gumi gorge. It is also part of a panoramic circular hike around Lake Thun and other hikes. The view from the…
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THUN, lovely town be the lake, Switzerland
THUN also has an historic Altstadt, old town, with cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings. One of the old shopping streets have quirky shops and cafés in two storeys. From this street a covered stairway with many, many steps, leads the 30 meters up to the Castle of Thun with tremendous views over Thun, Lake Thun and the Swiss Alps. The castle is more than…
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FOROGLIO, village and waterfall, Ticino, Switzerland
FOROGLIO in Ticino is probably mostly known for the waterfall of the same name. The waterfall can be seen from all over the village. It is possible to reach, or at least get closer to, the waterfall from two sides, an easy path close to the foot of the fall and a more challenging hike from the opposite end of the village. The reward for…
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The Boat Lift, Alsace, France
The Saint-Louis-Arzviller inclined plane, a long description of a very interesting boat lift on the edge of Alsace, 50 minutes by car from Strasbourg. The first canal, the Marne-Rhine Canal, was built from 1838 to 1853, to be able to cross the Vosges mountains by boat via seventeen locks. Finally in 1969 the inclined plane lift was finished and the travel time of the 314…
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Cow riding
COW RIDING, yes, if you really do not like horseback riding, why not try a cow instead. It also makes much more fun; at least it did for us 🙂 At Bolderhof, not far from Schaffhausen, they greeted us in the morning, and after a cup of coffee, waiting for the weather to get better, we went to the cows. They had been washed, polished and were…
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THE FURKA PASS
The Furka Pass road is where part of the 007 movie Goldfinger was shot, with Sean Connery squeezing his Aston Martin in the many hairpin curves. One of our sightseeing stops were by the Rhône Glacier. This is probably the easiest way to get close to a glacier – and not only close, very close, in fact directly INTO the glacier!!! Every year, since 1870,…
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The Verzasca Valley
Valle Verzasca, or the Verzasca Valley, in Ticino/Tessin is a beautiful place. One very, very interesting and relaxing place is the river itself, great for swimming in the crystal clear (and cold) water or just a picnic at one of the huge rocks. We always make a stop by the beautiful bridge; Ponte dei Salti, a double arch stone bridge, built in the seventeenth century.…
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Rheinschwimmen
Rheinschwimmen (swimming in the Rhine) is a spectacular way to see Basel 🙂 You can do it individually all days during summer, or take part in the big yearly official Basler Rheinschwimmen, this year (2017) 15 August. To be on the safe side, always use a watertight swimming bag, we recommend the original from Wickelfisch, see link below, it keeps your stuff dry and is good to…
