After traveling alone a lot the last couple of years I suddenly ended up not travelling alone for a while. Last time I went to Peru with my mum, this time I went backpacking with a cousin. Other than the Brussels trip this winter Tonje and I have never traveled alone before, but after we started talking about Switzerland last year we decided to plan a backpacking trip. And the plan was to start in Geneva towards the end of June. We'd booked the hotels and transport between our destinations beforehand so we knew somewhat what to expect for the trip. What we didn't expect until just before leaving though was the hot weather we'd get along the way.
So we started out in Geneva for one night. After leaving our backpacks at the hostel we had lunch by the lake and then went for a walk to explore a little. Geneva is a nice and quite scenic city, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily "my place" from the little we saw. We walked for a bit and actually shopped a little, that was really not a part of the plan; starting to put more in the backpack already on the first day.
Checking into the hostel we met a couple of American girls, and actually ended up planning to meet them after dinner. We got dolled up a little and by the time we were ready to go it had started raining a little, so we just hurried in a direction there seemed to be restaurants. We had a lovely dinner and by the time we were ready to head on the rain had luckily let up. We walked closer to the meeting point with the American girls and had a drink, we struggled a bit to find a place that seemed alright closer to the meeting point but found a restaurant with outdoor seating and a view of the meeting point 30 minutes before we were to meet them. And Tonje had her first Aperol spritz of the trip while we waited. At the hostel we'd found out there was a festival all over the city and when we met the girls they'd found a decent place to have drinks and listen to the music. So our first night on this holiday we were sat on some stairs listening to music and having a drink. It was honestly a great night, and it was so nice chatting with the girls.
Day two, we checked out of the hostel in Geneva, the first night in a hostel for Tonje, we were moving on to a hotel though. We got on a train for about an hour along Lake Geneva ready for a day of nature. We got off in Montreux and went to the hotel to leave the backpacks. The girl at the Hotel Bon Port reception was really helpful and after giving us some passes for public transport in the town she sent us off towards a funicular.
Unfortunately the train going up the mountain had left a few minutes before the funicular got there so we had nearly an hour to kill. Luckily there was a hotel with a big georgeous garden just next to the station and we easily killed some time looking at the view from it, and the station itself had a pretty spectacular view too.
Then we got the train up to Jaman at 1742 meter above sea level. We went for a beautiful walk, the plan was to walk up to the highest point, Rochers de Naye, and I wasn't ready to give up until I was sure we couldn't go up. As we got close to the stair though we were told the stair were broken, so we had to turn back.
Either way it was a great walk with beautiful views, so I don't regret walking this far before turning back. And we got back to Jaman just in time for another train going all the way up. Unfortunately the clouds were thick over the top, which is at 2042 meters, so we couldn't see the lake from the top, we could see in the other direction though, at first. After exploring a little and saying hi to the marmots they have up here we got some food and a glass of wine. Chicken nuggets have never tasted this good! It's funny how the simplest things can sometimes be the best thing in the world. I honestly had a perfect little moment of happiness eating chicken nuggets and drinking wine in the thick fog. And I don't think Tonje felt too miserable either.
Going back down we desided to take the train all the way down to the main station, where we'd gotten in from Geneva earlier, and we walked along the lake back to the hotel. There was such life and I don't think I was alone in getting a little excited for the evening.
After checking into the hotel and getting ready for the first Saturday night on the trip we started walking along the lake looking for a place to have dinner, we'd seen a possible place earlier and ended up going there. We sat down outside with a view of the lake and the sunset. Unfortunately I decided to go for steak though and they clearly couldn't cook a steak properly, at least the view was nice and in the end I didn't have to pay for my meal. After dinner we tried to find a bit of a nightlife, we struggled a bit but eventually found a bar with a bit of life, they closed a little early though. So I convinced Tonje to go to a nightclub with me, the place wasn't that great, however I got to dance a little bit, which was good. But then after a trip to the bathroom we felt ill coming out of it, coughing and feeling sick. It wasn't as bad in the bathroom though and several girls rushed in. One of the girls said the guards had used a spray, we're guessing it was pepperspray. So that was it for us, we left.
The next day was a quieter day, we headed for Sion and quickly found the hostel, our home for the next two days, to leave our luggage. I think it was the quietest hostel I've ever walked into, the reception was closed, we could hear one person cleaning but that was it, there was no one there. Luckily we found a couple of available lockers for our backpacks so we could head out and explore Sion a little. Sion seems to have it all, shops (not open on this Sunday though), little charming streets, a couple of nice castles on little mountaintops in the middle of the city. Beautiful.
At just under 30°C this was our first really hot day on the trip so after a little trip up to 2 of these tops we badly needed something to drink, we sat down at a nice cafe for something to drink and ice-cream. We really liked the street in the town centre with little cafes, restaurants and a bar, all with space outside, in a nice row. So after relaxing in the sun at the hostel before check in we went back to the same area for dinner, and then we went up towards the castles again to see if we could catch the sunset before bedtime. However, the sun disappeared behind the mountains before we could get the nice sunset colours. But we still enjoyed the view and had fun taking some nice and playful photos before heading back to the hostel for an early night. We were lucky enough to have the hostelroom to ourselves, in fact it was almost eerily quiet in the hostel, I honestly think there were only people in a couple of the rooms.
On our second day in Sion we started the day early and got a bus out to the Nendaz area. We walked up to lake Cleuson, it was a tough walk for me at about 4 km with a 400 meter incline but as soon as we got a view of the lake over the dam the long walk was definitely worth it. We had a little break to eat something before continuing our walk around the lake. I had discovered this beautiful lake on the map while looking at options for our trip and I, for one, am really glad we went there. With the wild flowers, the turquoise colour of the water, the beautifully warm weather and the little bits of snow the lake was amazing. I'm honestly in awe of nature when I see things like this. After the nice walk around the lake we still had about 4km left, back down to the bus stop. We got down just in time for me to enjoy an icelolly before the hour long busride back to Sion.
After getting back we changed quickly and went to the city centre for some shopping. We shopped until the shops closed and I definitely bought more than I should have. We got ready for dinner, me in a blouse covering my shoulders as they were getting a bit too red. We had a few drinks outside after dinner, it was a nice night and despite it being monday there were actually a fair amount of people outside this pub.
After 4 days in Switzerland it was time to move on, to France. I was honestly a little worried about the train journey as it involved 3 trains and there were only a few minutes for the changes but it went perfectly smooth and after a couple of hours, and a fantastically scenic train journey, we arrived in Chamonix, France. Chamonix is a really charming place and the view is absoloutely amazing. Not to mention the hotel, I'll get back to that though. After leaving our backpacks at the hotel we got the gondola lift up to Planpraz at about 2000 meters. I had thought we'd go further up to Brevent and walk down to Planpraz but without mountain boots and trekking poles we were advised against it.
So instead we had a nice little walk around planpraz and watched paragliders take off and soar. Then there is the beautiful view of Mont Blanc on the other side of the town, one of my favorite things about Chamonix is how you can see the mountain range from just about everywhere you go. It's just majestic. We decided to sit down for a little bit of food before heading back down, my meal didn't turn out to be too appetising though. The aphids on my salad were having a freaking family reunion. But I couldn't be bothered to ask for a new meal so I moved the croque monsieur away from the salad and ate a little of it, I wasn't that hungry anyways I got food because I needed it more than wanted it. I did let the staff of the restaurant/cafe know about the salad bugs before leaving though, so they'd hopefully get it sorted for other guests.
After eating we got the gondola lift back down and went to our hotel, we couldn't check in yet, but we could use the pool! I'm really happy with this hotel and will absolutely recommend it, La Folie Douce is a classy hotel with a pool, restaurants and bars, so you really have everything there and you only need to leave for nature walks and such. So we went to the pool and I have to say it's the best pool view I've had to date. We spent a couple of hours sunbathing and swimming before we could check in and get cleaned up for dinner. We took our time getting ready, relaxed a bit, which was nice after 4 days on the go. When we were ready we went into town and did a little research about the plans for the next day before dinner. We ate at a pub like restaurant, the meal was quite alright and we had a couple of drinks there before moving on. We couldn't really find anywhere we wanted to sit for drinks after the restaurant, it was tuesday though so that's not too shocking. So after walking around a bit and taking some photos of this charming little town we went back to the hotel and had drinks there. We sat out on the terrace with cocktails and a view of Mont Blanc chatting for a while, it was a pretty nice night.
Our second day in Chamonix was an adventurous day. We stopped by the welcome desk at the hotel in the morning as we'd been told the day before that they had passes for the gondola lifts and such. We'd found out the things we were planning on doing, or what I wanted to do, cost a lot but with this pass we might save some money. It turned out we'd actually save loads, and with this pass Tonje was a little more willing to come with me for everything I wanted to do this day. La Folie Douce has managed to get the most amazing deal that includes all the lifts and the railway to Mer de Glace. So we got our passes and made our way to the gondola lift on the opposite side of town from the day before.
Tonje has a problem with cramped spaces and hights so at this point she was mentally preparing herself for what was to come, we were about to get gondola lifts from 1000 meters up to 3800 meters. When we got up to Aiguille du Midi I started walking ahead of her, checking things out while she took it slowly, getting used to being so high up and seeing where she could handle going. I'm honesly really impressed at how well she handles pushing her phobias, I would never push my phobias like that. She gathered herself rather quickly and we walked around a little before finding the lift inside for the last few meters up to the top. The line for the lift was pretty long, but as Tonje said, we've gotten this far so we're going up the last few meters.
Our goal was the glass cage, "the void" as they call it, which is up top with a 1000 meter drop under it. Again there was a line, I believe it was a 20-30 minute wait, but it's one of those things you need to do when you have the chance. Tonje was really worried about it but we both did it and she even stood there for a while. Tonje was handeling the altitude really well, I however realised after a few minutes I could feel the altitude on my body. Having been even higher up in Peru I now know how altitude sickness affects me and I made sure to walk slowly so I wouldn't get ill. After exploring further, and getting some souvenirs, we got the gondola lift back down, but we got off at 2000 meters and I got some food as I hadn't eaten alot.
After eating we got on the gondola again to get back down, only to make our way to the train to Mer de Glace at about 2000 meters. The next train was full, so we had to wait for the one after it, but after about 20 minutes we were on our way upwards again. We took the train up, then another gondola lift down the other side of the mountain and after about 500 stair-steps we were finally at the opening to the man made ice cave. I think this is one of the coolest things, being able to go inside a glacier. Tonje didn't feel comfortable going too far in, but she went inside too. I went all the way in though and it's honestly one of the coolest experiences, just being surrounded by ice that had been there for a long time. I was dreading the walk back up from the glacier, but it actually went pretty well, maybe all the walking in the 5 days before actually helped because it actually was fine walking the 500 steps back up.
We got back to the hotel a bit later than I expected, with all the queuing at Aiguille du Midi time flew. We did get a couple of hours by the pool though. And then we decided to eat at the hotel. They had this summer festival thing on so you ordered food in a bar on the deck outside and then they made the food in food trucks. The food was good and the whole area had a really cool summer vibe, so we stayed at the hotel the whole evening and had a few drinks after dinner.
On the 7th day of this adventure it was time to leave France and the Alps for Italy. And as this post is already really long I'll split this trip into two blogposts.
So, to summarise: I love Switzerland. I'll be honest, we struggled to find "life" on this trip, but what I do love about Switzerland is the nature and how accessible it is. And Chamonix, France is also great in that regard. I will consider going some of these places again, but I'm also maping out other possible routes in Switzerland. One thing worth mentioning though; there are apparently a lot of kids traveling in this area at the end of June, I'm guessing it's some form of camp or end of school year thing. So if you want to avoid the noise this brings you might want to stay away from hostels this time of year.
Hope you enjoyed this post. And stay tuned for part 2 of this trip.
Comments