We began our 2 week Austria and Swiss Alps trip in Vienna. We traveled in mid-August just past the height of tourism season and the weather was warm but not too hot.
A few things to note up front about this adventure. This was an expensive trip. But totally worth it. You just have to know and accept that you are going to pay a lot of money—for everything. When we ate out, we averaged about $75-$100 a meal. We did buy sausage and cheese to take on our hikes and also had a few nights where we had cheese, bread, sausage and berries on our hotel balcony. Lucas built this trip by starting with a big city and transitioning to smaller and smaller locations throughout the two weeks. We ended in Zurich which was a nice transition back to the reality of city life. We also didn’t stay in one location for more than 3 nights and most nights it was two. There was lots of transport via train and cable cars so it was critical that we packed light. We did see people with huge suitcases but we were so happy to not have that burden and we traveled all over the place and up and down stairs at train stations. The altitude is something to be aware of – we each experienced minor altitude sickness in the form of pounding headaches. The good news is that the symptoms go away when you go down in altitude but it’s not fun when it’s happening—have some aspirin on hand. English is spoken everywhere and the food is so good—like surprisingly good. Both Switzerland and Austria are incredibly clean, and that includes all the fresh air!
Vienna is a gorgeous city, totally accessible and easy to navigate with beautiful architecture at every turn. In many ways it reminded me of Paris and the verdict is still out as to which I like better. We stayed at the Hotel Kaiserhof, a nice hotel on a quiet street just blocks away from the city center. We had one full day in the city and we had to make it count. We hit the major highlights and agreed that we could spend a full three days there. We didn’t even get to the many museums or to see a concert that are available every single day.
We started the morning off at the Spanish Riding School, home of the famous Lipizzaner horses. We weren’t able to see an actual show but they offer two alternatives—a guided tour of the stables or to watch the morning exercise with the trainers and horses. After doing some research, it became clear that the morning exercise was the way to go. The exercise is from 10-12 and we arrived around 9:30 to get tickets and wait in line to enter the facility-and it was a good thing we did. The facility itself is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful chandeliers and ornate decorations on the walls and ceilings. There are folding chairs one layer deep around the entire oblong facility and then standing room only areas behind that. My ONlY complaint was that photos and filming was strictly forbidden. I had to exercise some serious restraint to abide by that rule because I desperately wanted a pic of both the facility and the horses. You settle in your seats and a woman explains what you are about to see—the horses warming up, practicing moves and then the cool down. You definitely don’t need to stay the full 2 hours but I was glad we got there right at the beginning to catch the information and to see a full 30 minute practice. The riders train 5-8 horses a day and it was so mesmerizing to watch the riders micro movements with their reins that led to the awesome prancing, side stepping and other cool horse moves that I certainly don’t know the names for. Seeing these horses is an absolute must in Vienna. The facility in and of itself is stunning.
Following the horses, we walked a couple of blocks to Cafe Central—one of the oldest coffeehouses in Vienna. Coffee and coffeehouses are central to Viennese life—the cappuccino was invented there! What?! This coffee house had beautiful arched ceilings and painted domes. Freud and other big minds used to meet here back in the day. Go for a coffee and a ridiculously rich pastry. Depending on the time of day you go, you may have to wait in line a bit. They do have both indoor and outdoor seating.
Then it was time to head to the Vienna State Opera House. You can’t buy tickets online but it’s easy to buy them onsite for the 40 minute tour in a variety of languages. The facility is ornate and you get to see backstage as well and the orchestra pit. Music, ballet and opera are central to the culture in Vienna and there are shows every single night.
Next we hit two churches…of course there are many more but we visited St. Stephens and St. Peter’s. I would say that both are more are more visually pleasing on the outside than the inside.
As we were walking the city…which is very easy to do—we walked 11 miles and 23k steps in ONE day —we stumbled upon a beautiful area-the Maria Theresien Platz. The buildings and landscaping were straight up gorgeous and I would recommend strolling through here.
After all the walking and sightseeing it was time to eat! We went to a traditional beer garden and feasted on sausage, schnitzel and beer. We ate at 7 Stern Brau and would defining recommend this place for the nice atmosphere and excellent food.
Next we toured the Clock Museum which chronicled Austria’s role and history in the development of clocks. The museum was well done and it was cool to see all the different clocks….buuutttt if something had to be crossed off the itinerary…it should probably be this!
Next we made our way to the Weiner Reisenrad – The Viennese Ferris Wheel. It was about a 30 minute walk and we got to see more of the city. The Ferris wheel is located in an amusement park and the wheel itself offered a pretty great view of the city.
By the time we got back to our hotel we were totally spent but satisfied with having seen so much of this beautiful city. The one thing on our list we didn’t see was the Hofburg—a museum that looked pretty awesome and we’ll likely go if we ever make it back.
Vienna was gorgeous and had a relaxed vibe to it. It was a place where you can see the highlights in one full day but where I would recommend you spend 3 days to fully experience all it has to offer.
Next up! Hallstatt!
We took the train and the views were gorgeous and we were so excited to lay our eyes on this famed lake town that we’d heard so much about. We got off the train and took a boat across the lake to the scenic town of Hallstatt. To say that this place is idyllic is an understatement. The serene lake is surrounded by steep craggy mountains and lined with beautiful Austrian style wood houses with colorful geraniums in every window—pink, purple and red. We couldn’t take our eyes away. We stayed at the Heritage Hotel which was maybe ten steps from the boat dock. We unloaded our bags and walked to the furnicular to head up to the salt mine and viewing platform. Walking through the town is so fun- the colors of the buildings and the flowers are so scenic and all set against the backdrop of the gorgeous lake—you can’t help but take pictures at every turn. We didn’t actually go into the salt mines but it’s said to be hundreds of years old—we did buy some of the natural salt though. Next we spent some time in the very cute and very quaint city center where we enjoyed a local beer. And there were water spigots available with fresh mountain water—delicious! Finally a vacation where we never needed to spend a small fortune on bottled water!!
he next morning we got up and rented motorboat to explore the lake. It was fun to see the town and mountains from the water. Following this, we visited the Charnel House. Given the lack of space in the graveyard of Hallstatt, after 10 years, bones are dug up and stored in this house. The skulls are painted with the persons name and other things such as flowers and crosses. Sounds totally creepy but it was pretty beautiful in a way also. The graveyard itself was also beautiful and very well kept.
We walked the length of the town and headed to a grassy park that offered yet another scenic view of the town. We enjoyed another local beer and just soaked in the beauty—and the quiet!
On our last night in Hallstatt we watched a powerful rainstorm come in over the mountains and across the lake..the swans that inhabit the lake were completely calm-it was a beautiful site to witness. Hallstatt is truly beautiful and the images of the lake town and quaint colorful village will stay with us a long time.
Next up! Innsbruck!
We stayed one night in this little town and right next to the train station at an Ibis hotel-clean, no frills, but perfectly located for our morning train departure. We walked around the town and at first blush it appeared like any other medium size city with a few interesting things to look at but nothing to write home about. But then we stumbled upon an awesome open air market by the river—we had the most delicious baked salmon and some tasty beers to wash it down. We crossed the river at sunset and were rewarded by a stunning sunset and colorful houses – Innsbruck was a cute little gem of a town after all. That being said—I wouldn’t plan a trip only to visit—but if it’s along your journey—it’s worth an afternoon stop.
Next up!! The Glacier Express Train from St. Moritz to Zermatt!
It seems that people visit St. Moritz for 2 things—to ski in the winters and as a launching point for the Glacier Express in the summer. We stayed at the Hotel Eden. There are lots of ritzy shops but the best thing in my opinion was the view of the city and the gorgeous emerald/tourquoise lake at the foot of the city. There is also the leaning tower of St. Moritz which is cool an apparently leans further than the leaning tower of Pisa. If you find yourself in St. Mortiz, you MUST go to the Pavarotti and Friends wine bar for a drink, or even better, dinner. The atmosphere is incredible and fun and Pavarotti, the owner or manager does a wonderful job making everyone feel super welcome. His wine recommendations are VERY good as well. It’s expensive but you are in Switzerland—everything is.
And then it was the morning of the epic train ride that we had been sooo exited about! The Glacier Express!! We came back to the room after an amazing breakfast (Switzerland hotels do breakfast right!) and looked at our tickets. And realized that the train left at 9:15. It was 9:30. Omg the shock and disappointment….not good! Lucas had booked these tickets months ago. After some severe pouting and disappointing grunts (from both of us) we headed down to the train station and LUCKILY they had seats on the next train leaving an hour later. Crisis averted! The train ride is eight hours through the mountains with views at every turn. The entire experience was so relaxing and it didn’t feel like 8 hours—until about the last hour or so and then we were ready for Zermatt and the Matterhorn. The food on the train was really good—in fact one of the best meals we had on the trip was on this train!
Zermatt is one of the cutest mountain towns I’ve ever been to. Touristy yes, but not lose your mind touristy. There are cute little shops and if you are in need of any type of outdoor gear—this is your place. At a marked up price of course. And the flowers! I fell in love with the gorgeous colorful flowers all over Switzerland. It was a 10 minute walk through town to our hotel —the Bellerive. You could take a horse and carriage or a little hotel taxi cart but we chose to walk.
Our first view of the Matterhorn was one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip. Wow! That mountain is so awe inspiring and we spent so much time just staring at it. Seeing it at Disneyland is one thing but nothing compares to seeing the actual mountain with your own eyes!! We were lucky to see it as much as we did—the weather was on our side.
We ate at Rosstall, a restaurant that totally played on its mountain location…with wood, animal skins and a rustic feel throughout. We had one of our best meals of the trip here—meat fondue…yum!
The next day the weather wasn’t exactly on our side but we made the most of it and took a cable car up the mountains to do the 5 lakes hike. While the hike is pretty—the lakes are quite small. If it had been clear, we would have been able to see the Matterhorn reflected in the biggest one. We ended up taking a bit of a detour with the hike because of rain and toward the end of the hike, were actually rewarded to clearing skies and views of the Matterhorn! We were so excited and celebrated with beer, cheese and sausage.
A must do if you are in Zermatt is Glacier Paradise. I recommend doing this first thing in the morning because you will have very little people around you and the cable cars will be less crowded—both the crowds themselves in the cars and the lines to get on the cable cars. Once you reach the staggering height of over 10k feet you are rewarded with unparalleled views of 38 mountain peaks over 4000 meters— and of course the Matterhorn. I will caution that the altitude may cause an issue for you. I developed a pretty bad headache that ultimately went away once we descended.
Now is a good time time to mention The Swiss Rail Pass. Do your research to determine if this is worth it for you—for us we probably saved a couple of hundred dollars. It covered all or half of rail and cable car transport. It was also convenient to not have to purchase tickets all the time. We also got discounts on several museum entries. Speaking of museums, The Matterhorn museum is totally worth it. It won’t take you very long to walk through and it’s really well done. A highlight there is the original rope from the very first ascent up the mountain!
After our Zermatt adventure, it was time for more!! We took a beautiful and steep train ride from Zermatt to Gornergrat where we stayed one night in the 7th highest highest hotel in the world, 3100 meters above sea level. The Gornergrat Hotel was such a creative hotel in that each room has the name of a mountain with the room number being the same as the height. Each room had the contours of the mountain painted on the wall along with an original piece of rock from the mountain. So unique. The design and location of the hotel is unique as well and you truly feel like you are on top of the world.
Next we headed to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. A colleague described this to me as the most beautiful spot he’s ever been to—obviously we were excited!! We had a couple of train transfers to make but they were all very easy and we made it to Wengen in about two and a half hours. This was the first of our two mountain towns that we stayed in. We stayed at Hotel Schonegg, which was the highest rated hotel and our room had the most amazing view of the town and surrounding mountains. There isn’t much to the town, basically one street with some shops and restaurants. The town is ok but lacks the charm of Mürren, which comes next. Everything seems to shut down between 12-4-ish so keep that in mind if you are looking to sit and eat somewhere. The local stores—COOP are everywhere and have really great produce and just about anything else you’d need to buy to eat or if you forgot a certain toiletry. The location of our hotel was right near the cable car that takes you up into the mountains where numerous hikes await! We did one called the Grannies trail because I was done scaling the mountains and needed one that grandmothers could do! 🤣 Though it was cloudy at first, the skies cleared and it was so beautiful. We were surrounded by mountains and cows with massive cow bells that clanged so beautifully….totally Sound of Music-esque! Another fun thing to do is to go to Trummelbach Falls–a quick city bus ride from Lauterbrunnen.
Our next town was Mürren and this was our favorite. The town was so charming and beautiful and QUIET! There were flowers everywhere and the mountains so close it was almost as if we could touch them! We enjoyed multiple gorgeous hikes, breakfast at Schilthorn mountains revolving restaurant which was the sight of the 1968/79 James Bond movie—On Her Majesties Service and loved watching the afternoon storms roll in and pass as quickly as they came. We did the North Face and Mountain View Trail hikes…..gorgeous!! We stayed at the Hotel Bellevue and I cannot rave enough about their food! We had some of the best meals on our entire trip at this hotel!
Mürren is also a 30 minute walk from the village of Gimmelwald which is a cute little village, steep in the mountain and very much untouched by modern times. So intent on preserving their way of life, the residents had the village declared an avalanche zone to prevent hotels and restaurants from building there. The townspeople are out in the fields during the day but they leave fresh milk, eggs, sausage and cheese for you to purchase! So delicious and so fresh because it hasn’t traveled anywhere or been processed in any way. It was so fun to discover these little refrigerators throughout the village! We absolutely loved Mürren.
Our final destination was Zurich and while the city was cute, I don’t know that I’d make a trip just to see it. It was perfect for us because we flew out of the airport. There are some cute churches and a beautiful river that runs through the city. I think after being in the mountains and surrounded but such stunning natural beauty for so many days, the city was a bit of a glaring reality check for us. Time to go home.
This trip was definitely in our top three trips—if not higher and we are so thankful for the opportunity to have seen such a beautiful spot in this world.
