Tag Archives: switzerland

This panorama defining hostel is set on a mountain in a quiet village of Gimmelwald. A few steps from the Gondola station, Mountain hostel offers views like a dream. You stand up close and personal with the Mount Eiger and can sit forever in a conversation with spell binding vistas on the terrace restaurant of the hostel and watch the snow clad giants in the backdrop. In the evening their lobby is buzzing with enthusiastic resident travelers, almost all of whom are American. People talk at length about their days’ spoils, how far they walked, what trek they did and where they are headed on their round the Europe tour. Yes, this place is very popular amongst American backpackers with a Euro rail pass and almost all of them end up landing here. Although food is cheap, but it is not as great as what a little more money can bring you to the table. But hey, they have a kitchen and you could do your own cooking. Don’t forget to bring your own pasta sauces and bread because when I went last, there were no stores around. All in all, Mountain Hostel is the perfect place to compare notes and find companions. If you are an American you will at home here. It is one of the cheapest options for food and stay in the area. Given its popularity with the backpackers, you may find a few things amiss and the employees and owners may seem a little brash with their policies and paid showers, but nothing beats the views of this place. It is truly one of the most stunning places I stayed in.

So often you just stumble upon great things without much research. After an idle day in Zermatt and comparing how the area fell short of Bernese Oberland, I wondered what else to do. I decided to the cable car to the top of the Klein Matterhorn – To Matterhorn Glacier Paradise Views from the top The Klein Matterhorn (Little Matterhorn) is the highest point in the Zermatt-Cervinia ski area in Switzerland. It is also the highest cable car serviced summit in Europe. Cross at the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise The cable car to the top of the Matterhorn is the highest cable car in Europe.  Sheets of ice cover the mountain top The peak is at 3,883 metres with the cable car terminal at 3,820 metres. There are three stages in the journey to the top of the summit with journey time of 50 mins on each side. From the top you can get views of Italy. On a clear day even Mont Blanc – the tallest mountain in Alps is visible. The day I went was not that day. It costs about CHF 64 to get to the top or CHF 32 if you hold a Swiss pass, but the money charged is worth every penny.

There is something about Switzerland that makes me break my rule “no country twice unless all country once”. I have been to Switzerland thrice in the past one year and I can’t wait to return. My ultimate wish is to retire amongst the green pastures of the Alpine country hearing the chiming of cow bells and climbing up and down its many mountains – my only doubt is if I can live up to the Swiss standard of life. Here are the five things that make Switzerland the perfect world – 1. Cleanliness – The country is spotless and immaculately clean. The Swiss are obsessed with cleanliness. You can see people vacuuming the outside of their houses and scrubbing clean everything that is visible to the eye. With an environmental performance index (EPI) of 95.5, this European country ranks first in cleanliness.  2. Robust Public Transportation – A dense network of railroads, buses, tramway lines and even boats operate on a systematic timetable allowing you to reach almost anywhere in Switzerland once per hour. In most cases one ticket is enough for a journey even if numerous railway, bus and ship operators are involved. Switzerland has the highest train density in Europe, a higher proportion of the population uses public transport and they travel longer distances than in any other country except Japan. They work with the goals of 95% arrivals with less than 5 minutes delay and 75% with less than 1 minute delay which are regularly achieved. 3. Hiking Paths – There is no end to hiking trails in Switzerland totalling a 66,200 kms. The best thing is that hiking paths are signposted with direction, distance and time to destinations. You can keep walking into the alps and always find your way back. The Roads are so well-marked that you can never get lost in …