Switzerland; a photo diary

Switzerland; a place of magical landscapes, world-famous trains and copious amounts of chocolate & cheese. SOLD

After planning & booking other peoples amazing Swiss trips for the last few years whilst working at Rail Europe, it had given me a major #SwissEnvy and it was becoming a problem. I began to resent the long itineraries that came through where people were going on the likes of the Glacier Express and heading up to the Jungfraujoch – “is there room for one more?” I would tease. For my own sanity, I needed to experience the trains, the mountains and the towns that I was selling – you know, to better myself for work ;)

Because I am currently only on a 12-month extension visa in New Zealand, I am limited to how far in advance I can plan and book my trips – so in the gruelling weeks while I was awaiting the final decision of my visa last year, I set my travel goals for the year ahead and so the Switzerland itinerary started coming to life. When my visa was approved in March 2019, I think within a week I had already finalised my itinerary, asked my friend if she fancied it and was ready to hand in my annual leave-request at work for September.
I don't mess around

Switzerland is not cheap & I am no millionaire - but I was determined to spend as long as I could there without completely breaking the bank. Two weeks made for a perfect amount of time, but it will never be enough to completely experience everything I wanted to. But I’m not made of money, so it was enough to satisfy my longing to go …. for now.

Now my choice of destinations and direction of travel were loosely based around The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland which covers all the famous Scenic Trains within the country – I used the package as a guide & then tailored the itinerary around my own personal interests of what I wanted to see.
When I travel, I like to fill up my days to get as much as I can out of the trip. I keep saying that i'll go on a "relaxing" holiday soon, but I don't think I physically can - I am too much of a planning-freak that I need to be doing some sort of activity or adventure every day. & to my surprise, knowing full-well what I'm like, my friend Emily signed up for my jam-packed Swiss Trip. I think the days that started with 6:30am alarms might have put her off for any future adventures with me though!

I have SO much to say about my time in Switzerland & I am finally feeling motivated to write about it and to stop neglecting my blog, but this post is not for words. It is to showcase the magic and beauty of my time there and to inspire you to visit too.

So for now, please sit back and prepare yourself for some #SwissEnvy while I share some of my favourite photographs from my trip in September 2019...

The Bernina Express

Schilthorn

Gornergrat Bahn

Lake Lucerne from Pilatus

Matterhorn reflection

Lake Geneva

Mt Titlis

Jungfraujoch "Top of Europe"

Lake Lucerne

Zurich

Jungfraujoch "Top of Europe"

Chateau de Chillon, Montreux

Lucerne

Cabrio Stanserhorn

Pilatus

Jungfraujoch "Top of Europe"

Lake Spiez

Gorner Glacier

If you hadn't already guessed by the theme of most of my photos ... I like mountains.

Switzerland was an extremely special trip for me and I feel very fortunate to have been in a position to be able to visit. If there is somewhere you have such a strong desire to visit, do all you can to make it happen.

Naturally I have already planned exactly where I want to travel to in 2020 so now it's just a case of trying to win over New Zealand's immigration again so that I can continue to live here and hand in my annual leave form!

Thanks for reading & happy travels

♡ G

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& follow me as I continue my New Zealand Adventures & beyond! ☀