Before my visit, my visions of Switzerland were sloping mountainsides, ski chalets, noisy cowbells, and Ricola cough drop television commercials with alpenhorns. Romantic, serene, and snowy were all words synonymous with the notoriously neutral country. Although most all of the aforementioned nouns and adjectives rang true, being a naïve American-centric person, I was shocked to see how industrialized the country was. Busy freeways, drab apartment buildings and smoking factories lined the state roads. Conversely, the landscape includes some of the most picturesque lakes, mountains and quintessential European towns I’ve ever seen). 

Touristy Lucerne was a contradiction. The city is old-world European charm at its finest but is teeming with modernity like upscale shops and gift boutiques. Lucerne is located on Lake Lucerne, which looks more like a painting than reality.  A sparkling body of crystal clear water framed on either side by the grandiose Alps. Furthering the contrast, in Lucerne, the world’s oldest profession is alive and well. Its polar opposites were striking.

Jungfrau

The main reason for our Swiss voyage was to travel to the “Top of Europe”. We spent the day, in typical tourist fashion, riding the rails up to the top of the painstakingly majestic, Jungfrau (mountain). After seeing a Today’s Show episode where the public has to guess ‘where in the world’ is Matt Lauer, (yes this was a few years ago) my then-fiancée urged us to include Jungfrau as a major destination of this European excursion. I’m glad she did! Our slow descent up the mountain on an old cog railway provided ample viewing time of the awe-inspiring countryside. We literally witnessed the topographic and climatic shift as the train rose up the steep mountainside. 

 Before the final Top of Europe stop was a viewshed for the Eiger Mountain. The building atop of Jungfrau was jam-packed with people, trying to maneuver through was worse than the Autobahn in rush hour! Once outside though, the views from the top of the mountain were well worth the struggle through. As the pictures show, although full of inconsistencies, Switzerland’s beautiful landscape is hard to beat. Although Switzerland is not in my backyard, it should be a part of every traveler’s wish list.

For other mountainous backyard road trips, click here and here.