Zurich to Grindelwald

A place known for hiking and its gorgeous Alps, Switzerland is a must go if you are one that enjoys scenery and marvel at how majestic nature can be. Be prepared to spend a lot more in this country compared to other places in Europe, but if you can afford it you should definitely go for it. Best to visit on a parents' budget! =)

Day 1 
I took a plane from Paris to Zurich (62.60 euros) and then took a train from Zurich to Lucerne. From Lucerne, we rented a car from autoeurope.eu that cost 211 euros for 3 days. Note that my parents were insistent on an auto car, so if you had gone the manual route perhaps you can get the vehicle at a cheaper price. Driving in Switzerland is quite affordable if you compared it to the trains. Trains are ridiculously expensive. For example, it cost SGD$60 per person from Zurich to Grindelwald. So essentially the car is a better option after like 1-2 train trips. And you get to stop to take photos if you are driving. Below is a photo of the famous Interlaken, taken as we headed to Grindelwald.

Grindelwald is one of the 3 villages that are situated just around the most famous of the Swiss Alps - the Jungfrau region. The other two villages are Murren and Wengen. I picked Grindelwald cause the facilities for tourist was better and it was just beside a cable car to the Jungfraujoch as well as other locations. You can google these three to see which one suits you the best - they all have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The tallest 3 mountains in the Swiss Alps region (Eiger, Jungfrau and Monch) can be seen from Grindelwald, so much so that I can actually see Eiger from the window in my hostel. I stayed at Mountain Hostel Grindelwald for 34.49 euros per night.

While scenery is fantastic in Switzerland, the food is very expensive and so so. From my 4 days here, I realized that there isn't much variety of food around. It is usually just an assortment of breaded pork chops, chicken chops, steaks, fish and other cafe food you can find in Singapore. But what makes up is that most of the food are sourced from farms in Switzerland, so the produce is top quality. I remember eating my Dad's steak and it was the juiciest and bounciest steak I have ever eaten. And it costs like SGD$40. 

First meal was at a restaurant called Bistro Memory in Grindelwald. Looks nice but it gets a bit too greasy after a while. Although that can be said about most Swiss and German food.