Podcast
Topics covered
- Swimming
- Hiking
- Camping
- Swiss national day on August 1st
- Visiting a local farm
- Open-air festivals
- Train travel in the summer
Who We're Speaking With
In this episode, Daniel Shalom and Diccon Bewes speak about a few things to do during the summer in Switzerland.
Diccon grew up in Britain but moved to Switzerland in 2005. His first book, Swiss Watching, became an international bestseller and he is now writing his ninth Swiss title. He lives in Bern with his partner (and a cupboard full of chocolate).
About the Episode
If you love the outdoors, Switzerland is a great place to spend your summer. You can find almost every type of activity.
Great things to do in the summer in Switzerland are:
- Swimming: You can swim in rivers, lakes or at lidos, called Badis in Switzerland. You’ll pay a small entrance fee at most Badis, but the one in the centre of Bern, called Marzili, is free.
- Hiking: There are plenty of hiking paths in Switzerland. Most are marked yellow, which means they’re suitable for almost everyone. The red and white ones are more difficult, and the blue and white ones are only for experienced climbers.
- Camping: There are various camping spots dotted around the country. It’s best to reserve camping sites ahead of time to avoid disappointment.
- Festivals and cultural events: You’ll find festivals for almost every type of music in Switzerland. There are also traditional festivals that feature alphorn playing or the national sport, ‘Schwingen.’ The Swiss National Day on August 1st is a national holiday. Many Swiss people have a traditional brunch, and there may be fireworks and bonfires in the evening.
Resources
An overview of different Badis in Switzerland
River swimming: eg Aare in Bern, Limmat in Zurich, Rhine in Basel. Usually free
Diccon's 3 easy hikes in the Berner Oberland
Jucker Farm in Seegräben near Uster
The Alphorn festival in Nendaz
Next steps
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Transcript
Daniel: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Expert Guide to your Life in Switzerland. This is Daniel from Rigby. We're a staffing and IT services company based in Zurich.
Diccon: And my name is Diccon. I'm a travel writer and I have written eight books about Switzerland, amazingly, eight books on the same country, but I have managed it.
Daniel: We are two Brits who both moved to Switzerland around the same time in 2005. In this series, we'll be talking about what we've learned since then, and about some of our experiences of living here. In today's episode, we'll be talking about things to do during the summer in Switzerland.
Diccon: The good news is the summer has arrived already. We've had two heat waves. And the Swiss are very technical about their summers. So anything over 30 Celsius is officially a heatwave. Whereas over 25 is just a summer day.
Daniel: Yep, and we’re only just getting started. We could sit here all day if we were to talk about all the things that you could do during the summer in Switzerland, but we'll just go through some of our favourites.
And I think you were going to kick us off Diccon with swimming in the lakes and rivers.
Diccon: Yes, I mean, I grew up on an island, as did you. So I was quite used to swimming in the sea, even though it's a bit chilly. So it was a bit of a revelation for me to swim in rivers and in lakes. Firstly, the water is not salty, which I wasn't used to. And secondly, it was crystal clear, unlike many rivers in Britain, and thirdly, it's great fun, I really enjoy it. And it's now part of my summer, always. Obviously in Bern, we don't have a lake. We do have the Aare, which is wonderful to swim in. It's relatively fast, so you don't actually have to swim. Whereas in Zurich, you have a lake so you have what the rest of the world calls a lido or lido but actually in Switzerland has its own special name in Swiss German.
Daniel: Right they call it the Badi and there are lots of really nice badis to visit and Zurich, that I can highly recommend. They generally cost about eight francs per adult to get in or four francs per child. And there are many of them, but personal favourites Mythenquai, Utoquai, Tiefenbrunnen, there's even a women-only body called the Frauenbad Stadthausquai.
Diccon: And what sort of facilities do they have?
Daniel: So, Tiefenbrunnen, for example, has a huge slide, a restaurant. They're very well looked after there's changing rooms and lockers and you could spend the whole day there, it's really very comfortable, a really nice thing to do.
Diccon: Okay, because in Bern, we have a couple, the biggest one is Marzili, which is one of the oldest in Switzerland, and we have the advantage that it's free. There aren't many free things in Switzerland, but swimming in Bern is free
Daniel: It is one of them.
Diccon: It is one of them. And of course in other places like Lucerne has the Lido next to the Transport Museum. And Geneva has a couple of beaches, but also the Bains des Pâquis on a breakwater out into the lake. So it is quite easy to find swimming spots, almost anywhere in Switzerland. I would recommend that if you're swimming in a river, you do take care, obviously swimming in a lake take care as well. But genuinely at the badis, there's a lifeguard and there's lots of people around. If you're swimming in a river like the Aare or the Limmat in Zurich, or even the Rhine in Basel, remember, it is wild swimming, it is not a swimming pool. So only go in if you're a strong swimmer, and make sure you don't go alone or if you're drunk, and the water can be cold, it can be a shock. So, if it's 35 or so outside the water's generally sort of low to mid 20s. So do be prepared for that shock.
Daniel: But there's there's quite a lot going on down at the lake during the summer. So there's people doing stand up paddleboarding, we sometimes take a kayak with us and paddle out in the kayak is really good fun. And they have islands out on the lake that you can swim out to.
Diccon: And of course, there is a great book which I didn't write, I must hasten to add, as much as I like swimming from Bergli called Wild Swim. And the link to that will be in the show notes. Now, when you're not swimming, I'm guessing you're out hiking, or are you not a hiker?
Daniel: I'm not a hiker, I must admit.
Diccon: I'm speaking to the wrong person. I mean, I'm not a Swiss hiker. There is a big difference between hiking and Swiss hiking. I think we've mentioned this before hiking for me was gentle three to four hours not much of a height difference and a nice picnic or a pub somewhere along the way. Whereas Swiss hiking, I discovered very quickly is big height differences and amazing scenery, but you are made to work to get it and that's because there are 65,000 kilometres of paths in Switzerland. It's larger than the road network which always amazes me when I come across that fact. And there are different levels of difficulty of Swissness really, I would say. The standard yellow sign is 'open to everyone', almost everyone can do it. Then there's the red and white, which is that much harder. And then of course, the blue and white is only for professional Swiss people. I do love hiking, the weather has to be right for me. I'm not a very good hiker in the rain. I don't particularly enjoy that. But then of course, when the sun's out, do remember if you're up at altitude, you need some protection. Don't underestimate the strength of the sun, and of course, carry water with you. So what's your what's your tip for a non hiker?
Daniel: Oh that would have to be the Uetliberg in Zurich. It is a mountain, but not a particularly high one. More of a big hill really.
It’s about 870 metres high, with a great view of both the city and the lake of Zurich from the top.
When you’re up there, there’s quite a nice restaurant in the Hotel Uto Kulm and a lookout tower. So in case it’s not high enough for you already, you can climb the tower and then you really can get quite shaky with the height.
Diccon: Isn't there a Planetenweg as well, that you've more along the the course of the planets?
Daniel: Yes, that's right. You have to be fairly fit to do it, but not too much.
Diccon: I think you can take the train up the hard bit and then do it at the top. Yes, that's always my advantage for Swiss hikes is that I choose places, especially in the Berner Oberland, where you can take the train, get over the hard bit, and then you just enjoy the panoramic bit.
Daniel: Yeah, that's the way to do it.
Diccon: And you're going to do, you're going to give us some tips on something which I detest is a bit of a strong word, but I actively dislike and that is spending the night in a tent. So I'm going to leave that completely up to you, Daniel, because I have zero experience and I will never have any experience of it, I don't think.
Daniel: Ah you should give it a try! No, so I'm all for fancy five star hotels and so on that's great. But I also really enjoy going camping and Switzerland's a very good place to do it. There are wonderful campsites all over and like, for example, Ticino. We went camping in Ticino a month or so ago, and it was really good fun.
Diccon: Now, are you talking camping with a tent? Are you talking like glamping? That's something that's already there. And you don't actually have to do anything. You may even have an indoor bathroom. But you're talking tents, aren't you?
Daniel: Yes, talking about tents. That's right.
So I mean, there are plenty of places to go glamping as well. And some of the sites have glamping facilities, I suppose you could say. But I'm talking about going and pitching a tent somewhere close to a lake - like the Lake Maggiore, in Ticino for example. And if you're lucky with the weather, it really is glorious down there.
You have to remember to book early though, because they're very popular.
Diccon: So you actually have to book a pitch? You can't just roll up with a tent and expect to find somewhere?
No, you have to book a pitch. So you can see I have no idea how it works. And, as with any trip, half the fun is in the anticipation and in the planning. And so it's got lots of cool shops that sell camping gear. So there's one for example is the Transa Travel at Europaallee near the main station in Zurich. And you can geek out in there for hours over all the gas stoves and all the mobile coffee gear like the AeroPress and so on.
Diccon: We have a Transa in Bern, I think they're probably a national chain. So just for non Zurich listeners, you can camp if you don't come from Zurich. Okay. And how expensive is it to book a pitch then?
Daniel: Not very. Of course, it's not like going to stay in a hotel. In summer a pitch at a site by a lake might cost something like 50-80 francs per night. Something like that.
Diccon: Wow.
Daniel: Yes, but you know, you could have a family of five or six people on that pitch.
Diccon: Wow. That was a bad well, by the way, as opposed to an 'I'm impressed' wow. It was like five or six people sleeping in one little tent on a site.
Daniel: No, but it’s fun to be outdoors and even the mundane things like cooking become interesting when you’re doing them over a fire, or even stacking up all of the plates and the cutlery and going to wash them all and everything is fun. You make a little routine out of it.
Diccon: And if it's pouring with rain, you make the best of it or you give up and go home.
Daniel: Well on this last trip, the family next to us left the day early because there was rain forecast for the day they were supposed to leave. And I was thinking well 'why would you do that?' and then of course the following morning when it was pouring with rain and we had had to pack up, obviously I was cursing the fact that we didn't do as they did, and leave the day before.
Diccon: Yeah, rain can spoil the best summer. I mean, we do have particularly good summers recently in Switzerland. But it can be hit and miss. One day that's particularly affected of course, because we can't move it is Swiss National Day, which is August the first just in case you're listening and you don't know when Swiss national days. It is a national holiday. It's only been a whole day since 1993, when a referendum decided that it was going to be a holiday. The sad thing is when it falls on a Sunday, it's still just a Sunday, you don't get a replacement holiday on the Monday.
Daniel: You don't get a credit.
Diccon: You don't get holiday credit. Very typical thing to do, very Swiss thing to do is to go to a big brunch with lots and lots of other people on a farm, or some city centres called Swiss National Day branches. More typical, if you don't want to associate with lots of other Swiss people doing the same thing is you have a family barbecue or friend's barbecue, especially with Cervelat, the National sausage. Yes, there is such a thing. And in the evening, weather willing - that doesn't mean if it's raining at the moment, it tends to mean if there's a drought on or not - there will be fireworks across much of the country, although they are cancelled when it's too dry. And of course, remember it is a holiday so the shops are shut. So be prepared, do your shopping beforehand.
Daniel: Very good. You mentioned farms there. Another thing I wanted to recommend is visiting a local farm. So, there are many, but one example for people close to Zurich is the Jucker farm, which is near Uster. And it's really nice. It's a real working farm, but it's open to visitors. It's about a 30-minute drive from Zurich, and they have a fantastic farm shop and restaurant and lots of animals. It's really a great thing to do with the family.
Diccon: You get to pet the animals?
Daniel: Yeah.
Diccon: So like a like a stroking Zoo.
Daniel: Yeah. And then go and have going straight to see some of the animals lunch.
Diccon: You have some of the animals for lunch. Wow. Yeah, that's it's like stroked a sheep and then eat its offspring for lunch?
Daniel: Something like that, yes.
Diccon: That's really gruesome. But I'm sure kids love it.
Daniel: They do.
Diccon: We'll move on to something slightly less gruesome, although some people might find a gruesome one thing I really didn't expect Switzerland to have. I don't know why, perhaps I just never thought about it, is it's really big on open air festivals in the summer. Now, they tend to be musical of some sort or another, the biggest ones are Gurten in Bern, Paleo in Nyon and the Zurich Openair. So it's all types of music generally involving people camping overnight. Think Glastonbury, but about a 10th of the scale. But it's can be fun, if it doesn't rain, and you don't end up stuck in the mud.
Most of them are on again, they've been off, obviously for the pandemic, but most of them are back on this year. The one that isn't which a lot of men will be very happy about is the unfortunately named Blue Balls in Lucerne. It strikes me every year when I see posters for it, they really should have rethought the name. If you're not into the modern music, there's also Murten classics. Over in the lovely walled Town of Murten, and, of course, the Montreux Jazz Festival. Or if you want to get really, really traditional, there is the Alphorn festival in Valais. And you've never really heard an Alphorn until you've had 100 of them play together, I always feel.
Daniel: One thing which has passed already for this year, unfortunately, is the music festival in Frauenfeld, which is really funny because Frauenfeld is a tiny little town in Thurgau, close to the border with Germany. There's hardly anybody there and very few non-Swiss. And yeah, once a year, they have a huge Hip Hop festival with hip hop artists from all over the world who come come to Frauenfeld for a week. So that's quite good fun.
Diccon: Whereas there's one coming up which I studiously avoid every year. But it's hard to avoid if you live in Zurich, isn't it?
Daniel: Yeah, it's the street parade. I've only been once in 17 years. It's not really my thing. But it's certainly very popular. It's the largest techno parade in the world. And over a million people take part and it's televised. And this year, it's on the 13th of August. So remember to avoid Zurich if you don't want to get caught up in that.
Diccon: And of course, I do remember that when I went, it is the Street Parade on that day, but there's a whole weekend of stuff with parties all over the place. So, it is a weekend to either really revel in it if you want to be part of it, or to escape Zurich if you don't want to be part of it.
Daniel: Exactly. Yes, they say that there's something like 100 different parties and events going on at any given Street Parade. We'll put the link in the show notes, but I can't really say too much more about that. I've only ever been one two years ago.
Diccon: Once and never again? Never again. Never again. One thing I've never been to, and I might try and rectify that this year, and that's partly because it happens only every three years is the Schwingfest. Now, I'm gonna let you say it in German gone in your best German, go on, the full title.
Daniel: Oh, yes. The Eidgenössisches Schwing- und Älplerfest.
Diccon: Ja, wonderful. So this is a very, very Swiss outdoor festival that really attracts thousands and thousands of people. So the main event is, of course the Schwingen, which is these big burly men, usually farmers dressed up in hessian sacks like nappies and they wrestle in sawdust. But there's also stone throwing stones, Steinstossen and Hornussen, which is a sort of very weird Swiss form of golf. And obviously, lots of flag throwing, and Alphorns and yodellers. And it's all very, almost kitsch in a way. Are you tempted to be a swinger?
Daniel: No, and never have been. I haven't got the forearms for that.
Diccon: You won't be schwinging then?
Daniel: No, not anytime soon. It's almost like a Swiss version of the Highland Games or something like that.
Diccon: Basically, yes. And then the winner gets crowned king of the stringers. And I think he wins a cow.
Daniel: Oh well in that case maybe I will give it a go!
Diccon: You can win a cow and a laurel reef. But if you do want to go this year, it's in Pratteln in Baselland. It's at the end of August. The main tickets to sit in the stands to actually see the Schwingen I think pretty much sold out. They usually sell out in a matter of minutes. But of course, you can go to the whole event along with 100,000 other people over the weekend. And I've been to Schwingen before, not this big event, but I've been to other ones and it's fun. It's if you're into traditional sort of stuff. It's it's fun to see but you have to you have to like yodelling and I would say you have to like sausages quite a lot.
Daniel: Right. We've spoken about Montreux and Bern and Pratteln and Frauenfeld. That's quite a lot of travelling. I know you wanted to say something about trains.
Diccon: Yes. I mean, I love going around by Switzerland by train. It's actually what I'm going to be doing all summer this summer because I'm researching a new book on the best train rides in Switzerland. And I have what is called a GA - a Generalabonnement - which means it's a travel pass for the whole country. About 5% of the population have it and buy it every year. They do now have a one month version of it. So if you are planning what has become called a staycation, which is completely the wrong use of the word. A staycation used to be that you actually stayed at home. Whereas since the pandemic staycation has now become you stay in your own country and have a holiday in your own country.
So, if you are planning not to travel abroad this year and you want to explore Switzerland, the SBB now have a one month GA available. You don't need the half-fare card for it, the Halbtax card, you can just buy it and it's valid one month from the first date you use it. So you can explore far and wide, even going slightly over the border to Domodossola or Konstanz as well. I love my GA, it really gives me the freedom to just be spontaneous, which isn't a very Swiss trait I know but it's like 'oh, let's go to Luzern for lunch' or 'let's go across to Ticino for the weekend' or even just 'go down to Lake Geneva for a walk'. If you don't want to shell out on the whole month for a GA, there are regional passes. Pretty much most of the country is divided into a region. The two most popular ones are the Tell pass around Lake Lucerne and the Berner Oberland pass. They give you unlimited travel or discounted travel for a certain number of days for a certain price. Again, if you're thinking of five days exploring around Vierwaldstättersee - Lake Lucerne - then it's definitely worth looking at those because you get a lot of the mountain trains much much cheaper than you would paying for them normally.
The other thing to look out for is the Tageskarte, or the day cards. You can buy them from SBB you can buy a supersaver ones we've talked about those before either with or without a half fare card, but they are for specific days and you might not know what you're doing or might not want to go out in the rain. Very often over the summer and I'm sure this summer will be the same, places like Coop, Interdiscount, the post office have two-for-one offers - so you buy one get one free - and they are usually valid without halffare cards. I've very often bought them when I've had guests visiting so that they can use them to explore Switzerland for the day without having a halffare card.
And lastly, I've realised through working with tour groups and being a tour guide, that this summer interest in Switzerland has picked up very quickly post-pandemic. And there aren't lots and lots of tour groups from Asia at the moment, but there are lots of smaller groups or individuals or families. And so quite a few of the famous scenic rides, like the Glacier Express, where you need a seat reservation, you can't just get on, quite a few of them are already booked up, especially at weekends in the summer. So if you are wanting to do one of those, it's been one of those things you've always been putting off and think this is the summer to do it, I would suggest you look into the dates you are thinking of because the trains might be full. It's also that they have fewer trains running, partly because of staff shortages on some train lines. But also because they were expecting fewer people as in the past couple of years. I would always recommend going everywhere in Switzerland by train. You see a lot more you can relax. You can even sleep on the way back when you've had a tired day out.
Next month, we will be continuing the travel theme. Because when I was in America last month, I spoke to Beth Zurbuchen, often from the Swiss Center of North America, and she has visited Switzerland a couple of times. But as she is a visitor rather than a resident, I thought it would be interesting to get her take on travelling around Switzerland as a tourist, as a visitor, and the do's and don'ts and how that differs from our advice that we give here as residents. So next month will be a travel special from America but about Switzerland.
Daniel: Alright, looking forward to it. So that's it from me. Thank you for listening. This is Daniel here from Rigby. We're a staffing and IT services company in Zurich. If you or anyone you know is looking for an IT role here in Switzerland, let us know by sending an email to contact@rigby.ch
Diccon: My goodbye is much shorter. Because I'm Diccon, I wrote books about Switzerland. You can find me online. If you want any answers about anything about Switzerland just drop me a line. If not, I'll hear from you again next month.