Another beautiful train ride took us through the heart of Switzerland. We were glad to be in a scenic car with huge windows to enjoy the views! Arriving in Lausanne we were greeted by a friendly face, my cousin Cheryl was there to pick us up and take us to their home overlooking Lac Lamen (Lake Geneva). We were really enjoying staying with all these wonderful hosts across the region.

Little did we know that Jimmy and Cheryl had several adventures already planned for our stay. First up was a walk through the terraced vineyards with beautiful views of the lake. We stopped at Caveau de Riex for wine and aperitif. For dinner that night Jimmy and Cheryl even made fondue for us, we felt right at home!

Our next adventure was a local hike starting at Les Avants working our way up through the picturesque valley of Les Beviaux. We stopped a perch to enjoy lunch and the views before heading back down. To recover after our hike we stopped at Docteur Gab’s brewery to try some more of the local beer.

The last tourist activity they had planned for us was sightseeing through the old city of Lausanne. We meandered our way through the winding streets admiring the old architecture. The Fontaine de la Justice was our home point and we branched off from there. We even made it to the top of the Lausanne Cathedral for spectacular views of the city below. I could get used to having a local show me around on our travels!

It was a wonderful visit to Puidoux and fantastic being able to stay with our cousins for a few days. We wished we could stay longer but we had to keep moving as we had a few more stops planned before Oktoberfest in Munich.

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We dropped off the car and hopped on a train to Switzerland. Our next stop was another free couch. This time it was at Heidi’s house, one of Sara’s old friends. We were glad for the accommodation because the hostels in Switzerland were even more expensive than in Austria! This also meant we had a local tour guide to show us around the sights.

Our first stop was Rheinfallfelsen, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. We were really racking up the big waterfalls! We tried to find all the best angles on the waterfall, and even took a boat ride to get extra close to the falls.

Being in Bulach, it was a short train ride to Zurich, and that is exactly what we did. We took a day to explore the city. No time in Switzerland would be complete without fondue, and Heidi told us which was the best in the city: Raclette Stube. We enjoyed the day meandering through the city finding good pubs such as Steinfels, and Paddy Reilly’s. My favorite part of Zurich was walking along the banks of the Limmat river and Lake Zurich.

After catching up with Heidi and exploring the city it was time to continue deeper in to Switzerland. And for the scenic train journey we made sure to book first class scenic car for our next leg to Lausanne. It was quite a treat, they had excellent food and huge windows to watch the alps roll past.

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