I went to Switzerland this past weekend and here’s a little guide I’ve made for anyone thinking about going. Sorry I’ve been out of it for a bit here. Pretty confident that I officially have my bearings here…

1.     If you’re not into extreme sports (skiing/snowboarding, sky diving, cliff jumping, paragliding, etc.) you are most likely going to be wasting your time/money there.

2.     I found a relatively cheap flight from Seville to Geneva for around $180 round trip which is a pretty good deal considering Seville is a hard airport to fly out of.

3.     I booked my trip with Bus2Alps and am pretty confident you got the most bang for your buck with this program. Arrived Thursday night around 6, took a quick free train into Geneva (spent 3 hours there), and got back to the airport in time for our 2.5 hour bus ride to Interlaken provided by Bus2Alps where our guides were helpful. The Bus2Alps trip gets you transportation to and from the airport, a hostel for 3 nights (Balmer’s Herberge), a few discounts on activities in Interlaken (not two day ski package though), and free breakfast. They were also really helpful with my group in particular because we needed to get back to the airport earlier than the normal time to catch our flight so they got us another bus free of charge, which saved us an expensive train ticket.

4.    If you are a big skier/snowboarder, book the two-day ski package with Bus2Alps. It was like 180 euro for 2 days of lift tickets, rentals, and transportation from the hostel to the summit of Jungfrau peaks. The first day we had a ton of snow and visibility was super tricky and we had zero depth perception but it was cool because it didn’t feel like we were on planet earth. The second day it was clear and we could actually see the amazing area we were in so I’m definitely glad I got the best of both worlds in that. IF YOU LOVE TO SKI, DO THE TWO DAY PACKAGE. PERIOD.

5.     We went night sledding Saturday night, which was pretty surreal. We took a gondola up and about a 45-minute sleigh ride down that was very similar to Mario Kart. I have to be honest, we probably could’ve done without the night sledding because it was a little pricey (78 euro) and we all kind of felt pretty shitty after indulging in a plethora of Swiss cheese…

6.     Where we ate: One thing about Switzerland is everything is pretty expensive so be prepared to splurge on your food purchases. There was a supermarket around the corner from our hostel that had reasonably priced goods so if you’re trying to save money I suggest buying some food to make a sandwich to bring on the mountain or something when skiing.

The first night we ate in Geneva at this little shop that made soft pretzel sandwiches. I had Brie pretzel sandwich (8 Swiss Franc) that was absolutely incredible. If you have time, definitely go into Geneva from the airport – the river area is SO awesome.

The second night we ate at a place next to our hostel called Little Thai which was real good and reasonably priced ($20). It’s a tiny place so make sure you go earlier in the day to make reservations.

The last night we had our fondue meal through the Bus2Alps sleighing trip that I mentioned before

If you have any other questions about the trip, send me an email at dqm5213@psu.edu and I’d be glad to answer them. Stay tuned for more guides like this for my other trips!

Location: Interlaken, Switzerland