Stories, tips, and inspiration from the Swiss Alps
59 articles found
Most "Swiss farm tours" are factories behind glass. We compared the seven best alpine farm and dairy experiences in the country, with exact prices, days and seasons. The ranking ends at a working farm of 21 cows in a valley most tourist maps skip.
Riesling-Sylvaner sounds like a blend of two grapes. It isn't. Here's the real story behind Switzerland's most misunderstood white wine, and where to taste it above Lake Thun.
I get this question once a week. Usually from someone booking with a partner who picked the tour. The honest answer has two parts, and neither involves pretending to be a wine expert.
Three hours. One drive along Lake Thun. A vineyard walk, four wines, and views that explain why someone planted grapes on this slope a thousand years ago. Here's exactly what your afternoon looks like from the moment we pick you up.
I run this tour, so I won't pretend to be neutral. But I've watched enough people get on and off the minivan to know exactly who leaves satisfied and who wished they'd read this first.
The breakfast on our farm tour isn't sourced from a distributor or prepared for tourists. Bread baked the same morning, eggs from the farm's chickens, cheese from the cellar 30 metres below the table. Here's what's on it, and why altitude changes everything.
I guide farm mornings in the Justistal every week. I've also stood at the viewing window at La Maison du Gruyère. Here is the honest comparison, including prices, group size, and who should book which.
I've taken guests in sandals. In September rain. In white linen trousers. Here's the actual list, what to wear and what to leave behind, from the guide who runs this every Tuesday and Thursday.
Switzerland has 450 cheeses. Alpkäse is the one you can't buy: summer only, made on the alp, one Justistal farm, 348 wheels a season.
Daniela has been running a working alpine dairy at 1,370 metres above the Justistal since 2009. This is what she told us about cheese, cows, and a valley the tourist maps skip.
The cooperative that manages them today is where our Wine Tour takes you. Almost none of what they produce ever leaves Switzerland.
Most visitors to Interlaken are still asleep when we leave. By 9:00, we're sitting down to breakfast in the Justistal, a valley the tourist maps skip.