After being away from both Wengen and Switzerland for many years, I am finally back in the mountains where I spent so many holidays learning (hopefully) how to ski like a real Swiss!
Our hotel in Wengen, overlooking Lauterbrunnen far below
The initial version of this post contained a fairly lengthy diatribe about the airline industry and their ongoing shrinkage of seats. While this is certainly a topic that merits discussion in a travel blog, I’m going to defer it because I’ve just returned from a day of skiing and I am feeling much sunnier now than I was on arrival in Switzerland.
View from our hotel in Wengen
Besides, most of my pain was forgotten by the time the train has travelled from Zurich to Spiez and the peaks of the Berner Oberland come into view. It never gets old: just when you think the topographical riot can’t get any more spectacular, it somehow does.
One of only a few skiers in the Grindelwald-First ski area
You can’t reach Wengen by car: the only access is by a cogwheel railway that ascends ridiculously steep inclines. Our hotel in Wengen, like every other building there, is perched on a narrow ledge hundreds of metres above the valley floor in Lauterbrunnen. While my hotel pictures were taken on an overcast day, I think you can see that the setting is spectacular.
A group pauses before descending from Schilt (Grindelwald)
On our first day of skiing, the sun was shining brightly and the air was crisp: cooler than usual, perhaps, but by no means uncomfortable. And yet we were able to board the Männlichen Bahn cablecar immediately. We then had our pick of the Männlichen slopes, all to ourselves. Where was everybody?
Can’t have too many photos of the Eiger!
It was the same story on the slopes above Grindelwald, where we spent most of the day. The only logical explanation is that the strong Swiss Franc is scaring people away from Switzerland. This doesn’t surprise me: that’s exactly why my ski posse’s last 4 ski trips were to Italy. So, while this trip is not going to be cheap, I’m also foreseeing terrific skiing with no line-ups.
Stay tuned for all the details: as a taster, I’ve included a few pictures of our first morning on the slopes.
As the countdown continues for my upcoming Swiss ski trip, I have found some more interesting materials in the archives. This time, the pictures are from my visits to the remote Swiss town of Scuol in the winters of 2004 and 2006.
The narrow streets of downtown Scuol (2004)
There is something to be said for letting one’s destination be a bit of a mystery. I didn’t know anything about Scuol (pronounced “Shkwoal”) when I arrived there in March of 2004 for a Swiss Abroad ski camp. It’s certainly not a place that I would ever have selected on my own: the ski area does not have an international reputation.
Taking a break on the slopes of Motta Naluns (Scuol, 2004)
But what a pleasant surprise! Instead of being an international resort where English was commonplace, Scuol was located deep in the Rumantsch-speaking region of Switzerland’s Graubünden canton. With its narrow streets, unusual architecture, and highly distinctive regional cuisine, it was unlike any other winter resort I had previously visited. And it was literally at the “end of the line”: the train could go no further.
Traditional ways in the village of Sent (2006)
As you can see from the photos, the lack of international visitors is no reflection on the skiing: one of the pistes (the “Traumpiste”, or “Dream Slope”) continued for more than 10 km from the top of the resort to the nearby village of Sent. The ski area’s vertical drop was in excess of 5000 feet. And yet, we rarely encountered any other skiers: everybody you see pictured on the slopes is part of the ski camp.
Getting ready for another long piste at the top of the resort (Scuol, 2006)
I enjoyed Scuol so much that I returned to the region with my wife in the summer of 2006 and celebrated the Swiss National Day in the village of Sent. I hope to write about our summer visit in a future post.
I’m enjoying the slopes high above the treeline (Scuol, 2006)
It is always a pleasure to discover a place like Scuol that has avoided mass international recognition. This is what we’re hoping for in the summer of 2018. We usually plan these summer trips well in advance and, several months ago, thought that we had found a great destination in southern Africa. We even bought a guidebook and had blocked off the provisional dates off in our calendar. As far as we were concerned, it was just a question of booking the flights when the airfares hit the “sweet spot”.
Near our hostel in the old part of Scuol (2004)
However, travel does not take place in a bubble. Due to a number of external factors, including the political uncertainty in nearby Zimbabwe, we reluctantly decided to put this destination on hold. The timing just wasn’t right.
Ready for some skicross shenanigans (Scuol, 2006)
As a result, the search for our summer destination is once again underway. Looking at the pictures of Scuol, my desire to go somewhere off the beaten path was affirmed: not only are such places fun, but they are also highly advisable during the summer when prices and crowds are onerous in high-profile destinations. I’m watching the airfares closely and will pounce on the next opportunity. Stay tuned for the details!
Although I have been to Switzerland a total of 20 times, I have not been there since starting this blog in early 2014. My only Swiss posts have been travel flashbacks to earlier trips. Happily, that is going to change in early 2018, as I will be returning to Switzerland for an extended ski safari.
Some of my friends having lunch outdoors, at the 1992-1993 Swiss Abroad ski camp in Splügen, Switzerland
Switzerland is an expensive destination and simple economics dictated that I ski elsewhere for the past several winters. However, I have found a way to make this work and will be skiing in both Wengen and Lenk this winter.
Me, halfway down the “Black Rock” piste above Wengen, Switzerland in 2002
Why Wengen? You may have heard of it as a stop on the World Cup ski circuit: the famous Lauberhorn piste is a real test of both daring and endurance. However, I chose Wengen this year because of the great experiences I had in the Grindelwald-Wengen-Murren region (a.k.a. “Jungfrau Ski Region”) between 1999 and 2011 with the ski camps for the Swiss Abroad.
Having lunch outside in the sun: the “Tipi” at Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland (March 12, 1999)
The Organization for the Swiss Abroad (“Auslandschweizer-Organisation”, or “ASO” for short) organizes ski camps every year for Swiss citizens who are living abroad. I attended many of these camps and met lots of people who continue to be great friends. In fact, my current ski posse arose from the ASO camps. Some of us have been skiing together for 20 years!
Skiing by torch light down to Grindelwald (March 13, 2000)
The ASO camps feature a LOT of skiing, in addition to other sports and cultural activities. It’s a great way to connect with one’s Swiss roots…and become a much better skier. The camps tend to move around each year: I attended camps in resorts such as Splügen, Scuol, Arosa, and Grächen. However, I attended at least five such camps in Grindelwald and Wengen.
Me, in front of the Jungfrau (March 9, 1999)
This winter, I will have the opportunity to take up-to-date photos of the riotous scenery around Wengen. I will also be playing the role of guide: with all that experience, it will be a pleasure to show one of my Canadian friends some of the many highlights of these iconic mountains.
Part of my group, preparing to ski down the James Bond 007 piste from the Schilthorn to Mürren (March 11, 1999)
And the highlights are many. There is the brilliant chocolate cake at Wengernalp. There is the black-rated “007” ski run from the top of the Schilthorn (and its rotating restaurant), made famous by James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. The black-rated pistes called “Oh God” and “Black Rock” that lead down from Eigergletscher also offer unforgettable challenges…partly because the scenery is so distracting! Above Grindelwald, you can watch an Alpine Ibex watching you from an impossibly high and inaccessible peak.
Avalanche! The Wetterhorn, above Grindelwald, on March 13, 2000
It goes on and on. There is the astonishing 2km sheer vertical rock face of the Eiger, which rises to a height of 3,967m: I can think of no more intimidating mountain in the world. To me, it is even more impressive than the adjacent Jungfrau, which rises even higher to 4,168m (13,675 feet). There is the car-free village of Wengen, perched on top of a cliff that plunges down 500 metres to the valley below. There is the “Tipi” at Kleine Scheidegg, where I have eaten many a sun-dappled picnic lunch outdoors…but where I am determined to have one of the freshly cooked pizzas and sausages.
About to ski down “Oh God”: March 15, 2000 (Wengen, Switzerland)Pausing halfway down the “Oh God” piste, above Wengen (March 15, 2000)
I am really looking forward to revisiting some of these past highlights, as well as discovering new ones. To accompany today’s post, I’ve unearthed some archival photos of my Swiss Abroad ski camp experiences from 1992 to 2002.
Looking for Ibex, high above Grindelwald in the “First” ski area (2002)
Stay tuned for more on Swiss skiing…and on my evolving plans for the rest of 2018!
As I mentioned in a recent post, the dates have been chosen and I am now deep into the “venue selection process” for this winter’s ski trip. It’s not on the same scale as planning an entire year’s worth of travel, but this is the most complicated travel problem I’ve faced for quite some time. Today’s lengthy post, illustrated with some pictures from March of 2010, is all about figuring out when and where to ski.
Fun on the rooftops in Grächen, Switzerland (March 2010)
There are usually about 6 of us, coming from 4 or 5 different countries (depending on the year) and two continents. Thanks to e-mail, this is not an insurmountable barrier. However, while it is great to be in regular contact with my “ski posse”, it can sometimes still feel like herding cats when it is time to make a decision. Not only are we in different time zones, but we all in different professions (with their own “seasons”) and our countries all have different “high seasons” for holidays. In Canada, for example, there can be a lot of competition in the workplace for “March Break” vacations.
Geography, economics, and our own preferences dictate that the ski venue will be in Europe. We also like to discover new resorts, so we rarely say “let’s just go back to the same place as last year”. This is where things get really complicated. Europe is a small continent but there is a huge amount of skiing.
Not every ski resort is quaint (Cervinia, Italy)
The first consideration is the time of year. February is traditionally the month for ski holidays in Europe, so prices are often double what they might be in January or March. As January is also the coldest month and high-altitude skiing means even colder temperatures, this means that we will generally ski in March.
Skiing in March rules out a lot of the lower-altitude resorts, as we need to be sure that the resort will have sufficient snow. This means that we are more or less confined to the Alps. This is not a terrible fate but it does rule out some interesting off-the-beaten-path possibilities.
Skiing by the Matterhorn (Zermatt, Switzerland)
The next consideration is national price levels. While we always stay in inexpensive accommodation, a strong currency and high standards of living can sometimes push even the cheapest accommodation out of reach. Right now, pretty much everything in Switzerland is out of the question because of the very strong Swiss Franc. It’s not just the hotel cost: we also have to consider the cost of lift passes, ski rental, food, and transportation to/from the resort.
As we enjoy exploring different pistes and most European bookings need to be for a week, the resort needs to be of a certain size to hold our interest. We don’t want to ski the same slopes six days in a row. This rules out all but the largest stand-alone resorts. Generally, we are looking for a ski “region”, where a single pass gets you access to a variety of different resorts (ideally linked by pistes rather than by bus or train). We try to avoid purpose-built resorts: it’s much more interesting to ski in and around real Alpine villages.
3700m above sea level: skiing across the Swiss/Italian border above Zermatt and Cervinia
Once we think we’ve found a region or resort, we also need to consider our access to the ski lifts. An otherwise perfect village 6 miles from the nearest lift does not work. Ideally, we want something in the “middle” of the region that allows us to access all of the resorts covered by the weekly ski pass.
We also need to find accommodation for 6 unrelated people. Ideally, this would be in 6 single rooms, although this is not always possible. Most hotels don’t have many single rooms, as the economics favour putting more than one person in a room. Also, many seemingly ideal hotels are booked a year or more in advance, either by tour groups or by returning skiers who have enjoyed the resort in the past.
Some of the posse at Zermatt, with the Matterhorn looming large in the distance
We also need to eat! One of the great attractions of European skiing is the (usually) excellent on-mountain and in-resort dining. However, this is not always the case. Evening dinners can be problematic: after 8 hours of skiing, we don’t want to wander all over town trying to find a reasonably-priced place with good (local) food that has tables available and appeals to all 6 of us. Lately, we’ve found that a well-chosen hotel offering half-board (with each day’s breakfast and dinner included) is a good solution to this problem. But good-value accommodation and good food don’t always go hand-in-hand.
With all of these considerations, the initial stages of the search can be overwhelming. Nobody wants to let the others down with a lousy venue or a proposal that not everyone can afford. This year, I did have a small crisis at one point and wondered whether we should just go back to a “safe” resort that we’ve visited before.
More fun at the Swiss-Italian border, high above Zermatt and Cervinia
However, after much research and some frustrating late nights at the keyboard, the chase appears to be coming to a successful conclusion. It looks like we’ve found our 2016 ski region and we are down to a couple of hotels in 2 different resorts within that region.
This year’s destination is the cross-border Via Lattea (“Milky Way”) ski region in northwestern Italy and southeastern France. This region hosted the skiing events for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino (Turin). Whichever hotel we choose, we will indeed have quality accommodation in a large ski region (that most of us have never visited before) with great food, interesting local culture and sights, good access to lifts, and very reasonable prices. While it was a challenge at the time, it is great to know that the long hours of preparation will not be in vain!
A couple of months ago, I wrote about skiing in the famous Swiss ski resort of St. Moritz. We did it on the cheap by staying in a rather “rustic” pension in the nearby village of Celerina. Seeking even more Alpine fun, a couple of us moved on to the remote village of Andermatt for some additional skiing.
Andermatt could not be more different from St. Moritz. No champagne and caviar: everybody was here to ski. A lot. Andermatt is one of those smaller-scale resorts that attracts hard-core skiers because of the extensive off-piste opportunities.
Pausing halfway between Andermatt and Sedrun – clearly having a miserable time in the March sun
How hard-core were the skiers here? We’re usually among the first on the slopes, but here we never saw anybody else at breakfast. The breakfast room opened at 7:00 a.m. and everybody was out of there by 7:15 a.m. when we arrived.
Although the total number of lifts and pistes wasn’t on the same scale as Zermatt, for example, the vertical drop was still huge. It was also possible to ratchet over to the nearby resort of Sedrun, as it was included in the same lift pass.
You can ski right through real villages here! This is just above Sedrun.
Whether we were in Andermatt, Sedrun, or somewhere in between, we never had to line up for the lifts. I didn’t see too many day trippers here: it’s just a little too far from big cities, at least by central European standards. With no crowds, it was relatively easy to ski every single marked piste in the combined ski areas…and then return to our favourites over and over again.
A mock-serious moment high above Andermatt, scoping out the best route down from the top of the Gemsstock
We also saw a lot of unusual things. One fellow (who, like a number of the skiers here, was a real individualist) brought his dog with him on the chairlift. That was cute, although I wondered how he would ski while carrying the dog. The answer: his dog RAN down the pistes! I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a fairly large retriever and he just took off after his swift-skiing owner all the way down. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog that happy. He had the goofiest grin on his face as he jumped into his owner’s arms at the bottom of the next lift. In a smaller resort like Andermatt, this kind of thing can happen.
The narrow main street of Andermatt: lots of snow even in mid-March!
The town itself was pretty sedate, especially after the slopes had closed for the day: it was nothing like the pumping party scene you might find in the larger Austrian resorts. I remember how loud the squeaking snow sounded as we walked back to our hotel at night. You could see thousands of stars in the sky and really feel like you were “off the grid”. This was also one of the few Swiss resorts where we could afford a hotel room with our own bathroom.
The bottom of the piste…and our hotel in Andermatt!
Staying here for an entire week here might be pushing it, unless you hired a guide to explore the back country. However, as you can probably tell from the pictures, I had a blast being a scruffy powder hound here for a few days…an enjoyable contrast to the Belle Époque elegance of St. Moritz.
Have you ever wondered who else reads this blog? While the blog software doesn’t tell me who specifically is reading the blog, it does tell me in which countries the blog’s readers are located. So don’t worry – I don’t know who you are…unless you post something!
Incredibly, there have been visitors from 97 countries so far! Many of these countries have very few views (it would not be reasonable to expect thousands of hits from Vatican City or Réunion) but the numbers are significant for the first 30 or 40 countries. It should come as no surprise that, by far, the most readers are in Canada.
The Matterhorn, as seen from the small alpine hamlet of Findeln in the Sunnegga area
It also probably isn’t surprising that the U.S.A. and the U.K. occupy the second and third positions. Rounding out the all-time Top 20 are Brazil, Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Switzerland, France, Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czech Republic, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Sweden, Peru, Ireland, Poland and Australia.
The rankings definitely change over time. Croatia really spiked during my visit there last spring but has been falling ever since. For 2015, I’ve noticed increases in France, Australia, Thailand and Russia…but decreases in the U.K., Costa Rica and the Czech Republic.
My friends will try any angle to take the perfect photo of the Matterhorn
Most notable, however, is where there are *no* hits at all. Given its large population, it is interesting that not a single person from China has visited my site (other than people in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, which are tracked separately)…yet I have numerous hits from nearby Vietnam, Taiwan, Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Despite significant numbers across Northern Europe, I also haven’t connected with Latvia yet.
The other side of the Matterhorn (as seen from Italy)
One does have to be careful with interpreting the data. There is an apparently benign but also persistent automated “webcrawler” based in Brazil that is, I believe, exaggerating the numbers in that country.
I can also get information on which “searches” have led to visits to my site. The most popular search that does not include my name has been “London Oxford Street”. But multiple views have also resulted from “Megadisco Machu Picchu”, “schöne bilder von Paul Young 2014”, “van der ley cheese Groningen” and “place d’erlon Reims night”.
Arrival at the Cime Bianche ski area above Valtournenche, Italy (just after crossing over from Zermatt, Switzerland)
There are also many searches that resulted in a solitary visit. Some of my favourites include “abandoned wood bobsled”, “context of the movie Invictus South Africa in 1992-1995”, “gray research sound effects console”, “Inus Mor and rabbits sea lions”, “Budapest hockey and soccer teams jerseys”, and “casado con carne en salsa” (as well as plain old “casado con carne”). If I ever start up another band, I am going to seriously consider calling it “Abandoned Wood Bobsled”. I am really curious about the story behind that search but it will probably remain a mystery forever.
Another view of the Italian side of the Matterhorn (with lots of tiny skiers below)
Today’s photos are from my 2011 visit to Zermatt. I don’t think it would make a lot of sense to do a separate travel flashback for my second visit there…but I did want to share some of these pictures. If you like them, take a look at my previous post for more words and pictures about skiing in the shadow of the Matterhorn.
The Matterhorn isn’t like all the other mountains. I had heard that the Matterhorn was special but I didn’t truly appreciate it until I saw the Matterhorn on a cloudless day. This is what the picture above shows – it was taken from above the village of Zermatt and shows just how distinctive the Matterhorn really is.
Straddling the border between Italy and Switzerland, the Matterhorn rises to an elevation of 4,478 meters (14,692 feet). This is very, very high but it is all the more remarkable because none of the neighbouring peaks are anywhere close to that elevation.
This picture was taken just after we skied the closest piste to the Matterhorn. One feels very small when skiing there!
Wherever you go in the village of Zermatt, or wherever you ski in the Sunnegga-Gornergrat-Klein Matterhorn ski region, you constantly find yourself looking up at the Matterhorn. Of all the mountains I’ve seen up close, only Grindelwald’s Eiger (with its sheer rock face of nearly 2 uninterrupted vertical kilometers!) comes remotely close to having such a magnetic effect. I think we all took at least 100 photos of just this one mountain.
It’s very cold and desolate as you near the top of the Klein Matterhorn ski area (and the Italian border)
Even without the Matterhorn, however, skiing in Zermatt is quite spectacular. The pistes on the Swiss side are extensive and there is an impressive vertical drop of about 2,200 meters (about 7,218 feet). From top to bottom, it can be a 20 km ride! There isn’t much in the way of easy terrain here and it has a reputation of being a real skiers’ resort. But even if you can manage the terrain, you still have to conquer the altitude: the top of the Klein Matterhorn area is a (literally) breathtaking 3,883 meters (12,736 feet) above sea level.
At the top of Klein Matterhorn, just before altitude sickness kicked in!
I was OK with the altitude when I just skied down from the top of the Klein Matterhorn. This is glacial skiing and you don’t have to work too hard. However, on another occasion, we climbed up to the top of a viewing platform for an even higher view. This extra exertion left me feeling listless for the rest of the day: I suspect that I had a minor case of altitude sickness…something I’ve never before had while skiing.
The “Hennu Stall”…we stopped here for “après-ski” shortly before finishing our descent to Zermatt
There is another reward for going to the top of Klein Matterhorn: Italy! Yes, the Italian resort of Cervinia is connected at this high alpine saddle and it is possible to ski on the Italian slopes if you bought the “all areas” ski pass in Zermatt. The slopes on the Italian side are sunnier and easier…and the food is a nice change too! The resort of Cervinia has some architectural missteps, to be fair, but it was really fun to end up in another country for a few hours.
Skiing above the clouds! Looking towards Italy from the top of Klein Matterhorn
The only problem with crossing over to Italy is that you really need to time your return properly. If you don’t make it back to the Klein Matterhorn by the time the upper Italian lifts close, you are stuck on the Italian side. It is a very expensive (hundreds of dollars) taxi ride back to Zermatt, as there is no direct road connection between the two resorts. Somebody said that it would take “a few hours” by road.
One of the creatures we encountered while skiing down to Zermatt
For an intense week of skiing in the Alps, I would certainly put Zermatt at the top of my list. Grindelwald/Wengen/Schilthorn would be close but the presence of other tourist activities (such as the Jungfraujoch cog railway) dilutes the ski atmosphere just a little bit…so it might be a good choice if you have non-skiers in your travel group. Like most Swiss resorts, Zermatt is not cheap but it is possible to find deals if you don’t insist on a private bathroom. After all, you’re there for the skiing! We liked skiing in Zermatt so much that we went back in 2011.
The exclusive Swiss village of St. Moritz is a very famous mountain resort. In fact, some say that winter tourism was invented here in the 19th century. Having that kind of history, as well as hosting the Winter Olympics on two occasions, you can imagine how much it costs to vacation in St. Moritz. When you also consider the strength of the Swiss Franc and the high cost of living in Switzerland…let’s just say St. Moritz will never top the list of budget-friendly ski resorts.
However, it *is* possible to ski here without bankrupting yourself. My friends and I stayed in the nearby village of Celerina and relied on the very efficient (it is Switzerland, after all) shuttle bus system to get around. The buses were included with our ski pass, even in the evenings.
At the summit of Piz Nair (Corviglia, St. Moritz, Switzerland)
We also stayed in a very “basic” B&B with shared washrooms and shower facilities. We avoided dining in St. Moritz itself, opting instead for local haunts in Celerina and other neighbouring villages such as Samedan. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover that on-mountain lunches in quaint alpine huts were relatively affordable.
We ate outside at this mountain restaurant near the top of Corvatsch
Was it worth it? Absolutely. While St. Moritz is full of very wealthy visitors, not that many of them actually ski on the slopes of Corvatsch and Corviglia. There are relatively few lift lines on sunny days (it’s one of the sunniest ski resorts in the world) and no lift lines at all when the weather is less than brilliant. Similarly, hardly anybody bothers to venture out to the remote but thrilling glacier skiing at Diavolezza and Piz Lagalb. We couldn’t believe how often we were the only skiers in the cable cars that were built to accommodate 80 people.
The rest of my ski posse, enjoying an empty cable car at Piz Lagalb (near St. Moritz, Switzerland)
The skiing itself is wonderful too. There may not be a mountain that dominates as much as the Matterhorn (Zermatt) or the Eiger (Grindelwald) but there are still massive peaks in every direction. The pistes aren’t crowded and everybody takes relatively long lunches. At Diavolezza and Lagalb (see my “About Me” page for another photo from this area), the pistes were basically empty and we were making “first tracks” long after we arrived.
My ski posse at Corvatsch. Even on a beautiful day like this, the pistes are not crowded at all.
6 days of skiing was just enough time to experience all that St. Moritz has to offer. We spent 2 days in each of the Diavolezza-Lagalb, Corviglia-Piz Nair and Corvatsch ski areas. The layout of Corviglia-Piz Nair was a little awkward and accordingly it was probably our least favourite of the three areas. However, when you made it to the highest pistes, even Corviglia delivered its fair share of “wow” moments.
View from the top of the Corvatsch ski area: 3303 meters (almost 11,000 feet) above sea level
The St. Moritz area is also notable for reasons unrelated to wealth and skiing. It is one of the areas where Rumantsch, Switzerland’s fourth language (after German, French and Italian), is spoken. Rumantsch is spoken by maybe one percent of the Swiss population but is enjoying a renaissance after being discouraged for many years. It derives from Latin and sounds somewhat like Italian spoken with harsh German consonants…just like Ladin in Val Gardena, Italy.
I’m enjoying the empty slopes at Piz Lagalb!
Actually, because St. Moritz caters so much to foreign tourists (many of whom have relatively little interest in skiing), I think staying in a nearby village is the best way to ski this beautiful terrain while still getting a feel for the local culture. If you want to see how the truly wealthy guests experience the Swiss Alps, you can still crash one of the opulent hotels. They usually open their doors to non-guests in the evenings and we took advantage of that at one of the posh Celerina hotels. It was like stepping back in time to the 1920s, with waiters in tails, salon orchestras, nameplates for guests and the like. We lingered over our drinks for a long time and enjoyed a “genteel” experience at a budget price.
I don’t remember what I was celebrating here, but I’m sure it was very important (Diavolezza, near St. Moritz, Switzerland)
That’s really the key to budget travel: with a bit of research, you can save bushels of money on food and accommodation but still experience the essence of almost any place in the world.
