After completing my trip around Europe, I think I can safely say that Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It was absolutely breathtaking - you never know the beauty of the world until you are standing right in front of it at a complete and utter loss for words. Truthfully there was not any one place on my trip that I didn't find beautiful, however, Switzerland really took the cake as far as natural beauty goes. I highly recommend taking a trip to Switzerland at some point in your life! Check out how I spent my two days there below.
DAY ONE
Our first stop in Switzerland was to check out the Rhine river falls. The Rhine river flows through various countries in Europe, but in Switzerland it produces quite the waterfall, which draws in visitors from all over. It's no surprise that it is such an attraction because it was just stunning. The water was such a pretty shade of blue, and was so glistening and clean. After taking plenty of pictures, we hopped back on the bus to head to our final destination of Engelberg.
Driving through the Swiss Alps was such a surreal experience. I have never seen mountain ranges quite as large as these, let alone so incredibly beautiful. I felt like I was in a dream! The surrounding hills were covered in the greenest most lush grass I have ever seen, and had sheep grazing and cute little houses scattered throughout the landscape. I couldn't stop staring - I was truly blown away by the natural beauty. We arrived at our destination, Engelberg, which was a quaint little ski town situated in a valley between the mountains. Everywhere you looked you could see either the greenest grass or incredible snow capped mountains. It didn't feel real! We stayed at the Angels Lodge, which was such a cozy and welcoming little ski resort. After staying at hostels and sharing a room with five other people for the prior few cities, this hotel was a much needed change. Since we got to Engelberg on the later side of the day, we stuck around the hotel for dinner, and enjoyed a relaxing night in. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up on some sleep and rest up for what would be a busy next day.
DAY TWO
DAY TWO
Our second day had a lot on the agenda, and started bright and early with a trip up the Swiss Alps. Coming into this trip I had heard amazing things about this excursion, so I was really excited to finally have the chance to experience it for myself. Mount Pilatus was the mountain that we ventured up to the peak of, which provides views of both the city of Lucerne and Lake Lucerne. We took a gondola ride up to the top which offered panoramic views for as far as the eye could see. To my surprise, I wasn't terrified of the gondola ride - I think I was too in awe of how beautiful it was to be concerned about how high up we were! At the top of the mountain, it was no surprise that the views were even more incredible than the ride up. It was amazing to be able to stand on the peak of a mountain seven thousand feet above sea level - I was literally up in the clouds. I remember saying to myself multiple times that I could have stayed up there all day long just admiring the view. I really could have, it was just that spectacular.
After a couple hours of exploring the peak of Mount Pilatus, we took a cogwheel down to the bottom, before hopping on a boat that would take us to the city of Lucerne. The boat ride was about an hour long and took us on Lake Lucerne, which also gave incredible views of the surrounding mountains and the lake. I was so very content just sitting there and taking it all in. Once in Lucerne we did a little exploring around the city. It was a bit smaller than some of the other cities we had been to, which was nice because I felt like I got a good sense of everything the city had to offer. After eating lunch, doing a little shopping, and of course indulging in some Swiss chocolate (which was the best of all the chocolate I tried in Europe), we took a bus back to our little town of Engelberg. Once back, we had a quiet evening. I went for a run - my one and only run the entire trip - which I did just because I couldn't pass up the opportunity to run in such a beautiful place. Afterwards a few girlfriends and I grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, and despite being charged twenty dollars for water, it was delicious and the perfect end to our stay in Switzerland!
After a couple hours of exploring the peak of Mount Pilatus, we took a cogwheel down to the bottom, before hopping on a boat that would take us to the city of Lucerne. The boat ride was about an hour long and took us on Lake Lucerne, which also gave incredible views of the surrounding mountains and the lake. I was so very content just sitting there and taking it all in. Once in Lucerne we did a little exploring around the city. It was a bit smaller than some of the other cities we had been to, which was nice because I felt like I got a good sense of everything the city had to offer. After eating lunch, doing a little shopping, and of course indulging in some Swiss chocolate (which was the best of all the chocolate I tried in Europe), we took a bus back to our little town of Engelberg. Once back, we had a quiet evening. I went for a run - my one and only run the entire trip - which I did just because I couldn't pass up the opportunity to run in such a beautiful place. Afterwards a few girlfriends and I grabbed dinner at a local restaurant, and despite being charged twenty dollars for water, it was delicious and the perfect end to our stay in Switzerland!
Hope to see you again Switzerland!
xo. G
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