Switzerland

In July 2002, Inge and I spent a week in Switzerland. No doubt Switzerland is one of the most beautiful country - just look at how many tourists around you, 50% Japanese and 49% Hollanders. We were lucky that the weather was better than what the forecast had said, only one rainy day. OK, let's begin our trip...

First we drove through the Rhein Valley in Germany. From Bonn till Heidelberg, River Rhein was always beside us. The castles on the mountains along the river are also very beautiful. They are a little small and well fortified. Then we reached Konstanz, a city by Bodensee. Pass Konstanz, we arrived in Switzerland.

The first city we visited was Zürich. It is also the biggest city in Switzerland. The lake next to it is Zürich See, which is very long and narrow. You can have a tour by boat. The water is very clean. A lot of swans rest on the green water.

Left Zürich, we came to the most famous Jungfrau region. Waterfalls and snow mountains are typical there. The village we rested is called Lauterbrunnen.

If you are not fond of climbing, there are many cable cars available. However, we decided to climb the snow mountains. Finally I reached Oberhornsee, a small lake at the foot of the glaciers, which is more than 2,000 meters high.

After Jungfrau region we came to another fantastic region, Aareschlucht, the gorge of River Aare.

Driving in Switzerland is not easy. Look at the roads...

On top of a mountain. We were in the clouds.

Then we drove to Zmatt, a city at the foot of the famous mountain Matterhorn.

Near city Martigny you can find two nice gorges. Unfortunately the Gorges du Trient was closed this year for safety reason. We could only see the small Gorges du Trièges.

However in a small village called Trient, you can have a nice view on Mt. Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe.

Then we drove to the lake of Genève. At Montreux, you can find a very nice castle at the lake.

After Montreux, we drove along the lake. A part of the lake is belong to France, so we were also in France for a short time. It was a very busy road near the lake. At last we arrived in Genève.

Continuing around the lake, we came to Lausanne.

Then we rested in Biel, a city near Bieler See. The weather was so hot, so I jumped into the lake...

Afterwards I had a nice sleep...

The next day we drove home...