A Bed and Breakfast Experience in Switzerland
The Swiss Railway & public transportation system is truly fantastic and will get you wherever you want to go, in comfort, and always on time. The Swiss Travel Pass will give you incredible discounts and is a great way to see Switzerland. However, if you want to see lots of places in a relatively short time, it lacks some flexibility; hence a rental car is the better option albeit it does present some challenges. As we indicated in our “Spotlight” introduction we opted to overnight in Bed and Breakfasts to meet as many people as possible. Be sure to click on the individual links for details on the individual BnBs we stayed at.
We have featured many of the places we visited on this trip in previous “Spotlights”, hence will only highlight a few. We had never overnighted in Swiss BnBs and were looking forward to the experience. From Zürich, where we landed , we drove for visits to Delémont & Porrentruy in the Canton of Jura and then to our first BnB at “Le Pécal 57” in Asuel. The village is located near St Ursanne which was on our “Go to” list for the following day. WOW! Did we find a jewel. The BnB was like a visit to Fantasyland in Disneyland. Janine Sthioul, our hostess, was wonderful. The accommodations were fantastic, and in the morning we were treated to a marvelous breakfast before heading off to St Ursanne, a Harry Potter-like destination.
Our next destination was Solothurn where once again we were welcomed by super hosts at their “Gästehaus au Jardin”. Youssef & Doris Vogt Bouizy were an absolute delight giving us great suggestions to help us get around town. The Old City of Solothurn is a gem, truly as advertised. In the morning Doris dropped us off at the ship landing so that we could catch the boat for a River Aare cruise to Bienne. The Old City of Bienne was a pleasant surprise. It is lovely and really worth the visit. We took the train back to Solothurn and were amazed at the speed & efficiency. The train made several stops along the way to let passengers off and on. The average layover time was 20 to 30 seconds. Unbelievable! Doris and Youssef made us feel at home. Their BnB with its lovely garden would be an excellent choice for a longer stay. It is easily accessible & a great location to explore the 3-Lake Region of Switzerland. We woke up to another fantastic breakfast, then were on our way to the Lake of Geneva via Neuchâtel and Lausanne.
There is something special about Swiss white wines. I like them a lot and was really looking forward to our next Bread and Breakfast located in the middle of the Lavaux wine region. On our way we shadowed the Lake of Bienne & Neuchâtel, then drove along the Lake of Geneva from Ouchy to Vevey for a visit to the Charlie Chaplin museum and a delightful lunch on the lake. Once again we hit a home run. The location of the “Le Vigny” BnB is truly special, as was the warm welcome we received from Yolande Perdrizat, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast. A picture is truly worth a thousand words; just take a look at the attached photos. In the morning we were served breakfast on the back patio overlooking the vineyards & the Lake of Geneva. Another great experience with more on the way as we headed out to the Rhone Valley.
Choosing Bed and Breakfasts is a bit of a guessing game. You can do all kinds of research, but don’t really know what you’re getting into until you arrive. We were curious to see what would await us in Sion, but before that we visited Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn. We were not disappointed. Albeit quite touristy, it was worth the visit & whenever we see a picture of the Matterhorn, we’ll be reminded of the nice visit. Back in Sion we were enthusiastically welcomed by Marie Jeanne Brunetti to “Le Gîte des Iles” BnB. Not very imposing from the outside, but a well-appointed classic chalet style inside. Loved it! It’s located next to a park featuring a small lake & a fascinating Adventure Fun Park. Lest we forget, we strolled around Sion with its two imposing castle mounts and savored a raclette at the Vieux Valais Café before crashing for a good night’s rest.
You haven’t truly visited Switzerland until you have adventured over one of its mountain passes. From Sion we drove up & over the Grimsel Pass, which was featured in one of the James Bond 007 movies, toward the Lakes of Brienz & Thun, and finally to our next BnB destination in Worb just outside of Bern. Another WOW awaited us. Great welcome by Therese Bernhard who led us to a beautiful, spacious room overlooking the countryside with a splendid view of the alps in the background. You couldn’t find a better place to introduce “classic Switzerland’ to a visitor. Every morning we were treated to a lovely breakfast and made to feel like royalty. When travelling overseas one quickly learns that 24/7 is a foreign concept in many countries. We learned that the hard way. We parked our car in a public garage facility located under a shopping center near the train station which took us to town from Worb. When we came back later that night the garage was tightly locked up. We failed to realize that this particular garage was only open during store hours, closing at 6:30, closed on Sundays. Thanks to Christian Bernhard, we were able to extricate our car on Sunday morning.
You’re not always going to find a Bed and Breakfast near your destination. That being the case a local quaint hotel can be a wonderful option. We made that choice in Brienz. It was a nice experience. Our next destination was Lucerne. I just had to see the Lion Monument & walk over the two famous covered bridges with Christine. After a nice lunch in town we headed toward our BnB.
Our experiences with Swiss BnBs had to this point been fantastic. We didn’t know if our luck would hold out. Although it was a bit of a challenge finding “Guest House Daniela”, we were once again welcomed with open arms by our hostess & led to a beautiful, large room for our overnight stay. Christine wanted to “beam up” the modern bathroom to Tucson. An additional plus was the nearby bus stop which took us directly downtown. By the way, be sure to obtain a Visitor Guest Card prior to arriving so that you can ride on streetcars & buses throughout Lucerne for free. Lucerne is the ideal location for exploring the Lake of Lucerne region. Its great public transportation system will get you to almost anywhere in the area.
The last Bed and Breakfast on our “Tour Switzerland in 14 days” was located in Stein am Rhein. We did stop off on the way in Chur, the Capital of the Grisons, for an overnight stay. Couldn’t find a BnB , hence stayed in the middle of town in a small hotel with a well appointed room. We were looking forward to visit Schaffhausen, especially the small town of Stein am Rhein, and were hoping that our final BnB experience in Switzerland would be a winner. It was! Nellie & Roman Keller’s Bed and Breakfast exceeded our expectations. Once again we entered a home as strangers and left as friends.
Bed and Breakfasts are a wonderful way to experience Switzerland. They are great for overnight stays, and even better, if you want to use them as your home base for several days for exploring a region. They fit all budgets and many enable you to use kitchen facilities to do some home cooking. Most are easily accessible via public transportation and offer convenient parking facilities if you opt to drive a car. If you have had the opportunity to experience Swiss BnBs, we’d love to hear from you. Please use the “Blog” section of our Tucson Swiss Club website.
For details on the featured BnBs, click on the highlighted links above.
The Swiss Railway & public transportation system is truly fantastic and will get you wherever you want to go, in comfort, and always on time. The Swiss Travel Pass will give you incredible discounts and is a great way to see Switzerland. However, if you want to see lots of places in a relatively short time, it lacks some flexibility; hence a rental car is the better option albeit it does present some challenges. As we indicated in our “Spotlight” introduction we opted to overnight in Bed and Breakfasts to meet as many people as possible. Be sure to click on the individual links for details on the individual BnBs we stayed at.
We have featured many of the places we visited on this trip in previous “Spotlights”, hence will only highlight a few. We had never overnighted in Swiss BnBs and were looking forward to the experience. From Zürich, where we landed , we drove for visits to Delémont & Porrentruy in the Canton of Jura and then to our first BnB at “Le Pécal 57” in Asuel. The village is located near St Ursanne which was on our “Go to” list for the following day. WOW! Did we find a jewel. The BnB was like a visit to Fantasyland in Disneyland. Janine Sthioul, our hostess, was wonderful. The accommodations were fantastic, and in the morning we were treated to a marvelous breakfast before heading off to St Ursanne, a Harry Potter-like destination.
Our next destination was Solothurn where once again we were welcomed by super hosts at their “Gästehaus au Jardin”. Youssef & Doris Vogt Bouizy were an absolute delight giving us great suggestions to help us get around town. The Old City of Solothurn is a gem, truly as advertised. In the morning Doris dropped us off at the ship landing so that we could catch the boat for a River Aare cruise to Bienne. The Old City of Bienne was a pleasant surprise. It is lovely and really worth the visit. We took the train back to Solothurn and were amazed at the speed & efficiency. The train made several stops along the way to let passengers off and on. The average layover time was 20 to 30 seconds. Unbelievable! Doris and Youssef made us feel at home. Their BnB with its lovely garden would be an excellent choice for a longer stay. It is easily accessible & a great location to explore the 3-Lake Region of Switzerland. We woke up to another fantastic breakfast, then were on our way to the Lake of Geneva via Neuchâtel and Lausanne.
There is something special about Swiss white wines. I like them a lot and was really looking forward to our next Bread and Breakfast located in the middle of the Lavaux wine region. On our way we shadowed the Lake of Bienne & Neuchâtel, then drove along the Lake of Geneva from Ouchy to Vevey for a visit to the Charlie Chaplin museum and a delightful lunch on the lake. Once again we hit a home run. The location of the “Le Vigny” BnB is truly special, as was the warm welcome we received from Yolande Perdrizat, the owner of the Bed and Breakfast. A picture is truly worth a thousand words; just take a look at the attached photos. In the morning we were served breakfast on the back patio overlooking the vineyards & the Lake of Geneva. Another great experience with more on the way as we headed out to the Rhone Valley.
Choosing Bed and Breakfasts is a bit of a guessing game. You can do all kinds of research, but don’t really know what you’re getting into until you arrive. We were curious to see what would await us in Sion, but before that we visited Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn. We were not disappointed. Albeit quite touristy, it was worth the visit & whenever we see a picture of the Matterhorn, we’ll be reminded of the nice visit. Back in Sion we were enthusiastically welcomed by Marie Jeanne Brunetti to “Le Gîte des Iles” BnB. Not very imposing from the outside, but a well-appointed classic chalet style inside. Loved it! It’s located next to a park featuring a small lake & a fascinating Adventure Fun Park. Lest we forget, we strolled around Sion with its two imposing castle mounts and savored a raclette at the Vieux Valais Café before crashing for a good night’s rest.
You haven’t truly visited Switzerland until you have adventured over one of its mountain passes. From Sion we drove up & over the Grimsel Pass, which was featured in one of the James Bond 007 movies, toward the Lakes of Brienz & Thun, and finally to our next BnB destination in Worb just outside of Bern. Another WOW awaited us. Great welcome by Therese Bernhard who led us to a beautiful, spacious room overlooking the countryside with a splendid view of the alps in the background. You couldn’t find a better place to introduce “classic Switzerland’ to a visitor. Every morning we were treated to a lovely breakfast and made to feel like royalty. When travelling overseas one quickly learns that 24/7 is a foreign concept in many countries. We learned that the hard way. We parked our car in a public garage facility located under a shopping center near the train station which took us to town from Worb. When we came back later that night the garage was tightly locked up. We failed to realize that this particular garage was only open during store hours, closing at 6:30, closed on Sundays. Thanks to Christian Bernhard, we were able to extricate our car on Sunday morning.
You’re not always going to find a Bed and Breakfast near your destination. That being the case a local quaint hotel can be a wonderful option. We made that choice in Brienz. It was a nice experience. Our next destination was Lucerne. I just had to see the Lion Monument & walk over the two famous covered bridges with Christine. After a nice lunch in town we headed toward our BnB.
Our experiences with Swiss BnBs had to this point been fantastic. We didn’t know if our luck would hold out. Although it was a bit of a challenge finding “Guest House Daniela”, we were once again welcomed with open arms by our hostess & led to a beautiful, large room for our overnight stay. Christine wanted to “beam up” the modern bathroom to Tucson. An additional plus was the nearby bus stop which took us directly downtown. By the way, be sure to obtain a Visitor Guest Card prior to arriving so that you can ride on streetcars & buses throughout Lucerne for free. Lucerne is the ideal location for exploring the Lake of Lucerne region. Its great public transportation system will get you to almost anywhere in the area.
The last Bed and Breakfast on our “Tour Switzerland in 14 days” was located in Stein am Rhein. We did stop off on the way in Chur, the Capital of the Grisons, for an overnight stay. Couldn’t find a BnB , hence stayed in the middle of town in a small hotel with a well appointed room. We were looking forward to visit Schaffhausen, especially the small town of Stein am Rhein, and were hoping that our final BnB experience in Switzerland would be a winner. It was! Nellie & Roman Keller’s Bed and Breakfast exceeded our expectations. Once again we entered a home as strangers and left as friends.
Bed and Breakfasts are a wonderful way to experience Switzerland. They are great for overnight stays, and even better, if you want to use them as your home base for several days for exploring a region. They fit all budgets and many enable you to use kitchen facilities to do some home cooking. Most are easily accessible via public transportation and offer convenient parking facilities if you opt to drive a car. If you have had the opportunity to experience Swiss BnBs, we’d love to hear from you. Please use the “Blog” section of our Tucson Swiss Club website.
For details on the featured BnBs, click on the highlighted links above.
