Have you ever driven to Switzerland just to have a fondue dinner? Only the crazy people will say, “well, yes I have”. Consider me one of the crazies! Our recent family road trip put us in the vicinity of Switzerland. And by “in the vicinity”, I mean a 6-hour road trip from Austria.
Road Trip
We likely could have gotten there in 4 hours, but we stopped several times to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.
My family was visiting from Georgia and wanted to experience an authentic Swiss fondue dinner. Who am I to disappoint? So, Zurich was added to our list and off we went. We arranged an overnight stay at a local apartment we found on airbnb, which was just a quick tram ride from Zurich’s Old Town.
Dining
A google search of “best fondue in Zurich” would lead us to the restaurant Le Dezaley, which was the number 1 fondue restaurant on Trip Advisor. I am ashamed to tell you exactly how much we paid for this dinner. As you may have heard, Switzerland in general has some high price tags. Let us just say that we ate like royalty.
Zurich
The city of Zurich lies at the northern end of Lake Zurich in northern Switzerland. The picturesque streets of Old Town on either side of the Limmat River reflect its pre-medieval history. We had exactly 18 hours to enjoy as much as we could see. After check-in, we immediately found the tram and headed to Old Town.
Spectacular Views
A 15-minute walk along the river brought us to our culinary destination. We were so hungry and focused on getting to the restaurant that we probably did not appreciate the beauty of Zurich at night, as we should have.
We did manage to get a few pictures and as I looked through them after our return, I was a bit disappointed that we did not spend more time just strolling along the river.
Of course, after eating that much delicious fondue, we were all just ready to go to bed. So, we made plans to call it a night and wake up bright and early to take on day two.
Felsenegg Cable Car
Second to fondue on our request list was a cable car ride. The only cable car in Zurich is Felsenegg. It is located a little less than five miles to the south of Zurich. Due to its proximity to Zurich, it is a very popular destination. Lucky for us, we arrived early so we were practically the only guests.
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Felsenegg includes a restaurant located at the summit, which overlooks the valley and Lake Zurich. It seems to be a very popular hiking trail and I can imagine that it is very busy during the summer.
We had one other idea for our time in Zurich ~ a boat ride along the Limmat River to see all of the things we missed the night before. Unfortunately, it was cold, raining and everyone was tired and we still had several hours of driving ahead of us so that particular boat ride did not happen.
I know that there are many museums in Zurich as well as the beautiful Lake Zurich. I am adding this to my “summer wish list”. I really felt as if our timing was a bit off as it was a little too late for summer activities and too early for the holiday festivals.
Like us on Facebook and please feel free to comment and let us know if you have visited Zurich, paid too much for fondue, and have any recommendations on what to see the next time we visit!
How to Get There
Zurich is approximately 4 hours south of Kaiserslautern, 4 hours and 20 minutes south of Wiesbaden and 2 hours and 30 minutes south of Stuttgart. Click on DB Bahn for train information.
Author’s Profile: Cheryl Koller is a native of Georgia. She is a DOD spouse, mom of 4 daughters (2 adults, 2 teens), thrill-seeker, avid traveler, and lover of food and wine. She is a self-proclaimed Freedom-Preneur and Blogger currently living in Ramstein with her family.
Featured Image Photo Credit: © Cheryl Koller