Breathe deep. (Expat Advice).Despite Switzerland's outstanding public transportation, the Swiss own 4,436,349 cars, motorcycles, vans, and trucks. On your next vacation, get away from it all--exhaust fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. , noise, and commotion--by visiting one of the country's nine car-free mountain resorts. Bettmeralp, Riederalp, Saas-Fee or Zermatt in the Valais; Murren or Wengen in Bern; Rigi in Lucerne Lucerne (l  sûrn`), Ger. Luzern (ltsĕrn`), canton (1993 pop. ; Stoos in Schwyz; or Braunwald in
Glarus: take your pick. All nine villages promise outstanding skiing and
snowboarding pistes in winter, along with chances to snowshoe Snowshoea recently recognized cat breed; it is a medium- to large-sized cat with blue eyes, and coat color similar to a sealpoint or bluepoint Siamese, but with a white nose, chin, and ventral midline, and white boots on all feet. , toboggan, ice skate and curl. In summer, there are magnificent hiking trails, and several resorts offer tennis, mini-golf, swimming, biking, and cultural activities as well. Whichever town you pick, you are sure to have plenty of sun and breath-taking alpine views. All nine of the car-free resorts described here are members of GAST, an association of Swiss tourist locations without car traffic. The association guarantees that its member resorts will not only give their guests a carbon-monoxide-free holiday but also plenty of information about public transportation, convenient luggage transport to each hotel, and excellent standards of service. For more about GAST, see www.gast.org. Bettmeralp, VS: Altitude: 1,950 meters Transportation: By train to Brig Brig, town, Switzerland Brig (brēk), Fr. Brigue, town, Valais canton, S Switzerland, on the Rhône River, at the north entrance of the Simplon Tunnel. , change for Betten; from Betten to Bettmeralp via cable car. By car to Betten, where there is a large car park next to the cable-car station and plenty of carts for your luggage. This tiny village next to the Aletsch glacier Aletsch Glacier, the largest glacier in the Alps, covers more than 120 square kilometres (more than 45 square miles) in southern Switzerland. It descends round the south of the Jungfrau into the valley of the Upper Rhône; at its eastern extremity lies a glacier lake, Lake Märjelen with its wooden cottages and picturesque church looks like it belongs in a history book. Nevertheless it has all the shopping facilities, restaurants and infrastructure you need for a great vacation, as long as you are content with simplicity, clean air, fabulous views, and plenty of exercise. www.bettmeralp.ch info@bettmeralp.ch tel. 027 928 60 60 Riederalp, VS: Altitude: 2,000 meters Transportation: By train to Brig, change for Morel morel Any of various species of edible mushrooms in the genera Morchella and Verpa. Morels have a convoluted or pitted head, or cap, vary in shape, and occur in diverse habitats. The edible M. : from Morel to Riederalp via cable car, By car to Morel, where you park and take the cable car. The village is part of a UNESCO UNESCO: see United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. UNESCO in full United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Natural Heritage region that encompasses the Jungfrau--one of Switzerland most famous mountains-and the Aletsch glacier with its 24 km of ice. Riederalp boasts 300 sunny days per year and a view of great 4,000-meter peaks like the Dom, Weisshorn, and Matterhorn. www.riederalp.ch info@riederalp.ch tel. 027 928 60 50 Saas-Fee, VS: Altitude: 1,800 meters Transportation: By train to Brig or Visp, where you change to a Post bus for Saas-Fee that runs once an hour from either town. By car to Saas-Fee itself, where you park (expensively) just outside the village and can take a small electric taxi to your hotel. Saas Fee is larger and busier than either Bettmer- or Riederalp, which means that it has more activities but also more people to dodge. But it is worth braving any amount of crowding to experience at least one of its tourist attractions: the enormous ice caves that have been hollowed out of the Fee Glacier and decorated with sculptures and ice waterfalls. www.saas-fee.ch to@saas-fee.ch tel 027 958 18 68. Zermatt, VS: Altitude: 1,600 meters Transportation: By train to Visp or Brig, change to the BVZ BVZ Burgenländischen Volkszeitung (Austrian newspaper) Railway fora 1-hour ride to Zermatt. By car to Tasch - (5km from Zermatt), where you can park in one of over 2,000 places. From Tasch take either taxi or train to Zermatt. Zermatt's biggest attraction looms over the village day and night-the Matterhorn. First climbed in 1865 by four Englishmen with three Swiss guides (three of the Englishmen and one guide died during the descent), it is still extremely popular with mountaineers of all nationalities. The region is particularly loved and frequented by English tourists, whether climbers, hikers, skiers, or snowboarders. So if you want to spend your days drinking in breathtaking views of 4,000+ mountains and your evenings drinking English beer English beer has a long history, and has quite distinct traditions from most other beer brewing countries (see Beer and nationality). Unusually, England is one of the very few countries (along with Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) where ales, beers brewed by warm , Zermatt is for you. www.zermatt.ch zermatt@wallis.ch tel. 027 966 81 00 Murren, BE Altitude: 1,650 meters Transportation: By train: Regular train service to Interlaken, change there to the BOB line for Lauterbrunnen; from, the BLM BLM n abbr (US) (= Bureau of Land Management) → les domaines line travels up to Murren. By car to either Lauterbrunnen or Stechelberg, where you can park. From Lauterbrunnen, take the BLM line to Murren; from Stechlberg, take the cable car. Another resort made popular by the British. If Zermatt is dominated by the Matterhorn, Murren is dominated by the Schilthorn, topped by its revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant is a restaurant on a revolving floorplate. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the revolving floor. The revolving rate varies between one and three times per hour and enables the visitors of the tower restaurant to enjoy the panorama , and by striking views of Bern's most famous mountains, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. www.wengen-muerren.ch info@murerren.ch tel. 033 856 86 86 Wengen, BE Altitude: 1,274 meters Transportation: By train or car to Lauterbrunnen; there, transfer to the Wengeralp railway (WAB WAB Windows Address Book (file extension for Microsoft Outlook and Exchange) WAB Western Academy of Beijing WAB Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. ) for Wengen. Wengen and Murren face each other across the Lauterbrunnen valley, and each resort has its fans. The Michelin guide to Switzerland gives Wengen two stars and Murren only one, perhaps because the former is larger, has more facilities, and according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Michelin, is "fashionable." So try them both and take your pick. www.wengen-muerren.ch info@wengen.ch tel. 033 855 14 14 Rigi Kaltbad, LU: Altitude: 1,450 meters Transportation: By train to Lucerne; change to the boat for either Weggis or Viznau. From Weggis, take the cable car; from Viznau, the cog-railway. By car to either o1 these two villages, followed by cable-car or railway. The tiny village of Rigi Kaltbad is 350 meters below Rigi KuIm, one of Switzerland's most famous peaks. According to a centuries' old tradition, you should spend the night on top of the mountain in order to see the sun rise over the Lake of Lucerne (Vierwald-stattersee). The view is spectacular: the Jura on one side, stretching to the Black Forest, and on the other side a vast Alpine panorama, from Santis in Appenzell to the Jungfrau in Bern. www.rigi.ch rigi-tourismus@bluewin.ch tel 041 397 11 28 Stoos, SZ: Altitude: 1,300 meters Transportation: By train to Schwyz; change there to the cable car. By car to either Schwyz or Morschach, where there are over 1700 free parking places. From either place, there is a cable-car line to take you up to Stoos. Stoos is a village with only around 80 permanent residents, hut since 1761 it has had a guesthouse guest·house n. 1. A small house or cottage adjacent to a main house, used for lodging guests. 2. A bed-and-breakfast. . A second guesthouse, built in 1850, had by the turn of the century become the Sporthotel-Kurhaus Stoss, a well-know spa that attracted guests from as far away as Russia and England for its famous "whey whey liquid residue from milk after the removal of cheese curds in the manufacture of cheese. An excellent protein supplement but difficult to handle in the liquid form, except to pigs maintained close to the cheese factory. Dried whey is easy to handle but processing costs are high. " cures. Today you don't have to drink bad-tasting milk byproducts to enjoy a healthy vacation in Stoos, thanks to its sports facilities See:
n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. of geography. www.stoes.ch verkehrsverein_stoos@bluewin.ch tel. 041 811 15 50 Braunwald, GL Altitude: 1,300 meters Transportation: By train from Zurich via Glarus to Linthal Braunwaldbahn; change to the funicular up to Braunwald. By car also via Glarus to the Linthal valley station, Parking in lots or garage. Accommodations: 10 hotels and boarding houses with 600 beds; another 500 beds available in vacation apartments, plus 350 beds for groups in 8 lodges. Braunwald has a long history as a mountaineering mountaineering or mountain climbing Sport of attaining, or attempting to attain, high points in mountainous regions, mainly for the joy of the climb. and skiing center. In fact, the very first shelter of the Swiss Alpine Club The Alpine Club was once described as:
www.braunwald.ch tourismusinfo@braunwald.ch tel. 055 653 65 85 |
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