Independent travel to Switzerland
Independent travel to Switzerland
In this note, I want to talk about an independent trip to Switzerland, from which I recently returned. Maybe my experience and impressions will be of interest to someone and help to get a general idea of this country that is not very popular among ordinary tourists, or maybe someone will dare to go on an excursion there.
So. Switzerland is a complex and very peculiar state in the very center of Europe, bordering France, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein and Germany. It has its own currency - the Swiss franc (slightly cheaper than the euro). The history of this country is very interesting and confusing.
Once the Roman Helvetia (Latin name Confoederatio Helvetica) was located here, then the time of feudal fragmentation with constant civil strife came (this is still noticeable to this day), and recently this state has been a symbol of peace and tranquility in Europe, maintaining its neutrality in all wars and conflicts, while being the custodian of the different values of less stable neighbours. It is thanks to this neutrality that Switzerland has become the largest and most recognized bank in all of Europe and has the highest European standard of living. In general, you can get information about the country itself from the Internet, and I will tell you about what and how I saw on my journey.
Until recently, Switzerland was practically inaccessible to ordinary tourists, since a Swiss visa was required to enter there, which simply did not make sense for an ordinary mortal, since there are no seas and beaches in Switzerland, only mountains, and the prices are simply sky-high. That is, mainly mountain lovers and those who needed it for work went there. However, with the entry of Switzerland into the Schengen (Schengen area) in 2008, everything changed. Now any special permissions for entry are no longer required and this country is no longer a closed zone of Europe, and therefore you can get there with any Schengen visa from the territory of any neighboring state, which is what travelers like me use.
That is, you can fly to Germany (for example, to Munich) or Austria (to Vienna) or Italy (to Rimini) on some cheap tourist package (or on your own), take a train and be in any Swiss city in a few hours. And it is much cheaper (many times! ) and easier than flying directly to Switzerland, since the prices there are very high. I'm not even talking about getting a Swiss visa - it was a separate problem, but now all this is in the past and thank God! Now everyone can visit this country without any problems, and the cost of the trip is comparable to the price of a regular excursion. You can get to major cities in Switzerland by train or bus, depending on where you go. For example, only a bus goes from Liechtenstein, but from such cities as Munich, Innsbruck, Milan, etc. it is better to go by train, it is more convenient and cheaper. Tickets can be bought at the station ticket office or vending machine, and on buses directly from the driver.
The railway network in Switzerland is quite well developed, trains run quite often, and the fare is relatively low. Moreover, trains in Europe run through several countries, which allows the tourist to get off anywhere, look around, and then go further. For example, from Milan (Italy) there is a train to Munich (Germany) through Austria, as well as to Basel through all of Switzerland. True, such a trip can take many hours, but there are night trains, which allows you to save on overnight stays.
Well, everything seems to be clear with transport, but the situation with languages in Switzerland is very interesting. The fact is that in this country there are as many as 4 state languages: German (dominant), French, Italian and Romansh (Romansh) and they prevail in different areas.
Of course, for linguists and specialists in the field of intercultural communication, this is just a paradise, there is an opportunity to practice in several languages at once, and even in specific dialects, but for our ordinary tourists, everything is not so simple. On the one hand, this is very good, since it is enough to speak at least a little in one of these languages (or a mixture of them) and they will already understand you, but on the other hand, both inscriptions (tablets) and names also come in several languages, and the language will be depend on the region. Therefore, if you are going to go to Switzerland, it is better to write out the main names and words (or phrases) in several languages in advance. For example, the name of the country itself, although consonant, differs significantly in different languages: Schweiz (in German), Suisse (in French), Svizzera (in Italian), Svizra (in Romansh), Switzerland (in English) .
Therefore, depending on which country you will be entering Switzerland from, you will need to choose a name when buying tickets at the station ticket office. You also need to read and pronounce the names of cities very carefully and clearly pronounce the names of cities (and it is better to write on a piece of paper), since there are many similar names in Europe. For example, the city of Buk is in Poland, Bruk is in Austria, and Buks is in Switzerland, and you can easily make a mistake when buying a ticket. Therefore, I recommend that you speak at the box office not only in which city you need a ticket, but also in which country! It also does not hurt to have German, French or Italian phrasebooks with you, it depends on the region you want to visit. If, say, you go to Geneva, then French prevails there, and in the south of the country (near the borders of Italy) they speak Italian more.
Now the most important thing, for the sake of which it is generally worth going somewhere, is the sights, because when traveling to any country and on any excursion, as a rule, travelers want to learn and see something new and interesting. So in Switzerland there really is something to see: there are beautiful mountains, and magnificent lakes, and medieval fortresses, and quiet, calm, clean German-style towns, and many different monuments of architecture and history. Again, I recommend reading about them even before the trip, in order to go somewhere already purposefully. In general, in my opinion, in this country everyone will find something for themselves.
I especially recommend going there to inquisitive schoolchildren and students, who will have the opportunity to get acquainted with several cultures at once and practice languages, as well as plunge into the history of famous cities (Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Basel), which they have heard about since childhood, where they lived and many great people of different eras worked, such as Jean Calvin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, etc.
Now I would like to talk separately about hotels, prices and lifestyle of the Swiss, as for travelers it is often even more important than sights. As I already mentioned, Switzerland has a very high standard of living and several logical conclusions can be drawn from this, which are confirmed by many facts. Firstly, these are the prices for housing and hotels.
If you suddenly want (or will be forced) to stay in a Swiss hotel, then be prepared to shell out more than 200 Swiss francs (about 180 euros) per night (with rather low service)! This is several times more expensive than the same hotel in neighboring Italy. And if you are, for example, in the south of Switzerland and there is no extra money, then it is better to drive to the nearest Italian city and spend the night there. And the money saved is more than enough for the return trip and another day trip to Italy (or Austria). For comparison, in Milan or Bologna, the cost of one night in a hotel is about 70 euros, and a trip from Milan to Venice will take a couple of hours and will cost about 20 euros. Secondly, prices in stores are much higher than those accepted in neighboring countries.
For example, a croissant or a bun costs about 12 francs, and in Italy the whole pizza (round) costs 4-5 euros, a magnet - 8 francs, and in other countries they go for 1 euro, a set of postcards - 12 francs, everywhere it costs 2 -5 euros, etc. And the prices for clothes are generally unrealistic, like from another planet! Thirdly, they (the Swiss) are not used to working, so in most cities everything opens at 11 o'clock and closes at 5 pm. If a store is open until 18-19 hours, then this is already an event and they hang a special poster at the entrance so that everyone knows what kind of workaholic maniacs are "plowing" here. Moreover, everything is closed, even train stations and hotels, so leaving somewhere after 9 pm is already problematic, as well as checking into a hotel (they are already closed at 9-10 o’clock). And in general, at 9 pm everyone is asleep, as if it is already deep night, in some places even the street lights are not lit! So you need to shop and check into hotels, as well as take train tickets during the day.
Although, in cities like Geneva, everything is a little different, they are closer to the rhythms of modern megacities, but the prices there are appropriate.
And finally, I want to dispel a few myths about Switzerland that exist in the minds of our tourists, imposed by films and advertising or resulting from very sketchy information.
The first myth is that there is a warm and mild climate. This is a very relative definition and needs clarification. Of course, frosts down to -50 do not happen there, but there is no heat either. The average temperature ranges from 0 to 18 degrees Celsius. And at the same time, it often rains a little or fog arises, as a result of which it is rather damp and cold there, all the time! The weather is more like London than central Europe.
The second myth is that everything is clean and clear there. Also a dubious statement. Although the cities in Switzerland are much cleaner than ours, they are far from ideal.
And there are no toilets on the streets, and at the stations they are small, dirty and paid. But about the clarity and accuracy, I fundamentally disagree. For example, the railway stations are very small for so many people, the aisles are narrow, there is a flea market all around, the ticket offices work incomprehensibly, out of 5 pieces 3 are closed, and in the remaining 2 there is a huge line (in three rows) in a small corridor, the trains are gouged and constantly late (without any warning! ), and the buses run as they please and it is not clear where, there are no clear schedules, there are no traffic patterns either, there is no soap and toilet paper in hotels (and this is for such and such money! ), etc. . This list could go on for quite some time, but is it worth it...
The third myth is that everything is pure, natural and made by hand. It is nonsense! Finding natural Swiss products in Switzerland is not much easier than in Russia. There is nothing to say about things, dishes, souvenirs, etc. - everything is Chinese junk, or something like that, and of rather low quality.
And they probably forgot about their own manual production of something, since they had been snickering for a long time.
The fourth myth - they are all very cultured. Of course, in Switzerland there are cultured people like everywhere else, but only they have their own ideas about culture and upbringing. For example, they can easily blow their nose loudly at a table in a public dining room when there are a lot of people around, they eat like pigs, they mix everything, they can scatter food on the floor, etc. And this is far from the most disgusting thing that they get up in public places. So these statements are very relative ...
The fifth myth is that Switzerland has good medicine. It is good only in private clinics and for a lot of money (as elsewhere). And in the public sector, bureaucracy flourishes, they save on everything and service as in our clinics.
There are other myths that are also easy to dispel. Much has already been written about them and I would not like to repeat myself.
Well, this is how I personally saw this country.
Perhaps I failed to see something, in some ways I am too subjective, but somewhere my opinion is one-sided. But in any case, you need to prepare for a trip to Switzerland, and at least when traveling for the first time, I advise you to go there just as an excursion, and if you like everything, then stop there already or come there purposefully next time.