Swiss Alps near Grindelward
Friday 18 August
Planning for this adventure started with efforts to get decent flights to Europe at a reasonable price. It worked well.
Early on Friday morning we flew upfront through to Tokyo, caught a train from Narita airport to our hotel in the heart of the city and did some exploring..
The location of the hotel was in Ginza which was perfect for restaurants, shopping and sightseeing, but it was a business man’s hotel with tiny rooms.
All good to know..
Saturday 19 August
Today we had a bit of a sleep in and started the day with a tea ceremony at at Hama Rikyu, a unique tea house in the middle of a pond.
We then met our local guide Sam who took us to see some of famous sights of Tokyo.
We travelled by numerous trains and it was pretty full on, but we got to visit many of Tokyo’s famous sites including the Harajuka district, Meiji Shrine, Shibuya Crossing and Senso-ji.
Tokyo sightseeing
Takeshita Street
After dinner we headed to the Haneda airport for stage 2 - a direct flight from Tokyo to Heathrow in the middle of the plane, connecting to a short flip into Geneva with British Airways
The JAL flight departed Tokyo at midnight and took nearly 14 hours to touch down at Heathrow..
Sunday 20 August
The good news was we were up the front again for the flight to Geneva, and all of our luggage made the trip with us.
On landingmiddle of the day, we picked up our hire car and headed to our accommodation in the beautiful Hotel Victoria Glion in Montreux on Lake Geneva.
We had a lovely meal on the terrace at sunset overlooking the lake, and an early night!
The garden at Hotel Victoria
Dinner at Hotel Victoria
Monday 21 August
Hotel Victoria Glion has an olde world grandeur, and we started the day with brekkie on the vine covered terrace overlooking the lake.
We further roamed the gardens, then went exploring.
We caught a funicular down to Lake Geneva and walked the famous lakeside path.
The path follows the lakes edge and is lined with gorgeous garden beds filled with flowers. With blue sunny skies, flowers, mountain backdrop and the lake, it was a simply stunning place to be.
One in every crowd
Boats
We dallied as long as we could then headed back to the hotel to check out.
Then we drove to the Crans Montana Golf Course at Crans sur Sierre where preparations for the upcoming Omega European Masters Tournament were well under way
The stadiums were largely built and teams of working were putting the finishing touches to both the course and the tournament facilities.
We were amongst the last to play the course before the tournament which commenced on August 31.
Golf Club Crans sur Sierre- hole 7
Crans sur Sierre - tournament ready!
Tuesday 22 August
Another cracking day exploring Switzerland!
Initially we drove 75 kms of winding road, followed by a short train ride to get to the famous ski village of Zermatt.
From here we caught a series of specatacular chairlifts up to see The Matterhorn. With blue skies and nary a hint of a breeze it was a beautiful day to be up in the mountains. Due to the warm weather, there was very little snow and the glaciers were melting before our eyes. It is one of the most dramatic landscapes on earth and a ’must do’ experience for all travellers.
The Swiss Alps
The Matterhorn
In the afternoon we hopped back in the hire car and headed for the magic village of Grindelwald.
The journey was an adventure in itself.
When we started heading up through the mountains the massive concrete highway constructions reminded me of a grown up version of Hot Wheels children’s play sets with hair pin bends, bridges, tunnels and steep drops everywhere.
The scale of some of these road constructions had to be seen to be believed.
But even that was not the complete answer as we then boarded a 'car train', which took us into long tunnels that went through the middle of the mountains..
It was an amazing experience - you have got to hand it to Swiss engineering!
Surrounded by huge mountains the town of Grindelwald is drop dead gorgeous and a great place to stay!
We checked in for 2-nights in the delightful Hotel Fiescherblick.
Grindelward- the view from our room
Wednesday 23 August
We woke to the church bells in the prettiest town setting that I know of. Surrounded by enormous snow capped mountains, Grindelwald is like something straight out of a Disney movie. We had done our homework and caught the 9.09am bus to Grindelwald terminal and then chairlifts up to Mannlichen.
Here we were surrounded by snow capped mountains, and views of green valleys seemingly miles below us.. We spent ages exploring and taking pics
The Alps near Grindelward
Then with backpacks choc a block with supplies we took to the trails on our way back to Grindelwald.
We had some adventures along the way.
Walking in the Alps
We encountered a number of cows roaming the high plains- they all have a large and loud bell around their necks- and they were pretty friendly..
And we encountered 3 parachutists landing on our paths with a flourish and whoops of relief
They literally came out of the blue!
We then caught a train down the mountain back to Grindelwald.
But there is more!
We went for a walk, and found Grindelwald Golf Course, a modest 9 holes in a fabulous setting.
Grindelwald GC- hole 4
We ended the day with an amazing degustation dinner outside on the terrace overlooking the surroundng mountains.
A surreal experience again.
Thursday 24 August
After brekkie we checked out of the hotel, packed the car and set out for another big adventure.
Our first move was to catch a bus up to Grosse Scheidegg.
Grosse Scheidegg walk
It was a very steep, narrow road and went up and up and up into the mountains.
From there we walked a couple of hours of trail to 'First', where we experienced the famous Cliff Walk.
All the while our phone cameras were running hot with some many gorgeous backdrops.
Precipitous cliffs, snow capped mountains, blue skies- it was just spectacular!
Walking the tightrope
Grosse Scheidegg walk- time for a cuppa!
We headed back down to Grindelwald by cable car, running our phones flat with more awesome panoramas..
But a good day became a day to never forget- with the drive to Andermatt via the Furka Pass ( as seen in the James Bond movie Goldfinger…)
This road features endless hairpin bends on a brand new concrete freeway that looks like it came out of the grand kids hot wheels sets.
This is over the top, absolutely bloody crazy - a manic experience with cyclists, buses, motor bikes, and cars winding their way up and over the pass.
It was scary!
Hours later we are still shaken and cannot stop talking about the experience..
Furka Pass- closing stage
Later in the afternoon we briefly dropped in to Andermatt Realp Golf Course - a nine holer with real character.
It is considered to be the world's most alpine course.
As you can imagine, the course did exhibit some elevation change and had some fun holes.
We put the drone up briefly, before the rain came down.
A hop, skip & a jump down the road we came to the ski village of Andermatt - Zum Schwarzen Baron was our home for the next two nights..
Friday 25 August
This morning we walked 25 minutes to the Andermatt Golf Course on the outskirts of town.
It is known to be one of the better courses in Switzerland, and was in beautiful condition.
We confirmed our game at 8am the next day.
We then wandered through the pretty village of Andermatt and boarded the famous Glacier Express train where we had secured a booking in preferred seating.
Needless to say the views were beautiful and it was a delightfully relaxing way to see the alps compared to the high octane drive through Furka Pass yesterday.
Anything would seem a little tame after that!
Glacier Express
A special passenger
Endless views!
We were a little beaten up physically after all the mountain hiking, so a quiet day on the train taking in the views was a pretty smart option.
The views are endless!
Back in Andermatt, we changed into golf clothes and headed back to Andermatt Realp Golf Course where we got some lovely footage with the drone.
Andermatt Realp GC- hole 1 green
Realp is regarded by some as the most alpine golf courses..
It certainly grabs your attention with a series of dramatic holes in mountain goat terrain.
We absolutely loved it!
Saturday 26 August
An early start today to give ourselves time to play and drone the Andermatt main course.
Andermatt GC
We finished brekkie, checked out, got the car out of the carpark and arrived at Andermatt Golf Course before 8am - only to find the starter had not arrived and no cars in the car park!!
But all concerns were forgotten within minutes when the club swung into action.
We headed off the 1st tee at just after 8 in one of the new swish Audi golf carts.
The sun was shining and the course was in immaculate condition.
We played a bit, then got some drone footage and photos at some of the more scenic spots.
We had a ball.
But all good things come to an end..
We packed up the bags and drove for a few hours or more to Zurich airport for our onward journey to Sicily and the next Travelling Golfer escorted tour..
So farewell to Switzerland- we crammed two weeks holiday into 6 days and loved every minute!
…Although we are a little weary!
We are hoping to cater for private tours to Switzerland from 2024.
Peter