Allllll the details about our Swiss trip! As usual, I’ll probably be long winded, but if I do leave anything out feel free to get in touch with questions.
We surprised the boys Christmas morning with a trip via a scavenger hunt. Many of the clues were ideas each of you had – so thanks for that! They were delighted, and while it was A LOT preparing for Christmas, and all the ski stuff that went along with this trip, it was so worth it. The boys really are at such a great age for traveling and exploring. It’s NOT easy, so I hope I don’t paint that picture, but it is so worth it for us.
We left the day after Christmas around 2pm. Left Tampa and flew to Newark. Had a little layover there and then the flight was only 7 hours from there. Both boys slept pretty good, and were absolute troopers throughout the next travel day while we arrived in Zurich. JBs parents came with us for the first part of our trip, which was insanely helpful! I had a few questions wondering whether or not we flew business, and nope! we didn’t on this trip. Whenever we have it’s been just Jb and I – it’s more of a treat and because the cost is not a lot more. If you’re looking for busy bag stuff, I have a post on that here. But on the way over, they mostly just slept.
Here’s the condensed version of our trip:
Day 1: Arrive at Zurich/ Transfer to Interlaken / Lunch, pool, then Dinner at Interlaken
Day 2: Went up to Wengen to see some snow, have a snow ball fight and go sledding
Day 3: Went to Top of Europe and kleine scheidegg
Day 4: Skiing/ and ski school in Grindelwald
Day 5: Went to Murren
Day 6: Skiing in Grindelwald
Day 7: Left Interlaken and stayed in Basel at an airbnb
Day 8: Basel
Day 9: Went back to Zurich to fly out (direct flight into Tampa)
Day 1: So we arrived in Zurich and because this was a trip JB earns through his work, we had people to help us with our bags and put us on a bus to go directly to the hotel in Interlaken. Which was very nice! We stayed at Victoria Jungfrau – which honestly deserves it’s very own post. It was one of the most beautiful, festive, hotels we’ve ever stayed in Europe. I loved the art deco spa – the kids said it was the best hotel because even THEY got to go to the spa. With indoor and outdoor hot tubs – it really was so fun, and we enjoyed heading there before dinner and after a day of sightseeing or skiing. They also had all of their gorgeous Christmas decor up including a HUGE real christmas tree in the lobby, and a lifesize gingerbread house that the boys spent a portion of everyday in. It even had a real chimney with steam coming out of it, and little swiss cartoons inside with cozy pillows.
Day 2: Interlaken is a great base to see the mountains, but also other parts of Switzerland. You’re in such a central Swiss location. So if you wanted to go to see Luzern or down to Lugano, it’s doable in a day. The boys were all about snow, so we stuck to the mountain towns. We walked to the train station (Interlaken OST) and went up to Wengen. The train rides in Switzerland are an excursion in themselves. The beauty really is so overwhelming! The boys loved hopping on the trains. This day we went up to Wengen, which is the cutest mountain town. To be honest Wengen, kleine scheidegg, and Murren are my favorite of the trip! We had lunch, then the boys sled for hours down a hill. You can purchase the little “bottom slides”, as wes calls them, at the ski shops for under 5 francs. They were just happy to see snow. The snow wasn’t super soft – we got much better snow the day later. But they didn’t know any better yet. They got to have snow ball fights, and see snow men. Around dusk we hopped on the train (it gets very crowded with the after ski crowd) and headed back to Interlaken. We stumbled upon Johnny’s and had some bratwurst which was pretty good! Then spent the evening at the spa which was a nice way to relax.
Day 3: We went up to The Top of Europe. While the ice cave made it worth it, the “snow fun” was not in business, so it’s hard to say whether going up 11000 feet was the best use of our time that day. Still, it’s really well done, and a fun thing to do. Just a long day with little ones. We slowed them down by giving hot chocolates to them, so they wouldn’t feel the effects of elevation as much as if they were running around like normal. The great part was we stopped at kleine scheidegg on our way back down the mountain, and it was GORGEOUS. We had wonderful weather the whole trip, with lots of sun, but this day was just beautiful. I loved seeing the apres ski crowd. And if you are just looking for a ski vacation, this spot would be lovely. The Hotel Bellevue is a great spot to take in the view, grab a bite, and let the kids play. The boys had snow ball fights, dug in the snow with some newfound friends, made snowmen, and snow angels. The snow was so powdery and beautiful! That night while my in laws watched the boys, JB and I dined at Le Terrasse, which has a michelin mention. It was delicious, and I loved the decor. We had a nightcap around the piano bar.
Day 4: The boys took a private lesson with Grindelwald Sports at the Bodmi arena. It was not much more price wise than ski school, and worth it because we got to sleep in this day. I’m glad we did this for their first ever time on skis. They loved it! JB and I skied around while they had their lesson. We had dinner that night at Sapori, which was very accommodating to the kids. 
Day 5: Went up to Murren. We had been there once before, and I knew we had to go back. It’s funny, looking at the pictures, we didn’t even have a clear day, but the memory of this cute town just struck me. It was THE CUTEST all covered in snow. We ate at the Bellevue ten years ago, and found it again. It was just as adorable as I’d remembered, and delicious as it was ten years ago. It’s just the perfect swiss kitchy spot. We mentioned how this was probably the best meal of our trip! There was tons of snow on the ground, so the boys sled and played in the snow quite a bit this day. The babies get around in little sleds in this town – it was the cutest thing to see! We had dinner back in Interlaken at Spycher – it was New Years Eve, and it was a fun because they have live yodeling.
Day 6: The boys did Sky School in Grindelwald. We had a really fun dinner that night where they brought Swiss bernese mountain dogs. They were in heaven petting them! They were about 250 pounds of pure sweetness. So gentle! We had live yodeling that night too.
Day 7: Went to zurich airport with the group, put most of our bags in storage and took the train into Basel. Had dinner at our precious friends house!
Day 8: Met up with our friends and more friends at this family friendly spot, went down Spalenberg to the square, did some shopping, eating, boys played at the park. I wish we had allotted one more day in Basel, at least. I just love this precious newlywed hometown of ours!
Day 9: Packed up and headed to Zurich to catch our flight. It was so nice having a direct flight into Tampa! And Tampa is normally a breeze – seriously I think it’s one of the easiest large airports to travel into or out of. BUT they had a power outage making customs an absolute madhouse. Thankfully global entry saved our bacon. It was really nice to not have to wait for hours through customs with two exhausted little boys.
If you got to the end of this – I am impressed! We had such a lovely time, and now I’m kinda hooked about traveling after Christmas. It was a nice to just have family time!!
