Spring is in the air and I'm starting to think about day trips that don't include snow sports. After looking at the different threads, I decided to start one based on a column in the onboard magazine of one of the American airlines where someone, usually a celebrity, gives you a guided tour of their city/town. So, where are do you take your visitors?


We always take our visitors to Gruyère, so come along and enjoy the day:

*Cheese Factory - See Gruyere cheese being made and sample the different varieties. Located in Pringy-Gruyère, which is right below the village of Gruyère. Cheese-making from 9 am to 11 am and from 12.30 pm to 14.30 pm, 3 to 4 times a day, depending on the season.
(Entry Fee: CHF 7.00 for adults, CHF 3.00 for children up to the age of 12)

http://www.lamaisondugruyere.ch/inde...142&Itemid=209

*Castle of Gruyère and the Village - Stroll up the main street and then tour the 13th century castle (Entry Fee CHF 9.50 for adults, CHF 3.00 for children)
http://www.chateau-gruyeres.ch/e/cha.../histoire.html

If you're starting to feel a bit hungry, stop for raspberries and double cream at one of the many restaurants or grab a sandwich from one of the stores. Depending on the weather, we either go to the Chalet
http://gruyeres-hotels.com/Anciens_s...en/default.htm
or to one of the many restaurants with a panoramic view.

*Chocolate Factory in Broc - Visit the Cailler Chocolate factory to learn how chocolate is made and to enjoy some delicious samples. Open every day from Monday-Sunday from 9.30-16:00 (the starting time of the last visit). April 1 to October 31. Free entry.
http://main.cailler.ch/caillerflash.asp

*La Cabriolle in Bulle for dinner. I always used to make the mistake of driving through Bulle until I discovered this wonderful restaurant, which has now become a destination in itself. They serve three types of fondue, fondue moitié-motié (equal parts of Gruyère cheese and Vacherin Fribourgeois cheese), fondue Vacherin (made from Vacherin cheese and water instead of white wine), and their famous goat cheese fondue, which has won some culinary awards. This restaurant has lots of atmospere, the servers are friendly, and the food is delicious. And they're open 7 days a week! It's always very busy in the evenings, so I would recommend reservations. If you sit on the ground floor, wander upstairs because the decor is quite original.

http://www.la-cabriolle-bulle.ch/sites/main/

Variations:

If you want to change the itinerary to include more time outdoors, go to Moléson-sur-Gruyére for downhill scootering, mountainkarting, or miniature golfing. From May 3 until September 30, you can hike to an alpine hut and see cheesemaking the old fashioned way. http://www.moleson.ch/default.asp?langue=e&design=2

If it's raining and you want to spend more time indoors, then go to the Museum of the Gruyére Region in Bulle. (Entry fee CHF 8.00 for adults)
http://www.musee-gruerien.ch/en/index.htm

From Montreux, the Chocolate Train offers a visit to the cheese factory, the castle, and the chocolate factory.

May-June and September-October:Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays

Also see these threads:
[Days out] Good deals / free in Switzerland
What to do on a rainy day in Lausanne/Vevey???
Day Trips in the Lausanne/Lac Leman region

In a shameless bid for attention, I’m bumping this thread up in the hopes that some of you will feel inspired to tell us how you would spend a day out in your city/town. What are your favorite places in your "home" town? I’m selfishly hoping that there will be some information about Solothurn and Baden because I’m attending workshops in those cities in the near future and would like to know what to do with my free time. So, does anyone have suggestions for a day out in Zug, Lugano, Neuchatel, etc.? It would be really helpful to have some insider’s tips.



In an effort to keep this thread going, here are my suggestions for a sunny Saturday next to the lake in Vevey and Montreux during the summer:
*Spend the morning at the market in Vevey. Even if you’ve been to lots of other markets, this one is still worth a visit, especially in the summer because many of the vendors wear traditional Swiss costumes and there is wine tasting under the pavilion. There are lots of stands offering Asian food, traditional food, etc., plus plenty of fruit and vegetables. We always have a picnic on one of the benches near the lake. If you feel like having your picnic in a truly special spot, turn left and walk along the lake towards the port of La Tour- de- Peilz. Follow the path next to the lake around the Toy Museum, it looks like a small castle, and you’ll arrive at the port. It’s probably a 25 minute walk from the market place.
*Take a bus or the boat from Vevey-La Tour (http://www.cgn.ch/eng) to the Castle of Chillon, Switzerland’s most visited historic monument. Get off of the bus/boat in Clarens or Montreux if you want to have a long walk next to the lake before going to the castle. I prefer walking clockwise around the lake because the views seem to be better. www.chillon.ch
*The Terrasse du Petit Palais, located next to the mini golf in Montreux, is a great spot to stop for a coffee or a cool drink. It’s owned by the Montreux Palace, but their coffee is the same price as the other cafés in town (except McDonald’s where it’s CHF 2.50) and the terrace offers a wonderful view of the lake and mountains. Just be sure to go there outside of the regular dining hours because it’s also a restaurant.
*If it’s a special occasion and you want to enjoy the evening next to the lake, then the terrace of the Mai Thai restaurant in Clarens is a great choice for dinner because it sits right on the lake. http://www.montreux.ch/mai-thai/
*If you’re looking for something more traditional, then go to the caveau (wine cellar) in St.-Saphorin. Open from May to October on Fridays and Saturdays from 17 to 21 and Sundays from 16 to 20. Following the lake road in the direction of Lausanne, St. Saphorin is the village after Vevey. We always get a bottle of wine and some bread, tomme (cheese), and salami. For more information about the wine cellars in the area: http://www.lavaux.com/index.asp?language=EN

ChrisW, thanks for the links!

I looked at those threads before starting mine, but was hoping to have one thread with "day out" ideas for all of Switzerland. Plus, I was kind of hoping that people would make it easy for everyone else by including sightseeing ideas, restaurants, etc. so that we can just print the post and go without having to do lots of research.

Does anyone know how easy it is to get from Grueyere to Broc? I have friends who are visiting us and we want to try to do both, but we'll be traveling by train to the area (no car).

It is 26 mins by train: SBB

A good option is to take the 'Chocolate Train' from Montreux. You travel in style and included in the trip is a visit to the Gruyere dairy, town/castle and Cailler chocolate factory in Broc. Details

I actually quite enjoyed the Mont Blanc day trip train from Martigny. Takes pretty much the whole day with the travel time to get to Martigny then whatever time you spend in Charmonix. With the 4 day swisspass we didn't have to pay a dime. That is untill you want to go up to the top of Mont Blanc.

It would be about 4kms to walk it, which should take less than an hour for most people. There are no trails as far as my map shows except for the one leading from the west gate in Gruyeres down the slope and heading north to take a shortcut to the road. Apart from that, you'd probably have to stick mainly to the roads.

If anyone is interested in hiking in Lugano, it has three main mountain tops: Mt. Bre, Mt. Boglia and San Salvatore. It takes around 1.5hrs to Mt. Bre, 2hrs to San Salvatore and around 5hrs to Mt. Boglia....its beautiful from the top of Mt. Boglia as you see Italy on the other side of the mountain......There's a very old church on the top of San Salvatore. A barbeque spot can be found on the top of Mt. Bre.

There are also finiculare services to the tops of Mt. Bre and San Salvatore. Here's a link for the service to San Salvatore.

http://www.montesansalvatore.ch/funicolare/fuhome.html

Sorry, I could not find anything for Mt. Bre.

I hope this was useful. Its been 2.5yrs now since I have been there.

Hi there,

I just wanted to add/subtract to the Gruyere suggestion started by the OP ( which by the way was a great resource). I am coming from a family perspective.

We just came back from a great weekend there - 4 adults and 5 kids ( ranging from 1-7 years).

We did the hike from Moleson to Gruyere with kids ( it is about 5-7 km) and going this way you go down the hill instead of up. For us this was an advantage. The kids made it but were pretty tired at the end. You can then take the bus back to Moleson which leaves every 40 minutes or so - after visiting Gruyere and having an ice-cream!

The Maison de Gruyere tour was a complete waste of money and time. It is for the mass tourist market , has no heart, no smell ( of the cheese) and no interest. I really would suggest not to do this. There is however an artisanal cheese making place in Moleson which is more interesting
http://www.moleson.ch/detail.asp?lan...id=24&design=1

If you stay the night, I would suggest the farm house 'Praz July'. It is simple and great for kids. The beds are not very comfortable but you manage to sleep. It has an amazing view and close to everything. With breakfast it costs CHF 45 for adults and CHF 25 for kids over 2 years.
http://www.destination-gruyere.ch/ne...ment/hotes.php

The chocolate tour was fun but the only thing missing was actually seeing the machines working - stopped now for hygenic purposes.

The Gruyere Chateux was suprisingly well done. They have a film ( which all our kids sat and watched - amazingly) and there are some beautiful views from the top.

Lastly, if you want a simple meal ( again with kids) the aerodrome at Broc is fantastic. There is an amazing park for kids ( with goats, flying fox, swings etc), plus they can watch the small planes take off and land. Menu is simple, steak and chips, steak tartare, fondue etc but it was perfect for us!.

Hope this helps with any families visiting this beautiful region of Switzerland.