Switzerland Hut-to-Hut Trips & Tours

Day 1
Bellevue Hotel was very nice; comfortable room with scenic view, central location, excellent breakfasts. Street noise fairly minor.
Day 2
Tour guide Celio Marquez (not sure of spelling) was charismatic and he was very interesting to talk with. Highlight of the day was Blausee, a small lake in a forest near Thun. Very clear water with many trout swimming.
Day 3
We found a good hike near the hotel, and Liam and Alan climbed about 350 m above the town for fantastic views. Wendy took a flatter walk along the river to Brienzersee. In both cases the trails and paths were very nice. It was great to have a full day unstructured. By the way there is a lovely gelateria and sandwich shop near the hotel called Bella Ciao where we had lunch – we highly recommend it!
Day 4
Ivo was a really nice tour guide. The tour itself was also good but entailed a lot of driving. We loved visiting a small family-run goat cheese factory , the village of Gruyere, and wine-tasting at a very scenic vineyard looking down on Lake Geneva. There are two things we would change however. First, the Cailler factory chocolate tour was rather disappointing. During most of it we were held captive (literally!) in a series of rooms that each described an episode from in the 1000-year (?) history of chocolate. Only at the end did we get close to any actual chocolate that we could taste, and by then we were just looking to escape (although we did appreciate being able to view a small example of a production line just before the tasting).
The second thing we would change is the large amount of driving. We first drove north at least an hour from Interlaken to Dallenwil for the cheese factory (Odermatt Käserei). We then headed first northwest and then southwest, passing Otten, Bern, and Fribourg on our way to Gruyere – a drive of about 2.5 hours. We then had another 45 minutes drive to the winery (Domaine du Daley, near Lausanne), and at the end of the day 1.75 hours back north to Bern again and southeast to Interlaken in darkness). The total driving was around 6 hours. For the future it might work better to package this differently. We would have enjoyed having more time at the hilltop village of Gruyere and the cheese factory tour might have been paired better with the Day 7 activities closer to Zurich. I think that just the southern stops could be done from Interlaken with about 4 hours driving?
Day 5
We loved the Jungfraujoch! It would have been helpful to have a bit more description in the details about what to expect at the Grindelwald Terminal. We ended up following the crowd and taking the cable car up to Eiger Glacier station to meet the cogwheel train. It worked out fine in the end.
Day 6
It was hard to leave Interlaken – we really enjoyed our stay there. Travel to Zurich went smoothly. Helmhaus Hotel was quite nice, the staff was fantastic, and they did come through with a sofa bed for Liam. The hotel is at the corner of a busy plaza which made it a bit noisy during the weekend, but the tradeoff was a great central location.
Day 7
The tour with Richard was interesting, but we would have appreciated a bit more discussion of the history around the stops we made. We did have a great conversation about comparisons between Switzerland and US governmental structure on the drive.
Day 8
The tour with Robert was fantastic, the best of our trip! He is extremely knowledgeable about the area also very charismatic and an interesting conversationalist. It was worth the tour just to meet him. The organization of the tour was also perfect, culminating in a ferry ride to Kilchberg, Lindt chocolate factory visit, and cable-car up to Felsenegg restaurant for fondue and a spectacular view. Wow!
The Lindt factory is much, much better than Cailler. Self-paced, beautiful building, ample sampling, and a view of an impressive pilot factory.
Day 9
Burgenstock spa was excellent, with spectacular views of Lucerne area. It is a little complicated getting there with all the different modes of transportation, but we were able to work it out with the instructions you gave us. Thank you for reorganizing this for a different day from what was originally planned.
Day 10
Alan’s departure went smoothly; airport transfer driver showed up as planned.
Wendy enjoyed an afternoon at the Zurich Zoo and it is very easy to get to form central Zurich.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Bellevue Interlaken

Interlaken-WEST

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Boutique Hotel Helmhaus

Zürich

Central location is great, but can be noisy

Authenticity & Character

Location

city center

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Zurich Old Town, Cruise and Lindt Home of Chocolate

Switzerland

The Lindt tour was truly a delight! Unlike the other factory tour we did, it provided the freedom to explore at our own pace and spend as much time as we wanted in each section. The exhibit was well-organized and allowed for a more personalized experience without the long waits. I would definitely recommend this tour to other travelers!

Cheese, chocolate and wine tour in Gruyeres!

Switzerland

The cheese and wine portions of this tour were wonderful, with an insightful tour and enjoyable tastings at a small regional cheese producer. The drive was quite long due to the location being in the opposite direction of other attractions, but the experience was worth the journey. However, the chocolate factory was not our favorite as it was crowded and we weren't able to do it at our own pace. A lovely spot that I wished I could have spent more time visiting was the charming Old Town Village of Gruyere.

Half-day wellness break at Bürgenstock Alpine Spa

Lucerne

The half-day wellness break at Bürgenstock Alpine Spa was an unforgettable experience. The spa itself was gorgeous, and the staff did a great job of accommodating last-minute changes to our itinerary so we could enjoy hiking and the spa on different days.

We loved our specialist, Clothilde. She was extremely responsive before and during our trip. The excursions she arranged through Best of Switzerland Tours were excellent. Knowing all the logistics are handled makes traveling more enjoyable. Highly recommend!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Monopol Lucerne

Luzern

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Krebs Interlaken

Interlaken

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We were told the air conditioning in our room wasn't operable because it was October. We kept the windows open to help lower the temperature, but since the hotel is located in the heart of the city, at times it was noisy.

Central Plaza Hotel

Zürich

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Zurich sunset tour and Cheese Fondue

Zürich

Highly recommend. Monika with Best of Switzerland Tours was amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This is our second trip booked through KimKim and it was almost as outstanding as our first. What was lacking this time was the attentiveness and detailed help we got from our first trip specialist. There were significant time gaps in communication and responses from our specialist, Clothilde. There was no suggestions or recommendations, for example, sites, activities or restaurants following our scheduled tours/activities.
Our transfers/drivers were all excellent and we really enjoyed our hiking guide, Marta
Our accommodations in Interlaken was very nice.
I will likely return to KimKim for our next trip as our first trip (Italy) with you was perfect and Irene , our specialist truly spoiled us and set the bar!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Du Nord

Interlaken

Very nice staff. Very clean. Great Location and excellent breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Views, relatively quiet and close to train station as well as shops

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Glockenhof

Zürich

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Time at leisure in Interlaken!

Switzerland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Beatus Caves, Panoramic Bridge, Nature Park Blue Lake and Lake Thun Cruise!

Switzerland

This was cancelled the day before our arrival by tour company. We would have had to pay double to proceed with similar tour