13 minute read
Travel Like the Swiss
from Range - Volume 5
by Ensemble
Fresh Alpine air, efficient trains and charming car-free villages await in Switzerland — a country on a mission to be the most sustainable travel destination on the planet.
By Dominique Lamberton
Of all the marvels she points out on a morning walking tour of Lucerne — historic churches, medieval squares, ancient fortifications — Doris Mumenthaler probably isn’t expecting the orderly pile of bright-blue garbage bags to be the thing that gets our attention.
In the central Swiss city at the foot of the Alps, Doris, a Lucerne Tourism guide, has led our group from the train station toward the Old Town on the banks of the Reuss River. She’s steered us across the pedestrian Chapel Bridge, erected in the 14th century and adorned with fresh blooms each spring. She’s shown us what remains of the first window in the city, a Gothic-style relic that dates to 1050. And she’s given us each a cup to fill from Fritschibrunnen, one of the more than 200 public fountains in Lucerne flowing with crisp drinking water from nearby Mount Pilatus.
But the sight that prompts the most oohs and aahs is a tidy collection of trash bags lined up in front of a painted facade in the picturesque square of Hirschenplatz. For our group of North Americans, the scene is worth a moment of appreciation as Doris explains how Lucerne’s citizens observe the “polluter pays” principle, buying and filling the standardized bags, before neatly placing them within their designated streetside spot for pickup.
Its efficient waste-management framework (half the trash produced in the country is incinerated and turned into energy, while the other half is recycled) is just one way Switzerland is a leader in sustainability. Another is its extensive transit infrastructure: Every day, more than 11,000 trains travel on a nearly 2,000mile network of tracks, carrying passengers to every corner of the landlocked country. And then, of course, there’s the nature: Home to lush valleys, soaring Alps and around 1,500 lakes, one-seventh of Switzerland’s surface area is covered in protected natural areas. But it’s not enough for it to be one of the most sustainable countries in the world — Switzerland wants to be the world’s most sustainable travel destination, too.
Three years ago, Switzerland Tourism launched Swisstainable, a strategy for creating a more sustainable tourism industry. At a time when governments are introducing policies to reach climate neutrality by 2050, and travelers care more about the environment and their impact than ever before (a recent report from Euromonitor International revealed that nearly 80 percent of travelers will pay at least 10 percent more for sustainable travel despite rising costs of living), it’s natural to look to tourism to make a difference. “We work with the whole industry so our guests can enjoy the mountains, landscapes and lakes with minimal impact on the environment,” says Viviane Grobet, Switzerland Tourism’s head of business development and partnerships, who oversees Swisstainable.
Visitors can look for the “Swisstainable” seal on everything from hotels and restaurants to attractions and even entire destinations that have committed to a set of sustainable measures, such as acquiring a recognized certification, like B Corp or EarthCheck. There are more than 2,500 businesses in the program, and by the end of 2024, the goal is to reach 4,000. Swisstainable also makes recommendations for visitors to help guide them toward a more responsible — and rewarding — experience, including appreciating nature up close, tasting regional products such as cheese, wine and chocolate, and simply staying longer to reduce their ecological footprint.
“We want travelers to stay as long as possible and to delve deeper,” says Grobet. To that end, the Swiss Travel Pass gives international travelers unlimited rides on trains, buses and boats throughout the country (plus some mountain excursions and admission to more than 500 museums). The Pass is available for three, four, six, eight or 15 days — I secure one for eight days so I can properly explore central Switzerland, through the cantons of Lucerne, Bern, Valais and Zurich. Traveling exclusively on trains (plus a few cable cars and a steamboat), I’m on a mission to experience the country the Swisstainable way.
THE FARM WITHIN THE CITY IN LUCERNE
On Doris’ recommendation, I climb the streets beyond Lucerne’s Old Town to the Musegg Wall, one of the longest fortifications in Switzerland. Walking the path behind the imposing rampart, I spot a pig grazing — and then a chicken moseys by. Right in the middle of the city, Kulturhof Hinter Musegg is a sixacre working farm on land that has been cultivated since the Middle Ages.
The city of Lucerne has owned the property since 1945, and locals Pia and Walter Fassbind have been its stewards since 2000. Today, the non-profit foundation Stiftung Kultur- und Lebensraum Musegg oversees the operation, which includes the organic farm (home to four mini-pigs, four goats, two alpacas, four Highland cows and numerous chickens), restaurant, farm shop, and educational programming geared around sustainability. One of the workshops, which you can also do as a self-guided walk around the property, is centered on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Last year, the restaurant was awarded three Bio Cuisine stars — a Swiss designation that recognizes restaurants that serve 90 percent (or more) certified organic products. The farm grows herbs and fruit on site, the restaurant and shop source all other ingredients as close to the farm as possible, and the team strives to minimize waste: “Whatever we can’t sell in the farm store, we use in the kitchen,” says Janine Balmer, who’s in charge of events and communications. “If we have carrots, for example, we can make a cake or pickle them, and then we either put those products back in the store or serve them in the restaurant.”
I taste the carrots in a bright side salad that accompanies a piece of melt-in-your-mouth veggie quiche topped with crispy cheese in the restaurant’s courtyard, where you can see right into the tidy stables of the resident pigs and goats. Later, I go in search of the Highland cows, who are grazing on the other side of the property, and notice a quote painted on the side of a trailer-turned-classroom, in the shadow of one of the Musegg Wall’s towers: “When we are dreaming alone it’s only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it’s the beginning of reality.”
THE CHEESE GROTTO IN GSTAAD
The journey from Lucerne to Gstaad, a glitzy Alpine resort town that’s known as much for celebrities as for the slopes they come to ski, is textbook Switzerland. Spacious, spotless panoramic trains — the Luzern-Interlaken Express and the GoldenPass Express — wind me through rolling countryside stamped with charming villages, classic chalets and lakes so blue they pop right out of the landscape.
Despite its glamor, Gstaad is rooted in agriculture (there are as many cows as people in the region) and is renowned for its cheese, which is produced using traditional Alpine methods. Every spring, the area’s prized Simmental cattle are brought up to the mountains to graze for the summer, their cow bells resounding through the valleys, before being crowned in floral headpieces and paraded down to the villages for celebrations that take place in early September.
To experience — and taste — the region’s signature Alpine cheese, Hobelkäse, a.k.a. “the gold of the Alps,” I head to Molkerei Gstaad’s cheese grotto. The cooperative made up of 66 dairy farms has been in operation since 1931. In a former water reservoir located in the same rolling hills where the cattle graze, I follow Molkerei Gstaad’s managing director, René Ryser, down a series of steep wooden steps.
Inside the underground chamber, choral music sounds and candlelight illuminates more than 3,000 gigantic wheels of cheese, stacked up to eight shelves high. (It’s immediately clear why the grotto is often referred to as a “cathedral of cheese.”) On a table in the center, a selection is ready for tasting, including the distinctive Hobelkäse, aged for two years in this very spot before being hand-sliced and rolled into delicate cylinders. It’s sharp, fruity and flavorful — and a taste of history.
“Cheese production in this area was first documented in 1548,” says Ryser. “Today, 100 farmers produce this cheese, and they still use the same recipe.” The milk is heated in a cauldron over a wood fire, the way it always has been, so you’ll sometimes even find little spots of ash in the final product, says Ryser. “It’s a mark of quality.”
THE ALPINE ACCESS IN CAR-FREE ZERMATT
After arriving in Zermatt on the Matterhorn Gotthard Railway, an electric taxi is waiting outside the train station to shuttle me to my hotel. Nestled under the towering Matterhorn, Zermatt is famous for this majestic, pyramidal peak (it’s the most photographed mountain on Earth) and for its car-free status. Since the 1960s, the village has been a pedestrian paradise, where the only wheels are on trains, bicycles, horsedrawn carriages, and electric taxis and buses.
It makes sense, given the connectivity and accessibility of the area’s mountain trains and cable cars, like those operated by Matterhorn Zermatt Bergbahnen. Its Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cable car journey whisks adventurers up the Klein Matterhorn peak to hike, ski or simply enjoy the view from the highest mountain station in Europe (12,740 feet above sea level). You can carry on to Italy, too: The new Matterhorn Alpine Crossing connects Zermatt with Breuil-Cervinia, a nine-station trip that takes about 90 minutes one-way.
I ride to the Testa Grigia/Plateau Rosa station on the Swiss-Italian border with Claudia Wyss, international sales manager for Matterhorn Zermatt Bergbahnen, and her Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Lilly. Born and raised in Zermatt, Wyss has used the area’s cableways her whole life. A typical summer day for her might involve riding to Schwarzsee station for a trail run with Lilly, while winter days are spent skitouring — with Lilly catching a lift on her shoulders.
Soaring over the snowy peaks as an epic instrumental soundtrack fills our spacious cabin takes my breath away. It feels like I’m on one of those flight-simulation rides; I need to remind myself that I am, in fact, suspended hundreds of feet over the Alps, the tip of the Matterhorn popping in and out of view behind a veil of clouds. I understand why this place, where nature is not only at your doorstep but in your face, means so much to Wyss.
“In Zermatt, we love nature and we want to protect it,” she says. “I think it’s important that people come and see what we have here — the water, the fresh air — and that they fall in love with it and do everything they can to protect it, too.”
THE VEGETARIAN EMPIRE IN ZURICH
“This burger is one of the best in the city,” says Milan Dragoljevic as he points to a patty on the counter at Hiltl Vegimetzg. “It’s made of pea protein with wheat, mushrooms, beetroot and tomato.”
After days of fondue and raclette in the Alps, I’ve arrived in Zurich, where Hiltl’s vegetarian empire is a refreshing change of taste. In the veggie butcher shop, I sample smoked “salmon” prepared with carrots and tartare made from eggplant before heading next door to the main restaurant and mothership, Haus Hiltl.
Hiltl is recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously operating vegetarian restaurant in the world. In 1898, after receiving a rheumatism diagnosis, Ambrosius Hiltl was advised to limit meat consumption. He took over Vegetarierheim, the only vegetarian restaurant in Zurich at the time, after falling in love with not only the food, but the cook — and the Hiltl brand was born. Since then, the family-run operation has grown to nine locations and a partnership with Swiss International Air Lines.
The dishes on both Hiltl’s à la carte menus and buffet change seasonally, and more than 80 percent of ingredients are sourced from suppliers located within 30 miles of Zurich. Then, there are the non-food items: “Our goal is to be as sustainable as possible, from the menu covers to the bags for takeaway,” says Sandra Schirmeier, head of product and quality.
At lunchtime, two-story Haus Hiltl is buzzing with diners, most of whom flock to the pay-by-weight buffet to peruse the more than 100 dishes on offer. Families return to their tables with plates piled high — parents with colorful salads and curries, kids with broccoli and meatless chicken fingers. “Sustainability is a big part of everyone’s life in Switzerland,” Schirmeier says.
My final journey — and my 12th train ride in eight days — is a speedy 15-minute transfer from Zurich’s main station to the airport, which delivers me directly into the passenger terminal. As I soak in the final views from my train window, the city passing by in a blur, I realize that here in Switzerland, sustainability isn’t a dream — it’s reality. It always has been.
Three MustRide Trains
GOLDENPASS EXPRESS
This revolutionary panoramic train connects Interlaken and Montreux, no change required, thanks to variable-gauge bogies that allow the train to switch tracks. Book seats in the Prestige section to enjoy wine, charcuterie and caviar from suppliers along the route.
RIGI
Included in the Swiss Travel Pass, this railway network carries you up Mount Rigi via cogwheel train or cable car. You’ll find 75 miles of hiking trails in the summer and magnificent views of Lakes Lucerne, Zug and Lauerz all year long.
GORNERGRAT RAILWAY
For picture-perfect Matterhorn views, take this eco-friendly train (it was the world’s first fully electrified cog railway) from Zermatt to the summit of Gornergrat, 10,170 feet above sea level.
