Destinations
Grand Train Tour of Switzerland with Sedunia Travel Te x t b y ED J U NA I D I I m a g e s b y ED J U NA I D I , RHAETISCHE BAHN/CHRISTOPH BENZ/ANDREA BADRUTT
098
On July 2019, I joined a trip to Switzerland that was organised by Sedunia Travel together with Swiss Travel System AG. The trip gave me the real experience of traveling across Switzerland using Swiss Travel Pass. Although the trip did not cover all 8 sections of the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, it painted a clear picture on how the tour works and how flexible it is to customise your own itinerary when exploring Switzerland by train. In a report produced by World Economic Forum, Switzerland topped the list of quality railroad infrastructure and train efficiency in 2018, leaving Japan and Hong Kong in second and third places (http://reports.weforum.org/pdf/gci-2017-2018scorecard/WEF_GCI_2017_2018_Scorecard_ EOSQrailroad.pdf ). It comes as no surprise because Switzerland has the best integrated train system in the world. The first train system in Switzerland was introduced back in 1847 and the first Alpine railway operated under the Gotthard Pass began in 1882. After more than 150 years, Switzerland now boasts the most sophisticated railway system in the world; and with other public transportation systems connecting commuters daily, Switzerland has become the most interconnected country in the world. On top of that, trains in Switzerland run on time right down to the second. This surely helps when travellers explore this amazing country. Back to our journey from Kuala Lumpur to Switzerland, we flew to Zurich via Singapore on
SWISS, which connects Switzerland from its bases in Zurich and Geneva to over 100 destinations around the world. Flying for the second time on SWISS, I enjoy the airline’s sophisticated service marked by its ‘Swissness’, which I define as ‘efficient yet quiet and understated’. Flying on the airline is the best way to experience Switzerland even before arriving at the country. It was summer when I arrived in Switzerland, and it was hotter than usual. According to locals, the temperature spiked up to 38°C when they were hit by the heat wave back in early July 2019. Typically, summer in Switzerland should be between 19°C and 24°C in the northern and central regions, while the southern regions reach up to 32°C. The best part about summer in Switzerland is that the sun shines longer and only sets around 9:00 p.m. If travellers were to stay at the hostels during summer, they should expect that these hostels do not come with air-conditioning. As a matter of fact, most buildings in Switzerland are generally not air-conditioned.
