“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” –Pat Conroy. No more true words can be said about traveling. One such place is the breathtaking Switzerland. The most popular classic tourist draw of Europe, Switzerland, is Europe’s mountain playground. People from all over the world visit Switzerland to ascend the Swiss Alps, to breathe the crisp air and to feel on top of the world. Below the mountains, the thriving cosmopolitan cities filled with history and culture welcomes you with full of surprises. Switzerland also termed as ‘Heaven on Earth’, also contain in itself the treasures of hallucinating landscapes, silky smooth chocolates, cuckoo clocks, cheese makers and world class watches.
Everyone desires to visit the dreamy place known as Switzerland one day. It’s in the list of every wanderlust traveler. The images of snow-capped mountains of mythical Swiss Alps are mesmerizing. Expeditions in the Alps continue to engage travelers to seek out most amazing journeys. Any nature lover will regret if he misses out this destination of lakes, plateaus, mountains, rivers and the peaceful aesthetic beauty of this magnificent place situated in the heart of Europe. This is the only country in the world with four national languages namely; German, French, Romansh and Italian. Skiing, Snowboarding and Rail journeys in this chilly climate of Switzerland are some of the activities you must look out if you ever have a chance to visit this land. Apart from its dreamy scenic beauty, it contains in its midst many other uniquely eminent features. Here are the Top 11 things Switzerland is Famous for.
# The Famous Swiss Bank:
Switzerland is infamous for its Swiss Bank which stocks all the Black money of people around the world. Everyone has heard about this bank in numerous money scams. The illegal money transaction is very easy and the bank is very much secretive about its functioning and transactions. This is so because the economy of Switzerland is not dependent on government. The lassie-Faire economy functions without government interference, hence making all the Swiss Bank proceedings absolutely legal.
# Explore Switzerland with Rail:Travel through the snow-capped Alps in a Eurail pass for your Switzerland visit. Swiss Federal Railways have a motto: “Those with brain take the train”, which definitely defines the purpose of these railway trains as they use ultra clean hydroelectricity and some of them ever generate energy saving electricity. All the Swiss towns are connected to the central train system which can take you from Zurich airport and all the way to the top of Europe Jungfrau. Famous routes for the exquisite scenery are: The Golden Pass, The Bernina, The Wilhelm Tell express and the famous Glaciers express also known for its panoramic views of mountains, rivers, castles, villages and alpine pastures. These Railways are integral part of Switzerland Economy.
# The delicious Swiss Chocolates:The delicious, tasty, milky and creamy Swiss chocolates would change your experience of chocolate eating. These mouthwatering chocolates are the best milk chocolates in the world. The art of making milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland in the 17th century which spread worldwide in the 19th century. There is a wide variety of these milky-creamy Swiss chocolates: black chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and more. Switzerland is world leading chocolate producer with famous brands like Favarger, Cailler, Lindt and much more. You can’t resist this chocolate as- “every nine out of ten people like Swiss chocolate. The tenth one is lying.”
# Swiss Beauties: Swiss Watches:The Sophisticated Swiss Watches will add a charm to your personality and status. The awesome style and top notch quality of these watches will hold your attention in second. The watch making capital: Switzerland is also known to us because of the excellent quality of these watches. Watch making industry began in 16th century with world class fabulous and ultimate quality watches. The infamous bands of Swiss watches have renowned names such as TAG Heuer, Roles, Rado, Omega, Bell & Ross, Tissot and much more. These elegant watches are water and shock proof, have the unmatched technology and are reliable.
# Most popular city in the world-Zurich:The most desirable city of the world lies in North central part of Switzerland. This city was founded by Romans and has become the leading financial epicenter of the world. The quality of living there is grandeur as the city is well known for its cuisine, luxurious shopping and lodging. Zurich, the wealthiest country in the world, has various parks, churches and scenic beauty which you can’t miss. Be sure to visit Zurich in your Switzerland trip.
# Humanitarian institution: The Swiss Red Cross:
The international committee of Red Cross (ICRC) situated in Geneva was founded by Henry Dunant and Gustave Moynier in 1863 for providing assistance and protection to the victims of war. Since then it provides medical, social and material help to people all over the world who are war and disease beaten. Some of its functions are to bring respect to all human beings equally, economic security, providing health care in danger or at times of war and armed violence, to protect human life and health and to cooperate with national societies. The committee consists of 25 Swiss members with 1200 employs across 80 countries. ICRC was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963.
# CERN: A hub of Scientists:The world’s largest Physics laboratory, CERN-European organization for Physics Research, lies near Geneva in Switzerland. It lies 100 meters below ground and is word most powerful particle accelerator. Scientists from all over the world studies Structure of Matter. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was much in news in 2008 as it would help in understanding the infamous BIG BANG and the origin of the universe. Recently it was in news for its notable research discoveries.
# Skiing in Switzerland:Davos, Verbier, Grindelwald, Zermatt, Arosa and St. Moritz are some of the best places in Switzerland for skiing. These classic ski towns have immaculate services and hospitality. Skiing at high altitudes around the breathtaking scenery and exquisite alpine villages will make your skiing experience unparalleled and very exciting.
# Swiss festivals:Grindelwald Snow festival, International Balloon Festival in Chateau-d’oex, Basel Fasnacht, Wite turf in St.Moritz, Interlaken Classic music festival and Ascona music festival are some of the famous Swiss Festivals which are celebrated every month in Switzerland. Music festivals are the major attractions because they range from classical to rock and pop. Open air concerts attract fans from all over the world. Every season brings with it a new celebration in Switzerland.
# A Fancy treat: Swiss Cheese:Emmentaler or Emmental is known as Swiss Cheese which has holes in it. There is 450 wide variety of cheese produced in Switzerland where cow’s milk (99%), sheep’s milk and goat milk is used. The holes in the cheese are called ‘eyes’ and without eyes, they are known as ‘blind’. The production of Emmental started in around 1293, making Switzerland the oldest cheese manufacturer. Some varieties of Swiss cheese are: Appenzeller, Gala, Sapasago and Sbrinz. Swiss cheese dish-Fondue will definitely make food lover happy.
# Multilingual: 4 National Languages of Switzerland:Italian, German, French and Romansh are the four National languages of Switzerland. Among these 65% of people speak German in North-western, Eastern; central and most of Swiss plateau as well as Alps of Switzerland. Canton of Geneva, Vaud, Bern, Jura and Valais speak French and are called Romands. Italian speaking parts are Cantons of Ticino, Gondo valley in Valais and southern parts of Graubunden. Romansh is the official language of trilingual canton of Graubunden with communities of Surselva, Oberhalbsteinvalley and Lower Engadin.