We were about to discover a style of vacationing that immersed us local living, took care of our travel arrangements, and allowed us to do whatever we pleased, easily and at a surprisingly affordable cost.

Idyll's Untours vacation packages to a variety of destinations include air and ground transportation, a carefully-selected apartment, and local support staff. Before departure we received helpful checklists and guidebooks with recommended activities and destinations. Upon arrival, Untours staffers Agnes and Marietta made sure our Swiss passes were properly validated and joined us on the train. At the next day's orientation session we learned about the transportation system, special events, optional group activities, and ways to make the most of our vacation while keeping costs down.

The Swiss Untour includes a Swiss Pass, good for 15 days of unlimited travel on this impressive network of public trains, buses, gondolas, funiculars, and boats. Using the special luggage tag provided by Untours, we checked our bags at Providence airport for delivery to our local train station in the village of Frutigen, a mountain village in the picturesque Oberland region.

Our landlord/host, Peter Hauswirth, greeted us at the train station, gave us a tour of the village, and brought us home to meet his wife, Esther, and neighbor, Betty Muller, who welcomed us with wine, cheese, and treats baked for the occasion. Our kitchen was stocked with fresh foods and notes about the best places to shop. Betty gave newspaper clippings of events we might like to attend, and we met the Hauswirth's little granddaughter, Nicole. We felt right at home.

Mornings, we'd sip coffee on our balcony and watch clouds rise over the surrounding mountaintops as we planned our day. From this base, minutes from the bus stop or train station, we could travel throughout Switzerland, a nation about a tenth the size of California.

Local milk and cheese shops, sausage stores, bakeries and the Coop grocery store were sources of inexpensive picnic supplies and prepared foods. Restaurant meals were reasonably priced at lunchtime. Our first and last meals of the day were usually "home", in our well-equipped apartment. Untours provided a booklet with simple recipes and tips for quickly preparing Swiss specialties.

Activities

To test the versatility of our Swiss Pass on our first day, we took a boat across picturesque Lake Thun to the area's touristy hub, Interlaken, then a train to Lauterbrunnen and its waterfalls, a funicular and panoramic train along the mountainside to Murren, stopping to admire the renowned Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger before boarding a gondola and dangling high over valleys and streams en route to the hamlet of Gimmelwald. Another gondola, at additional charge, goes to Schilthorn, revealing Europe's most unobstructed panoramic mountain view---over 200 peaks from Mont Blanc to the Black Forest. Schilthorn's Piz Gloria, the world's first mountaintop revolving restaurant, was made famous by the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, filmed here.

With over 60 percent of Switzerland covered in glaciers and mountain peaks, another quarter covered by forests, scenic hiking trails abound, and are one of the best ways to appreciate the landscape. The glacial waterfalls inside the mountain in Trummelbach and exhilarating Alpine scenery make this Murren-Schilthorn area a spectacular choice.

Untours offered a morning tour of Murten, with its medieval ramparts, castle and ring wall. We climbed a tower for the view of tiled rooftops and the lake, lunched amidst medieval buildings, and munched on Nidelkuchen from the local bakery. Then many of us opted for a cruise on Lake Neuchatel.

In rural Blumenstein, licensed cheese master, Alfred Bieri-Meyes, gave our group a private tour and even brought out his Swiss accordion for some traditional folk music. We bought Emmantaler cheese and bread and hiked together for a picnic in idyllic pastures beside a countryside church, under the watchful eyes of the cows.

Adelboden is a family-friendly resort village with activities to suit all ages and abilities, from gentle Nordic walking trails to great adventure. The Alpine School offers a full range of snow and mountain sports and at the Adventure Park Reharti you can rock climb, zip wire across a river, or be suspended from a mountainside! We rode a series of cable cars over picturesque farms and valleys to Sillerin, watched scooters zipping down mountain paths, and hiked to Hahnenmoospass, a spectacular overlook.

Special Events

We were in Switzerland for the grape harvest, a time of celebrations markets, wine festivals, parades, and tastings in the wine caves.

Chasteilet, in Justistal, is a traditional ceremony in which cheese makers divide their cheeses among the local farmers according to the milk they provided. Cows were paraded in, alphorns played, yodelers entertained, and visitors stocked up on cheese.

Ballenberg, the Open Air Folk Museum with preserved homes and farms, animals, foods, and craft demonstrations from all regions of Switzerland held Country Fair and Donkey Market. Ballenberg is just outside lakeside Brienz, an area known for wood carvings and favored by European tourists.

In Spiez, over 35 tractors, carts, and other vehicles were decorated for the parade. Musicians played, participants wore costumes, uniforms, or traditional attire, and candies and small prizes were thrown to gleeful children. The sounds of band music and the scents of bratwurst and roasted chestnuts filled the air.

A leisurely boat excursion past vineyards brought us to Neuchatel, in the French- speaking region, for the Parade of Flowers. Children, many in colorful costumes and with painted faces, shrieked in delight as the confetti cannon showered all in this carnival atmosphere. Specialty food stalls and street entertainers lined the streets of this city, also known for its fine watches, musical parts, and chocolates.

Glacier Express

We added two days for Switzerland's best known scenic train ride, the Glacier Express. This 7 « hour high-altitude adventure in a glass-roofed panorama car passes through 91 tunnels, some spiraling within mountains, and 291 bridges, connecting two world-class ski and mountaineering resorts, Zermatt and St. Moritz.

Traffic-free Zermatt is at the base of the striking 14,690' Matterhorn. We rode the Gornergrat Rack Railway, the highest open-air railway in Europe, to exhilarating views of glaciated peaks, stopping at stations on the descent to hike and explore the dramatically varied climate zones.

Our hotel was the historic and traditional Monte Rosa, one of the Great Hotels of the World, conveniently located in the village center. It is known for its plush and blissfully comfortable rooms, lounges with crackling fireplaces, little nooks, impeccable yet friendly service, and sumptuous breakfast buffet served in the grand Belle Epoque dining room. Edmund Whymper, first to climb the Matterhorn, chose the Monte Rosa as his favorite hotel. Access to outstanding facilities of nearby sister property, Seiler Mont Cervin is included, as is complimentary Internet access. This gem, the sort of place you want to return to again and again, offers balconied rooms overlooking the Matterhorn.

By morning we were rejuvenated and ready for one of the great scenic train rides of the world, a leisurely narrated trip on narrow gauge track, hugging forested slopes, spanning valleys, passing thundering waterfalls and gushing streams, through a fairytale landscape of unparalleled natural beauty.

We ended our trip in a on a glorious note at a turreted resort surrounded by mountains, parks, and gardens. The Hotel Walther offers car service from its Pontresina station or St. Moritz to this baronial property, owned and operated by the same family for three generations. The spacious rooms in warm colors with rich wood tones offer a full range of amenities. Rates include use of tennis courts and mountain bikes, guides for skiing in winter and hiking in summer, and a half-board plan of a sumptuous buffet breakfast, afternoon tea, and five-course evening meal in their elegant Stuva Bella gourmet restaurant. Energy rooms and the Aqua Viva wellness and bathing oasis offer extra pampering. Wireless Internet access and computer station is provided. Adjacent is the Walther's more casual Hotel Steinbock, in a renovated traditional 17th century Engadiner house, sharing spa facilities and many services of the Hotel Walther, and serving traditional regional foods.

A Peak Experience

Neutral and independent Switzerland, untouched by the ravages of war for over 500 years, blends Old World charm with modern technological efficiency. Its trains run as reliably as Swiss watches, and its people are civic-minded and environmentally aware. Our trip to Switzerland took us to some of the highest points in Europe and to some of the best of what the world has to offer.

With Untours, we didn't just travel through Switzerland, we lived in and experienced it. Untours' profits help less fortunate people become self-sufficient through low-interests loans to qualifying enterprises to create jobs and low-income housing. In 1999, Paul Newman and JFK, Jr. presented Idyll Development Foundation with the Newman's Own/George Award as the Most Generous Company in America.

---