La Piazza Blog & Stories
Paola Secco & Vanessa Drigo: Bike Across Switzerland
Guten Morgen!
It’s Paola Secco and Vanessa Drigo here writing to you from Italy. We are both very busy with our personal lives (one of us changed career and the other had a baby!), but we thought we’d send you a combined “ciao” from the ladies of the Ciclismo Classico guide team. We hope you are all well and excited for our new season of bike tours. As you may have heard, the results are in and the new schedule has come out. Looks like the two of us will be in Switzerland on Ciclismo Classico’s iconic Bike Across Switzerland tour! And we are excited to be part of it.
What’s so interesting about Switzerland? Maybe you have already ridden the Italian Dolomites and the French Alps. “So what’s the big deal?” you’re thinking. Well, a lot! Just read on:
Bern, Baby, Bern:
It’s no surprise that Smithsonian Magazine rated Bern its number one place to visit in Switzerland. Bern was designated a UNESCO heritage site in 1983 and has some of the most impressive examples of medieval architecture anywhere in Europe. It also has over 100 fountains (thus Bern is also called the city of fountains) and is a page out of a romance novel. If you’ve ever seen images of the figurines that dance around a city’s clock tower then you’re seen pictures of Bern. We’ll be here! We spend an amazing two days in this wonderful city where you can discover other gems of culture and history. For example, Albert Einstein was living in Bern when his Theory of Relativity turned the world around. There is the wonderful Einstein museum in the city to see on your day off.
Interlaken:
Interlaken is one of our favorite cities. Nestled between two crystal-clear lakes (Lake Brienz and Lake Thun) this quaint yet busy town never ceases to amaze us. One of the many little secrets that Interlaken holds is the Saint Beatus Caves. Legend says in the 6th C. an Irish monk worked his way into the karst cave system ousting a dragon. The monk – named Beatus – supposedly lived the rest of this life here among the grottoes. Today you can visit this gnarly system of caverns, underground waterfalls and dark chasms on the northeastern side of Lake Thun. Other wonderful things about Interlaken include the stunning views of the Berner Oberlander mountain range. The Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau peaks surround us and look stunning in the evening Alpenglow. Best yet, you can reach Harder Klum in just 10 minutes from Interlaken to get a bird’s-eye view of the Jungfrau region.
Swiss Wine:
You may not believe it but Switzerland has a hearty wine culture. On the northeastern side of Lake Geneva lies the UNESCO protected Lavaux wine region. Chasselas is the predominant grape of the region which makes a fabulous, crisp white wine. You can imagine the extreme terracing needed along these mountains since the lands rise directly up from the lake. Some of the highest vineyards sit at 350m above sea level and they are some of the steepest in the world. There is no mistaking a delicious, crisp Chasselas after a long ride up to Morges on a hot afternoon.
Gruyeres:
You’d need something to eat with all that wine! What better than Gruyeres! Actually, it is a small medieval town just north of Lake Geneva (another favorite of ours). It has a beautiful castle and cobblestone streets dating back over some hundreds of years ago. Apart from the cheese, quiche, and fondue, it is wonderful to roll by Gruyeres in the morning and see the shepherds bringing their herds out to pasture. Good cheese comes from happy cows, and happy cows eat the best grass in the Swiss mountains: rich, high alpine grass found on sunny slopes. This is also the day we roll through Fribourg and cross the cultural divide between the German and the French-Swiss border. The French-Swiss (called Romandy) speak Romansch – considered one of the four official languages of Switzerland – as well as French.
These are just a few of the reasons why you should visit Switzerland with us. Each singular Ciclismo Clasico departure is unique and special and the Bike Across Switzerland tour is no different. We give you the best of the smaller towns and keep you on quiet mountain roads all the way to Lake Geneva. Come see what you’re missing in Switzerland! It’s the experience of a lifetime – don’t miss out!
Thanks for taking the time to read our message. We hope to hear from you soon and see you sooner!
Auf wiedersehen!