Day Trippin'

One of the perks of living within Switzerland is its proximity to beautiful places. You don't have to take a weekend trip to see some amazing sites - it's doable in just a day trip!

For instance, a few weeks ago, I took a one-hour bus trip to Annecy. It's a scenic city in south-eastern France located on Lake Annecy. When I arrived, it was 90 degrees out and beautiful - it made me wish I had remembered to bring a bathing suit along! Oh well.

The town was so quaint (although very touristy in the summer) and I took plenty of pictures of its most famous landmark: le Palais de l'Isle, a castle built in the middle of the Thiou canal in 1132.

Lake Annecy

Unfortunately, it is often much cheaper to travel out of the country than within Switzerland itself - ergo, the trips to France. Swiss Trains are very efficient, but painfully expensive. However, because I am an official Swiss resident with a visa, I get access to one special perk: la carte journalière!

This day pass is available to residents of any Swiss village or town. It's 45 francs for a pass (which you must reserve in advance because they are so popular), but once you have it, you can travel anywhere within the country for that one day.

This is a huge steal. Normally, a train to Zurich (3 hours away) would cost over 100 francs roundtrip. So while I am here, I certainly want to take advantage of the bargain!

In that spirit, I booked a day pass and headed out last week for Zermatt, a famous mountaineering and ski resort in the Alps. It is also home to the Matterhorn - the iconic mountain peak featured on every bar of Toblerone chocolate.

It was a beautiful area, but very touristy. There's not a lot to do besides ogle the Matterhorn peak and sip hot chocolate - that is, unless you're an expert mountain climber.

Anyways, this isn't my last daypass excursion. I have big plans for my last days in Switzerland! So stay tuned...