paging Ace & others who know Switzerland

If you're intending to be based near Interlaken I can recommend the
Hotel Bären in Wilderswil. Otherwise I can *really* recommend the Hospiz
at the Grimsel pass. That's our base for fairly frequent bike/rock
climbing holidays in the area.

Super region! It sounds like you know it, but if I might be able to
provide other useful info, just ask.

 

Well possibly, but I know how easy it is to find cash machines or just use
my cards in the UK.

 

Right, we will be based in Meiringen for 3 nights, 19-21 June. It seems to
be 12 miles from Engelberg, should you be a crow with an oxygen mask or 40
miles by road.

I take it the Jochpass from Engelberg to Engstlensee, marked as a dotted
line on my map is not suitbale for bikes. The only reference I can find on
google is for mountain bikes, which says, "you might need to walk up the
final steep section."

 

I was in Zurich the other week for 3 nights and I ended up getting
20CHF out of a cash machine. I could've done the entire thing on card,
but I wanted to get a couple of bits of tat to take back.

 

@registered.motzarella.org:

<remembers day trip by train from Grenoble to Geneva in 1995>

You can get tat, and 2 items at that, for 20CHF? **** me, the place must've
got a lot pikier in the last 12 years...

 

Depends on the bike. I imagine a proper off-roader would be OK,
although I'm not sure what the climb back to Meiringen is like.

Hmmmm. The last bit up to Jochpass? Yeah, I suppose it _is_ a red run,
so might be a bit steepish to cycle up, but they do run the chairlift
all summer, so I think the idea is that you take your bike up on the
lift, then it's downhill all the way to Engstelsee.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

You're stuck with the idea that Switzerland is expensive? Well clearly
with the pound at current levels it will seem so, but it's actually
cheaper for most things[1] than most of the surrounding countries.
7.5% VAT, see?

[1] Apart from food, particularly meat and dairy.
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/ DS#8 BOTAFOT#3 SbS#2 UKRMMA#13 DFV#8 SKA#2 IBB#10
`\\ | //'
`\|/`
`

 

I got chance to browse around, and so long as you describe it as "swiss
chocolate" people lap it up. Even more so if it's got a swiss flag on.
Know your intended tat recipient.

Even better, on the return the airport the duty free shop took a mix of
CHF and Euro[1] to pay for stuff, so I got to kill two
leftover-foreign-currency birds with one stone.

[1] I had some left over from boarding, so I took them along in case.

 

Chimay is even easier for bringing back bribes. Belgian chocolate and the
eponymous tipple both seem to be well received by the appeasee.