We were just finishing up a yodeling lesson in tiny Habkern, Switzerland, when we heard the cows were coming down the mountain.
It’s an annual tradition—when the weather starts to turn cold, local farmers dress their cows in giant bells and flower crowns, put on their own traditional clothing, and parade the giant, chocolate-brown animals through town.
It’s a sight our tour manager, Alex Berger, had been hoping to see for years. We just happened upon it.
That is pure travel magic, and it happened to me and 38 other Pioneer Press readers on our recent trip to Switzerland, Austria, and Munich.
The weather was perfect, the mountains were beautiful, and the food was shockingly delicious.
Bern, Switzerland
We flew into Zurich and hopped on our motorcoach to head to the Swiss capital, Bern, our home for the next four nights. We stayed at Hotel Bern, just on the edge of the old town and within walking distance of many great restaurants, shops, and more.After a few hours of walking around and orienting ourselves in Bern, surrounded on three sides by the impossibly turquoise glacial Aare River, we checked in and were treated to a fabulous pork dinner, accompanied by some local wines.
The next morning, our German tour manager Berger had us up and out the door by 9 for a tour of Bern.
We heard about how during the summer, hoards of people hop on floaties or rafts or just swim in that gorgeous river, which has a very swift current, getting out at the end near a dam and starting all over again. Many of them bring floating coolers and drink beer during the ride. It sounds like quite the spectacle!
We walked to the bear pit, or Bärengraben, on the edge of the old city and waited a few minutes for the bears to enter the original pit for a snack. The three bears that live there now have an expanded enclosure but can be lured back to the original (and quite small) pit for fruit, which is scattered about the enclosure by keepers.
Legend has it that the city’s name comes from a 10th century duke who said he’d name the city for the first animal he killed in the woods that were about to be cleared to make the city. It was a bear, and the city was named Bern.
The actual bears didn’t come until 1513, when soldiers from Bern returned with a few of them as spoils of war after winning a battle against the French in Northern Italy. The enclosure was expanded to give the bears much more space in 2009.
We also learned about the charming medieval clock tower in the center of old town and met one of the clock winders, who has to manually wind the clock, known as the Zytglogge, every day. There’s a traditional clock, but also one that keeps track of astrological time and the phases of the moon. The clock apparently inspired a young Albert Einstein to contemplate time so deeply that he came up with the theory of relativity.
The theoretic physicist lived in the city for just two years, but his influence is all over the city, with brass statues and two museums at the apartments Einstein resided in during his time there.
Our hotel room came with a pass to Bern’s very slick public transportation system, so after our tour, a few of us hopped on a tram to get to the funicular that took us up Mount Gurten, a tall hill on the edge of the city. At the top, there is a popular park with trails, a disc golf course, a kiddie train, and playground, a chic hotel with a sprawling outdoor patio, a giant Ferris wheel, and a toboggan track. We walked around the trails a bit and enjoyed the view below.
For dinner, my husband and I checked out Restaurant Lötschberg (lotschbergbern.com), just a block from our hotel. The beer-hall atmosphere, authentic Swiss food, and stellar beer made it a favorite with our group during our stay. My personal favorites were the bouncy, caramelized mushroom spaetzle, the raclette-stuffed pork cordon bleu, and any of their gorgeous, balanced salads.
Habkern and Thun, Switzerland
As cool as Bern is, we were all eager to get into the surrounding mountains and countryside.On our comfortable ride to tiny Habkern, we had great views of rolling hills and cows—so many cows. There are 1.6 million of them, mostly of the dairy variety, in Switzerland. Their milk is made into many kinds of fantastic cheese, and, of course, smooth, creamy milk chocolate, which was invented here.
Habkern is a small mountainside village dotted with those iconic Swiss homes—most of which are adorned with flower beds filled with bright red geraniums, which were traditionally planted to repel mosquitoes.
In town, we visited a small facility where traditional alphorns—those really long wooden horns that rest on the ground as a standing person plays them—are made. The horns were traditionally used to communicate with other mountain towns or call the cows in for milking. Initially, they were made from one or two pieces of the soft red pine tree, which would often curve from being weighed down by the mountain snow. Today, they are made in four pieces that can be screwed together for easier transport. After seeing the horn-making process and hearing their beautiful sound, we tried some of the cheese that the alphorn maker makes from his own cows, just up the mountain. My favorite souvenirs are edible, so I bought a brick that I’ll enjoy with family over the holidays.
Upstairs, we were treated to a yodeling demonstration by a local couple. The husband played the accordion while they both sang and demonstrated how to make the sounds that, like the alphorn, were used to communicate in mountainous terrain.
We all tried our hand at it, and I have to say, we sounded pretty good!
Just as we were finishing, we heard that the cows were arriving, so we all booked it outside and were greeted by giant cowbells ringing as pretty bovines with massive, soulful eyes were led through the town’s main street.
To put a bow on our magical time in this village, we had a fantastic fondue lunch at an adorable restaurant next door.
Lucerne and Mount Pilates, Switzerland
Central Switzerland’s most populous city is defined by the oldest surviving covered bridge in Europe—Chapel Bridge, built in the 1300s.Part of the bridge, which is punctuated by a gorgeous, octagonal water tower at one end, burned down in 1993. The bridge was fully restored, with the exception of some of the historic frescoes, which detail the city’s history and date to the 17th century. As you walk through the interior, you can see which part burned by keeping track of where the frescoes begin to char, eventually disappearing altogether.
Tourists also flock to the Lion Monument on the edge of town, a relief of a mortally wounded lion carved into a giant sandstone facade to commemorate Swiss guards killed in 1792 in the French Revolution. Author Mark Twain was enamored with the sculpture, calling it “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”
We marveled at the gorgeous buildings in town, many of which are ornately painted, before settling into Rathaus Brauerei, a local brewery, for some fantastic beer and delicious sausages, served on a pile of fresh sauerkraut, and a pretzel, cut in half horizontally and served like a sandwich, stuffed with soft cheese, butter and lettuce. The brewery’s expansive patio is situated directly on the Reuss River, with a lovely view of the bridge.
In the afternoon, most of us took an optional excursion up Mount Pilatus, just outside Lucerne.
Mountains Upon Mountains
Paragliders were showing off for visitors, gliding amidst the peaks as crowds clamored for photos. We walked up one peak and through a cave on the side of another before grabbing a coffee and watching the show.Little mounds of snow remained from a hefty downfall a few days before, and some tourist children, who likely had not seen snow before, frolicked in them.
Innsbruck, Austria
Before relocating to our new home in Innsbruck, we made a pit stop in Liechtenstein, a 62-square-mile country ruled by a monarchy. Our bus pulled into Vaduz, the capital city, which is a curious mix of historic and modern buildings and has a strong financial-sector economy.We had lunch at a bakery in town before heading back out, adding another country to our checklist.
After settling into the Hotel Innsbruck, historic lodging with two spas (one of which, in traditional Austrian fashion, is clothing-free) on the edge of the old town, we embarked on a quick walking tour of this city, known for its proximity to the Alps. Innsbruck is a winter sports mecca and has hosted the Winter Olympics twice—in 1964 and 1976. There’s a giant ski jump just outside of town, which affords beautiful views of the city below and the surrounding mountains.
In town, the city center boasts a beautiful pedestrian mall, filled with shops offering everything from pastries and coffee to outdoor gear and even yarn made from alpacas raised in the area.
Berger, our tour manager, recommended Weisses Rössl, or the White Horse, for dinner, and the upscale, traditional Austrian menu did not disappoint. We loved our pork schnitzel, accompanied by lingonberries (yes, they’re a thing in Austria and Germany, too!) and a vinegary potato salad spiked with some peppery greens.
Salzburg, Austria
In some more travel magic, we arrived in Salzburg during Rupertikirtag, an annual festival honoring the city’s patron saint, Rupert.Though the festival made parking a bus more difficult, our walk through the city center, which was peppered with beer tents, pretzel stands, carnival rides, and locals in traditional dirndls and lederhosen, was certainly a feast for the senses!
As cool as the fest was, I was most excited to see Mirabell Gardens, where Maria and the children sing “Do-Re-Mi” in “The Sound of Music.”
The gardens, which were in the process of being switched out for fall, are a part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, so are constructed every year in the same pattern, with the same plants. In addition to the colorful landscape, mythology-themed sculptures, and statues that date back to the 15th century adorn the space.
We lunched together at St. Peter Stiffskeller, which claims to be Europe’s oldest restaurant, in operation since 803 A.D. The restaurant, which has an expansive group service and catering business, is within the walls of St. Peter’s Abbey. Perhaps we ate in the same room as one of its famous (or infamous) customers—Christopher Columbus and Wolfgang Mozart among them.
After lunch, many of us hopped on the funicular next to the abbey to Hohensalzburg Fortress, a medieval structure dating to Roman times that is perched on a hill adjacent to the city.
Bavaria
Here’s where the trip went sideways a bit for me: I got sick and had to stay in for the day. But I did receive regular reports from my husband during the group’s day trip to Linderhof and Oberammergau in Bavaria, which are a little more than an hour away from Innsbruck.The highlight of Linderhof is the Linderhof Palace, built by King Ludwig II. The expansion of the palace, originally a hunting lodge, was completed in 1876, and the king resided there a few weeks every month, because, according to our guides, “he didn’t like people.”
The ornate building was modeled somewhat after the palace of Versailles and is gilded and frescoed within an inch of its life.
After the palace, the group stopped at Ettal Abbey, an ornate Benedictine monastery that produces beer and herbal liqueurs. The abbey, originally modest compared with other medieval churches, was rebuilt into its current guilded glory after a 1744 fire.
A monastery and brewery tour culminated with a tasting of the facility’s traditional Bavarian beers.
For lunch and a little shopping, the group stopped in Oberammergau, a small town on the Ammer River known for its “Lüftlmalerei,” or frescoed buildings.
The town also hosts a once-a-decade performance of the Passion Play, first performed in 1634 as an offering from villagers who promised God they would do so if they were spared from the bubonic plague.
Its religious bent is displayed in Christmas-themed shops, many of which sell the wares of traditional local wood carvers, who create mostly religious pieces.
Oktoberfest
The finale for this spectacular trip was a trip to the world’s largest beer festival—Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.The annual festival began in 1810, and for 17 or 18 days, depending on the year, its grounds are turned into a giant party, featuring locals and visitors dressed in traditional clothing—dirndls for the women and lederhosen for the men.
In 2023, 7.2 million people visited the grounds, which is about 400,000 per day. By contrast, the biggest-attendance day at the Minnesota State Fair that year was around 213,000 people.
The festival is known for its massive beer tents with stages at the center featuring traditional music, but we were treated to lunch in one of the smaller tents, which, like much of the fest, is known for its juicy rotisserie chicken. Another vinegar-based potato salad accompanied the chicken, along with liter mugs of beer. Yes, each of us were served a liter of beer, in a giant mug, and yes, our server carried six of them to the table at once.
The beer is a special fest version, in our case made by Hacker Pschorr, and is available only during the celebration. Unlike some of the sweeter, heavier versions of Oktoberfest served in the U.S., this one was light and crisp and the perfect accompaniment to that delicious chicken.
We walked the grounds, weaving in and out of the big tents, where reservations are booked many months ahead of time, listening to the music, then meandered through the carnival section of the fest, which features ostentatiously decorated rides and even the Oktoberfest version of the Giant Slide.
Traveling With Jess
There are currently two tours with availability.First, there are just two seats left in our trip to Portugal and Northern Spain in March. We’ll visit Lisbon, Porto, the Douro River Valley, Pamplona, San Sebastian, and more. We visit a bullfighter’s home, taste wines at a handful of places and even stay at a winery one night.
Next, we are going to Scandinavia in the summer of 2025! We will experience 18 hours of daylight, which we will use to explore Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
We take an overnight ferry through Scandinavia, check out the bustling city of Stockholm—composed of a series of islands—and take a ride aboard the Flåm Railway, one of the world’s steepest train rides, where we’ll ascend 3,000 feet past mighty waterfalls, towering mountains, and amazing valleys. This tour hits many of my bucket-list places!
