At 6 o'clock in the morning and after only 5 hours sleep we start the first day of our trip to Switzerland. We have set out to visit the Château de Chillon, Gruyères and Fribourg in one day and to finish in Bern where we will be staying and for that we need to take time off the clock.
The first thing we do after waking up is look out of the window and check the weather on the internet. It looks like it won't rain today.
We check out of the Park & Suites Elégance Genève-Ferney Voltaire after 7 am, after paying 1.98 euros (we are still in France, as we are staying in the French part of the hotel) accommodation tax.
Before that, we had a coffee at the reception for 2.20 euros. But no normal coffee, just nespresso capsules. You know Switzerland is expensive, don't you?
We load our suitcases in the car, connect the GPS of the rental car in Switzerland with the address of the Chillon Castle, which will be our first stop today, and we set off under a blue sky that makes us look at each other and smile.
We are in Switzerland and the weather is fine, something the forecast was not what we were expecting.
As we get further away from the motorway and reach Montreaux we start to see those landscapes that are associated with Switzerland and that have green as the main colour. We believe there is only one possible colour for Switzerland and that is green.
We have a drive of about 60 kilometres from Geneva to the Château de Chillon where we arrive at about 8.30 in the morning.
And as we have some sandwiches, which we had packed in our suitcase yesterday for dinner, but which we didn't eat, we have an improvised picnic in the castle car park, which recharges our energy and gets us ready to visit Chillon Castle, Gruyères and Fribourg in one day.
Before embarking on this adventurous day, securing a comfortable place to stay is crucial. Geneva, being our starting point, offers an array of hotels that can cater for different tastes and budgets. You can find some great Hotel deals in Zurich at top-hotels-switzerland.com.
A few minutes before 9 a.m., we hung up our cameras and started the first visit of the day, the Château de Chillon.
Before entering, however, we took a walk around the area from where we had some beautiful views and perspectives of the castle from the lake, which we recommend you not to miss.
Landscapes around the Château Chillon
In front of the Chillon Castle
Around 9.30 in the morning when we enter the Château de Chillon, after paying by credit card the 12.50 francs per person. We are given a brochure in English with all the details of the visit and an explanation of the points we will pass through.
By the way, they have free wifi at a couple of points at the entrance to the castle, with a very good signal.
Chillon Castle entrance
ChillonCastle is a 13th century oval fortress, a labyrinth of courtyards, towers and halls filled with period furniture, works of art and weapons.
Cellar of the Château de Chillon
The part of the Château de Chillon facing the hill is the most fortified, while the part facing the lake is the gentler side.
Views of the lake from the Château de Chillon
Most of Chillon Castle was built by the House of Savoy and with the defeat of Vaud by Bern, it passed into the hands of the Bernese governors.
More practical information to prepare your trip to Switzerland
- Switzerland by train
- 10 must-see Switzerland travel tips
- 15 must-see places to visit in Switzerland
- 10 must-see places in Bern
The fortress became famous in 1816, when Byron wrote The Prisoner of Chillon, a poem about Bonivard, who was imprisoned in the dungeon for his pro-independence views and freed by the Bernese army in 1536. Byron carved his name on a pillar on which Bonivard was supposedly chained.
Details of the Château de Chillon
Pillar with Bonivard's name on it
We visit the Château de Chillon in about an hour and a half, following all the points marked on the route and we can say that it is one of the castles that we have liked the most of all the ones we have visited, which have been quite a few in all these years we have been travelling.
At 11 o'clock we leave and before returning to the car, we can't avoid going for a walk around the castle, from where there are some incredible views.
At the lake of the Château de Chillon...
After a while enjoying a setting that would make you want to stay a few more hours, we reconnect our GPS, setting the next point of the day, the village of Gruyères.
The sky has turned much greyer than it was this morning and 15 minutes into the journey, we are surprised by the rain that seemed to have given us a break on this trip. Hopefully it will improve a little as the day progresses.
We reach Gruyères from the Château de Chillon in just over 30 minutes and leave the car in one of the car parks in the lower part of the village.
Still raining and a bit chilly, it's time to put on a long-sleeved jumper and grab an umbrella as we climb the stairs that will take us up to the village of Gruyères.
The first view we have of Gruyères delights us and although we would continue walking through the village, it is still raining, so we prefer to make a technical stop and take the opportunity to visit the famous HR Giger, decorated in the same style as the HR Giger Museum, a museum dedicated to the painter behind the alien filmed in the film Alien.
It's still raining in Gruyères
HR Giger Museum in Gruyères
Of course, the moment we find ourselves inside the bar, we understand why it is so famous and take advantage of a free table at the window to recharge our batteries with a cappuccino and a long coffee for 9.50 francs.
Inside the HR Giger
Reviewing today's itinerary visiting Chillon Castle, Gruyères and Fribourg in one day.
When we see that the rain has stopped and the sky returns to that shade of blue that we like to enjoy so much on our travels, we set off to enjoy Gruyères, a charming village that looks like something out of a fairy tale.
Streets of Gruyères
Gruyères
When it is almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon we go to the well-known Chalet Gruyères, one of the most famous restaurants in Gruyères, where we eat fondue.
And of course, we order a complete fondue for two, coke and beer for 50,10 francs.
Fondue in Gruyères
Everything was delicious! And be warned, a fondue for two is enough.
The waitress told us that it was for one person and luckily we didn't pay much attention, following the opinions we had read and taking a look at the dishes at another table, because if we ordered anything else, it would remain untouched on the table.
We finished our meal and had a brief after-dinner chat when we went out with a splendid sun accompanying us, when we decided to take a last stroll around Gruyères.
Castle of Gruyères
Doing some shopping in Gruyères
On the way back to the car park we see again the same landscapes that we saw a few hours ago on our arrival in Gruyères in the rain and it seems incredible to us how the same view can change so much depending on the weather.
Now in front of us we have the colour green splashing all over the place. Beautiful landscapes that we had not seen since our trip to Austria several years ago.
Saying goodbye to Gruyères with amazing weather
As we mentioned this morning, today's plan is to visit the Château de Chillon, Gruyères and Fribourg in one day, so we set off for Fribourg, which will be our last stop of the day, before heading to Bern, where we will be staying tonight.
It takes us about 20 minutes to get to Fribourg from Gruyères, arriving there around 15.30 in the afternoon, a perfect time to discover a new spot on the map of Switzerland.
We go straight to park in a square near the funicular that links the upper and lower parts of the city and this is when we remember that we don't have francs and that the car park has to be paid for with coins.
There is no parking meter to pay with a card, so we have no choice but to go to a cash machine, withdraw money with the N26 card and to get coins, have a couple of coffees on a terrace to help us wake up.
After arriving quite late yesterday from Barcelona to Geneva, we have only slept 5 hours and that, at this time of the day, is already noticeable.
After this coffee, we pay 3 francs for 2 hours of parking and we go to the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, which is just in front of the area where we have parked.
The chapel of the Holy Sepulchre and the entrance to the Cathedral are incredible, a stop you can't miss if you come to Freiburg.
From here we go to 3 streets that are mentioned in the guidebook as the most central of the city, Rue de Broucheurs, Rue de Chanoines and Grand Rue, although the truth is that we didn't find much in this area, although we arrived at a viewpoint from which we can see the area of the bohemian quarter of Freiburg, where we will go next.
Views of Freiburg from a viewpoint
We return to the car and go straight to the lower part of Freiburg where we park in the blue zone, marking the time with our cardboard clock and we go straight to the two most famous bridges of Freiburg, the Pont du Milieu, made of stone and the cobbled and roofed Pont du Berne.
View of Fribourg from the Pont du Milieu
Pont du Berne
From the first one we have a splendid view of the upper part of Fribourg and from the second one we enjoy an incredible tranquillity next to the river, where we enjoy a few minutes gawking at the surroundings.
It is 17.30 p.m. when our visit to Freiburg comes to an end and we return to the car to get on the road to the city that will host us tonight, Bern.
We arrive in Bern from Freiburg after 6 p.m. and leave the car in the blue zone, as from 6 p.m. until 8 a.m. there is no charge.
During the day, from 08.00 to 11.30 and from 14.30 to 18.30 you can park for one hour free of charge and between 11.30 and 14.30, it is extended to 2 hours.
So we can park for free in the blue zone until 9 o'clock in the morning, putting our cardboard clock at 8 o'clock as if we had arrived at that time.
The parking issue resolved, we go to our accommodation in Bern, the Ibis Budget Bern Expo, where we check in and directly, being the time that it is, we go to dinner.
The streets of Bern are full of people and we find an atmosphere that invites us to sit on a terrace, where at this time of day it is difficult to find a free table.
We go straight to the Nooch restaurant, an Asian restaurant serving sushi, which we know we will love as soon as we enter.
The chefs are Japanese and we see that the menu even includes our longed-for bentos, from that trip to Japan we remember so well.
We order 4 trays of 8 rolls each, plus water for two, for 74 francs.
Dining sushi in Bern
Very good, although we have to say, in all honesty, that one variety stung like a bad thing, which made us drink our bottle of water as soon as we started.
It's 9pm and we're really knackered, so we stroll back to the hotel, where a night of sleep, dreams of Bern, awaits us.
