How Swiss Cheese Fondue was invented and how to make it: When the temperature is freezing and the chill in the air is converting into goosebumps on your skin, there’s nothing like some rich comfort food to ward off the cold. The Swiss cheese fondue comes to mind. Origin of the Swiss Cheese Fondue The Swiss cheese [...]
When I read that there are more than 400 varieties of Swiss cheese, I was astounded. Most non-Swiss people would only know of a handful, the most popular ones being Emmenthal and Gruyère. Still, Gruyère is undoubtedly the big cheese of the Swiss dairy industry, so when we visited the walled city of Gruyères, we [...]
In the Land of the Gruyère Cheese, The Giger Museum Seems an Oddity: Fans of the “Alien” movies will be pleased to know that the Museum H R Giger is in Gruyères. This Giger Museum is home to the permanent collection of the works of H.R. Giger, the award winning Swiss designer of Ridley Scott’s [...]
Tax Free Shopping The VAT rate in Switzerland is 8% and is included in the sales price. With prices in Switzerland as they are, any discount is welcome, so don’t miss out on your tax refund! All visitors living outside Switzerland are entitled to claim back the VAT if they spend more than CHF 400 [...]
Glitz and Glamour at St. Moritz – but not so much in Summer… St Moritz is one of the world’s glitziest, most expensive ski resorts, deserving its reputation as the St. Tropez of ski destinations. Our tour director describes this place as a ski resort for the “chic-kie mickeys“, her description of the jetset types [...]
Languages: In Switzerland, German is spoken in central and eastern areas, French in the west and Italian in the south. Romansch is spoken in parts of the southeast. English is widely spoken as a second or third language. And it’s always a big help to know a few phrases in the local lingo… German Here [...]
Emergencies In case of emergency, dial these numbers Emergency Telephone (Dial…) Ambulance 144 Police (emergencies) 117 Fire Brigade / accident 118 Poison Emergency 145 Information Telephone (Dial…) Directory Enquiries 1811 Overseas Operator 1141 Motoring Assistance 140 Weather Report 162 Traffic Conditions 163 Avalanche Bulletin 187 Fire Brigade / accident 118 Hopefully these tips have been [...]
Telephone & Fax All telephone numbers in Switzerland have at least 9 digits. To telephone Switzerland from abroad, dial the international code of your country + 41 and then, the number of the person you are calling (without the 0 at the beginning of the Swiss telephone number), e.g. +41 31987564 To call somewhere in Switzerland when in Switzerland, dial [...]
Post Post offices are usually open from 8 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 pm on weekdays, although some branches in shopping centres often open the same hours as the shopping centres, and this includes late night shopping (usually Thursdays). On Saturdays, post offices in large cities are open from 8.30 am [...]
Museums and Monuments The towns and regions of Switzerland have all sorts of museums and monuments for the visitor. In fact, there are around 700 museums and art galleries in the country, from internationally acclaimed art collections and to small specialized museums catering to a wide range of interests. In Gruyères, the creator of the “Alien” [...]
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We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!
Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!
Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.
Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.
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