Trip Reviews
SWITZERLAND
planned by Nina Müller Bardolia
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My husband and I recently returned from a two-week trip to Switzerland planned by Nina and Laura in Zürich. With a referral from Wendy, we initially consulted with them via video chat. We provided them with our thoughts and in return received a preliminary itinerary. That itinerary was refined after several emails back-and-forth. Because we had traveled to Switzerland several times in the past, we settled on a plan that involved only the eastern quarter of Switzerland.
Every driver and every guide provided during our stay was first rate. Highlights included a historical walking tour of Zürich, an all-day visit via train to Appenzell, a visit and tour of a lovely winery in Maienfeld, and a ride on the famous Bernina Express to St Moritz. We had a wonderful stay at The Grand Hotel Hof Ragaz with dinner at the Michelin restaurant IGNIV. We stayed at the lovely Villa Flor in S-chanf for several days, where we experienced a WOW Moment in the form of a beautiful dinner prepared with locally grown products. Ladina, the innkeeper at Villa Flor, was especially kind and helpful, introducing us to local artists and gallery owners, and directing us to places not open to the public. She was a delight.
We ended the trip in Costello del Sole in Ascona on the shore of Lake Maggiore. Our planners arranged a private boat tour on the lake as well as visit to an original local stone mill where Farina Bona “good flour” is produced. Afterwards we went to a local restaurant where we learned how to make gnocchi with the special flour. Our trip ended in Milan where the team arranged for us to see The Last Supper by Leonardo Di Vinci, the La Scala Opera house, and the Duomo rooftops. We thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the trip!
The Napolitano family enjoy their view of the Matterhorn.
Switzerland, September 30-October 9
Angela & Richard Napolitano
Our planner Karolina was totally amazing. So responsive, and put together such special events for us. One was a personal tour of a shop that made Alphorns, in which we met some men who played the instruments, along with learning all about how they make it and what was the history of the instrument. Another tour was with a guide up to the top of Gornergrat Mountain and Cog Railway. The tour guide was so informative and had lived in Zermatt for many years, and had all of the history of the area. We stopped at this amazing lunch spot with a terrific view of the Matterhorn on a beautiful sunny day in the Alps. Our hotels were spectacular also!
Lastly Karolina researched and setup a trip to CERN—CERN stands for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (French: Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), which it was named after. The organization is an international scientific body that operates the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, conducting research into the fundamental constituents of matter. My son loved the visit, and the tour was amazing through the facility.
We also LOVED the e-bike tour through Valle-Maggia region of Ascona, Switzerland! That tour guide was amazing.
Loved that we spent time in the Italian, Swiss, German, and French parts of Switzerland, which were all so different and distinct, yet all the same country.
We can’t wait to use your service again on yet another trip in the future!
The Coxes had a view of the Matterhorn from their hotel balcony in Zermatt. Photo: Traveler Bart Cox
September 16-30, 2025
Our September two-week train trek circling Switzerland was planned by Laura and Nina from Wendy Perrin’s WOW List of recommended experts. This bucket list trip has been a dream of mine since 7th grade, but now at 72, and living with Multiple Sclerosis for 50 years, it was more physically challenging than I had expected. Nonetheless, it was a dream come true.
Our agents did a great job with our itinerary and transportation. The planners had smoothed the way with greeters to meet us upon arrival, help with baggage, and meet us after customs before handing us off to our driver who took us to our first hotel, the Signau House and Garden, where a travel packet with all needed transportation information and tickets awaited us.
For our first evening, they had arranged a Swiss Raclette dinner at the Hotel Adler which was casual, probably too touristy for sophisticated travelers, but was tasty, fun and memorable for us. We loved the accommodations in Zurich. We had requested rooms ranging from small and quirky to grand and five star. Our planners delivered! Every hotel included a nice breakfast with convenient hours. Local touring with drivers in private Mercedes luxurious vehicles was ideal for us since I cannot walk far. All of our drivers went out of their way to assist me.
I want to highlight the great work Laura and Nina did on setting up our excursions. We requested visits to beautiful churches, creameries and cheese makers, local festivals, historic sites, and meeting and eating with locals. Challenging, but only the cheese-making did not happen. Every excursion was well planned with knowledgeable guides and tailored to our interests.
We loved our stop at the picturesque Appenzel Village, which fulfilled my childhood dreams and had perfect curio shopping for our family. The trip to the local farm, lunch, and tour gave us an intimate view of modern, small-scale Swiss farming and high-quality cattle raised at the Dähler’s farm.
Of the two well-publicized Swiss train rides we did, the Bernina Express was as amazing as advertised, and the Alps, tunnels, stone bridges, and idyllic scenery lived up to the hype. Arriving in St. Moritz was a shock to our system with its glitzy shopping and sky-high prices (not that anything in Switzerland is a bargain!) We really enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage tour of St. Moritz. The Hotel Stefani was close to the center of all the action, and my husband found a cozy wine bar with a charcuterie board dinner within walking distance that worked great for us. The Muottas Muragl funicular provided breathtaking views, a lovely terrace luncheon, then a nap for me while my husband hiked.
The famous Glacier Express took us 8 and 1/2 hours to traverse the country to Zermatt. In retrospect, we could have found a different mode of transport. Even with the amazing scenery, 8+ hours on a sightseeing train are a few too many after already enjoying a similar experience on the Bernina Express, but it was our mistake as we had requested both train trips.
The hotel picked us up at the train station. No cars are allowed in the city central, only “electric-taxis.” To refer to these vehicles as a taxi is an insult to the automobile industry. Think a covered tuk tuk with a battery. Our hotel in Zermatt was the 22 Summits at the far end of town which, on a clear day, would provide great views of the Matterhorn from our balcony. Unfortunately, the fabulous September weather turned overcast and rainy upon our arrival. My husband rode ski lifts to get in a quick hike and have higher mountain views. The Matterhorn did peek through the clouds on our last morning, as pictured above.

The first night’s supper in Zermatt was another great experience. We walked in the rain to a very authentic Swiss restaurant and delighted in a real fondue dinner. It fulfilled all my expectations! Our travel agents snagged one of the best guides of our trip for a walking tour of the town (which my husband had explored fifty years before, in the same week). He adjusted the pace for me, arranging a quick “taxi” trip back to the hotel for a rest. That evening, the same enjoyable and relatable gentleman took us on a tapas experience, which consisted of small courses at four restaurants where every owner, manager, and chef greeted him and us like old friends. It was another highlight of our trip! The next day brought a not to be missed tour of an “old school” museum…it was like stepping back in time and experiencing the lives of those first
daring climbers of the Matterhorn.
Our driver picked us up for the trip to Bern where we were to have had a cheese-making event, but cheese making was over, and the young lady made us a nice tasting plate of their normal offerings. Bern brought us to an entirely different experience, as it is the capital city of Switzerland. Our elegant hotel, the Bellevue Palace, was our splurge hotel of the trip. It was an elegant suite and used for traveling diplomats. My husband enjoyed a walking tour with Marie-Thérèse. Later, he gave me an abbreviated version, which included seeing the bears and the gorgeous cathedral, and we successfully navigated our way through the city with our provided bus passes. On our way to our way to Lucerne, our driver took us to explore Interlocken on our own for a few hours. It is a young people’s city with a fun vibe.
An awesome and unplanned highlight of the trip was our delight in getting to see three different parades of cows who had grazed in the high Alps all summer coming down to their cozy winter homes in traditional wooden barns.

From there, we continued to a lovely, old (but remodeled) hotel, the Villa Honegg, on a hilltop overlooking Lake Lucerne. This hotel was our least favorite because of its remote location and very limited and expensive food options. However, our excursions at Lake Lucerne were top notch, especially the ferry cruise, lakeside lunch at the Riga Restaurant and return ferry ride. We enjoyed touring the antiquated covered bridges and seeing the carved Lion Monument honoring 500 fallen Swiss mercenaries with our capable guide.
However, the best experience of our vacation was saved for the last! We indulged in a three-hour Swiss chocolate-making session with a passionate and bespoke chocolate maker! It was the most delightful and delicious, hands on, personalized experience of our entire trip! Suffice it to say, we brought home a lot of customized chocolate bars we made and many from his small store, too.
Our trip back to Zurich and subsequent flights went without a hitch. We heartily thank and highly recommend the Wendy Perrin and her experts for a fantastic trip.
We used Nina and Ana to plan a family trip (my two cousins and our spouses) to Switzerland. We chose Switzerland because my cousin’s husband had been there years ago when he was stationed in Germany and he always wanted to go back to show his wife this beautiful country. The trip was everything we had hoped for and more! Ana and Nina put together an itinerary that included places and experiences the average tourist never sees, which I really enjoyed. We started our trip in Ascona, Switzerland and got to walk around the quant village and enjoy the beauty of the lake while we recovered from a little jet lag.
We told Ana and Nina we wanted to experience the culture, stay in places with beautiful views, and enjoy good food/wine, and they delivered on all counts! Our tours showed us small villages in the beautiful countryside, we experienced various activities like a cooking class with a specialty corn flour milled in a small, restored mill.
We had the opportunity to go on several hikes; one that we really enjoyed was to Stelli lake in Zermatt where we had exceptional views of the Matterhorn! We considered ourselves very fortunate to see this majestic mountain every day we were in the Village.
Our final stay was in Lucerne. The hotel Nina and Ana recommended offered beautiful views of the lake from our balconies. We ended up skipping the trip to Mt. Rigi due to the overcast weather but we enjoyed the boat ride to Vitznau, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch overlooking the lake. The only disappointment for some members of our group was the trip to see the military bunkers; we expected we would have access to one of the World War II bunkers, however, we learned the bunker had sustained water damage and was no longer being shown. It was still fun to go off-roading on the military roads and to see some of the locations of the bunkers.
I would say the most unique experience for me was a trip to the Appenzell region, where our guide took us to meet a local farmer, who has learned a unique method for feeding and caring for his cattle similar to Kobe cattle in Japan. The farmer made us a delicious 5 course lunch. We also enjoyed visiting the traditionally Swiss village of Appenzell and the gorgeous countryside.
We were so happy to have had the opportunity to work with Nina and Ana. They listened to our ideas for our trip and prepared an itinerary that was interesting and varied and gave us an excellent opportunity to explore Switzerland.
I’m so pleased we chose to work with Nina and Ana to plan the Croatia portion of our trip too. I know they used established resources in Croatia to help design and monitor the trip, and I have to say the planning was exceptional.
We wanted to see as much of the country as possible and gave Nina and Ana a fairly broad list of places we might like to see and they gave us an excellent initial itinerary.
Some of the highlights for me were our trip to Plitvice Lakes National Park with our guide Mario. He was quite the outdoorsman with excellent knowledge of the park. He knew exactly where to go to avoid the crowds and where to get the best photos of the beautiful waterfalls.
Based on our interest in learning about the local foods and wines, Ana recommended we stay at Meneghetti Wine Hotel and Winery in the Istria region. Although I was concerned about staying in a fairly remote location and not having enough to do, this turned out to be the perfect location. We were in between Pula and Rovinj so we could visit Pula one morning and Rovinj and the Istrian hilltop towns the next day. Srdjan, our guide for those trips, was an Art History expert who gave us an outstanding tour and education of the Pula Amphitheater. The next day, during our hilltop village tour, one of the places he took us to was a small village with several art studios where we were able to meet a famous Croatian artist who showed us around his studio.
I especially enjoyed our walking tour of Split with Jolanda, a local chef, who took us to little sidewalk cafes only the locals know and introduced us to some of Croatia’s specialty dishes. She even gave me one of her cookbooks and several recipes to help me with my bread baking hobby.
We ended our trip in Dubrovnik with Vesna, another knowledgeable guide, who helped us understand the 1991 war and pointed out how vulnerable the city was when it was attacked. She told us we were going to be treated to a special surprise at the end of the tour. Nina and Ana had arranged for an amazing lunch at a wine bar where we were treated to an amazing 5-course meal with 5 different wine tastings all served by the owner of the restaurant. It was such a nice afternoon and one I will always treasure.
Even though Nina’s team specializes in Switzerland, they did an amazing job with our tour in Croatia. I would recommend them to anyone considering a trip to the area.
I’m looking forward to our next trip using a Wendy Perrin-recommended travel expert!
Traveler Sharon Kornhaus and her family with their St. Bernard friends on a lakeview hike.
My husband, Mark, and my college age children and I just got back from Switzerland. We had 12 remarkable days in the French and German regions of this beautiful alpine country. We began our trip in Geneva touring Protestant churches, lakes, and villages and participating in a private cooking lesson with a chef. Our culinary efforts produced a wonderful lunch with local ingredients. Nina’s company listened to our requests to avoid the August vacation crowds around Grindelwald and routed us through the quiet alpine villages of Bettmeralp and Andermatt on our way to Zurich. Our guides took us to small dairy farms to learn about cheese production, secured cable car rides to remote mountain top restaurants, drove us via four-wheel drive to WWII military sites, and took us up close to a windmill installation. A highlight for me was hiking with two St. Bernards to a beautiful overlook of Lake Lucerne.
The last days of our trip were in and around Zurich. We learned about traditional alpine music, toured museums, had a private tour and tasting from a Swiss chocolate company, and visited a watch maker’s shop to try our hands at watch construction. On our last night in Zurich, the team helped my kids obtain tickets to a pop concert while Mark and I enjoyed dinner at a vineyard.
Communication was key to our successful trip. We told our planners about our love of science and engineering, requested time in nature and urban settings, and asked for culinary and cultural insights, and they delivered with some amazing, personal experiences on our trip to Switzerland.
My husband and I recently returned from a delightful trip to Switzerland, meticulously planned by Nina and Simon—and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the experience. From the very beginning, our collaboration with them was smooth, thoughtful, and genuinely enjoyable. Simon’s understanding of our travel preferences made all the difference. He listened carefully to our interests and crafted an itinerary that felt tailor-made for us.
One of our top priorities was to ride the Glacier Express in Excellence Class—apparently a notoriously difficult reservation to get, even though we began planning in February for a late August trip. Simon managed to secure two of the last available seats that would work with our schedule, then built the rest of our itinerary around that highlight. The train ride itself was spectacular, with panoramic views at every turn. But the amazing five-course meal paired with exquisite wines that is served in Excellence Class was truly a wish-list experience!
Our journey began with an early morning arrival in Zurich, where a private driver met us and drove us to the Appenzell region. There, we were warmly welcomed by Remo and Frances, who would be our guides for the next two days. This charming couple made us feel like old friends as they shared their local insights in easy conversation. They could clearly tell we needed coffee, so our first stop was an elegant pastry shop and café for some delicious treats. Then we took a scenic walk through St. Gallen, toured the cathedral and library, and shared a classic Swiss lunch together. Every moment felt personal and enriching. I especially loved the Textile Museum—such a treat for someone who enjoys sewing and fabrics.
Throughout our trip, we enjoyed a delightful mix of curated experiences: lunch at a local farm, a visit with a chocolate maker, a wine-tasting tour by e-bike, and even a hands-on watch-making session. Simon also ensured we had plenty of downtime to hike, explore, or simply unwind in the beautiful hotels he selected for us.
Our excursion into Liechtenstein was another standout. We wanted to do wine tasting there, and Simon arranged a fantastic guide and driver. He even coordinated the logistics of storing and delivering our purchased wines to our final hotel in Zurich—so thoughtful and practical, especially given our train-heavy itinerary.
In short, Nina and Simon delivered a seamless, personalized, and truly magical Swiss adventure. Their attention to detail, responsiveness, and genuine care made this trip one we’ll remember always. Switzerland may be a small country, but the wealth of possible activities and places to visit made it somewhat daunting to figure out an itinerary. The value added by Nina and Simon to our trip was very appreciated. I would highly recommend them for anyone seeking a bespoke travel experience to Switzerland.
Laura and Nina were amazing. They took the time to meet with us and really get to know our interests for our trip. They guided us toward areas of Switzerland that were not typically traveled by foreign tourists to avoid the crowds (we traveled in high season), and stated that the areas they recommended would be just as beautiful and check off all the boxes we were looking to check. There were correct.
Every day was so amazing. They exposed us to things and areas we would never have encountered without their guidance. This was truly a WOW trip!
Our family is just back from a July 2025 trip to Switzerland where Nina and Laura planned a trip we will always remember. From our first meeting by video conference through the follow up email correspondence, they focused on what our interests were, and planned unique experiences that we would never have found on our own.
We started in the Swiss Riviera area, where we had a stunning view of Lake Geneva and a wine tasting that educated us on the history of the Swiss wine industry. From there we took one of the most spectacular train rides through the countryside. We visited Bern, the beautiful capitol city that too many Americans miss; Lucerne; and ended up in Zurich. Thanks to Laura’s suggestions, we also visited small towns, including charming Gstaad and Solothurn. They were highlights of our trip. We traveled by scenic trains and had drivers at certain points. All along the way, we had guides who were local experts, and who not only knew the history and the architecture, but literally knew everyone in town and pointed us to restaurants and stores, or took us to out-of-the-way spots where we had genuine experiences. A highlight was traveling through the Emmental Valley and having a picnic of local wine, cheese and lunch on a hilltop that our driver knew.
The planning was excellent. We had all our travel documents in order and had no worries the entire trip. Switzerland is spectacular, but we appreciated it so much more because of the expertise of Laura and Nina, who we strongly recommend!
Working with Karolina from Nina’s team made my family’s trip to Switzerland seamless. Karolina listened carefully to what we were looking for and put together a week of activities that suited us while helping us get off the beaten path and avoid crowds during the height of tourist season.
One highlight I’d recommend to others is visiting the small village of Sulwald in the Bernese Oberland, with its stunning views and minimal visitors. We enjoyed taking the vintage gondola to the top of the mountain for a lunch of local meats and cheeses, and had a blast scootering down the mountainside with views of the surrounding mountains and valley. Also, biking through the Vallemaggia was a magical experience filled with spectacular vistas, including postcard-worthy villages and waterfalls, around every corner.
Thanks to Nina’s team we had a great time in Switzerland and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and use them in the future.
My husband and I, and two of our friends, used Nina and her colleague Ana at Wendy Perrin’s recommendation to plan a Switzerland trip. Our friends went early and we joined them later in Gstaad and we all traveled to Lausanne. This was our first time to Switzerland and with our limited knowledge we would not have known to pick these locations ourselves nor known how to organize the activities, nor coordinate as effectively with different timelines. We also really appreciated having local boots-on-the-ground planners.
We did not have a lot of information nor know what to expect on our water experience but really enjoyed it. Note to other travelers: You are provided wet suits and shoes. Unplanned, cliff jumping was on my bucket list so discovering that I would be doing it in the ice blue waters of Switzerland will be a memory we all cherish. We enjoyed the cheese tour at a farm in Gstaad. Working with the planners were really great for transportation (airport pickups, different types of trains we wanted to ride). We enjoyed our winery and lunch in Lavaux region with Nick. We found all the guides on the trip (including Karin who took us on a hike in Gstaad) knowledgeable and lovely to spend time with.
One note for travelers: We have worked with Wendy Perrin before but perhaps should have realized there might be differences depending on destinations (i.e., itemized itineraries or not, dining recommendations provided or not) so good to know to make explicit requests. We have found the knowledge and customer service of equivalent quality. We will continue to check with Wendy Perrin for future adventures!
Ana & Nina did an amazing job of designing a trip to Switzerland for us from May 15-24, 2025. They listened carefully and worked with us so that we ended up with destinations, hotels, and activities that suited our desires.
They gave us ideas and suggestions that we would never have found on our own. The travel arrangements included private cars and trains and were planned perfectly so we did not have to rush, nor was any time wasted.
As requested, they also left time for us to be on our own so it wasn’t too hectic (our choice).
Most impressive were the guides they selected for us. To a person they were professional, on time, passionate, and flexible. They were easy to be with, truly caring, nice people, and responsive to our desires.
Upon arrival we received an easy to use daily itinerary book with all the details, times, notes, names, phone numbers, and tickets by day. It was so easy to follow and organized that we could not have made a mistake!
When our luggage didn’t arrive, Ana was immediately available to contact our driver and make the necessary changes. What could have been a major hassle was thus avoided.
Thank You, Nina & Ana!
Traveler Ashley Point and family sledging in Grindelwald.
Our family of five (2 adults and 3 kids ages 7-13) just returned from our ski holiday in Grindelwald, Switzerland. Skiing in Switzerland is different than in the US. Switzerland uses trains, gondolas and large lifts. There were mostly beginner and intermediate runs (with a few advanced runs). The mountain regions are huge and you can ski all day and never ski every run. We arrived in Zurich on Saturday; our driver took us to Grindelwald to stay at the Aspen hotel (we thought finding the train and transferring with three kids and lots of luggage would be too much).
The Aspen hotel is a small ski in/ski out hotel in the Jungfrau region. Everyone was very polite and helpful throughout the stay. We stayed in a family suite and a large breakfast was included every morning. Saturday evening we took a private guided sunset hike of Wengen with Weronika and tasted Swiss cheese, chocolate and wine by moonlight while overlooking the waterfalls in the region. She was great with the kids! We skied Sunday with instructors in the morning. They were able to give us the best ideas for the rest of our ski vacation. Monday we skied as a family. Tuesday we toured the area (Interlaken, Lucerne, Isenfluh and Bernese Oberland) with Celio. He took us up a small gondola to a local fondue spot (8 tables in the entire place). He was very knowledgeable about Switzerland, Europe, history, politics and more.
Wednesday and Thursday we skied again. On Friday we went to Funky Chocolate in Interlaken for a private chocolate making class and toured Interlaken while our chocolate dried. Afterwards we met up with Weronika again and raced down the slopes on sledges. We almost crashed several times, but it was wonderful fun and we wanted to do it longer but the lifts were closing. Overall, Nina and her team listened to our desires for 4 solid days of skiing with Swiss culture and fun for the kids thrown in. They surprised our son with a birthday cake and planned other surprises along the way. The only thing we wished we had saved time for was the paragliding. There were many in Interlaken and it looked thrilling!
My wife and I booked a trip to Switzerland over the holidays in December 2024. We had a great experience with Cosa! The team was attentive to our desires for the trip and provided lots of fun options for things to do and see while we were there. Along the way as we developed the itinerary, the team was very responsive and accommodating to any requests that we had. When we had questions / needed assistance while on our trip the team was always there to help as well. We would highly recommend the Cosa team.
Destination was Switzerland. The travel company offered amazing service, everything was well planned—seeing the Alps, tours of the cities, cathedrals. Speeding through the Alps on a handicap-adapted bike was amazing for my son and this experience was found by Laura. My son has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and everything was so well planned for him. I truly recommend this company.
My husband and I love hiking and wanted to hike in Switzerland. Ana and Nina listened to our wishes for the trip and planned a spectacular adventure for us. Our 12-day trip started off in Lausanne where we got a feel for the French-influenced part of Switzerland, then we spent a few days in Wengen and experienced the alps with a German feel and then ended our trip in Ascona where we had flavors of Italy.
It was so incredible to see the very different aspects of Switzerland. We enjoy smaller boutique hotels and the ability to hike daily from those locations and that is exactly what Ana and Nina coordinated for us. We had a good mixture of guided activities and time on our own. We had a unique caving experience just outside of Wengen with a candle-lit raclette lunch inside one of the caves, it was wonderful. The restaurant recommendations were also just perfect. Ana and Nina were available throughout our stay as we made a few modifications, and they were incredibly responsive.
Our bespoke two-week journey through Switzerland was nothing short of magical. The adventure began in the vibrant city of Zürich, where we were immediately immersed in the city’s rich cultural history. One of the highlights was the watchmaking demonstration, which gave us an intimate look into Switzerland’s famous craftsmanship. The precision and artistry behind each timepiece were mesmerizing, and it set the perfect tone for the rest of our trip. Exploring Zürich was equally delightful, from its scenic riverfronts to the charming old town brimming with history.
We then ventured by train and back to Appenzell, where we experienced traditional bell-making firsthand. Watching the craftsmen at work was fascinating, and the deep tones of the freshly made bells rang with a timeless beauty. Our visit to a working Swiss farm added a wonderful rustic touch to the trip, giving us a glimpse into the country’s agricultural traditions and sustainable practices. It was a peaceful and enriching contrast to the city’s bustle.
We took a day trip to Bern, where the medieval streets and historic charm of the old city transported us back in time. The Einstein Museum was an unexpected gem—an engaging dive into the life and work of one of the greatest minds in history, all set within the beautiful backdrop of Bern’s cobblestone streets and medieval architecture.
Next, we headed by train to Zermatt, a true hiker’s paradise. The breathtaking views of the Matterhorn were absolutely unforgettable. Every step of our hikes offered postcard-worthy scenery, from pristine alpine lakes to rugged mountain peaks. The air was crisp, the trails well-maintained, and the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps left us in awe. From Zermatt we traveled to Grindenwald and the Lauterbrunnen Valley where the weather was uncooperative but the team quickly made arrangements for us to leave a day early for Lausanne and better weather.
We concluded our adventure in Lucerne, nestled on the serene shores of the lake. The city itself is picture-perfect, with its wooden bridges and waterfront promenades. The highlight here was the chocolate-making workshop, where we indulged our senses and learned the delicate art of Swiss chocolate. Creating our own confections was not only fun but deliciously rewarding—a sweet way to end our incredible journey.
Overall, this bespoke trip through Switzerland perfectly blended urban exploration, cultural immersion, and natural wonders. Each destination offered something unique, and we left with memories to treasure for a lifetime. The itinerary blended a good mixture of countryside and city sites and can through for us when the weather wasn’t cooperating.
We had four days in Switzerland before embarking on a hiking trip through the Alps—Nina and Laura did a great job in helping us to plan the perfect experience. We wanted active experiences that included lots of lakes, cheese and chocolate, and they delivered on it all!
We started in Gstaad, then spent the day in Brienz and Neuchatel. We went to a small, family-owned farm for a cheese-making demonstration and tasting; did a really fun “Indiana Jones” experience that involved a Via Ferreta and ziplining; went on a phenomenal cave exploration, and did an amazing chocolate making class. It was perfect!
The highlight was staying in a hotel on Lake Neuchetal that was directly on the water—we jumped in from the deck at our room. Absolutely beautiful!
A cogwheel train up Mt. Rigi led to a hike with giant furry friends. Photo: Traveler Barbara Stelzer
Our week in Switzerland with our granddaughters was WONDERFUL! It started with good communication with Ana and Simon months before our trip.
Hotels were in 2 locations with private guides and day trips from each. The first was Hotel Maya Caprice for 2 nights in the charming, carless hilltop village of Wengen, and then 4 nights at Hotel Art Deco Montana in Lucerne. Our adventures included a guided kayak tour on Lake Brienz, Lauterbrunnen Valley, Trümmelbach Waterfalls, Giessbach Falls, Aare Gorge, a guided walking tour of Lucerne, chocolate workshop and tasting at Max the Chocolatier, guided full day gastronomy tour of Zurich, boat ride on Lake Lucerne, and an activity that made my granddaughters cry happy tears, a cogwheel train up to and hiking on Mt. Rigi with Koni and his St. Bernards. We were also surprised with a WOW Moment in Zurich where we were greeted by Ana and Simon’s team with champagne, fruit AND an alphorn lesson. Fun!
Drivers and guides were timely, informative and friendly. The itinerary eliminated any possible worries with its specifics about activities, times, meeting places, and added suggestions. Ana had made requested dinner reservations ahead of time which added to the seamlessness of our week. Our favorite dinners were at restaurants in our 2 hotels, and at Restaurant Grottino in Lucerne.
Our trip and the planning exceeded our expectations.
We recommend Ana and Simon’s company for sure!
I will start by saying that the itinerary, the guides, and experiences exceeded our expectations by far. This trip celebrated my mother‘s 80th birthday. We decided to use a travel expert to assist us in optimizing experience and to decrease the stress of coordinating transfers etc. It was definitely worth it!! We had 3 zoom meetings to convey our wishes. The result was spectacular!!!
The Appenzellerland tour with Antonia was exceptional!! We met with a farmer and had a scrumptious lunch prepared by him and learned all the special techniques he has for raising cows. Mom and I both thought it can’t get any better than this but oh boy were we in for day after day of special treats!
Next Lucerne. Here we met Jutta and took a surprise boat ride on lake Lucerne to Mount Rigi. This was another extraordinary day where we visited a cheese cellar and enjoyed gorgeous views.
St Moritz next. Muottas Muragl is not to be missed. Easy to navigate on our own. We took a funicular. Another amazing day!!! I expressed to Anna I enjoyed getting on the water, so a sailing trip was scheduled in Moritz. This could have been skipped. It’s a gorgeous lake. Interesting guide but maybe unnecessary.
Next Mom and I took the Bernina express to Lake Lugano. Unfortunately, we were in a car that was super noisy with American children. L O L. If it’s possible to get into a “quiet car“ I would recommend that.
The last three days were spent in the area of Lake Lugano. These were very special. This is the Italian speaking portion of Switzerland. I highly recommend getting into the Bavona Valley. Our guide Anna took us to Sonogno. Honestly, I would like to marry a Swiss and move to this area. It is not to be missed!!
The last two days we spent with Patricia and our tours with her were amazing. We had a private cruise on Lake Lugano followed by learning how to cook a Swiss meal, and the last day we headed to an amazing winery with the most beautiful views ever.
This itinerary accomplished by Anna was precisely what mom and I desired but would never have been able to create. The accommodations were exactly what we asked for—clean, perfect location, not fancy. The drivers were on time and friendly. The tour guides were exceptional and informative, friendly, and took great care to be gentle with my mom.
Also, I wanted to mention—Anna met my mom and I when we landed in Zurich and presented us with a gift which was extremely thoughtful. From the moment we landed I knew we were in good hands!!!
Just returned from a delightful 2-week trip to Switzerland that was flawlessly planned by Simon Kessler. Simon’s ongoing support was very much appreciated, as there were a few occasions where we had questions and Simon always responded immediately & provided the necessary information. We spent time in Zurich, Ascona, Lucerne and Bern. These hotel locations supported numerous day trips to other cities as well as another country…Liechtenstein…where we were guided by an outstanding fellow, Thomas Roth.
Each city enabled us to have different experiences and, thanks to the well chosen guides, a fabulous trip filled with wonderful memories. Lunch in an old bomb shelter and winding 2-lane roads one car width wide added to the adventure. Hotel selections were excellent. The only issue we had was a poor train ride back from Basel to Zurich. The Swiss train management failed to plan for the soccer crowd returning to Switzerland from Germany. Consequently, the train was quite late, extremely overcrowded (standing room only) and very hot while sitting in the station with no functioning A/C. Inexcusable poor planning.
A paragliding landing zone with a view in St. Moritz. Photo: Traveler Ann Marie Bell
I recently returned from a fantastic mother/daughter trip to Switzerland planned by Nina and Simon. They were nothing short of amazing, starting with the fact that we initiated our planning very late because we weren’t sure what my daughter’s school schedule was going to be. They quickly got on a call to fully understand our interests and needs, which were a combination of outdoor activities, cultural enrichment, and relaxation.
We started in St. Moritz, which was breathtakingly beautiful. We hiked, kayaked, paraglided and took full advantage of the Alps and the serenity of the valley. We hiked with an expert mountaineer, Nik, who we never would have found on our own.
We traveled to Bad Ragaz, a town known for its thermal springs and an art exhibit that takes place every three years (which was there while we were there). Unfortunately, the public access to the thermal springs was closed for renovation. We were still able to explore and hike. We also had a cooking and wine lesson with a chef and did an e-bike tour (again, private lesson wouldn’t have been possible without Nina and Simon). There was a minor scheduling issue with the bike tour, which Simon immediately addressed. To make up for the inconvenience, he covered the cost of a trip to the spa on our final day.
We did a day trip to St. Gallen on our way to Zurich. Our extraordinary guide, Antonia, provided once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to visit a local farm and have a hands-on experience with a craftsman making traditional Swiss bells.
The last two days of our trip were in Zurich and included an informative guided tour and an afternoon at a local spa. The highlight at the spa was a rooftop pool with views overlooking Zurich.
I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. I have traveled with several Wendy Perrin agencies and have always had amazing experiences. My trip to Switzerland was no exception. Thank you!
An alpine lake beneath the Matterhorn on the Five Lakes Trail. Photo: Traveler David Max
We loved the graduation celebration trip to Zermatt and Italian Switzerland that Nina Mueller planned for us. We read about the two Swiss hotels Nina highlighted on WendyPerrin.com and stayed at both!
The hiking around the Matterhorn in Zermatt is gorgeous, and the view from the top of the Gornergrat train is breathtaking. We also loved e-mountain biking up to the very base of the Matterhorn and having rösti for lunch at a mountain restaurant. Our great biking guide took some of us on a singletrack back down through the forest, with fun little jumps and banked curves.
The Castello del Sole in Ascona was like a home away from home. Nina got us upgraded to a really spacious suite with a huge balcony, overlooking the hotel’s expansive green grounds and farm. From the top of a gondola above neighboring Locarno, we had dazzling views of Lago Maggiore as it curves south into Italy in one direction, and the highest Alps in Switzerland in another direction. We loved hiking to the top of that peak, relaxing at the hotel’s welcoming spa, doing a wine tasting and shopping at the hotel’s vineyard store, and feasting on the incredible breakfast buffet and gourmet dinners.
The staff at both hotels Nina recommended were super warm, welcoming, and helpful.
The only time there was a hitch in our logistics, Nina’s team adjusted quickly and generously.
One special treat was a ride on the Castello del Sole’s gorgeous motorboat down the lake to the towns and gardens on the Italian shores. The boat captain, Samuele, brought it to life in animated Italian fashion — I highly recommend this three-hour taste of La Dolce Vita.
Nina and her colleague, Annina, added so much value to our trip by reserving at remote mountain restaurants for our hikes and bike rides, with the terrific hotel choices, and with excellent advice about which outdoor adventures we could do on our own and which called for a guide. Four nights in each place was just right, and you will love the Swiss sights and food Nina plans for you. We loved celebrating graduation in Switzerland!
Jennifer, David, Veronica, and Reed Datwyler hiking with St. Bernards.
My daughter recently graduated from high school. She chose a family trip to Switzerland as a celebration of her accomplishments. My husband and I, along with our 18-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son, left home May 25, 2024 for a ten-day trip to three distinct regions of Switzerland. This trip was expertly planned by Nina and Annina.
We flew direct from San Francisco to Zurich. The afternoon of our arrival, we toured the city of Zurich in a Tuk Tuk, where we were welcomed with chocolate fondue en route. The next day, we took a short train ride to the town of Appenzell, where we visited with a local bell maker who demonstrated the art of forging cow bells. My daughter even got to participate in the forging process! From there we visited an organic farm. The farmer, Sep, prepared an incredible lunch from products harvested on his farm.
From Zurich we traveled by train to Interlaken. We stayed in a beautiful wellness hotel right on the water outside of town. Our time in Interlaken included a private chocolate-making workshop and the highlight of the trip for my daughter, a hike with Konstantine’s St. Bernard dogs.
The third stop on our trip was to the Italian region of Switzerland, where we stayed in the town of Ascona. Here we rode E-bikes to a small family-run grotto where we learned to make risotto. We spent another day exploring the Bavona valley. We enjoyed a hike through the most beautiful terrain we have ever seen. My son commented that he felt as if he were in “middle-earth” and was expecting to encounter a hobbit at any moment.
The entire trip was flawless. All the details were handled expertly. We will never forget this time together as a family.
Ana and her colleagues arranged a fantastic trip for us, two couples, in early June. We of course knew Switzerland would be beautiful and it certainly was. But what made our visit even more special was an itinerary filled with fantastic experiences, wonderful guides and lovely hotels.
We began our trip in Lake Maggiore after a day trip to Lake Como on our way from Milan. From there we traveled to Andermatt, St. Moritz and Zurich. Each location was different and unique with its own culture and customs. We visited grottos and a Farina Bona mill, participated in a private cooking class in a local mountain restaurant, toured an underground WWII bunker, hiked to gorgeous vistas and cabled to a glacier still filled with snow.
Ana expertly handled all the details, including transportation (a combination of trains and driver guides) and restaurants. Despite the six-hour time difference, she was fully available during the planning process and happy to answer our questions, no matter how trivial.
We hope to return again to Switzerland and, with Nina and Ana’s help, to visit areas we did not reach on this trip. While not a large country, there is so much to see!!!!
We visited Switzerland for the first time from May 29-Jun 10 and had Nina & Karolina make our arrangements. They put together an itinerary that gave us a great cross-section of the country. We started in Ascona and ended in Zurich, with Zermatt, Lausanne and Gstaad in between…it was a fabulous trip!
Our experiences focused on the natural beauty of Switzerland and local experiences. We especially enjoyed the farm visits, cheese making, hikes, restaurants and Swiss wine. It’s hard to pick a favorite when pretty much every day and every event was well planned and mostly unique to Swiss culture.
There is no way we could have made all the plans that Nina’s office did and experienced as much of the country as their efforts allowed us. We especially appreciated that all of the guides were local and very much part of the fabric of their community.
Karolina was great at responding to our requests and adjusting our itinerary many times to accommodate our wishes.
All in all, it was a great experience, and we look forward to visiting Switzerland again with the help of Nina and team!
Craig and Sue Floyd and Bill and Denice Fisher beside Lake Lugano.
We spent 10 fabulous days touring Switzerland arranged by Wendy’s contact, Nina Muller. We focused on three specific areas including Lausanne, Wengen, and Ascona. Nina arranged for all transportation, which ran seamlessly as the Swiss train system indeed runs like clockwork. Our trip included informative tours of each city, visits to wineries, chocolate tours, and lakeside hikes ending at stunning waterfalls. Our time in Wengen included a trip up to Schlithorn which was the site of the filming of the James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. We took two trains and 3 cable cars to reach the summit.
The next day we took a lovely boat ride from Interlaken to Iseltwald and hiked around the lake, ending at the spectacular Giessbach Falls. Next was the train to Ascona in the south with a city tour of beautiful Lucerne on the way. The last few days of the trip were spent in Ascona and Lugano and included more scenic boat rides, a day trip through Bavona Valley, and a cooking school at Grotto Descanso on the shore of Lake Lugano. It was a great way to end a special trip to a beautiful country.
Simon and Nina planned an amazing trip for our family of 5 (my husband and I and our 3 adult children) to Switzerland! We arrived on 5/26/24 and were there about a week. (My husband and I stayed several days longer). In planning our trip Simon was excellent—we didn’t know where to start because there are so many choices of things to do and places to see in Switzerland. Simon suggested we start in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. We began in Lausanne and had a great experience with a private wine tasting in the Lavaux region with a local producer. She gave us a great educational tour of wine making. Probably the biggest surprise was that milk chocolate paired incredibly well with the white wine we were tasting! Following that our guide Nicolas took us to a small local restaurant on the hillside overlooking Lake Geneva where we had our first fondue meal! We then traveled to Gstaad, which is in the German-speaking Bernese Oberland. Claudia was our guide and she was awesome! We did some yodeling (yes everyone tried it and had fun!), white water rafting on the Saane River and e-biking through the mountainside to lovely Lake Luenen. The secret “Cheese Bunker” we visited along the bike ride blew us away! The countryside was soo beautiful and breathtaking. Definitely the highlight for me was the bike ride. We all loved the white water rafting!
We then traveled to Luzern but unfortunately the weather was not the best—we had a lot of rain—but we stopped and saw some amazing waterfalls—all the better because of the heavy rain! Along the way we visited Interlocken and made chocolate! Family favorite! At this point 2 of our children flew back to the US. Finally we traveled to the Italian-speaking region of Ticino. One of our daughters could join us as we toured the Bellinzona castles (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Our guide Anna was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the region. Seeing the castles, we could truly appreciate the strategic importance of them! And we had the best gelato in Bellinzona!
The remainder of the trip my husband and I were able to enjoy by ourselves. We stayed in Italian-speaking Lugano, which was spectacular!! Our guide Patricia was so personable and knowledgeable. We enjoyed the city. We took the funicular up to Mount Bre and enjoyed the sights over the whole region. My husband Jim actually took a dip in beautiful Lake Lugano! On our last night Patricia had arranged a special boat trip to one of the “grottos” on the other side of the lake and we learned to make true Ticenese risotto! Every part of the trip was well planned. Every guide that Simon arranged was someone that was local and really was engaged and interesting to talk to about life in Switzerland. We would use Simon again without hesitation.
Wendy Mueller and son Evan riding the gondola on the Swiss side of Zermatt, with the Matterhorn in the background.
I took my son (age 19) to Zermatt, Switzerland for a ski trip the first week of March, 2024. I wanted a special mom-and-son trip. I reached out to WendyPerrin.com for a referral to help and was connected with Nina and Simon. Initial communication was via Google Meets and then everything from that point was e-mail. I’m not sure how Nina and Simon did it, but they took my wishes (and I’m not even sure I knew what my wishes were…I was just kind of all over the place) and planned an EPIC trip for me. The accommodations were amazing, the ski guide was so good I booked him an additional day, and they added to the itinerary a gorge trip and a special nighttime fondue and another evening tapas tour. What made it more spectacular were the guides hired. 5 stars all the way.
We are very accomplished skiers in the U.S., living in Colorado and Tahoe. We knew Zermatt was a little more complicated of a mountain with the lifts and the Swiss and Italian sides. They recommended a ski guide and so very happy we did it! Made the skiing more efficient and fun! One of the more memorable moments, that just happened out of the blue, was a walk down into town from the evening fondue and as we passed through one of the small hamlets, a small white 1-room church — like the kind in old western towns — was lit and our guide noticed my interest so he went over to see if it was open. It was and I was able to make a small donation in the box and light a candle and have a prayer of gratitude.
I will remember this forever. The trip was more than I ever had expected. I rarely use travel services as I do travel a lot and am comfortable booking on my own. However I wanted to have a bonding experience with my son and be stress-free. I feel more connected to my son as we did activities together without worry. I’d use Nina and Simon without hesitation again. They are wonderfully capable and very responsive. I would definitely recommend Nina and Simon when you want to be taken care of and have special moments. The guides were in direct contact with their office and it appeared to me the relationships are deep and very positive. We were the beneficiaries of those relationships for truly one-of-a-kind experiences. I am so very thankful for this experience! Thanks Nina and Simon! and thanks Wendy Perrin for the excellent referral!
We just returned from Switzerland and can I say, “WOW”!!! Nina Mueller and Ana Marques planned an amazing trip for us centered around my husband’s passion for watches. There is not enough space to explain the outstanding experiences we had because of Nina, and we also had a jaw-dropping WOW Moment provided by Wendy Perrin!! They picked outstanding hotels for us, and even arranged for the general manager to give us a private tour of our historic accommodation. We traveled through the Alps to have a cheese tasting in a 50-foot renovated cistern, learning about the difference between winter cheese and summer cheese. We stopped for an hour at Max’s Chocolatier to experience a chocolate tasting and learn why their approach to chocolate making is so unique and extraordinary. But the heart of the trip exceeded our expectations by getting us access to a watchmaking factory where we not only toured, but also had a master class on how to be a watchmaker! In Bern, our tour guide gave us a walking tour of the city where we had our WOW Moment: We got access to the clock tower where we got to see the 500-year-old working clock while it was exhibiting its complications during its hour chime!! We also got to wind the clock, which is a rare treat. Our guide then took us up to look out over the city, and then spread out a fabulous lunch including homemade pumpkin soup with cheese, charcuterie and crusty bread while we drank champagne together and enjoyed time standing still! Our trip was truly above and beyond what we could have possibly dreamed of, all thanks to Nina, Ana and Wendy!! Thank you all for giving us such a fabulous trip!!
We just returned from two magnificent weeks in Switzerland, all planned by Ana Marques and the rest of Nina’s office. Switzerland is more beautiful than we even imagined. The amazing itinerary that Ana planned allowed us to do and see so much…and yet we felt relaxed and had time to enjoy everything. Our main goal was to hike in the Alps, but we also wanted to experience the cities, towns and beauty of Switzerland.
We went to Zurich, Zermatt, Kandersteg, Interlaken, Wengen/Lauterbrunnen Valley, Bern and Lucerne. Ana arranged all our wonderful drivers, tour guides and special tours. We covered so much ground and had so many incredible experiences like kayaking on Lake Brienz, a tour of a cheese dairy farm, learning about watch making and a delicious chocolate tasting! All the hotel properties were perfect for us and really added to our entire Swiss experience. All the restaurant recommendations were fantastic.
We hiked a total of 8 days of our 14 days and each hike was better than the next. Hiking in the Alps is truly incredible. Ana even provided hiking trail suggestions for each day. We did many of those hikes. Even though our main goal for the trip was to hike the Alps, with the help of Ana and the team we experienced so much more of Switzerland. We are forever grateful to them for the most amazing two weeks touring their beautiful country.
Fantastic trip! Every aspect of the trip—transfers, hotels, guides—went off without a hitch. We chose to go to Switzerland in August to escape the heat, but unfortunately the heat followed us there. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time. I would recommend Nina and David without hesitation.
Ana and Simon did a great job planning our trip. They took care to get input on what we wanted, crafted and shaped the itinerary based on our feedback, and even managed to squeeze in a last-minute request to visit a store in Zurich. All this with utmost courtesy and patience. We loved the hotels (especially Coeur des Alpes and Hotel Montana Lucerne) as well as the guides they picked. Many many thanks to both of them for a wonderful vacation.
The Roberts family hiking in Wengen during their WOW Trip to Switzerland. Photo: Traveler Laura Roberts
We traveled to Switzerland for 16 days in late June with the help of Ana. I asked a lot of her because we were traveling with our 4 grown children, our daughter-in-law, and our 10-month-old granddaughter. She did a great job of finding interesting activities that all 8 of us could enjoy! We hiked, had a raclette lunch in a candlelit cave, rafted, mountain-biked, wine-tasted, and much more! We had 3 major destinations—Zurich, Wengen and Ascona. Wengen was our favorite—beautiful views of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, accessible only by train and no cars in town. However, the true highlight was in the mountains near Ascona. There was a local alpine festival for the opening of a cattle-grazing area high in the mountains. Ana arranged for us to go by helicopter and see the local traditions — cheese making, eating polenta and alpine horns. We were the only foreigners there and the people were very welcoming! We loved this trip!!
y wife and I have recently returned from a wonderful vacation in Switzerland, planned and coordinated by Simon Kessler from Nina’s office. We are so glad that this agency was recommended to us by Wendy.
The process began with a video-call with Simon about 10 months ago, where we discussed our travel likes and dislikes, and described what we wanted to see during our time in Switzerland. Simon and his team did an excellent job of taking the information we gave him, and orchestrating a 10-day itinerary, allowing us to see three distinct and different parts of this beautiful country.
We spent the first couple of days in the Lake Lucerne area, touring the historic areas of the city, and taking a cog-wheel tour to the top of Mt Pilatus. We stayed at a great hotel, with beautiful views of the lake and city.
We then spent 3 days in Zermatt, at a lovely, small boutique-type hotel with a view of the Matterhorn. The service at this hotel (and all our hotels) was personalized and first-rate. While in Zermatt, Simon arranged for a private tour to a remote farm in the mountains, where we were able to meet the local farmers and watch the process of cheese-making. We were treated to a wine and cheese tasting at the farm. We also took a tour to the top of Mt Gornergrat, allowing us to see some of the multiple glaciers and mountain ranges that Switzerland is famous for.
Our last stop was in the southern portion of the country, in Ascona, near the Italian border. This area had a distinct Mediterranean flare, an excellent contrast from our previous stops. Here, we also had some private tours with Anna, allowing us to see and hike thru some of the non-touristy areas in the nearby valleys, and explore some historic castles. Of course, excellent lunches and wine/cheese tastings were a part of these tours.
Throughout the trip, the arrangements made by Simon (travel, hotels, meals) were all spot-on, and everything went as smoothly as could be expected. We had one glitch, early in the trip, where we missed a connecting flight, and therefore had to rearrange our first day’s plans. After a quick text to Simon, we received an immediate response, and all the arrangements were immediately redone for us. It was so reassuring to have that all handled for us.
We will definitely recommend this type of travel arrangement to Switzerland to our friends, and can’t wait to schedule our next travel dates with another part of Wendy’s team.
We just returned from a great trip to Switzerland planned by Simon Kessler from Nina’s office, recommended to us by Wendy.
We met with Simon and Nina by Zoom many months prior to departure and discussed our thoughts and ideas for a 12-night trip. They were extremely helpful outlining the options of places to visit, and we settled on 3 nights in 4 cities to give us a good flavor of the different Swiss cantons and cultures. We chose Zurich, Ascona (Ticino), Zermatt, and Lausanne, which would give us a mix of German, Italian, and French regions of Switzerland and allow us to see the Matterhorn as well.
All the hotels were great, but especially the amazing Castello del Sole in Ascona. This is a one-of-a-kind property that is so beautiful. The service at this hotel is incredible. They make you feel at home and can accommodate any request. Their breakfast buffet is the best we have ever seen! They are so thoughtful — delicious chocolates at turndown, a gift on departure, taxi to whisk you away for dinner. There is no need to leave the resort for meals since they have numerous options on site, including a Michelin-star restaurant, but the lovely town of Ascona is a 20-minute walk or short taxi ride away. We lucked out as there was a jazz festival going on in Ascona while we were there.
Our guides were all great! We had some very unique experiences arranged for us, including visiting with one of the last artisan bell makers in Appenzell. It was fun to help him hammer out one of his bells! The hike in the Bavona Valley, with its off-the-grid stone houses dating back centuries, was also a highlight. Our guide was outstanding and she brought great experience and context to this fascinating and beautiful area not often seen by tourists. Our guide in Zermatt, Judith, was also fantastic as she steered us away from the hordes of tourists and led us by cable car to a beautiful mountain area where we hiked to a beautiful alpine lake and had unfettered views of the Matterhorn.
We also like to have some time to tour ourselves without a guide, and Simon was very helpful with suggestions of places to visit.
Simon and his team did a fantastic job arranging this trip. All the transports were impeccably timely, kind and with beautiful and comfortable vehicles. For restaurant reservations we had some difficulty booking ourselves, he took care of that as well.
As sometimes happens when you travel a lot, this trip brought some significant hiccups and the value of having a trip planner showed itself very clearly. One of us developed a significant back issue and Simon was incredible in helping us negotiate this. He helped arrange a medical visit and adjusted our guiding as necessary. In the end we had to unfortunately terminate our trip 4 nights early (we missed Lausanne) and Simon rearranged the car and train transports as necessary to facilitate our departure. He was always available when needed and made the situation far less stressful than it could have been. After we rebooked our flight to leave early from Geneva he also alerted us the night before our flight of a last-minute airport strike that allowed us time to rebook again out of Zurich and avoid that mess!
We would definitely use Simon and Nina’s team again!
Our short trip was fabulous. Nina Mueller and Annina Sommer had great suggestions, implemented our choices and were very responsive. Their choice of guides, hotels and itinerary excellently aligned with our desires for the trip as we discussed in our initial call. We packed a lot into our short visit, but not too much. And their restaurant suggestions were terrific (except that I gained more than 10 pounds). All of the drivers were punctual, convivial and very helpful.
June 14-16 — Zurich
The Storchen Hotel is lovely. The rooms are bright and spacious, and the staff was quite helpful. Breakfast each morning on the terrace overlooking the Limmat was a highlight of each day.
We dined at Kindli Restaurant the one night we were not with colleagues. It is a terrific venue to get a great taste of “traditional” Zurich. The food and service were excellent. But even better was the atmosphere. Cindy and I sat outside at a table that looked down the cobblestone street on a beautiful evening. It was a terrific experience.
Our walking tour guide, Adriana, was wonderful. She was knowledgeable and exceptionally responsive to both our questions and preferences. Cindy and I learned a great deal from her about Zurich’s history and current situation. And Adriana also left us with a long list of places we want to visit next time we get to Zurich. She ended our tour at a small restaurant — MontMartre — for lunch, which was delightful.
June 16-20 — Lucerne
The Mandarin Oriental Palace is an exceptional facility and has exceptional staff. Had we not had a full agenda each day, I think Cindy and I would have spent our entire days sitting on the patio eating breakfast and drinking coffee. It was so relaxing and the view of the lake and mountains was breathtaking.
The food in Lucerne has led to my need to go on a diet now that I have returned home. The Old Swiss House is a must experience for anyone visiting Lucerne and wanting a traditional meal. I can still smell the aroma of butter that greets you the minute you step inside. Lucide at the KKL center was absolutely terrific in every way. Each course there is an adventure in new flavor combinations and they all work exquisitely. We had a truly remarkable and memorable dinner there. Sunday evening we dined at the Restaurant Schiff. We sat outside on the balcony, the weather was perfect and we had a great experience. Although the food was not as exceptional as Lucide or the Old Swiss House, it was very good traditional Swiss fare and our server made our evening quite enjoyable. Our last dinner in Lucerne was at Scala in the Montana. The view was breathtaking and food was almost as good.
Each of our experiences in Lucerne was a great success. Our walking tour with Lea was very informative and gave us a great feel for Lucerne. Our private boat trip with Adrian was wonderful in every respect. The boat was beautiful. The lake and its surroundings were beautiful, especially in the late afternoon sun. And Adrian himself was a wonderful companion for a couple of hours. The food and wine only enhanced the experience. Our visit to Mt. Rigi the next day was also wonderful. Albert was not only an excellent guide, but he was terrific company for our day. We hiked part of the way down the mountain, which was great fun, but not too onerous. And Albert carried on engaging conversations about history, politics and any subject we mentioned. If we ever return to Lucerne, I would engage Adrian and Albert again. And last, but certainly not least, was our visit to Max Chocolatier. We were met by the owner, who is quite engaging and treated us like royalty. Our chocolatier-guide through the production process was excellent, as was the employee who led us through our tasting. What a great morning! And what great chocolate!
I could write more. But this is already too long.
If Cindy and I return to Switzerland, Nina and Annina will be at the top of our list to contact.
Deb Wente with her husband and the winemaker at the winery overlooking Lake Geneva.
We just returned from a fabulous trip to Switzerland. There is so much talk of the crowds this summer, but we had many experiences that were intimate and uncrowded. We stayed in 3 different locations, first was Ascona on Lake Maggiore. What a lovely small town. We were so happy that we were not in a bigger city. We ate at the same restaurant 3 times because the service was so great (Restaurant Easy) and there was so much variety. One day our guide took us into the Bavona Valley, where we hiked to the top of a waterfall, then had a picnic lunch at a spluia (a living space built under a boulder). We may have seen a dozen other hikers and all were Swiss Italian. It was extraordinary.
On our drive from Ascona we arrived to the top of Gotthard Pass where we had our WOW Moment. The mountains are hollowed out with tunnels and bunkers from WWII. One bunker has been turned into a hotel/restaurant, La Clavstra. It was opened especially for us for a tour, then a lovely meal 70 meters underground. It was fascinating.
Our next stop was Zermatt, where the skies cleared up for a beautiful view of the Matterhorn. We took the cog railway up to the Gornergrat. Zermatt and the railway were a bit more crowded, but as we hiked down the mountain with our guide we were able to spread out and felt as though we had the mountain to ourselves.
Our last stop was Vevey on the shores of Lake Geneva. Another incredibly special experience awaited us the afternoon of our arrival. We met our guide at our hotel, walked across the street and hopped in a 1966 Riva wooden boat. We drove along the Swiss Riviera, docked and were driven to a vineyard in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lavaux. Wine and fondue with the winemaker, it was magical. Thank you Nicolas and Swiss Riviera Wine Tours.
We had rented a car for a couple of days to explore, but then decided that we would prefer a driver. David on Nina’s team took it in stride, arranged for us to return the car that day and set up drivers and guides on very short notice. This is the value of a TTE, thank you David.
We are so pleased with the choices of cities and accommodations. Switzerland is breathtakingly beautiful, and we really appreciate the experiences off the beaten track.
Andy Shafran and family spelling OHIO during private kayak trip on Lake Brienz.
Switzerland was a beautiful country and our active hiking, kayaking, and paragliding trip was exactly what we were looking for. We booked a trip with our 18- and 21-year-old children to celebrate graduation and be outdoors as much as possible. Nina’s office helped us build an itinerary that maximized the experiences and minimized the hassle and travel time. We spent 2 days in Zurich/Rhein Falls, 3 days in Grindelwald, and 3 days in Lucerne. There is so much to do that we felt we could have stayed an extra week just in these three locations.
Our major interest was hiking, and we had a guided tour up Mt. Grindelwald-First, which included a gondola ride up and a Trottibike ride down (highly, highly recommended). Then we took the train to Jungfrau and even though it was pricey for that part of the trip, well worth it for the views and incredible alpine experience. Thumbs up: Rhein Falls, Trummelbach Falls, Aare gorge hike, Lake Brienz kayak trip, and our full-day peak-to-peak hike on Mt. Rigi, where we ate lunch at Berghaus Unterstetten, on the side of the mountain with incredible views and good food.
Tips: Get your CHF from the ATM, our hotels would not exchange USD for us and the banks were closed the times we tried. For our trip, we brought our hiking boots, which were needed. Although Nina’s team gave us multiple restaurant recommendations, we were not particularly proactive in reservations or planning and a couple of nights got shut out of dinner spots because of the crowds. I recommend thinking about dinner a bit earlier because of this.
Nina’s office was a delight to work with. We met multiple times on Zoom, went through a few iterations of the plans, and all of the train tickets, logistics and details were precise. It made our trip so easy and fun, even though we were always on the go. In particular, all three hotels we stayed in were unique, terrific locations, and have fun quirks, such as the private funicular car that takes you up from Lake Lucerne to the Montana Art Deco hotel. We would not have had the positive experience without this kind of insight and recommendations from Nina and her staff.
Just returned from an 8-night trip to Switzerland. Wow! It was fantastic from start to finish. Every driver and guide was waiting for us on time, and we easily found them. The transportation was high-end, beautiful vans with 4 captains’ chairs facing each other so that my husband and two adult daughters could enjoy our transfers along the way. Every driver had their car immaculately clean and stocked with waters and hand sanitizer too! Our travels took us from Geneva to Zurich to Ascona; what we did not know but learned on our adventure was that Switzerland has 3 distinct cultural regions and we got to explore them all. First, in Geneva (specifically in Lausanne), we experienced the French part of Switzerland. Here we enjoyed the gorgeous views of Lake Geneva from our lovely hotel, visited local wineries up in the mountain/countryside with our fantastic guide Nicolas, took a day trip to Geneva and enjoyed the nearby towns of Montreux and Vevey. After a marvelous panoramic train ride, a stop in Gstaad and a visit to an authentic cheese grotto, our next stay was Zurich where we experienced the German part of Switzerland. Here we enjoyed the gorgeous views of Lake Zurich, a day trip to Lucerne which was lovely and so charming, a visit to Appenzellerland including lunch on a farm and local beer tasting, several museums and delicious food. The highlight was the visit to the farm, where we met the farmer and his livestock and had the most fabulous lunch in his farmhouse overlooking the valley…breathtaking! After another panoramic train ride and a stop in Bellinzona to visit and have lunch at a historic castle, we came to our last stay in Ascona, where we experienced the Italian part of Switzerland. Here we enjoyed the gorgeous views of Lake Maggiore, the ascent via tramway up to Cardada and the feeling that we were on the Italian Riviera. We especially loved the charming boutique hotel where we stayed, which was a close walk to the promenade. Though sad to leave, we truly felt that we experienced a lot of Switzerland (though you would need a couple of weeks to see it all!). We were so pleased with the travel planning from start to finish, as well as all of the guides, tours, drivers and adventures that were arranged for us. Highly recommend everything that we did!
We had a wonderful vacation in Switzerland! The trip was well planned and the local guides in each city were particularly exceptional. We never felt rushed or limited in what we might see, and in fact were able to do much more than was in our initial plan. Highly recommend Nina’s office and working with Simon Kessler to plan the trip of your dreams.
Wendy Perrin’s travel specialists never disappoint.
Our trip to Switzerland was perfectly arranged by Nina and team. Simon was extremely nice and gave fast response to our requests.
We went to Vals, Luzern and Zurich. All hotels were great, but the guides were really the stars of the trip. We spent more time with the guide in Vals, Thomas Rot, and he is an excellent guide. He knows everything in the area. Vals is not really a touristy destination in Switzerland and we chose Vals because of the hotel that has a very nice thermal bath, so it is quieter than the other two cities we visited. Thomas planned every day trip nicely without any problems. He gave an excellent service, fun and very helpful. We couldn’t do the snow sledge due to lack of snow in the area. However, during our helicopter tour to Corvatsch the next day, he arranged an extra helicopter day trip to Sils Maria and St. Moritz. That way we could visit St. Moritz and shopped a little bit as we spent a half-day there. During one dinner, he also sent his special cheese that he provides to some restaurants in the area.
We spent New Year’s Eve at Luzern, and the previous guide sent us a note to our hotel, very nice touch. Simon arranged a dinner cruise to spend New Year’s Eve on Lake Luzern. It was special, but spending 4.5 hours on the boat with all programs in Swiss-German language is tough. Luckily it ended up nicely, as we could see the fireworks from the lake.
Simon also informed us that the official fireworks in Luzern would be on 1st January at 8:15 pm. During that time, we also had our dinner reservation in a restaurant by the lake, which gave us a chance to see the fireworks again front-row. Thanks for keeping us updated.
The guide in Zurich, Adriana, was also a great guide, and we felt bad that we only spent one day with her. She is very informative and she gave us the chance to visit places not accessible to public. She has the key to access the underground ruins in one church and another underground ruins in Lindenhof. That was amazing.
Would like to thank you all for this amazing journey.
We planned a big trip to Switzerland for our 20th anniversary together. We originally tried to go in 2021 but decided to postpone due to Covid. We are glad we decided to go this year, though things were still busy even into October. We usually love travel in October during our anniversary, because there are fewer crowds. There were fewer crowds, but it was definitely much busier than trips to Europe in previous years during the same time.
Our trip planner did an amazing job with all of our requests. In fact, they kept everything we told them in mind, from the type of information we wanted to get during our tours, to the places we preferred to stay. We never ever would have gotten to do half the things we did if we hadn’t gone through this agency.
Switzerland was extraordinary, and everything we booked was personalized and incredible because of our trip planner. Every tour guide had information about us and what we wanted before we even met them. They took us on unique experiences we wouldn’t have even known about otherwise.
We got one-on-one guided tours through the Gotthard Pass, where they built bunkers into the mountains during WWII. We drove through the Lake Thun region with the most beautiful water and mountains we’ve ever seen. And yet another wonderful guide drove us around the gorgeous Appenzell region, where we got to see the Abbey Library of Saint Gall (omg, no words will ever do that location justice!). The travel planner even introduced us to the manager of the historic hotel in Bern where we stayed, and arranged for him to give us a personal tour of the hotel (a big deal as I’m a writer and used the trip to research locations for my book). It was a trip like no other. We can’t wait to go back! I highly recommend working with Nina’s office for any trip or activity in Switzerland. They are experts!
A two-week trip to Switzerland and Milan, from 26 Sep 22 to 8 Oct 22.
In short, the trip was a delight. The plan that Nina and her team put together for our family matched our interests perfectly. We had asked for a trip that would provide insight into the culture and history of Switzerland. And we wanted to start our trip in Milan, where we could visit its key attractions, including da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
The plan succeeded in every respect. Some highlights were: walking through villages in the Bavona Valley where people live without benefit of electricity; making our own chocolate bars from scratch at perhaps the best boutique chocolatier in Switzerland; getting an in-depth tour of a cheese factory followed by a wonderful lunch just for us where we could enjoy their products; a private musical performance featuring the Hackbrett, a kind of hammered dulcimer; and of course a visit to the charming town of Zermatt with amazing views of the Matterhorn.
There were numerous moving pieces to this trip. We were provided Swiss rail passes, which we used extensively. Many train rides required car transfers to and from hotels. Guides met us in a variety of locations, not just in our hotel, but also at train platforms across Switzerland. In every case the logistics were handled without a hitch.
Our guides were top-notch. It was their efforts that brought the trip alive and made our visit unforgettable. One guide, Pascal, even replanned our day on the spot when a miscommunication prevented us from getting both a long-anticipated tour of the Sasso San Gottardo fortress and our WOW Moment. As part of the new plan, he drove us off-road through parts of Switzerland generally accessible only to hikers. We wound up at a picture-perfect Swiss Alpine Club hut where we enjoyed what was perhaps the best lunch of our trip. Pascal turned what might have been a disappointing day into one of our more memorable experiences.
We did have one guide that was not up to the usual standard. It turned out she was a last-minute substitute. Nina has informed us that this guide will not be used again.
Our accommodations were generally well suited to our needs. An exception was the Marktgasse Hotel in Zurich, chosen for its excellent location in the old town. We stayed in a Historic Room, which turned out to be unsuitable for people over 6 feet tall or for people in their 70s.
On the other hand, the Castello del Sole in Ascona was exceptional, one of the best hotels we have ever been in. Every aspect of the hotel excelled: the luxurious room, the extensive grounds, the sporting facilities, the excellent restaurant, the friendly staff, and an exceptional breakfast. Our only regret was that we had to leave after only two nights.
Nina and her team took pains to make sure that we stayed connected throughout our trip. When we arrived at a new hotel we would find a note welcoming us to that part of Switzerland. At one hotel, we found autographed copies of “Swiss Watching,” a delightful and irreverent historical journey through Switzerland. It was a thoughtful gesture that we very much appreciated. In short, we were fortunate that Wendy’s WOW List connected us with Nina. We would happily use her team to plan another trip.
My husband and I, along with another couple, wanted to see more of Switzerland before joining a group in September 2022 to attend the Passion Play in Oberammergau. David and Nina arranged a wonderful scenic Switzerland tour for us. All the arrangements including lodging, transportation, local guides and scheduling were very thorough and top notch.
After arriving in Zurich, we traveled to Wengen and stayed at the most charming boutique hotel, Maya Caprice. The views of the Alps from our rooms were spectacular, service was super, and the food was excellent. We wouldn’t have found this hotel without David and Nina’s recommendation, and the stay was a highlight of our trip.
Our day trip to Jungfraujoch was guided by a retired mountain/ski expert who provided great insights. He had the day planned from handling the train tickets to exploring the mountaintop.
We also visited Gstaad, where we had a lovely village tour, met a local farmer at the cooperative-owned cheese grotto, and rode through the countryside in a horse-drawn carriage before boarding the scenic Golden Pass Panoramic train. While we were exploring Gstaad, our luggage was driven to our hotel with a lake view in Lausanne.
Arrangements had been made with Nicolas to accompany us to a private, family-owned winery overlooking Lake Geneva for a wine tasting and tour. He was very knowledgeable about the family and wine making in the area, and also took us to a local restaurant for fondue.
Everything was extremely well organized and coordinated with great attention to each detail (like transferring our luggage), selection of top-quality boutique hotels, extremely knowledgeable and friendly local guides and a thorough itinerary document.
Switzerland is truly a beautiful country. We loved the itinerary planned for us with the charming hotels and expert local guides.
We just came home from a wonderful trip in Switzerland. I think October is a fabulous time to visit. We ran into very few tourists, got to see the beautiful green countryside, and still experienced enough snow by visiting the Matterhorn and other sites. Our travel planners (Ana, Simon and Nina) were very helpful. We really gave very little direction, but they created a perfect itinerary that enabled us to visit Zurich, Appenzellerland, the Rheinfall, Zermatt and Lucerne in our short 7-day trip. They were also very flexible with schedule changes and reworked the entire itinerary when we changed airports at the last minute. While we were busy every day, there was still time for relaxing and enjoying each place. In Zurich, we took an informative “insider” walking tour our first day and felt completely oriented to the city by the end of our 3 hours. We also had a special WOW Moment dinner in a private vineyard hut overlooking the city. The rain only added to the romantic ambiance of the evening. Thanks Wendy! Appenzellerland was very special and very Swiss! We saw cows returning from the Alps, were invited into local homes and marveled at the customs and traditions of this region. Our drivers and guides were (of course) prompt, courteous and knowledgable. We enjoyed getting to know each one of them. We loved our time in Zermatt. The recommended hotel was unusual (our bed was suspended in glass over the main floor) but charming and our guide took us on a hike that resulted in the PERFECT photo of the Matterhorn. Lucerne was a very quick visit, but the stop at Chronoswiss was very special, and expensive after we fell in love with these unique Swiss watches. As with every trip we have booked with a Wendy Perrin travel expert, all details were taken care of and we did not ever have to worry about anything. Unfortunately, we left our passports in Zermatt by mistake (have never done that before), and Ana Marquez saved the day for us. It was a very stressful moment and she was very calm and found a solution. We remain very grateful as we had to catch a flight from Frankfurt to the US the next morning. We would love to visit Switzerland again in the future and will certainly reach out to Ana, Nina and Simon when we do. If you are considering Switzerland as a vacation destination, I say go for it.
PANDEMIC TRAVEL This trip destination was Basel, Bern and Zurich, Switzerland, but also included Interloccan, Lucern, Gstaad, Gruyeres, Mt Rigi, boat rides on various Swiss lakes, chocolate-tasting tours, cable car, and cogwheel trains. The dates were August 26, through Sept 10, 2022. Travelers are Sandy and Steven Horowitz.
We had a lovely trip around Switzerland, but we had only one contact with Nina Mueller, as she assigned David Ziegler to do all the planning and arrangements. We had a conference in Basel, so going had nothing to do with Covid concerns. Luckily no one in Switzerland was afraid of Covid, and only a handful of people wore masks. All the drivers were perfect, professional and punctual. One was a professional Yodeler and demonstrated in the Canyon and gorges (Lauterbach). Another driver was also a concert flutist, and was the CEO of a professional orchestra, but also had a hobby of making working replica models of boats. We had similar hobbies and make videos for YouTube, so we became penpals ever since. He suggested the HR Giger Alien museum in Gruyeres, which we went to. David Ziegler made good suggestions of where and what to see, and the arrangements worked out well. The hotels were all good and sufficiently comfortable. All convenient to travel in those particular cities. The trams made getting around very easy, and cabs were outrageously expensive. David kept in touch with us during the trip, and one time there was an unavoidable change in the schedule, which he did, and asked us if it was all right. All the walking tour guides were excellent and well versed in the city and history. The art museums in all the cities were world class. I would highly recommend Nina and David as tour planners.
PANDEMIC TRAVEL This is an email we sent to Nina and David Zinger following our trip:
“Cheri and I just want to personally thank you for putting together the most incredible and extraordinary vacation. It felt so good to finally spend time in Switzerland after delaying it for so long. We were extremely impressed with how perfect everything came together and how logistically sound the entire 11 days were. The planning and execution were absolutely perfect. We both realize how complicated and challenging planning the logistics of such a trip is, and we very much appreciate all of your hard work to make it seem flawless and seamless to us. We can’t say enough good things about you and looking forward to return to Switzerland again soon.”
Needless to say we were very impressed with Nina’s office. We originally planned this trip for 2020, but obviously this didn’t happen due to Covid. They were very generous and allowed us to move our deposit to 2021. Again, we couldn’t do it last summer either, as Covid restrictions were still in place when we had to make a decision about our 2021 travels. So, David and Nina allowed us again to move our deposit until this summer 2022.
We worked on most of the details with David, who is their Apline specialist. He was extremely attentive and very detailed. He always got back to us very quickly via email or we set up Zoom calls to discuss ideas and changes. Once we were in Switzerland, he made himself available for on-the-spot questions and last-minute planning ideas. I think its important to note that David and Nina were great listeners and got a real sense of how we like to travel, what we like to do, and the type of accommodations we like to stay in, and then planned an almost perfect itinerary that matched our needs.
My wife and I highly recommend Nina’s team and must say they were one of the best travel planners (maybe “the” best) we’ve ever worked with.
PANDEMIC TRAVEL We worked with Nina Mueller to plan a trip for my wife and me to Switzerland. It was a bit of a late planning session because our original plans to go to Japan were cancelled due to Covid.
Nina was terrific! The trip went well beyond our expectations. Switzerland is a bit under the radar and I think not that well known, but it really should be!
Nina planned us a wonderful two week trip taking us to 4 different regions of the country. I didn’t really understand that the regions were *so* different – Swiss German, French, Italian – and the itinerary and guides really gave us the flavor and appreciation for each area and the unique county as a whole.
Nina was amazing at taking into consideration our personal interests, traveling style, and Covid concerns. For example, we went to some less visited areas and never stayed less than 3 nights in a hotel (both important to us). She listenend closely to our goals for level of activity (vs. relaxation), guided time (vs. on our own), and the overall amount of scheduling. It was a great balance, just what we were looking for.
The guides were excellent – highly knowledgable, engaged, very happy to have any (and all) discussions….and they obviously love their country and showing it to us.
The experiences Nina planned were all fun, enjoyable, and enlightening. Some examples: During our visit to the Appenzelle, we had a chance to meet some musicians and farmers and spend real time talking with them about what they did. During our time in Neuchatel, we visited a family-owned clock master repairman—who had invented a unique clock. In Interlaken, we experienced Jungfrau with a great local mountaineering guide, we went to a special cheese manufacturer in Emmental (with a phenomenal lunch and cheese tasting in the staff dining room), and we took a hike with an author that had written a bestseller about Swiss culture for outsiders. Finishing in Ascona was a great and relaxing conclusion where we could rest and enjoy the lake and rich Italian culture.
When we ran into a transportation hiccup (cancelled train), Nina quickly made alternate arrangements, even before we knew there was a problem. She also added a couple of last minute things we requested when we were already on our trip (e.g. paragliding) with excellent providers.
We could go on forever — it was a really great trip. And we brought home 25 pounds of chocolate to boot! (Turns out all our guides had their favorites among the many boutique chocolates made in Switzerland.)
PANDEMIC TRAVEL Our Switzerland trip with Philipp and Nina was incredible. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is going to this beautiful country. They accommodated all of our requests including staying in a hotel using our points at one stop, going to a specific town to see friends, and most important, they planned a trip that made everyone in our family happy. Not an easy task with an 8- and 11-year-old! We were supposed to take this trip pre-COVID and had to postpone. Philipp worked with us for over a year until we could actually travel. He was always responsive and helpful to everyone we needed and planned a well thought out trip for Spring that really showed us diverse aspects of Switzerland. We could not have asked for a better agent!
We couldn’t have asked for a better Swiss holiday after working with Nina Muller and David Zingler. Nina kicked off the planning by initially asking about our travel preferences (both likes and dislikes). David fine-tuned them and suggested multiple and varied itineraries that hit upon our requested combination of 5-star and Swiss charm accommodations; top tourist and off the beaten path towns–and all at our chosen slow-ish pace. Neuchatel (e-biking around the lake and a private Absinthe distillery tasting with the owner) and Ascona (Bavona Valley guided walking tour and two surprise birthday celebrations, one on the lake and the other a mountainside 4-course lunch were beyond memorable) stand out. David is the ultimate listener and logistics master. Everything ran like clockwork and we took great comfort knowing he was working his magic–sometimes in the foreground (securing a reservation at a top restaurant on short notice), but mostly in the background. And we never would have predicted how much we would learn from and bond with the private guides he selected for us. They were extremely knowledgeable, flexible and friendly. This was our first custom trip and it was well worth it. We experienced Switzerland like we never would have on our own. David spoiled us and we are grateful!
I was looking for the perfect destination for a father-son week with my 15 year old. After deciding to explore the Swiss Alps, we reached out to Nina for help. With only a couple of weeks to work with, she planned a week that we will never forget. We started in Zürich and enjoyed being in the old town. We originally planned to make our way to Chamonix, but Nina recommended we head east instead and she was right! Ladina and Villa Flor were just the special touch you expect from a knowledgeable agent and just the right spot for us, as opposed to being in St Moritz itself. In particular, our stay at Couer des Alpes in Zermatt was ideal and the staff were all extremely nice and helpful. The location is great and the view, perfect. All of the activities (helicopter to top of Matterhorn, mountain biking down, tuk tuk tour of Zurich and more) really held my 15 year old’s interest, which was critical! But the real clincher was Nina arranging for us to drive an Aston Martin through the Alps for three days. Needless to say, the car was a particular highlight! Happy Birthday to me!!!
Nina planned an excellent trip for my husband and me to Geneva and Lausanne this past July. The hotels and rooms were excellent. The transport top notch. The tours and guides excellent. We especially enjoyed our day in vineyards of Lavaux with our guide Nicolas. We would definitely recommend her and use her again.
Nina and David did a fantastic job listening to our preferences to avoid the usual tourist spots and spend time more off the beaten path. Communication with them throughout the process was collaborative, helpful, and easy. Prior to our departure we received a detailed itinerary with full descriptions and instructions (where to meet drivers, timelines etc.). David also kept track throughout our trip and assisted when unexpected things arose (train late in Italy) so that we had no worries. The hotels they suggested (Villa Orselina, Coer de Alps and Guarda Val) were all exceptional. The views from our room in Villa Orselina and Coer de Alps were amazing and we truly enjoyed the Mountain Hut experience suggested by Nina/David at Guarda Val. Service at all hotels they suggested was wonderful. They also had guides arranged for us and all were great. Particularly Anna in Ticino (Bavona Valley – magical walk through a beautiful place and Bellinzona – also arranged for dinner reservations at the castle for us), Nikki in Zermatt who was a delight and took us on a great hike and gave ideas for our next two days hiking, and Albert in Zurich who suggested a side trip to Rapperswil which was very enjoyable. Nina and David’s suggestion for a first class Swiss rail pass was excellent. We used it for boat rides in Ascona, Zurich and Lucerne, a bus ride in Ticino, and side train trips to Bellinzona, Lucerne, and Rapperswil. Well worth it! Restaurant suggestions from guides and hotels along the way were all excellent. Particularly the staff at Coer de Alps who suggested SonnMatten dinner on their terrace which was a highpoint. Overall an exceptional trip. Nina and David did a fantastic job. Highly recommend!
We just returned from Switzerland ( June 2019), so this review is hot off the press!
We worked with Nina Müller and Philipp Kaegi and began setting up our trip. The process was very straightforward….I talked with Nina on the phone for about 30 minutes explaining where we would like to go, the activities and a preliminary budget. With this framework, Nina and Philipp created an itinerary that included many excellent suggestions that we were not aware of, even though I had done a fair amount of research on my own to know what Switzerland had to offer.
We made some tweaks from their suggestions (most of which were excellent) and they were very receptive to the modifications.
Parasailing in Grindewald, a Canyon Swing, a Jet Boat in Interlaken, a private cave tour, glacier trekking, helicopter transfer from Jungraujoch to Gstaad, Via Ferrata in Murren, Corner Gorge adventure in Zermatt, along with many other activities….AWESOME!
The execution of the trip was flawless. Drivers and guides were on time and very professional and fun.
When the helicopter landed in Gstaad in a grassy field, the driver was right there waiting for us. Flawlessly executed.
The activities, pacing and hotels were also all fantastic. Even the weather was great.
There would’ve been no way to plan our trip on our own and have everything run as smoothly as it did.
Also, Nina corrected a hiccup at the Alpina Gstaad….they charged us for an additional person in the room, which had already been paid. Nina took care of this immediately. Another advantage of having a “fixer” on your side.
If you want a great trip in Switzerland……get ahold of Nina and Philipp….you will be very glad that you did!
I initially met with both Nina and David Zingler to discuss the trip details. They were both very attentive and listened to what kind of experience I was looking for and offered very helpful feedback. Because initially we were going to be driving for the entire trip, I worked with David as that is his expertise. Working with David was very enjoyable. The complexity of the trip meant numerous iterations to get everything to work out. I always felt that David’s priority was in designing a trip that I would love and there was never any pressure to quickly settle on a final itinerary. To me that is very important and it came through in every interaction with David. Whenever I had a question, he always responded quickly with a well thought out and well researched response. The result was a perfectly planned and executed trip. David worked it out so that we got to see and do everything that we wanted to do. The trip went off without a hitch – so we did not need any assistance while on the trip.
I could not recommend Nina and David enough. They were very personal and very easy to work with. I especially liked how they always listened to my feedback and were able to implement it flawlessly. No push back or trying to sell me on something I did not want. I felt like we were a team in planning the vacation.
This is a much delayed review of our trip through Switzerland in September – October 2018.
It was superb. My family can only say that it was one of the best — perhaps the best — trip we have ever taken.
The guides we had were all first-rate: Albert Schoch who met us in Zurich; Andrea Matossi and Nicole Buess in St. Moritz; Anna Bezzola who gave us a simply marvelous walk through the Bavona Valley (I was so happy we included this in our itinerary); and Judy (I think this is her name — I didn’t get her card) in Zermatt.
Thomas and Lin — proprietors of the Hotel Coeur des Alpes in Zermatt were perfect hosts.
We were also very happy that we included La Sagne and its beautiful valley — where we met and visited with Simone Perrenoud. We must be related because our mother was a Perrenoud, and her grandfather came from La Sagne to America. We also visited the church in La Sagne where a number of Perrenouds are buried.
I think the Hotel Palafitte in Neuchâtel was our favorite.
The only change we would have made to the itinerary would be to have spent only two nights in Interlaken rather than three. The Jungfraujoch was spectacular, but we decided not to go to Murren and the top of the Schilthorn because that would have been somewhat a repeat of the Jungfraujoch. Instead we enjoyed a leisurely tour of Thun and its castle on the way to Neuchâtel.
One less night in Interlaken and, instead, an extra night in Geneva would have been perfect.
By the way, the only travel glitch we had was getting to the Hotel les Armures in Geneva. Our navigation system directed us to a street that was blocked by bollards. We did not know that if you drove up to the bollards, they would automatically go down. So we had to park on that street and call the Edel & Stark rental car person to come from the hotel and drive our vehicle to the hotel — which he did. But, as a result, we had no time to explore any of Geneva.
In sum, the tour exceeded all our expectations, and once again we thank you both, Philipp and Nina, for putting it all together for us and making the excellent arrangements.
Bien joué! Merci beaucoup.
We used Nina for our family trip (my husband and myself and 3 kids ages 18, 16, 11) to Switzerland this past June. She planned a great trip for us, with perfectly located hotels, and she was honest about when we needed a guide and when we could do things on our own. She suggested some fun things like a chocolate workshop in Bern, and hiking with a Swiss St. Bernard dog in Zurich. She was particularly helpful with kosher food — our biggest travel obstacle — and arranged to have kosher catering for us delivered to our hotel in Zurich, with the hotel warming it up. We would be happy to book with Nina again!
Throughout our marriage, we have vacationed dozens of times in Europe, the Caribbean, Canada, and the U.S., and never felt the need for a travel agent. We’re old hands at clipping travel articles in magazines and newspapers and consulting travel guides.
But Switzerland, we knew, would be different. The country overflows with magnificent scenery and boasts an extraordinary transportation system, but it’s also famously expensive for visitors. We were determined to make this experience the trip of a lifetime. We enjoy touring by ourselves and wanted to take advantage of Switzerland’s rail system. It was time to turn to experienced trip planners.
We contacted Wendy Perrin. She suggested that we talk to Nina Mueller in Zurich. What a fortuitous suggestion that turned out to be! Nina, who phoned us to discuss our interests and expectations, and Philipp Kaegi, who worked closely with us to design the trip and answer our many questions, were outstanding and indispensable. The two-week-long tour turned out to be our best travel experience ever. Nina and her staff deserve all the credit.
Two examples of their careful attentiveness to our needs:
When we told Philipp that we planned to look for an ATM at the Zurich airport when we arrived, he responded with directions and maps for both the airport ATM as well as the ATM nearest to our hotel. He also alerted the guide who would meet us at the airport.
When a receptionist at one hotel insisted that our stay did not include breakfast, though we thought it did, we emailed Philipp. In less than 10 minutes a hotel representative informed us that the hotel had received a call from Philipp. He said our breakfasts were indeed included and apologized that we had been misinformed.
We stayed at five different hotels. All were excellent and met our requests for balcony views, breakfasts included, showers, and convenient locations.
The complicated itinerary relied on a total of 15 tour guides, drivers and taxis to meet us at the Zurich airport, train station arrival platforms, and hotel lobbies. Remarkably, everyone showed up on time. Most arrived early and were waiting for us. We strongly suspect this resulted from frequent monitoring by the travel agency.
Nina’s staff armed us with a Swiss Rail Pass, and we were off. The carefully designed train and tram instructions for each city were detailed to the point that we knew the schedule for each train, which tracks our trains would leave from, and when they were scheduled to reach their destinations. We also had information about the next trains in case we missed one. If we did miss a connection, we had emergency phone numbers to call. Thankfully, we never did.
Here are a few highlights of the trip:
The tour began in Zurich, where Nina (“as a courtesy”) upgraded us at the fine Hotel Marktgasse to a junior suite with roof terrace and a view over Zurich. What a way to start!
The fondue and wine Tuk Tuk tour were delightful, thanks to our charming and knowledgeable guide, Attila, who seemed to know half the citizens who waved as we drove by.
Britta Nydegger was outstanding during our day trip to St. Gallen, focusing on the Cathedral, and the magnificent Abbey Library. We learned much about this fascinating city.
Our days seemed to get better and better. We enjoyed the tour of Basel with Rose Marie Schulz-Rehberg. She’s a delightful person, warm, friendly, and so knowledgeable. Again, we couldn’t have had a better guide. We loved Basel.
Marie Therese Lauper was lots of fun and extremely impressive. We learned about the mechanics of the Bern tower clock, her work at the Cathedral, and her role as the “keeper of time.” She gave us an excellent grounding in a very short time span.
During our stay in Montreux, Nicolas Abundo outdid himself guiding us through Gruyeres. We enjoyed meeting his friends Gerard and Aurelie at Aurelie’s chalet and farm. They gave us a tour of the farm and explained the fascinating traditions of cheese making. We had a lovely midmorning coffee with them (including double cream and chocolate). Nicolas also chose an excellent restaurant at the Gruyeres Castle for a delicious raclette lunch. Later in the day, he took us to the medieval Tower Marsuns for a wine tasting in the heart of Lavaux wine country. We couldn’t have had a better day.
The next day, we spent a memorable morning visiting Tolochenaz, the village where Audrey Hepburn lived for the last 30 years of her life. Our driver, Carlos, was very helpful taking us to the sites associated with the actress. Nina’s team made the experience even more memorable by reserving lunch for us at the beautiful Chateau d’Ouchy and making reservations on the Lake Geneva restored belle epoch boat back to Montreux.
Sylvia Fournier met us in Sion on a very warm day and gave us a fascinating tour of the city— the cathedrals, old town, Roman inscriptions, and history. She accomplished a lot in a short timespan.
Julie Guidotti was wonderful. Meeting us at in Brig, she scooped up our luggage and accompanied us on the outstanding centovalli train. She told us all about Switzerland’s Ticino area and made sure we arrived safely in Ascona.
We had a beautiful day for a private boat ride on Lake Maggiore. Vincent, our captain, walked us to the boat dock and we took off, enjoying champagne toasts halfway through the ride. No rough waters, just great views. Vincent made sure we took in the delights of the lake.
The Gotthard panoramic rail route was amazing. We can’t imagine how that railroad route was constructed. What an engineering and construction feat!
We loved the boat ride to Lucerne. We had a beautiful ride on the lake and an excellent lunch. Like so many details involved in this trip, Nina ensured that we had a reserved table for lunch. Cristina Tschuppert met us at the boat dock. While walking us to our hotel, she told us about Lucerne, its history, wonderful bridges, and the River Reuss.
We saved the best for last. How can we describe our trip to Stanserhorn? Its beauty is beyond description. We had gorgeous weather and clear views of the surrounding mountain ranges. The funicular and astounding open-air cable car were great fun. Again, another engineering marvel. We didn’t want to leave Stanserhorn.
In the afternoon, we walked to Lucerne’s incredible Rosengart Museum and had a lovely time among the dozens of Picassos and Klees.
We’re glad to be home, but we already miss Switzerland. What a fantastic experience it was. Thank you, Nina and team. And thank you, Wendy Perrin, for introducing us to them.
Nina really listened to what we were looking for during our vacation. She came up with a few itineraries and then we chose one. She had great ideas for tours and other fun things. During the actual trip, everything went super smoothly. She made is very easy for us to sit back and relax. the guides we had were knowledgeable and nice people we were happy to spend time with.
We had a wonderful trip to Europe and have Nina and her team to thank for much of it! Originally we were planning to go to Switzerland but when plans changed, Nina’s team was knowledgeable and also able to use their contacts in other cities to find us great hotels, restaurants, activities and a guide.
Nina and her co-worker Yumi were in touch right away and had great ideas right from the start. When our plans abruptly shifted they shifted right along with us. Their answers to my many questions along the way of the booking process were complete and with care. My only issue was that the time differences delayed our communications.
Nina and Yumi recommended fantastic hotels in Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Amsterdam and all 3 greatly added to our trip enjoyment. They were all unique, service and locations were terrific.
Hopefully, we will finally do that trip to Switzerland and I would not hesitate to contact Nina and her team.
Nina planned a great trip for us, with perfectly located hotels, and she was honest about when we needed a guide and when we could do things on our own. She suggested some fun things like a chocolate workshop in Bern, and hiking with a Swiss St. Bernard dog in Zurich. She was particularly helpful with kosher food – our biggest travel obstacle – and arranged to have kosher catering for us delivered to our hotel in Zurich, with the hotel warming it up.
Wendy, thanks again for your travel advice — I love your website and use it for every trip!
I absolutely loved working with Nina initially, and Philipp throughout, for our December 2017 holiday trip to Switzerland. We started planning several months in advance; they asked all about my family (my husband and I have three boys ages 8-16) and we hoped to experience on our trip. We wanted to ski for a few days, and then explore other parts of the country for another few days. Specifically, we wanted to visit Zermatt and Schaffhausen and were open to any other suggestions. They had fantastic suggestions! We loved visiting a medieval castle and Christmas market on the shore of Lake Geneva, the cities of Zurich and Luzern, and the famous Rheinfall in Schaffhausen. Philipp arranged our hotels in Zermatt and Zurich, and both were absolutely perfect. I would definitely stay again. I asked Philipp to make our restaurant dinner reservations in Zermatt, and each choice was fantastic.
I would highly recommend Nina and Philipp, especially if you want to fit a lot into a relatively short amount of time. I felt that we got the most out of our trip and I would never have been able to coordinate that on my own. The itinerary they gave us was detailed and easy to understand; I was amazed at how smoothly everything went. Thanks to Nina and Philipp we had the family vacation of a lifetime.
This trip was excellent – one of the best our family has had. The pieces of the trip were seamless. Philipp on Nina’s team helped coordinate some tricky aspects of our travel including flights on multiple reservations and selecting the best rail passes for what we wanted to do. He helped us set up two spectacular experiences our entire family loved – a chocolate making experience and a trip to an authentic alpine farm where we got to see the cheese making process start to finish and spend time with the animals. The combination of structured and unstructured activities struck a perfect balance. My expectations of activities that would suit the whole family, engaging both the kids aged 4, 8, 9 and my husband and me were far surpassed. I had been looking forward to this trip but had no idea how much we would all enjoy it! We can’t wait to go back…
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I’m not a travel agent—I’m a journalist who has spent the past 30 years reporting on how to travel smarter. To maximize your experience, click to Ask Wendy for a personalized recommendation for trip ideas and custom-trip designers, tailored to your location and preferences.
