Central Switzerland from 3,000m/10,000ft

Central Switzerland from 3,000m/10,000ft

One of the highest mountains in Central Switzerland is Mount Titlis, a 3,238m high mountain that can be visited throughout the year – in summer, visiting the gletscher offers a great opportunity to be amongst the snow and provides fantastic views over the surrounding mountains. In winter, it is a good destination for skiing and the mountain provides one of the longest ski-seasons in Switzerland with skiing possible from October to May.

We have visited Titlis on a number of occasions both in winter and summer and, as usual, took some panoramas while we were there.

This first panorama is at the bottom of Titlis in the village of Engelberg and provides nice views of the surrounding mountains. As always, click on the image for a larger view or go directly to the interactive version below.

Titlis bottom station

Titlis bottom station

Have a look around this interactive panorama by clicking on the image below:

The top of Titlis at 3,238m provides stunning views of the surroundings and has a number of activities to offer, including a permanent ice-cave, the ability to take a chairlift over the glacier and the “Titlis Cliffwalk”, the the highest suspension bridge in Europe. This panorama was taken from that suspension bridge. Clouds rolled in during the day which made walking on the bridge a special experience where you feel in the clouds.

Titlis Cliff Walk

Titlis Cliff Walk

Have a look at the interactive panorama and feel on top of the world in the clouds:

We also had the opportunity to be on the mountain during the night.  We stayed at a hotel about half-way up the mountain which also has a lake nearby.  Walking around in a mountainous area after sunset was a special experience. This panorama captures some of that experience at dusk:

Dusk on Titlis

Dusk on Titlis

Experience being in the mountains right after sunset in this interactive panorama:

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Our panoramas featured in an online magazine and other websites

Our panoramas featured in an online magazine and other websites

Some of our panoramas are becoming famous. One of our Inside the Volcano panoramas was featured in a recent issue of travel + Escape magazine for iPad!  The special issue about Iceland has an article about the Inside the Volcano trip we mentioned in a previous post and included one of the panoramas to show an immersive experience. Check out the free app in the  App Store and the “Wild Weekends in Iceland” issue (1.99 USD)!

Another one of our panoramas is featured on a blog about James Bond. The blog describes Schilthorn where the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was set.  We visited the mountain a couple of years ago in summer during clear weather and enjoyed the beautiful views of the surroundings, including views of Eiger, Mönch and Jungrau.  As usual, we took the opportunity to take a panorama of the surroundings.

Have a look at the panorama here:

Piz Gloria panorama

Piz Gloria panorama

Or have a look at the interactive version here:

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The cows, they did come home!

This year, we had an opportunity to visit the 10th annual Entlebucher Alpabfahrt (descent from the Alps) at the end of September 2013 in Schüpfheim, Switzerland.

Every year, farmer families take their cows into the mountains in spring and they return in the fall. Traditionally, different families came back at different dates depending on the weather and the pastures, but for the last 10 years, several families have co-ordinated when they return and the date is announced in advance so visitors can join in the festivities.

The custom of going up and down the mountains has always been filled with tradition. In the photos you can see some of the traditional clothing and decoration of the cows. The event is also very popular and crowded as you can see in the photos. And of course, there were lots of cows – about 200 in total!  Not just any cows, this is where the Emmentaller cheese comes from (“Swiss cheese” to you Americans). These are some of those very cows. Give these ladies a toast with your next ham-n-Swiss.

As usual, we took some panorama photographs. Click on the photo to have a closer look:

Alpabfahrt in Schüpfheim, Switzerland

Alpabfahrt in Schüpfheim, Switzerland

Or look at the interactive version by clicking on the image below:

A second panorama:

Cows coming home in Schüpfheim, Switzerland

Cows coming home in Schüpfheim, Switzerland

Click on the image below to interact with the panorama:

The sound of the cows coming by is very loud due to the large cowbells they have around their necks. Have a look at the video below to get an impression about the sound:

At the event, we also saw a Jodling choir performance on street. Jodling is a specific type of singing that is typical for the Swiss and Austrian mountains. You can see a brief video of the choir singing here:

Of course, we also took tons of photos! Click on the link below to have a look at some selected photos from the day.

Alpabfahrt Album

Alpabfahrt Album

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Beautiful views

Switzerland … they must have mountains there!

A few weeks ago we took a daytrip to the top of a nearby mountain, called Rigi. We took a train to Arth-Goldau (about 25 minutes from Zug) and took the blue mountain railway up to the top of Rigi.

After we explored the top and had some lunch, we came back down with the red mountain railway, which took us down to the other side of the mountain to a place called Vitznau.

From Vitznau, we took a beautiful boat ride on Vierwaldstättersee (Lake Lucerne) to Luzern (approx 30 minutes) where we took the train back to Zug.

The views from the top were beautiful. Click on the panorama below to see a full screen view of what we saw on the top:

Rigi_Panorama_full

And check out the other pictures of this trip in the gallery:

20080801-Album_Rigi

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