Springtime in Switzerland
Tut: genius of the Swiss is their common sense, which wins everywhere in the long run. They have their politics, I suppose, but they don't bore the stranger with them. The result is that their credit stands higher than that of any other nation in Europe, and that their country is the most popular tourist resort in the world.
They .were the first nation to understand the value of publicity in attracting tourist traffic, and they are now without exception the best equipped to give the traveller value for his money. The electrification of the Swiss Federal Railways progresses apace, and the country can now be traversed in luxurious saloon carriages drawn by electric engines from Basle. via the St. Gothard to Chiasso on the Italian frontier., as well as by the Simplon route.
A railway is also being built up the Furka pass, which will give the traveller some remarkable views of the stern beauty of the Southern Gothard. Interlaken, of course, is one of the chief pleasure grounds of springtime in Switzerland, and we note that Mr. William Le Quex, that indefatigable traveller, compares the Casino there, with its gilded salons and huge mirrors, with Monte Carlo and Cannes in favour of the Interlaken Casino. " It was indeed here," he writes, " that I picked out more than one character for my book. Characters which, I hope, I shall render of interest in their adventures in all these wonders of nature."
It is from Interlaken that the traveller ascends by railway to within four hundred feet of the Jungfrau. Here you may stand at the highest railway station in Europe, viewing a panorama of indescribable and variegated beauty. The lake of Thus glistening in the sunlight, the crevassed Guggi glacier, the rich pastures and dark forests of the Wengen Alp and the flower-strewn meadows of Interlaken.
The Jungfraujoeh is soon to become a greater playground than ever, for a tunnel is being cut through the Sphinx peak to connect it with the magnificent plateau of Miinch, where a summer ski festival will be held.
Visitors to Switzerland would do well to stop at Basle for the Swiss Industrial Exhibition on April 17-27th, while the quaint ceremony of the Sechselauten at Zurich on April 19th is something that will live in memory. At the striking of six o'clock, when the bells ring for the working day to dose, an effigy of old Winter (called the Botigg) is burned with con- tumely on a square near the lake with the help of pictures- quely dressed school-children and a parade of the ancient Swiss Guilds.
While there are so many resorts to attract the visitor, it is difficult to select one or two for mention, but I must allude, in passing, to Locarno, which may or may not pass into the world's political history as it lives already in the memories of wise travellers. Here in this Nice of Switzerland you may be certain of finding spring and peace, whatever is happening in the rest of the world.
A few of the prices charged in hotels, selected from a typical district of the Bernese Oberland, may be of value. A first. class hotel at Thun with two hundred beds charges 12s. a day for board and lodging. This is the most expensive hotel in the town. Good accommodation in a pension can be obtained for half this sum. At Oberhofen the top price is 9s. a day, and as has been said elsewhere you may be sure in Switzerland of finding cleanliness and comfort in even the humblest hostelry.
I have not been able to mention Zurich, Lausanne, the tranquil beauty of Como, nor at the top of the lake at Colico that delightful little inn under the umbrage of whose trees you may sip an excellent wine.
The cost of a first-class ticket to Basle is £6 3s. 4d. and £11 Os. 3d. return, and £4 Os. 3d. second class single and £8 1 s. Gd. return.
The mildest climates in Switzerland are to be found at Lugano, Locarno and Brissago and their neighbourhood. Sierre, in the Valais, is considered to be the warmest and driest place in the country. But the Engadine has its own marvellous charm, and personally, I would leave the lakes and go up from Chiavenna or Colico to San Moritz or Samaden for the mountain climbing. This, of course, is mere personal preference ; Switzerland has attractions enough to cater for
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