Switzerland Archives - Permanent Tourist

Sitting on the steps outside one of the shops in Bern’s Marktgasse a couple of weeks ago, watching the world go by.

As the previous post for April went down well, I thought I’d work backwards and start adding a few new little galleries of photos to show what I’ve been up to each month. Here’s March 2022 in pictures.

I was keen to do more winter hiking this year, and although winter seems to have flown by, I did manage to get out into the snow more often than in previous years. Most recently, we got the big cable-car up from Grindelwald to Eigergletscher with the intention of then getting the short train connection […]

It’s easy for me to forget that I don’t need to “go somewhere” to enjoy a walk. I sit here and wonder where to go: which cable-car, which lakeside walk, which spectacular valley. This comes of having the great fortune to live within half-an-hour of some pretty wonderful places. But this commonly leads me to […]

In which I tell a short tale about cannibals.

Walking in the snowy landscape of Axalp, high above Lake Brienz in the Swiss Bernese Oberland.

I should’ve tried out my hiking microspikes before. They’re great for hiking when it’s icy.

Catching the first train from Zermatt onto the mountain and photographing the most well-known peak in Switzerland.

With so much to do and so many beautiful places to visit, the choice can sometimes be overwhelming.

Cable cars emerging from a cloud inversion at Grindelwald

How to help a viewer to better understand the scale of a scene.

A lunchtime walk by the vineyards in the sunshine, ten years after moving away from nearby.

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Last of the swallows for this year, I suspect. I haven’t seen them around much this year at home, but there were dozens out yesterday, feeding their young before their long journey. (We have a perfectly-positioned telephone wire near our balcony, so it’s a great spot to watch and to photograph them.)

Until I moved to Switzerland, my interest in photography was mainly confined to recording what I was up to; from time with friends and family, to documentary photography on the streets of London and capturing scenes when I was on holiday. I had begun getting interested in landscape photography after a few visits to the […]

My only cable-car trip into the high Alps this past winter season was in February. Webcam confirmation of a fabulous cloud inversion encouraged me to get into the mountains after a long abstinence. I expected the visit to be be a nerve-wracking experience thanks to so many people wearing their coronavirus face-masks around their chins, […]

A pedestrian-only footpath through the woods and cliffs on the southern shore of Lake Brienz.

I’m looking forward to the new cable-cars next year. I hope that they’ll have dirt-repellent, scratch-resistant windows. (Sequence filmed in February 2021.)

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Southerly winds form cloud waterfalls in the high mountains of the Swiss Alps.

Finally got a tow bar fitted to the car, which means we can mount a bike rack, which means we can take our bikes further afield at last!

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Partially-frozen lake at Étang de la Gruère

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St. Wendelinskapelle, Seebodenalp, Küssnacht am Rigi

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The steamship “Spiez” – known colloquially and diminutively as “Das Spiezerli” thanks to its small size – en route from Thun to Interlaken for the first time after nearly five years of restoration work.

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The hike from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg, high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland, is beautiful. But parts of the route are an absolute killer.