| Key Facts |
| Population |
7.6 million (2009) |
| Capital |
Bern |
| Time zone |
GMT + 1 / GMT + 2 |
| Calling code |
+41 |
| Currency |
Swiss franc (CHF) |
| Voltage |
230 volts |
| Main airports |
Zürich (ZRH) |
| Entry requirements |
You do not normally need visas to enter Switzerland for up to 30 days stay for tourism, business discussions or social visits.
|
| Embassies |
british embassy in switzerland |
|
Swiss Incentive Programme
Day 1
- Arrival at Zurich airport
- Meet and greet at the airport and transfer driver only by private motor coach to your hotel
- Transfer time approximately 15 to 30 minutes to Swissotel Zurich (Oerlikon)
- 3 course dinner at the restaurant Aqua with ½ bottle of house wine, 1 mineral water and 1 cup of coffee
- Round trip transfer to/from the restaurant by motor coach with a local coordinator for this evening
- Overnight
Day 2
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Full day meeting at the hotel including morning and afternoon coffee break and a 3 course lunch with soft drinks
- Dinner which is within walking distance from your hotel a local coordinator will accompany the group
- Restaurant “Die Giesserei” - this ancient foundry was transformed into a cool restaurant place, certainly a different “in place”.
- Overnight
Day 3
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Half day meeting at the hotel including morning coffee break and a 3 course lunch with soft drinks
- Afternoon city tour of Zurich with a guide and ending with a street car party for 1 hour
- Transfer from your hotel with a local coordinator for the city center for your final dinner in Zurich
- Dinner at the Zunfthaus (guild house) zur Meisen
- The guild houses in Zurich are very famous and the history goes back to 1757, this house was built as a copy to some famous French architects
- Overnight
Day 4
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Drive to Lucerne where you will board a board that takes you across the lake to the foot step of the steepest cogwheel train in Europe. As you arrive you will enjoy breathtaking view over the lake of Lucerne (weather permitting)
- Lunch on the top including soft drinks and coffee
- The return is with a cable car and aerial gondolas to Kriens and from there back by bus to Lucerne for a brief visit, then you continue your way past Interlaken to Zweisimmen and Gstaad
- You will be staying at the Hotel Bernerhof for the next three nights
- Enjoy a Chinese dinner at the hotel's owned Chinese restaurant including
½ bottle of house wine, 1 mineral water and 1 cup of coffee
- Overnight
Day 5
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Drive to the Pillon Pass and ascend by cable car to the Glacier 3000
- Upon arrival we descend by roller coaster to the Glacier and we have Olympic Games waiting for you! We shall have equal groups and each group will be showing their skills at the following games, but we start first with the husky ride and simultaneously have half of the group enjoying a snow show walk on the Glacier. The planned team building activities are:
- Snow Golf Tournament: take a putter or wood number 3 and hammer your golf ball across a snowfield into the hole! Every member of your team has to put. The number of hits will be counted. The team with the least hits will win! Time might be taken if you drive the ball over the edge of the cliff to 3,000 feet below and need to recover it.
- Blow your Alphorn: take one of these strange mouthpieces and hold them against your lips. Whoever produces a sound (not noise!), gets recognition, whoever produces even a melody or something similar, will win. Don not worry, everybody will have a hard time. So please choose the two specialists (or those who believe to be specialists); anyway everybody is invited to try her or his luck.
- Mega ski Bumper: five members of your team will step on very long skis, will be fixed to those and need to run (move, hobble, fall…) the frightening distance of 10 meters back and 10 meters forth. Only together you survive! The fastest team wins. The rest of the team will cheer.
- Snake sliding Challenge: sit in a bob tied to other bobs of your team and survive the challenge of slalom to be mastered by communal effort of the team. Time will be taken. The fastest team wins. Non-arrivals count double.
- Snowshoe Walk: put on those strange shoes and play Bigfoot! Your team will have to master a round course of about 25 meters and the two fastest times count. Mandatory though: everybody has to reach the finishing line. No excuses, please drag everybody along.
- Wild Glacier Ride: enjoy the breathtaking Alpine Coaster. This track, 1,000 meters long, has a 560° spiral chute and comprises 12 bends, 11 waves, 3 jumps and 2 bridges. Just opened in 2007. While we do this at the beginning we shall not include it in the overall competition.
- A snack lunch on the Glacier weather permitting otherwise the group can move up to the restaurant
- Late afternoon you return to the hotel for some relaxation
- Walk to the nearby restaurant Gstaaderhof enjoy some meat cooked on the open fire
- 3 course dinner with ½ bottle of house wine, 1 mineral water and 1 cup of cofee
- After dinner you may enjoy a night cup at the Chésery’s piano bar
- Overnight
Day 6
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Drive to Chateau d’Oex for a ballooning experience
- 3 course lunch at the local restaurant Le Chalet
- Guided tour to Bex - approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours
- Reboard a coach and return to Gstaad
- Farewell dinner in Gstaad short transfer of about 20 minutes to one of the
fanciest restaurants in the region, the Chlösterli for an all-inclusive surprise menu
- After dinner transfer back to the hotel - overnight
Day 7
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Leave by 1st class Panorama train for Montreux your next and final destination in Switzerland
- You will be staying at the Suisse Hotel Majestic in Montreux, which underwent a complete renovation in 2010
- Enjoy a 3 course lunch on the terrace with fantastic view of the lake of Geneva
- After lunch take a quick ride another attraction is waiting for you you will be introduced into the chocolate making and you will leave with your own master piece!
- Transfer to the restaurant La Vieille Ferme
- 3 course dinner in the Grill room with wine and coffee
- After dinner transfer back to Montreux overnight
Day 8
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Transfer to Cully, as we arrive we change into two small trains which take us through the wine region called Lavaux, another UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, stretching for about 30 km along the south-facing northern shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon to the eastern outskirts of Lausanne in the Vaud region, cover the lower slopes of the mountainside between the villages and the lake.
The next two hours is all about the Swiss wine, first an appreciation by driving through this sensational landscape, then by learning more about these wines, when sitting in a wine cellar and sampling some of the finest wines.
- Drive to Grandvaux
- In the Auberge de la Gare your Swiss culinary day will continue with another Swiss specialty the Perches filet, normally from the lake of Geneva.
- After lunch continue your way to Lausanne for some independent visit - returning to the hotel late afternoon
- Leave by bus for the restaurant Chalet Suisse
- 45 minutes cocktail reception with Swiss wines, mineral water and orange juice as well as 4 pieces of appetizers (beef tartar, shrimp cocktail in a glass, smoked salmon, cheese quiche)
- 3 course dinner in the “carnotzet” = wine cellar room / this room is on an exclusive use for the group
- During dinner you will enjoy the ultimate Swiss tradition a comprehensive Swiss folklore dinner show
- After dinner transfer back to Montreux for your final overnight
Day 9
- Buffet breakfast at the hotel
- Transfer to Geneva airport with a local coordinator in time to leave by air for your return flight
