Switzerland is known as a land of majestic wonders and a dream destination nobody can resist.
Words – Tahira Khan
Over seventy per cent of British guests are loyal to Switzerland as a holiday destination and have already visited the country more than twice. Travelling to Switzerland from the UK by train is really simple requiring only one change in Paris and after three hours you will be in Switzerland and also by car and plane.
Holding its head high with the highest mountains, waterfalls and largest lake. Mount Dufourspitze, Dom, Weiss horn, Matterhorn. The largest lake known as Lac de Neuchâtel and the highest waterfall in Europe known as The Mürrenbach Falls, Bernese Oberland reach seven hundred and fifty metres above sea level.
Over fifty percent of overnights by British tourists in Switzerland are produced in summer with an average stay of three nights. More than fifty three percent stay in the mountains during their visit. We handpick a number of alternative exquisite wellness experiences this beautiful country has to offer so you can recharge and fall in love all over.
WELLNESS RESET AND TAMARA THERME EXPERIENCE GRAND RESORT BAD RAGAZ AND QUELLENHOF HOTEL
The region of Bad Ragaz is known for its history of producing the purest Thermal Waters in Switzerland. You can reach Bad Ragaz from Geneva airport with a metro service taking forty-five minutes costing roughly CHF 26 for a single ticket. The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz Hotel and Resort and Spa is a grandeur resort and is Europe’s leading medical and wellbeing resort with a recent refurbishment of the Tamara Therme. An investment of two hundred and thirty million Swiss Francs were invested into the expansion of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz hotel which includes the wellness and medical health areas boasting a generous number of fifty- six new Spa Suites and Spa Lofts. Grand Reaort Bad Ragaz is also the venue for known for art that produces Europe’s largest open-air sculpture exhibition.
The hotel exhibits the thermal water display through a grand blue glass droplet chandelier designed as a water feature to show the significance of the thermal waters in the hotel lobby and reception area its so grand and a central feature of the hotel. The hotel also has its own indoor pool and designated spa area named The Helena Spa, which has a separate ladies-only spa area too. But an entire thermal spa village is a completely different ballgame altogether I would describe the Tamara Therme as a spa venture park. The thermal waters of Switzerland are one of the treasures of the region and this was evident as I drank from the springs the water held a warm natural temperature of thirty-six and a half degrees The Tamara Therme spa area resides in an extending section of the hotel connecting through a separate entrance known as the ‘Tamara Therme’ clearly signposted throughout the hotel. When you arrive you will see many outdoor and indoor pools steaming with warmth and people bathing to get the most out of the experience. You can bathe in the water and drink it too it’s meant to be so full of mineral goodness that I bought a flask back home. You can talk a walk to the main village and shops and it’s such a charming walk through the bridges and over the streams beneath into town.
EXPLORING THE TAMARA GORGE
You can also take a short bus ride from the centre and pay a visit to the Tamara Gorge tunnel house, it’s a lit-up museum that explores the history of the hot springs and you can see the river running with lit-up coloured art displays running alongside. The thirty- six and a half degree hot spring waters were discovered by the huntsmen of Pfafers Abbey in 1240 and were also visited by the monks from the Benedictine monasteries so it had a very holy epiphany and tradition. In 1840 it was for the first time the thermal waters had been piped through to the region of Bad Ragaz from Tamina Gorge using wooden channels and since then the rise of Grand Resort Bad Ragaz became an international resort.
WELLNESS PACKAGES
The Grand Resort Bad Ragaz Hotel and Spa have launched NewYou Packages combining wellness programs with overnight stays. The NewYou programme offers a personalised health itinerary to suit your needs offering a combination of wellness programs such as detox, nutrition, skin, and fitness. Combining personal training, fitness, holistic massages such as a Chi Nei Tsang Massage, Pressotherapy, Detox Infusions, Ozone Therapy, lymph drainage, Haki Flow Deluxe treatments, advanced aesthetic beauty treatments all with hi-tech machines and detailed laboratory reports which you will receive before and after.
Visit: www.resortragaz.ch/en
WATER IMMERSION AT THE ALPINE SPA – BURGENSTOCK AND WALD HOTEL OF HEALTH AND MEDICAL EXCELLENCE
The Alpine Spa at the Burgenstock Hotel is located adjacent to the Wald hotel Medical Hotel Of Excellence where you can get private health treatments and medical expertise. The Burgenstock Hotel is located on a charming pathway surrounded by small churches associated with Sophia Lauren, eateries and plant displays all overlooking the tiny winding roads and houses amongst the open lush green fields, but most of all the adorable sight of the cows churning and the cowbells constantly chiming became very holistic and meditative. The ambience was tranquil and the bell sounds were quite soothing, especially in the early mornings. You can take a walk in the path down into the open field to get up close and personal with the cows, and being a Taurean I couldn’t resist. The cows aren’t bothered by humans and harmless. The cowbell is a celebrated sound of Switzerland and you will see cowbell souvenirs all over town too.
You can also take a trek through the mountains to the Hammamet lift, which is Europe’s highest exterior lift and one of the world’s unique attractions and a triumph of Swiss engineering. It takes you to high grounds where you can catch views of the city and take in the Alpine Fresh sir. It’s a bit of a walk so you will need some walking boots to reach the lift.
The Alpine Spa is located on the rooftop of Burgenstock hotel. As you walk through the glass corridor and take in the views, you will reach an indoor swimming pool and an outdoor immersive pool steaming with warm water, and that’s where you want to go. You will get an aerial view of the scenic wonders of the city and from high above you will be looking beneath at the mountains and the lakes whilst being massaged with hydrotherapy jets.
There is also a separate ladies-only area with sauna, steam, ice and cryotherapy rooms, indoor Jacuzzis and special pools with pebbled floors, which you walk across.
Visit: burgenstockresort.com/en
COLOUR THERAPY AT CINQ MONDES SPA- BEAU RIVAGE HOTEL
The Beau Rivage Palace has an opulent elegance like no other and the city of Lausanne formerly known as the French-speaking region of Switzerland is the fourth largest city of Switzerland and also the Olympic capital and channels the popular spirit of the Olympics through the historic years. You will witness this at The Olympic Museum, which is laden with grandeur displays of the origins in ancient Greece with icons displaying the flame, torch and clothing worn by Olympians. The Romans also made this district-trading colony in the first century. The hotel is located on the North shore of Lake Geneva with mesmerising views of the Savoy Alps. From Lausanne’s old harbour of Port d’ Ouchy the lakeside promenade runs one kilometre east to the 1823 Haldimand Tower and the attractive Parc Denantou. From there you can see the Thai Pavillion, which is a gift from Thailand. Boats also depart regularly from Place de la Navigation stopping at points between Geneva and Montreaux.
Culturally rich, Lausanne is a multifaceted metropolis where the pace of life is easy. But most certainly this city charms its visitors with its charming cobblestone streets, cafés and social squares. There are a lot of monuments such as the castle of Chillon and Gruyères, to be explored, the medieval villages, heritage museums, or the excursions on the Belle Époque ships, panorama trains, a walk in the Alps are just natural curiosities that are easily accessible from the Olympic Capital. Lausanne’s northern shore has beautiful views of the French Alps and Lausanne East as far as Montreaux is known as the Swiss Riviera with a mesmerising shoreline of gardens, palm trees and picturesque villages.
The Cinq-Mondes Spa has an opposite modernistic ambience, and state-of-the-art appeal with huge glass windows, oak furnishings, and velvet draped curtains and fluorescent lighting are quite prominent in the spa from the reception to the treatment rooms and relaxation lounge. As well as an outdoor garden swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool and sauna, the spa offers one of a kind of treatment known as the Colour and Sound Therapy Massage. Located on the ground floor of the Beau Rivage Hotel. You will be given a choice of colours ranging from orange, and yellow to green and Cinq Mondes scents that attract you the most, I chose aqua blue and a colour chart on an I-Pad that the therapist programmes your settings. You will get customised integrated sound therapy during your massage according to the motion of the therapist, so when there were flow movements you will hear wave-like sounds to complement the motion. It was a quite sophisticated and very technological form of massage, which integrates colours, scents and motion perfectly.
Visit: www.brp.ch/en/home
Visit: www.myswitzerland.com
Juber Ahmed is our Digital Editor and travel enthusiast with a keen interest in Islamic history and heritage. He travels with his wife to various places around the world and writes about his experiences.
Juber's favourite Quote...
"The World Is a Book and Those Who Do Not Travel Read Only One Page" [Saint Augustine]
