Aug 18

Don’t lie awake wondering.

The New York Times recently mentioned something that we in the travel industry continually talk about. Switzerland is still a great buy when compared with the U.S. Dollar’s unfavorable exchange rate in other Euro-based countries. The Swiss Franc and the U.S. Dollar are basically equal at the moment and they’ve been holding that position all summer.

As an example, I recently searched for a clean little one star hotel in the Valais region of Switzerland, and I found one for 50 swiss francs per night including breakfast. That’s 55 bucks U.S! I paid that same amount two years ago at a run down big box chain hotel here in the States, and I didn’t even get breakfast or good sleep. And the worst part? I just sat awake in bed thinking about all of the quiet little berghauses that pepper the Alps with charm and don’t cost a quarter of the price. Sure, some of them are hard to get to, and I could have just as easily camped out here in the States, (I should have), but here’s my point.If you’re going to spend money on a hotel room, regardless of whether it’s 50 bucks or $250, then you might as well do it in a place with Roman baths, World Heritage Sites, chocolate, cheese, yodeling, tinkling bells, accents that make you feel like you’re a foreign special agent on a secret mission,….well, you get the picture. Don’t lie awake wondering what could have been.

Check out this recent New York Times mention of our Appenzell tour. Or this one from the Boston Globe.

Incidentally, we still have space on our Appenzell tour, but the slots are going fast.

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