Four City Tour with PM2AM, Interlaken-Lyon-Mont Blanc-Geneva Posted on: 12th October 2016 :: Photo Credits: Silva, Prayaag, Alap, Pabitra, Manish ::
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Preface
It was the first long weekend since our arrival in Aachen (‘German unity day’ on 3rd October) and we wanted to completely utilize it for visiting a new country in Europe. A 4-day Italy tour by Studifahrten was on the top of our list. But unfortunately the seats got filled up before we could register and we were forced to look for other options. The 2nd best available option to us was the 4-city tour by Pm2am. It covered Interlaken (Switzerland), Lyon (France), Mont Blanc (France) and Geneva (Switzerland). So without wasting any time we booked our seats and got ready to experience the Swiss ‘Alps’ :)
Day : 0
Location: Cologne (Germany)
As the boarding point for this trip was in ‘Cologne’, we got a chance to use our NRW semester ticket for the first time. All RWTH Aachen students get a public transportation pass for the entire North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) state. The 1 hr train journey from Aachen to Cologne was peaceful, as we had secured comfortable seats on the upper deck of the train. We reached Cologne around 7 PM, 3hrs before the boarding time of pm2am bus. As soon as we came out of the Hauptbahnhof, a glorious sight welcomed us: Cologne Cathedral!
We spent some time exploring the area around the Cologne Cathedral and had our trademark dinner: ‘Pasta’! The pickup point of Pm2am bus was shifted to some other location because of road blockages. Unfortunately, the bus got delayed and we had to wait for an hour in the cold. Finally, the bus arrived after 11 PM and 5 of us settled in the last row seats.
Day : 1
Location: Interlaken (Switzerland)
We arrived early morning in the beautiful city of ‘Interlaken’ in Switzerland. Our first spot was the spectacular ‘Brienzersee’ or ‘Lake Brienz’!
The mountains and beautiful houses around the lake provided a splendid panorama. We spent about an hour around the lake relishing the view and morning breeze.
Interlaken really proved to be a picturesque town! Surrounded by mountains. A small river running across the town. We spent about 2 hours exploring the place on foot. The town was full of large green parks, orderly built houses, and churches.
It was nothing short of a Karan Johar’s romantic movie location!
And we even came across a ‘Bollywood boutique’ in the town
Since the tour itinerary included just 2hrs for Interlaken, we had to reluctantly return back to the bus. I think this is the biggest drawback of tours with groups like Studifahrten or Pm2am. Though they manage to cover many places in a short duration of 2-3 days, we don’t get to spend enough time at each location.