A Community Library Field Trip
Monday, September 8 – Wednesday, September 17
Trip begins and ends in Zurich
What is This Trip About?
This is a curated trip for The Community Library and Wood River Museum of History + Culture created by Caroline Hostettler of Quality Cheese, a cheese importing company specializing in artisanal and alp cheeses from Switzerland. Caroline is a native of Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, has owned Quality Cheese for over 25 years and has been leading trips to Switzerland for over 10 years. She’s created this itinerary to focus on cheese, the outdoors and hiking, and experiences that speak to mountain culture and sustainability.
Museum Community Engagement Manager Kristine Bretall is coordinating local logistics and will accompany the group as your host, available to assist in every way possible.
Why This Trip to Switzerland?
To create community through travel and to explore mountain culture, our connection to Switzerland and the desire of Averell Harriman to create a European ski resort in Idaho. There is a deep link to the history of Sun Valley – with food, skiing, mountains and more! We anticipate that the trip will forge a bond between each other and these mountain roots that we can share with our friends and family in Idaho.
This international field trip features visits to St. Moritz, home of the 1948 Olympics where local legend Gretchen Fraser won gold; Bad Ragatz, the old spa town featured in the book Heidi; stays in Stans and Lenzerheide, home of five World Cup skiing finals; visits to local cheese, beer, and grain producers; and a cow descent from the alps that mirrors our own Trailing of the Sheep.
Trip Highlights:
- Day 1: Wine tasting, hike to Bad Ragaz, check in Schweizerhof Lenzerheide (4 nights)
- Day 2: Visit to heritage grain farm (grain will be part of a meal later that week), hiking, wellness center, village exploring on your own
- Day 3: Funicular ride & hiking, food & history visit to St. Moritz (site of 1948 Olympics where Gretchen Fraser won the first US gold medal in skiing)
- Day 4: Walk up to Alp Parpan, tour and tasting at Calanda brewery, explore the town of Chur, dinner that night at Scalottas – the chef was awarded Best Swiss Chef 2024
- Day 5: Visit to Alp Bleiki, transfer to the town of Stans, check in to Culinarium Alpinum Stans (4 nights), explore village and hotel
- Day 6: Cheese making visit & tasting at Molki Stans, tour of an edible garden, Alp Sbrinz visit and cider tasting
- Day 7: Visit to traditional belt and bell maker, boat ride on Lake Lucerne
- Day 8: Cow alp descent – moving down from the alp, apertif in the alp dairy
- Day 9: Chocolate tasting in confiserie, Zurich (may include food shop tour or boat ride), final dinner & stay at airport hotel for departure next day.
Cost per Person:
- Payable to Quality Cheese Travels:
- Double occupancy: $5,900 per person
- Single occupancy: $6,900 per person
- Pay via check, credit card or Venmo
- Payable to The Community Library Association:
- Tax-deductible, refundable donation
- $500 per person to reserve your space by May 1, 2025
- Cost Includes:
- All breakfasts and dinners (including beverages)
- Professional, private transportation in a Mercedes 17-passenger van
- Any fees related to funiculars, boats, entrances
- Hotels: Four nights in Lenzerheide, four nights in Stans, final night at airport hotel Zurich
- Not Included: Flights, extra purchases such as lunches, souvenirs, etc.
Itinerary
Monday, September 8
- Arrive Zurich Airport
- Short hike to Bad Ragatz: An artsy, spa village in the most regarded wine area of Switzerland and a location in Switzerland’s most renowned book, Heidi.
- Regional Wine Tasting at Torkel: A restaurant with their own vineyards and they specialize in regional, small production varietals. Try wines you’ve never heard of! Best quality education in presenting and pairing wines.
- Check into SCHWEIZERHOF LENZERHEIDE: Top location in a prestigious small town that has hosted five World Cup skiing finals. Incredible breakfast with local ingredients and products. Wonderful wellness/spa area, mountain culture themed library. This will be our hotel for 4 nights.
Tuesday, September 9
- Breakfast at the hotel
- Visit to heritage grain farm (this grain will be part of Thursday night’s dinner)
- Options for the afternoon:
- Book a massage or treatment or just visit the wellness center at the hotel
- Go for a hike in the mountains outside the door
- Explore the village and eat sweets!
Wednesday, September 10
- Breakfast at hotel
- Funicular ride and hiking
- Visit to historic St. Moritz – location for the 1948 Olympics in which Gretchen Fraser won gold and silver – becoming the first American to win a medal in skiing
- Taste the iconic nusstorte in St. Moritz
Thursday, September 11
- Easy hike up to Alp Parpan. What is an alp? It’s a place where humans and animals move to in the summer to take advantage of the rich meadows and produces cheese throughout the summer to preserve the best milk of the year. Seasonal living, a uniquely alpine and Swiss way of life.
- Calenda Beer Tour & Tasting in Chur. Chur is the oldest Alp town and is home to a famous brewery that links the quality of its products to the clean, pure, glacial water.
- Dinner at Scalottas: The chef was just nominated the Best Chef in Switzerland for 2024. Passionate purist who works on farms when not in the kitchen & supports small, local, back to the roots producers.
Friday, September 12
- Visit Alp Bleiki: another Alp visit in a different region = different circumstances, work patterns and cheeses. Bleiki is a family Alp, small and authentic and dedicated to keeping the tradition of transhumance and alpine culture alive. One of only eight remaining Alp Sbrinz producers, and the one with the most perfect 20 awards.
- Check into Culinarium Alpinum Stans. An abbey turned into a beautiful hotel and event space. Dedicated to good food, alpine culture, heritage, agriculture, etc. Brilliant restaurant with an open wine cellar. Bare, minimalist and totally stunning!
- Explore the village, wellness area in hotel.
- Stans is a small town with a pedestrian only core, historical buildings, amazing culinary options and so much character. Walk down right from our hotel and experience Swissness pure: Folks walking and biking to get groceries, to get to the train station, to meet friends. It is in this part of the country that all the battles happened, and Switzerland eventually was founded (almost 900 years ago).
Saturday, September 13
- Cheese making visit & tasting at Molki Stans – two young, unorthodox cheese makers who are bringing new ideas, new philosophies and new cheeses onto the market. Tiny but efficient!
- Tour of an edible garden – and most of the veggies at the hotel’s restaurant come from this garden. Also part of the hotel and former abbey is the only Alp Sbrinz aging cellar of Switzerland. It holds the wheels from all eight remaining Alp Sbrinz cheese makers, a quickly diminishing breed. Affinage, cheese history and traditions. Cider tasting, too!
Sunday, September 14
- Visit to traditional belt and bell maker. Bells, belts, straps, jewelry were invented when everything still was made by hand. Only few of these artisans are left by now, and what they create is amazing
- Boat ride on Lake Lucerne
- Dinner with a view!
Monday, September 15
- Cow Alp Descent: Surviving a summer on the Alp, far away from luxury, from what one is used to, exposed to the moods and forces of nature is a big achievement for both humans and animals. No wonder the day of the return back to civilization is celebrated and cherished. – Alp culture, mountain lifestyle, pure Swissness.
- Once all the animals and their shepherds have moved on, we will be the guests of the young couple that was in charge of making cheese on the Alp during the summer. They still have to clean out and secure the hut for the winter, so their work is not done on the day of the descent yet. But before they start this last (hidden to most) part they will host us for a hearty apéritif and some insight into alp life.
Tuesday, September 16
- One on one chocolate tasting with a talented, super innovative chocolate and pastry chef. She will teach and show us and of course let us taste some of the traditional and also some of the less usual creations. No Switzerland trip without chocolate!
- Zurich (Food shop tour or boat tour or tour on your own). Zürich has too much to offer for one day. So guests will have to pick, and you will get great guidance from Caroline! Architecture, food, history, art, music, design, outdoors, museums and many more options…
- Final group dinner
- Staying at Holiday Inn Express Rümlang near the Zurich Airport – there is a quick 10-minute shuttle from the hotel to the airport.
Wednesday, September 17
- Individual departures from Zurich – flights are usually EARLY morning back to the states option to stay longer in Europe/Switzerland.
Download the Questionnaire here.
Download the Travel Waiver here.
