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Slow Train to Switzerland: One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years - and a World of Change Apart
Slow Train to Switzerland( One Tour Two Trips 150 Years - And a World of Change Apart) Hardcover DicconBewes NicholasBrealeyPublishing
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
133 people are currently reading
837 people want to read
About the author
Diccon Bewes
16 books52 followersDiccon Bewes was a British-Swiss author who wrote several books about the culture, society and history of his adopted home of Switzerland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
April 9, 2014
SO LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS BOOK. British chap, living in Bern, gets hold of a mid-20th c reprint of a privately published (for the author's friends) travel journal written by a young woman on Thomas Cook's first Guided Tour of Switzerland. Said British chap, being a travel writer and afficionado of trains, gets his mother and sets out to replicate Miss Jemima's travel - only sticking to modern rail wherever possible. At every stop, from Dieppe to Neuchatel via Paris, Geneva, Chamonix, and deepest darkest Obwald, he either does whatever it was Miss Jemima did, or tries to scope out the 19th c history of the place. He fills his narrative with fabulous random tidbits about the development of swiss tourism and train travel (which it seems are inextricably entwined, leading to remarkably well-serviced rural areas and train lines which have no purpose but to go up mountains).
Me, I love historical trivia, I love historical ladies (Miss Jemima and her companions hiked over passes and glaciers and all sorts of things in full 1860s rig!), and I do love transport history. Therefore I LOVE THIS BOOK. I now have a great desire to go to Rigi and ride Europe's oldest rack railway, and to check out the Gemmi Pass (from the safety of a cable car, please). I learned so many cool things. For instance, Lake Daubensee up above Gemmi has an inlet but no outlet. It was assumed that the water sifted down through the mountains and came up at the Leukerbad springs, until some curious authority put red dye in the water. No sign of red dye in Leukerbad, but the folks in Salgesch, on the south side of the alps, were quite surprised when their springs ran red. Or, over on the north side, when in the late 20th c they put a new super-deep tunnel through the Alps, the town of Frutigen found itself dealing with 20 degree water coming out of the hills. Too warm to pump into the river straight away - so they use it to heat greenhouses and grow mangoes and bananas.
I also learned a few tidbits about Geneva - including the explanation for why the university / theatre part of town looks so freakin' much like Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane - or not like them, because no high-rises have sprouted in between the neoclassical buildings, and the neogothic doesn't seem to have been a thing. But the resemblance is enough to be odd. Turns out Geneva knocked down its last set of town walls in one go in 1850, and rapidly expanded outwards. Bewes didn't go into much detail about the Bastions area - his fun tidbit was that the English Church, where Miss Jemima worshipped and where my theatre club meet every fortnight was erected right over the former wall - but I only needed that date and the fact I'd already figured out (that the main building is known as Uni Bastions clearly because it is right next to the last remaining bit of Bastion) for this whole section of town to make a certain sense.
I hadn't realised how much I had come to rely on having a sense of historical integration between my surroundings and myself. I suppose it started in undergrad, and now that I think about it I became super keen on Canberra's history while I lived there, and in the particular history of my suburb in Sydney. But I hadn't quite expected that 'read book with historical tidbits' would have such a significant effect on my sense of actually being settled here.
Me, I love historical trivia, I love historical ladies (Miss Jemima and her companions hiked over passes and glaciers and all sorts of things in full 1860s rig!), and I do love transport history. Therefore I LOVE THIS BOOK. I now have a great desire to go to Rigi and ride Europe's oldest rack railway, and to check out the Gemmi Pass (from the safety of a cable car, please). I learned so many cool things. For instance, Lake Daubensee up above Gemmi has an inlet but no outlet. It was assumed that the water sifted down through the mountains and came up at the Leukerbad springs, until some curious authority put red dye in the water. No sign of red dye in Leukerbad, but the folks in Salgesch, on the south side of the alps, were quite surprised when their springs ran red. Or, over on the north side, when in the late 20th c they put a new super-deep tunnel through the Alps, the town of Frutigen found itself dealing with 20 degree water coming out of the hills. Too warm to pump into the river straight away - so they use it to heat greenhouses and grow mangoes and bananas.
I also learned a few tidbits about Geneva - including the explanation for why the university / theatre part of town looks so freakin' much like Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane - or not like them, because no high-rises have sprouted in between the neoclassical buildings, and the neogothic doesn't seem to have been a thing. But the resemblance is enough to be odd. Turns out Geneva knocked down its last set of town walls in one go in 1850, and rapidly expanded outwards. Bewes didn't go into much detail about the Bastions area - his fun tidbit was that the English Church, where Miss Jemima worshipped and where my theatre club meet every fortnight was erected right over the former wall - but I only needed that date and the fact I'd already figured out (that the main building is known as Uni Bastions clearly because it is right next to the last remaining bit of Bastion) for this whole section of town to make a certain sense.
I hadn't realised how much I had come to rely on having a sense of historical integration between my surroundings and myself. I suppose it started in undergrad, and now that I think about it I became super keen on Canberra's history while I lived there, and in the particular history of my suburb in Sydney. But I hadn't quite expected that 'read book with historical tidbits' would have such a significant effect on my sense of actually being settled here.
January 7, 2016
I bought this book this time 2 years ago, 6 months after moving to Switzerland, but because I enjoyed the content so much, I've lingered over the contents, picking the book up from time to time. My resolution this year was to finish all the half read books before starting any more.
Every chapter delivers more surprises particularly around the connection between England and Switzerland. For example, I wondered why the train tracks run on the left when the Swiss drive on the right. This was because it was British engineers, such as Stephenson, who came and created the first train system. Incidentally, the Swiss became such great train builders, particularly up mountains, that they returned the favor and were responsible for the Snowden train line, in North Wales.
The book is full of these snippets of information that I have gone on to share with my Swiss friends, many of whom were unaware. I feel almost sad to have completed the book as it was such a pleasure to read. Fortunately, Diccon has another book for me to read, Swiss Watching, which I hope delivers the same delight as this did.
Every chapter delivers more surprises particularly around the connection between England and Switzerland. For example, I wondered why the train tracks run on the left when the Swiss drive on the right. This was because it was British engineers, such as Stephenson, who came and created the first train system. Incidentally, the Swiss became such great train builders, particularly up mountains, that they returned the favor and were responsible for the Snowden train line, in North Wales.
The book is full of these snippets of information that I have gone on to share with my Swiss friends, many of whom were unaware. I feel almost sad to have completed the book as it was such a pleasure to read. Fortunately, Diccon has another book for me to read, Swiss Watching, which I hope delivers the same delight as this did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2021
Finished reading: “Slow Train to Switzerland” by Diccon Bewes
06 January, 2015
The cover of this book has, thanks to the Spectator magazine, the blurb “Charming” and it is indeed. The story of a man and his mother travelling the route of Thomas Cook's first group tour to Switzerland, as seen and experienced by one member of that party. Miss Jemima Morrell's journal of the adventure (which it surely was, nothing like today's packaged tours) was published for the group with which she had travelled. It is this that Bewes et son mere followed, as closely as possible, 150 years later.
While I enjoyed the book, I couldn't help but think all the way through, the friend who gave the book to me for Christmas could have written it, or even I could have if the compliments I receive about my blog are to be believed. In following someone else's route, there was no consistent history to research that had to hang together. Miss Jemima's route was somewhat ad hoc and thus was Bewes'. Each section was “This is where I went”, with no further connection needed – it was episodic. Contrast this to Christian Wolmar's “To the Edge of the World: the Story of the Trans-Siberian Railway” where each section of the railway and hence each section of its history, had to be consistent to make the railway and the narrative whole.
I grew up thinking of Switzerland as very “chocolate box”. It sounds like it still is. But ..... ice, snow and glaciers are all melting and shrinking, quite considerably since Miss Jemima travelled. I didn't ever feel drawn to the chocolate box Switzerland, but now, after reading this book, I wouldn't mind going. However, I'd “love” to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway!
06 January, 2015
The cover of this book has, thanks to the Spectator magazine, the blurb “Charming” and it is indeed. The story of a man and his mother travelling the route of Thomas Cook's first group tour to Switzerland, as seen and experienced by one member of that party. Miss Jemima Morrell's journal of the adventure (which it surely was, nothing like today's packaged tours) was published for the group with which she had travelled. It is this that Bewes et son mere followed, as closely as possible, 150 years later.
While I enjoyed the book, I couldn't help but think all the way through, the friend who gave the book to me for Christmas could have written it, or even I could have if the compliments I receive about my blog are to be believed. In following someone else's route, there was no consistent history to research that had to hang together. Miss Jemima's route was somewhat ad hoc and thus was Bewes'. Each section was “This is where I went”, with no further connection needed – it was episodic. Contrast this to Christian Wolmar's “To the Edge of the World: the Story of the Trans-Siberian Railway” where each section of the railway and hence each section of its history, had to be consistent to make the railway and the narrative whole.
I grew up thinking of Switzerland as very “chocolate box”. It sounds like it still is. But ..... ice, snow and glaciers are all melting and shrinking, quite considerably since Miss Jemima travelled. I didn't ever feel drawn to the chocolate box Switzerland, but now, after reading this book, I wouldn't mind going. However, I'd “love” to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway!
May 15, 2015
Part quest, part history, part guide book (with rather too many statistics), Slow Train makes a beguiling read for the armchair traveller. And there is a mystery which remains unsolved.
The author, a bookseller and travel writer, follows - more or less - the route of what may have been the very first Cook'sTour in 1863. He knows the route because one of the arty kept a journal which disappeared, was found and published, then disappeared again until the two volumes were found in the debris of a London bomb site during WW2. Even then, the author's surname was unknown, though it emerges during the author's research.
Contrasts between 1863 and 2013 are stark - the women among those original tourists wore crinoline skirts while crossing glaciers. Some hotels were Grand in the grandest sense but the author (accompanied by his mother) finds only one of such magnificence still surviving. The train network in 1863 was more fragmented, less reliable and much slower than in modern Switzerland.
Statistical comparisons are inevitable and valid but fewer figures would have made an amiable travelling companion even more conenial.
The author, a bookseller and travel writer, follows - more or less - the route of what may have been the very first Cook'sTour in 1863. He knows the route because one of the arty kept a journal which disappeared, was found and published, then disappeared again until the two volumes were found in the debris of a London bomb site during WW2. Even then, the author's surname was unknown, though it emerges during the author's research.
Contrasts between 1863 and 2013 are stark - the women among those original tourists wore crinoline skirts while crossing glaciers. Some hotels were Grand in the grandest sense but the author (accompanied by his mother) finds only one of such magnificence still surviving. The train network in 1863 was more fragmented, less reliable and much slower than in modern Switzerland.
Statistical comparisons are inevitable and valid but fewer figures would have made an amiable travelling companion even more conenial.
March 31, 2023
4/5
would be a 5 if i ever go to Switzerland
the style of this book is neat - re-create a well documented victorian vacation, but today. very interesting to see how little has changed and to read the victorian travelers’ footnotes, which are interspersed nicely
would be a 5 if i ever go to Switzerland
the style of this book is neat - re-create a well documented victorian vacation, but today. very interesting to see how little has changed and to read the victorian travelers’ footnotes, which are interspersed nicely
April 2, 2025
An unusual (but by no means less interesting) travelogue this is, where the focus of the book is not really the travelling done by its author, but rather the comparison between his and the one done 150 years ago by one of the first conducted travel groups touring Switzerland. While he tried to recreate the same route and follow as much as possible in the footsteps of these long-gone British tourists, he analyses the then-and-now of Switzerland, and its transformation from rural and poor to developed and rich, and how mass tourism & train development influenced each other´s advent in this country. In between this mix of multiple references and history of trains, travel and Switzerland, there are also the glimpses into the cultural traits and the psyche of the Swiss which for me were quite delicious to navigate, discover and mostly acknowledge (as I have a personal connection to country), all laid out with good old British humour. I even added a few more locations to my list of places to visit in this unique land of trains and mountains (and cows!).
August 5, 2019
Bewes follows in the footsteps of "Miss Jemima", who wrote about her travels in Switzerland on the first package tour there with Thomas Cook in 1863. The success of Cook's trip to Switzerland kickstarted the age of mass tourism and package tours, so it is quite interesting to hear some of Miss Jemima's impressions of the trip (although I did wish there were more quotes from her journal). Bewes adds notes on the subsequent 150 years of Swiss history and comparisons of the scenery in his version of the tour, with some very interesting observations on the development of Switzerland's tourism economy and train systems and the huge impact the British had on those changes. (Although it was heartbreaking to read about how much the glaciers have melted since Miss Jemima scrambled across them in petticoats and crinoline.)
September 13, 2018
I absolutely loved this book. It combines history, travel and Switzerland - three things I adore :). The book revolves around the travel journey of Miss Jemina, British Victorian lady who was a member of the first alpine tour to Switzerland organized by Thomas Cook back in 1860s. The author replicates that tour and includes interesting comments from the present and from the past along the way. I've already visited all those places except for 2, but the story is presented so interestingly and shedding such a new light on those places (like Rigi or Jungfraubahn) that now I can't wait to revisit them.
What struck me as strange was a relatively low overall review score for this book. So I went to read all the reviews. I noticed that often people where starting their review with "I really liked that book..." but then giving it only 3 stars. I cannot fully comprehend it. But what I figured out was that sometimes people were taking this book for a basic tour guide to Switzerland. And of course, this is wrong. It's an excellent in-depth read for somebody who already knows Switzerland well or an introductory read for people who wish to spark their interest in Switzerland. But in no way is this a basic single book to guide travelling around Switzerland.
What struck me as strange was a relatively low overall review score for this book. So I went to read all the reviews. I noticed that often people where starting their review with "I really liked that book..." but then giving it only 3 stars. I cannot fully comprehend it. But what I figured out was that sometimes people were taking this book for a basic tour guide to Switzerland. And of course, this is wrong. It's an excellent in-depth read for somebody who already knows Switzerland well or an introductory read for people who wish to spark their interest in Switzerland. But in no way is this a basic single book to guide travelling around Switzerland.
July 18, 2021
Ordered this book while in midst of last February's Snowpocalypse/Coldpocalypse when looking for books set in Switzerland.
On reading Introduction I've learned that it's retracing Thomas Cooks First Tour of Switzerland that took place from June 26th - July 15th 1863. Ever since my long ago winter trip to Switzerland, I've wanted to return in the summer. So I marked my calendar to start this on on June 26, 2021. I've been reading and following the Modern Journey of Travel Writer Diccon Bewes as he follows Miss Jemima's trip in 1863.
With no travel plans this year, it's been delightful to take a Slow Train to Switzerland.📖 🚞 🇨🇭
On reading Introduction I've learned that it's retracing Thomas Cooks First Tour of Switzerland that took place from June 26th - July 15th 1863. Ever since my long ago winter trip to Switzerland, I've wanted to return in the summer. So I marked my calendar to start this on on June 26, 2021. I've been reading and following the Modern Journey of Travel Writer Diccon Bewes as he follows Miss Jemima's trip in 1863.
With no travel plans this year, it's been delightful to take a Slow Train to Switzerland.📖 🚞 🇨🇭
November 25, 2013
1863 and members of The Junior United Alpine Club set off in a party of 130 to Paris, headed ultimately for Switzerland, in the company of Mr Thomas Cook, entrepreneur and travel aficionado. Miss Jemima Morrell was the unofficial chronicler of the tour, this, the first package holiday abroad organised by Mr Cook (following several failed attempts at home); his travel shops still appear on many high streets across Britain today, and he is still considered to be the genius behind the package holiday! Just look where his early endeavours have now landed - mass tourism today is 5% of global GDP, so Cook was a man with huge vision.
2013, and 150 year later, Diccon Bewes, who is the accidental ex-pat expert on Switzerland, retraces the footsteps of these intrepid (and intrepid they certainly were!) explorers. Armed with his Murray guidebook from the nineteenth century, nattily entitled A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland, and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont (all is revealed in the book as to why Savoy and Piedmont also featured), he sets off from Newhaven crossing the Channel to Dieppe. With further guidebooks at his disposal A Handbook of Travel-Talk from 1858, he delves into gems of useful translation, which perhaps aren't altogether useful in modern day parlance, but give a wonderful insight into the mores of Victorian travel: "May I not be allowed to carry ashore my carpet-bag?" or "Sit still, the train is moving" ... and extracts from Thomas Cook's The Excursionist beautifully evoke the flavour of the bygone era, which featured ships, trains, coaches and, of course, camels...
Contemporary and historical observations accompany the modern day traveller, as the hikers moved down through Paris, to Geneva and on to Chamonix, which was originally discovered by two British men in 1741. The book highlights how the British were ahead of the game in exploring the Alps: mountain peaks to be conquered, Union Jacks to be planted! The Swiss were just there, generally getting on with their lives, and living on the poverty line. This was truly the Golden Age of Alpinism. Nowadays Chamonix, for example, can boast 4.5 million overnight stays per annum, and is in so many ways removed from what Miss Jemima and her fellow travellers saw 150 years ago.
Mr Cook had been escorting the Package Pioneers, and soon came to leave the 60 remaining trekkers to their own devices. By Martigny there were only 8 hardy souls left (Martigny incidentally is the half way point between London and Rome).
Onwards from Martigny to Sion and Leuk and up to Leukerbad, where the Victorians observed the 'unnatural' behaviour of the bathers soaking in the pools of thermal waters. Diccon however is much more of a convert to the soothing and relaxing qualities of the bubbling waters and even rates the Walliser Alpentherme amongst his top 10 Public Spa (or should it be Wellness?) destinations "Lying neck deep in hot water on a bed of bubbles and looking up at the mighty cliffs, I realise why people travelled across Europe for centuries to do exactly this. It's not necessarily the water, which can be found in many natural spas, but the location 1411m above sea level and surrounded by natural splendour."
From Leukerbad it was then off to the top of the Gemmi mountain - a 2 hour trail that was actually built by Tirolean labourers from Austria. Imagine climbing a vertical cliff, in the warmth of a June Summer in Victorian garb, crinolines and formal gear; their alacrity over the boulders and their stoicism is something we cannot perhaps appreciate in our modern day. Then a further long trek over to Kandersteg.
On to Frutigen, where today they have tapped into the natural hot waters, sufficiently that they can grow exotic fruits (coincidence probably that the place name sounds like fruit?) - guavas, papayas, starfruit are all grown in this small backwater. The opening of the Lötschberg Tunnel in 1913, this time built by Italian labourers, changed everything for the region. From here via Spiez and on to Interlaken, the Paris of the Alps and base station for the Jungfrau, now a wonder of faded grandeur (and attracting quite a different kind of clientele from the days of Miss Jemima; but Cafe Schuh still provides a warm welcome to visitors). Finally off to Lucerne, and eventually Neuchâtel to round off the tour. The original tour group then headed back to Paris.
There is so much to cherish in this informative and charming travelogue, which for me proved to be quite an eye-opener: the determination of the Victorians to search out new places, hampered as they were by dress and manners, and limited by an array of transport possibilities, mostly of variable quality; the place the British played in bringing tourism to Switzlerand (including mention of George Stephenson who consulted on a railway project or two); and the grinding poverty of the locals at the time of the Thomas Cook trip - such a stark contrast to the booming economy of Switzerland of the present day. If you want to learn more about Switzerland then and now, in an interesting, informative and often entertaining way, then we recommend this travelogue to you.
2013, and 150 year later, Diccon Bewes, who is the accidental ex-pat expert on Switzerland, retraces the footsteps of these intrepid (and intrepid they certainly were!) explorers. Armed with his Murray guidebook from the nineteenth century, nattily entitled A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland, and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont (all is revealed in the book as to why Savoy and Piedmont also featured), he sets off from Newhaven crossing the Channel to Dieppe. With further guidebooks at his disposal A Handbook of Travel-Talk from 1858, he delves into gems of useful translation, which perhaps aren't altogether useful in modern day parlance, but give a wonderful insight into the mores of Victorian travel: "May I not be allowed to carry ashore my carpet-bag?" or "Sit still, the train is moving" ... and extracts from Thomas Cook's The Excursionist beautifully evoke the flavour of the bygone era, which featured ships, trains, coaches and, of course, camels...
Contemporary and historical observations accompany the modern day traveller, as the hikers moved down through Paris, to Geneva and on to Chamonix, which was originally discovered by two British men in 1741. The book highlights how the British were ahead of the game in exploring the Alps: mountain peaks to be conquered, Union Jacks to be planted! The Swiss were just there, generally getting on with their lives, and living on the poverty line. This was truly the Golden Age of Alpinism. Nowadays Chamonix, for example, can boast 4.5 million overnight stays per annum, and is in so many ways removed from what Miss Jemima and her fellow travellers saw 150 years ago.
Mr Cook had been escorting the Package Pioneers, and soon came to leave the 60 remaining trekkers to their own devices. By Martigny there were only 8 hardy souls left (Martigny incidentally is the half way point between London and Rome).
Onwards from Martigny to Sion and Leuk and up to Leukerbad, where the Victorians observed the 'unnatural' behaviour of the bathers soaking in the pools of thermal waters. Diccon however is much more of a convert to the soothing and relaxing qualities of the bubbling waters and even rates the Walliser Alpentherme amongst his top 10 Public Spa (or should it be Wellness?) destinations "Lying neck deep in hot water on a bed of bubbles and looking up at the mighty cliffs, I realise why people travelled across Europe for centuries to do exactly this. It's not necessarily the water, which can be found in many natural spas, but the location 1411m above sea level and surrounded by natural splendour."
From Leukerbad it was then off to the top of the Gemmi mountain - a 2 hour trail that was actually built by Tirolean labourers from Austria. Imagine climbing a vertical cliff, in the warmth of a June Summer in Victorian garb, crinolines and formal gear; their alacrity over the boulders and their stoicism is something we cannot perhaps appreciate in our modern day. Then a further long trek over to Kandersteg.
On to Frutigen, where today they have tapped into the natural hot waters, sufficiently that they can grow exotic fruits (coincidence probably that the place name sounds like fruit?) - guavas, papayas, starfruit are all grown in this small backwater. The opening of the Lötschberg Tunnel in 1913, this time built by Italian labourers, changed everything for the region. From here via Spiez and on to Interlaken, the Paris of the Alps and base station for the Jungfrau, now a wonder of faded grandeur (and attracting quite a different kind of clientele from the days of Miss Jemima; but Cafe Schuh still provides a warm welcome to visitors). Finally off to Lucerne, and eventually Neuchâtel to round off the tour. The original tour group then headed back to Paris.
There is so much to cherish in this informative and charming travelogue, which for me proved to be quite an eye-opener: the determination of the Victorians to search out new places, hampered as they were by dress and manners, and limited by an array of transport possibilities, mostly of variable quality; the place the British played in bringing tourism to Switzlerand (including mention of George Stephenson who consulted on a railway project or two); and the grinding poverty of the locals at the time of the Thomas Cook trip - such a stark contrast to the booming economy of Switzerland of the present day. If you want to learn more about Switzerland then and now, in an interesting, informative and often entertaining way, then we recommend this travelogue to you.
March 16, 2018
Indeed, charming! I enjoyed very much the comparison between the old and current ways of traveling.
June 4, 2018
Fantastic account of the historical impact of tourism (and it's modern-day commercialization).
July 2, 2022
Started reading this on a (fast) train through Switzerland. Phenomenal mix of travel, history, economics and culture.
July 21, 2024
Interesting read if you are traveling through Switzerland. A little slow and repetitive but many fun facts and history!
October 26, 2025
Excellent travelogue and history of Switzerland.
July 31, 2022
I used this for research. Though a non-fiction read, I found the story within the journey fascinating.
October 7, 2016
3 stars leaning to 4.
While the concept is interesting, and his writing is clear - it felt like he spent too much time trying to bend the structure around the concept (following Miss Jemima around) to the detriment of actual content that I wanted from a travel book in Switzerland. There were some interesting information but he really could have given us more than repeatedly admiring the tenacity of Victorian travellers, which - while correct - gets repetitive. Focuses more on Thomas Cook and mass tourism from Britain than Switzerland itself, it seems to me.
Definitely a supplementary book to another more exhaustive travel book in Switzerland.
While the concept is interesting, and his writing is clear - it felt like he spent too much time trying to bend the structure around the concept (following Miss Jemima around) to the detriment of actual content that I wanted from a travel book in Switzerland. There were some interesting information but he really could have given us more than repeatedly admiring the tenacity of Victorian travellers, which - while correct - gets repetitive. Focuses more on Thomas Cook and mass tourism from Britain than Switzerland itself, it seems to me.
Definitely a supplementary book to another more exhaustive travel book in Switzerland.
October 27, 2014
In 1859 a small group of tourists made a trip via boat, train, mule, and foot from England into Switzerland. It was quite and exciting trip and is recorded in Miss Jemima's Diary. One hundred and fifty years later the author and his mother made the trip again using as much as possible the same route and transportation. It was well documented and the comparisons are very good. I enjoyed reading about a country I may never see but have always enjoyed hearing about.
May 27, 2015
I'm biased! Switzerland is my favourite country outside the UK, and this book describing two parallel journeys 150 years apart concentrates on my favourite areas, Geneva and the Alps, the Bernese Oberland and Lucerne and its surroundings. I was astonished at the level of hardship gentile middle class travellers on Thomas Cook's first tour were prepared to endure; the length of their traveling days was frequently 14 hours and upwards. This is a nice gentle read which informs as it entertains.
March 25, 2014
Really enjoyed this book!! The different view point from Miss Jemima in the 1800's and Diccon Bewes' was fascinating. I could almost imagine how it might have been like back in the day when they wore all those long scratchy dresses. Diccon Bewes brings to life the majestic Alps that to me are Switzerland!!
November 27, 2014
Really enjoyed this one. We did 1/2 of this trip with Roger Mason in 2012, and it was fascinating to see how the same trip had gone 150 years ago. I liked the 1863 heroine very much - much more dauntless and fun than you'd expect a Victorian middle class lady to be.
March 3, 2015
Two travelogues in one! An interesting comparson of what it was like to be one of the first travelers through Switzerland in 1863 versus what it is like to travel there now. Loved the descriptions of the places I've visited, like Lucerne (or Luzern). Enjoyed it.
December 22, 2014
The author decided to retrace the journey of a Victorian lady traveller. My husband read this in a couple of days and really enjoyed. I spent about 6 months reading it on and off. It was OK but could have been a lot more interesting.
December 31, 2015
The idea behind the book is Interesting and makes it more than just an ordinary travel book. Chatty and easygoing, although at times a bit loaded with facts and comments. Could do with a bit of editing for general appearance – the text on the page looks scarily black, dense, and impenetrable.
March 4, 2015
Clever concept and very engaging writing. The trip itself isn't terribly exciting, but if anyone has even the remotest interest in the history of travel or Switzerland, this book is filled with wonderful details.
September 5, 2015
Loved it, just read it for the second time. Wish he would write another about the Graubunden region. Have read all of his books and enjoyed them.He certainly knows his Switzerland.
April 14, 2014
A good read but not exactly a page turner. For those that have travelled through Switzerland more than others I think.
August 10, 2015
Lovely well written book following in the footsteps of the original Thomas Cook tour of Switzerland.
July 23, 2015
Read this book while traveling through Switzerland in May of 2015. Was a great read, especially while traveling through many of the places that is talked about in the book in CH and FR.
July 16, 2015
an easy-going arm chair read. A gentle look at how travel, culture and expectations have changed in 150 years. Nothing demanding, a good book for an afternoon in a garden chair with a cup of tea.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews