Davos (Switzerland) > Reviews > A Summer to Remember

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Sightseeing
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around

Advantages:	Beautiful scenery; great pubs; delicious food; mountains; like - minded souls .
Disadvantages:	Expensive

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A friend recently told me that he doesn't believe Switzerland exists. The idea of a mountainous land where cheese, chocolate, clocks and boy scout knives are the main exports and there are no less than four main national languages is perhaps difficult to picture, but I can assure everybody that Switzerland does exist, and that it's the most beautiful and tranquil place in the world!

In 1997, at just 19 years of age, I decided to bite the bullet and spend a summer working abroad. I managed to get a position as a night porter at a Swiss hotel in the resort of Davos. Arriving there was an amazing experience: the railway ran through hills and canyons, past gorgeous valleys and flowing rivers with wispy white clouds floating above them, right through the Eastern Alps via Landquart to the town of Davos Platz.

I worked in the hotel Schweizerhof on the Promenade and couldn't believe my luck: the hotel was gorgeous; I had a nice little apartment upstairs with all the facilities; the work was fun and if I got bored during the long night I could sneak into the indoor pool for a dip, or nip upstairs to watch MTV long into the morning, keeping a close eye on the hotel with my mobile phone and pager, which were connected up to the switchboard and front door respectively; and more importantly, I got plenty of time off to enjoy with the other English-speakers there!

I met around seven other English-speaking people, all working in the resort as waitresses, waiters and porters, most of them from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and we had a whale of a time for the three months we were there. The holiday fever took us by storm and we danced, drank, laughed and had wild relationships for the whole summer.

Davos in the summer is very hot, but you can easily cool off with long Alpine walks in the fresh mountain air or a dip in the outdoor pool over by the Kongress hotel. Davos Lake is a postcard picture, with huge hills and mountains all round and a forest built up on the southern bank full of cheeky squirrels and happy little birds.

The place is well worth a visit: if you don't like sunbathing or relaxing in the mountain air, then why the hell not for starters, but if not, there are plenty of great little pubs like 0815, the Red Light, the Chaemi Bar, and the Cabanna Club. Scala and Carlo's offer delicious food, and there's a cinema, ice rink, sports complex, and cable cars galore. Bugger Ibiza; Davos wins every time!