Walking through cheese country

Until October, 2009. How about some ”carefree hiking, eating and drinking pleasurably, and stylish overnight stays”? That’s how ViaRegio cultural route creators describe their packages, which include ”Les chemins du Gruyère” - two 7-day, 6-night individual tours in Vaud and Fribourg cheese country.

Walk the old mule trails that were once used to transport wheels of cheese down to Lac Léman where they were shipped to Geneva then sent over land to Lyon for shipment across the Mediterrenean or even the Atlantic.

Immerse yourself in the vibe imprinted on land and villages by the ”cheese barons” of old.

And visit (and cheese-taste in) today’s traditional production facilities - and cellars, where the all-important maturation of the cheeses takes place over a period of five months to a year or more.

The all-inclusive, half-board packages are available with a Gruyère focus and an Etivaz focus (Etivaz cheese being nothing more than Gruyère made the way it was a century ago, i.e. only from milk produced when the cows are summer-grazing at high altitude).

More at www.cultural-routes.ch (click on ViaRegio, then Les Chemins du Gruyère).