This is not one of them.
You leave Zurich by helicopter and within minutes the city falls away behind you. The landscape changes quickly. Lakes, valleys and the first mountain ridges appear below, then Central Switzerland opens into the Bernese Oberland.
From the air, the scale finally makes sense.
The pilot takes you into the Alps and, when conditions allow, brings the helicopter down at an authorised mountain landing site in the snow and ice.
Then the rotors stop.
And it becomes very quiet.
Fondue and champagne on the mountain
This is the part people remember.
The pilot prepares the fondue and champagne while you step out into the snow.
No restaurant.
No terrace.
No crowd.
Just the mountains around you and the helicopter sitting behind you.
You have time to eat, take photographs, have a glass of champagne and simply enjoy where you are.
I would not overcomplicate this experience.
The location is already enough.
The flight itself is half the reason to do it
The route changes with the weather and the flying conditions on the day.
Depending on the departure point and the route selected by the pilot, you may fly across Central Switzerland and towards the Bernese Oberland, with some of the country’s most impressive mountain and glacier landscapes beneath you.
For me, that flexibility is part of it.
I would rather change the route on the morning than promise you a particular glacier and fly into poor visibility simply because it appeared on the original program.
The pilot makes the final operational decision.
From your hotel to the helicopter and back again
The day is taken care of from the beginning.
Your private driver collects you from your hotel and takes you to the confirmed helicopter departure point in the Zurich area.
After the flight, your private driver is there again to take you back to the city or on to wherever the rest of your day is going.
The entire experience takes only part of a day, which is one reason I like it so much.
You can leave Zurich in the morning, have fondue in the Alps and still be back in the city around noon.
What if the weather changes?
Then we change the plan.
Mountain flying is completely dependent on weather, visibility and operating conditions. The exact route and landing location are confirmed according to the conditions on the day.
If the landing cannot be operated safely, the pilot decides what is possible.
For this experience, I never want the itinerary to be more important than the conditions.
The Alps are worth waiting for.
Can children come?
Yes, depending on the aircraft, ages and seating arrangement.
I ask for the children’s ages when arranging the flight so the operator can confirm the correct seating and equipment.
Once the doors close, everyone uses headsets and can hear the pilot throughout the flight.
A few ways I can make it more personal
I particularly like this experience for birthdays, anniversaries and proposals.
Champagne can become part of the occasion rather than simply part of the flight.
For some guests, I combine the helicopter experience with another day in the Bernese Oberland so they see the mountains from the air first and then from the ground.
For others, I do the opposite.
And sometimes there is nothing else at all.
Helicopter.
Snow.
Fondue.
Champagne.
That is already enough.
A private glacier helicopter experience from Zurich
The helicopter, the private driver from your hotel, the mountain landing, the food and drinks and the coordination around the day are all taken care of.
The exact route and landing site remain with the pilot and the conditions.
Everything else is taken care of before you leave the hotel.
It is one of the shortest experiences out of Zurich.
And one of the ones people tend to talk about longest.
This is one of the private days we arrange from Zurich. Begin the conversation.