Cross into French speaking Switzerland and the country starts to feel different.
The landscape changes. The road signs change. Lunch tends to last a little longer.
And within this part of Switzerland you find three things the country does particularly well.
Cheese.
Chocolate.
Wine.
I like this day because it is not really about sightseeing. It is about travelling through a different part of Switzerland and tasting it as you go.
From Zurich, the whole journey is private.
Start with Gruyères
The first part of the day takes you towards Gruyères.
Before going up into the medieval village, I like to start with the reason its name is known around the world.
Cheese.
At La Maison du Gruyère, you can see how Gruyère AOP is produced and taste the cheese at different stages of maturity.
Then go up to the village itself.
Gruyères is small, so I would never try to turn it into a three hour sightseeing programme.
Walk through the village. See the castle if you want to. Have a coffee. Look across the countryside.
And take your time.
It is one of those places where an hour can easily become two if you are enjoying yourself.
Then chocolate
A short drive away is Broc and Maison Cailler.
This is the more playful part of the day.
You follow the story of cacao and Swiss chocolate, see how Cailler is produced and, importantly, taste it.
Quite a lot of it.
Children usually love this stop, but adults are rarely difficult to convince either.
If I have families travelling with me, cheese and chocolate together work particularly well because the day never becomes too serious.
After that, I prefer to leave the programme open
This is where I would make the Concierge Atelier day different.
I do not think everybody needs exactly the same third stop.
If you love wine, we continue towards the vineyards above Lake Geneva.
If you would rather have a long lunch and walk beside the lake, we do that.
If the weather is beautiful, I might take you somewhere simply because I know the view will be worth it.
The afternoon should depend on you.
Wine above Lake Geneva
The vineyards between Lausanne and Montreux are some of the most beautiful in Switzerland.
Rows of vines descend towards Lake Geneva, with the Alps across the water.
Chasselas is the wine you will see again and again here. It is part of the identity of this region, and drinking it where it is grown makes considerably more sense than ordering it from a wine list somewhere else.
A tasting with a local producer depends on the day and availability.
I deliberately do not publish which cellar I would use.
That depends on the guest.
Vevey, if we have time
One of my favourite additions is Vevey.
It does not need to become another formal tour.
Walk along the lakefront. Have a coffee. Stop for an aperitif. Look across the water towards the mountains.
Charlie Chaplin spent the last decades of his life just above Vevey, and the region has attracted artists, writers and travellers for generations.
But you do not need a museum to enjoy it.
Sometimes I add Vevey simply because it is a beautiful place to stop between the vineyards and the journey home.
A few places I keep for the right guest
There are small wine villages above Lake Geneva where I would rather stop than follow the busiest route.
There are vineyard roads where the view is better than the official viewpoint.
There are producers I would choose for somebody who really knows wine and others I would choose for somebody who simply wants to sit down, taste a few glasses and enjoy the afternoon.
And there are days when I would skip the wine tasting altogether and spend that time over a very good lunch.
That is why I do not like fixing every hour of this journey before I know who is travelling.
What if you are travelling with children?
Then I change the balance.
Maison Cailler normally becomes the main event.
Gruyères stays because the village and cheese experience are easy to enjoy as a family.
But I would not make children sit through a long wine tasting just because wine appears in the name of the tour.
We can replace it with more time beside Lake Geneva, a village stop, something outdoors or simply an earlier journey back to Zurich.
Private means I can change the day around the people travelling.
From Zurich and back again
Your private driver collects you at your hotel in Zurich.
This is a full day, normally around nine to ten hours depending on what we decide to include.
The visits and tastings that need reservations are held beforehand.
But I deliberately leave some space in the day.
Maybe we spend longer in Gruyères.
Maybe you love the wine and stay for another glass.
Maybe the weather over Lake Geneva is beautiful and nobody wants to leave yet.
That is fine.
I would rather give you a good day than make you follow a timetable.
Tell me whether you are more interested in food, wine, villages, scenery, or a little of everything.
Then I build the day around you.
This is one of the private days we arrange from Zurich. Begin the conversation.