Celebrating street food in Basel, Switzerland
With October comes what travel planners call the shoulder season, a concept that applies equally to food-oriented festivals. Soon we'll have the late-autumn fairs,...
Autumn: Switzerland’s best time for food travel?
Switzerland is a marvelous year-round destination, but for many, autumn is THE season. Summer crowds are gone, ski season is not yet upon us,...
Super Zampone: Over the Top in Emilia Romagna
Emilia Romagna is a gastronome's paradise, its culinary bounty celebrated with great fanfare through the autumn harvest season. Wine, fish, meats and cheeses--all kinds...
Zibelmärit offers a taste of Switzerland
Onions, in all their garlanded glory, are the basis for Bern’s Zibelmärit. They are colorful and pretty to look at in your kitchen, dangling...
Bern’s Onion Market—time to party, rain or shine
I’ve been to the Onion Market in Bern twice, once on a frosty, clear morning several years ago; and last Monday, mostly under an...
Through the lens: Valle di Muggio, Ticino
When leaves have already dropped elsewhere in Switzerland’s mountain regions, it is time to head south—as far south as you can go without leaving...
Lucerne’s Hirschenplatz—”get the message”?
Lucerne, Switzerland's Hirschenplatz is named after a vanished hotel, the Hirschen, or stag. Light-colored paving stones mark the places where two small houses once...
Basel’s autumn fair opens with a slosh
Two days ago, the Basel Herbstmesse, the biggest and longest-running autumn fair in Europe, kicked off with a feisty clanging of bells and the...
Lucerne’s wall paintings tell stories
It is autumn in one of Europe's prettiest settings. The Old Town in Lucerne, Switzerland, is a postcard. All of it. Almost any direction...
Five reasons to visit Ascona, Switzerland in autumn
Two of Switzerland's finest festivals take place not on a mountain, but at 196 meters above sea level—in lovely Ascona, on Lago Maggiore. Settimane Musicali...