Route description for Holidays in the Gruyère region

The journey takes a little over 3 hours with breaks. We reach the campsite and are greeted warmly. Since a weekend is coming up, some places have already been reserved. However, we find a nice place near the sanitary facilities. We want to spend the whole week here now.

We do the most urgent shopping in the nearby shopping center, since the campsite does not have a shop. You can reach the center in just a few minutes by bike.

We first cycle to Epagny, then on via Gruyère station and further up the valley via Estavannes to Grandvillars. This village was characterized by very old farmhouses .... and a beautiful garden restaurant. From there it goes further south. It goes up again and again and then goes down again immediately afterwards. In Lessoc we switch to the other side of the valley and mostly drive on the main road, from Grandvillars station on a valley road back to the campsite, where we arrive at lunchtime. A meal in the camping restaurant concludes the beautiful excursion.

Gruyère is a medieval city. It was built on a mountain spur and is an attraction for many tourists. So it consists almost entirely of souvenir shops and restaurants. There are still museums in the castle. Since the weather is not so nice, we stroll up from the campsite via hiking trails to the town, but then quickly evade tourism, which despite Corona or precisely because of it runs properly.

In the afternoon we dared to cycle to Bulle. The route always leads slightly uphill from the campsite through La-Tour-de-Trême to the center of Bulle.

Here we visit the old town with the help of a city map, on which the sights in the form of a sightseeing tour with numbered places.

After completing the tour, we let ourselves be glided to the camping almost without any drive.

We ride our bikes up to the Broc train station, where we can park them protected from the weather. The sky is gone and you can expect rain showers. We walk along the east bank, once under the umbrella, then again in the sun and again under the umbrella. We reach Corbières around noon and look for a restaurant. But far from it! No catering option. Fortunately, a bus arrives and takes us to Bulle, where we get a good meal. The train takes you back to Broc and the bikes down to the campsite.

The sun is shining today, at least in the morning. We walk to the Sarine River and from there south to the Chapelle des Marches. On the way we find Turkish lilies. We continue to the covered wooden bridge over the Sarine "Le Pont qui Branle" and from there via Epagny back to camping and lunch.

We ride the bikes to the Cailler chocolate factory in Broc. We are happy to pay the admission price of CHF 15.- per person in the hope of tastings.

After an animated tour of different rooms, you come to a room with documentation about the origin and processing of the cocoa fruit for the finished chocolate and then to a tasting room where you learn to taste chocolate. Taste, breakage, surface must be assessed before you get permission to put the coveted piece "Branchli" in your mouth. But be careful! Do not bite! Already too late. So new piece (smile ...). Yes, and then we can taste chocolates until you can no longer look at them. The end of the deal, like in any such system, is the store with discounted products.

With the bike it goes via a detour via the shopping center back to the camping. Dinner is no longer necessary.

The weather is not stable again. We take the train from Bulle via Montbovon to Montreux and after lunch via Lausanne to Palézieux. From there it goes back to Bulle on the narrow-gauge railway. Since our bus has just left, we decide to drive a part with a waiting train and cover the rest on foot.

When the weather is fine, our path leads uphill from the campsite on the northern slope to Moléson and back after lunch on the southern slope. We'll have a fondue moitié moitié and a great dessert in the Fromagerie. On the descent we are surprised by a heavy thunderstorm. Fortunately, we are near an alpine hut where shelter is possible.