Leave Geneva behind for a small-group journey into a Switzerland of medieval castles, surreal art, Alien-inspired architecture and, finally, world-famous Swiss chocolate.
Your destination is Gruyères, a beautiful medieval village surrounded by the landscapes of the Swiss Pre-Alps. But this isn't the traditional Gruyères experience.
Step inside the extraordinary world of Swiss artist H.R. Giger, creator of the creature from Alien. Explore the H.R. Giger Museum inside Château St-Germain and discover the dark, biomechanical universe that made his work internationally famous. The contrast is part of what makes the day special. Outside, cobbled streets, Alpine scenery and medieval Gruyères Castle offer the Switzerland you expect. Inside Giger's world, you'll discover something entirely different.
Then continue the experience at the remarkable H.R. Giger Bar, where skeletal forms, arches and Giger's distinctive designs transform the surroundings into something that feels as though you've stepped directly into his imagination.
Walk around the medieval town Gruyére! Visit it's 800yo Castle. Have a lunch at one of it's restaurants with a picturesque view to the Suiss Alps. Taste the best national dishes of Switzerland, "fromage fondu, raclette, rösti, quish"!
After time to explore Gruyères, continue to Maison Cailler for another side of Swiss culture. Discover the story of one of Switzerland's best-known chocolate houses and enjoy the chocolate tasting at the end of the experience.
With comfortable transportation back to Geneva, this is an easygoing full-day experience for travelers who want to discover a more surprising side of Switzerland. Medieval Switzerland. Surreal Switzerland. Chocolate Switzerland. One unforgettable day.
Travelled as a couple to switzerland for the first time. Throughly enjoyed our expierence, our best day was the giger,castle and chocolate trip! Gabor was our guide and he was nothing but amazing, extremely friendly and helpful. Would 100% recommend to anyone visiting it was well worth the trip and made amazing memories
My family of 4 went on the Gruyeres tour that included looking at the Castle, HR Giger Museum and bar and the Callier chocolate factory tour. Our guide, Gabor, was knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and accommodating. I feel like just having him give us information on our ride there from Geneva expanded my knowledge of Switzerland in itself. The town is picturesque and there was enough to see and do all day. My favorite was the HR Giger museum and bar. It definitely is a unique experience and may be an interesting experience for some but if you do not want to do the museum or bar there are many other sites to see and spend time doing. Also the fondue was amazing and all fresh from the town. Plus the chocolate factory gives so many samples of their chocolate! I would recommend this tour and do it again.
This was an amazing & unique day trip. The Giger Museum and Bar were fantastic and the views from Gruyere were amazing and my personal highlights. Gabor is a brilliant, friendly and knowledgeable guide. I would definitely recommend this trip!
Exceptional day out! Highly recommend. As a massive Alien fan I could not resist when I found out about the existence of the Giger museum. Our guide, Gabor was lovely and very informative. He had brilliant recommendations and shared his knowledge of the area, giving our trip a lot more depth. As someone who struggles with transport, being picked up and dropped off where I wanted to be was worth every penny.
Great experience, you see alot in the day and you get there a little earlier than all the big buses so it starts off alot quieter
An absolutely unforgettable day! This was genuinely the best trip I have ever been on. François and Gabor were both excellent and took such good care of us, making sure we had the greatest possible time throughout the day. François very kindly provided water and shared so much fascinating knowledge with us along the way. Gruyères is breathtakingly beautiful, and the H.R. Giger Museum tour was absolutely awesome—everything I hoped it would be and more. The whole experience was fantastic from beginning to end, and I really hope we can return and do it all again one day. Thank you, François and Gabor, for giving us such a wonderful and memorable day!
Surrounded by beautiful scenery in Gruyère, our visit to the H.R. Giger museum was beyond our expectations; surreal, breathtaking and intensely stunning. The H.R. Giger bar was unforgettable - a drink of the alien beer or the beautifully presented coffee and liqueur is a must! Gabor, our lovely driver and guide, ensured everything ran smoothly on the day, from hotel pick up to return, and enjoyable chats in between. Thanks for a truly remarkable day and helping us to make our visit to the H.R. Giger museum a reality in the short time we had in Switzerland.
A nice and easy ride to Gruyere helped by a friendly guide. Garbo spoke good English and guided the group easily while also giving us the freedom to go off on our own if we wanted. Unfortunately we were unable to visit the chocolate factory which was disappointing but things happen.
Gabor was an excellent guide. Our group had different interests and he was able to adapt the day to accommodate different activities running at the same time.
Such an amazing experience! The driver we had was really communicative, and it was easy to be picked up (I was concerned where we’d get picked up but we were able to text back and forth about where, and the timing) The drive was lovely and Gruyères as a region was beautiful and snowy when we went. The other options in the tour seem fun too (we didn’t go to the cheese factory but it sounded really good, the chocolate factory was lots of fun, great for kids, and the castle was also fun to wander around). The HR Giger museum itself was amazing. It opened a little later than expected, so we had a bit less time there than we’d hoped, but we were still able to see everything in about an hour. The admission fee and the cost of the drive were all covered by this tour cost. Truly amazing to see so many of his works in person, in full size. There’s also part of his personal collection of art as part of the museum, as well as props, sketches, and full size xenomorphs. The museum has an excellent little gift shop, and I would highly recommend bar as well!! Just a truly amazing experience!!!
This museum was a profound opportunity to bare witness to the genius dark lord himself, after studying his artwork, airbrushing technique and researching through the filmography. H R Giger museum was exceptional, especially the spirit of the designer himself.
Gabor was an amazing tour guide, keeping us entertained to and from Gruyeres. He took us around Gruyeres and show us spots you wouldn't know without him. Museum was brilliant and stopped in the bar for a drink. Castle was great to walk around and the views were out of this world. Stopped at St George's for lunch, view and food both stunning. Chocolate factory tour was so interactive and samples were very tasty.
This was a wonderful tour! Our guide Gabor was very friendly and helpful. The fondu lunch was delicious, and we loved the Giger Museum and Bar. Highly recommended for fans of the Alien films. What a delight!
Really enjoyed this tour. Easy pick up at our hotel. Nice comfortable scenic ride. Giger museum & bar is fantastic! Our driver, Gabor, was awesome. The castle and chocolate factory were nice, but the Giger museum was what I went for. Good amount of time spent at each spot.
We recently returned from a 12 day trip to Switzerland, most of which was on an excellent Insight Vacations tour. Prior to joining group we had a wonderful day trip with Gabor from Geneva to Gruyeres. He picked the 3 of us up at our hotel and we traveled with another couple along the shore of Lake Geneva before heading to Gruyeres. He provided excellent commentary about all of the sights. He dropped the other couple at the cheese factory and we continued to the beautiful village. Gabor walked with us to the HR Giger museum and bought our entry tickets. He left us to explore the museum and castle and then we joined him and the other couple for lunch. Later we stopped at the Callier chocolate factory for a tour. We could have done most of this by train but it would have been more time consuming and we would have missed Gabor's excellent commentary. If we ever return to Geneva, I will try to book another tour with Gabor.
This a really good tour! Our driver, Gabor, was awesome. Picked us up right outside our hotel, nice scenic ride to Guyrères. It was a dream come true visiting the Giger museum bar. Exceeded expectations! Good amount of time spent at Giger museum & bar, and the Château. The town itself is very picturesque. We had some of the best fondue at Le Saint Georges restaurant.
Creepy... and not recommended for children or sensitive souls!
During your stay, I advise you to visit this atypical museum that immerses you in a fantastic universe. However, I find this museum not child-friendly
Monday through Friday 9 am to 7 pm EST
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