I remember when I first went to Switzerland. I was a teenager, and I was visiting my best friend for her birthday. I didn't have the chance to do much but celebrate, and then walk around Zug for an afternoon. I was very excited to be able to go back and visit! I do have an upcoming trip to Switzerland next month as well.
  Our morning started very early. We had to be at the bus by 3:30 AM, and it would be a 5.5 hour journey to our first tour destination, The Cailler Chocolate Factory. German law required our bus to stop at the four hour mark, after we had crossed into Switzerland. The rest stop we were at was extremely nice. From the border, it was about 1.5 hours to Gruyères. We walked most of the town when we were released for the afternoon. The surrounding scenery made it quite enjoyable. I'm sure it would have been better if it were a sunny day!
  Maison Cailler - Rue Jules Bellet 7, 1636 Broc, Switzerland - When we got there, we were able to skip the line.  I recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time if you plan on going. As soon as I entered the factory, I was hit with the strong, delicious scent of chocolate. I imagined it to be like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The tour was close enough to that! There were animated features as the tour guide spoke, and it was a timed tour. So you weren't staying in one room too long, because we all know how boring that could get. I learned about the history of the chocolate factory, and you'd be surprised how much you didn't know about Swiss chocolate.

My favorite part of the chocolate tour was tasting the chocolates!

  Towards the end of the tour, they have a room where you can see, touch, smell, and even taste the ingredients being used. Just make sure you're grabbing from the correct bin when you're trying the ingredients. You don't want to eat something everyone hands have been on! There's a clear wall separating the tactile room and the factory. You can actually watch small chocolates be made, and at the end of the line, you can grab a sample! Enjoying your piece of chocolate from start to finish. Then comes a long hallway, that will tempt you with chocolate at the beginning. It'll instruct you to on how to savor the chocolate by using all of your senses. I had to do this twice because the first time I had to eat it without any thought!
  The hardest part of this tour was self-control because of the tasting section. You were only allowed to go through the line one time, but you could eat unlimited pieces of chocolate. The first room showcased already made chocolates that you could buy from the store. The second room had benches with a chef making chocolate treats fresh off the stove. If I were to go through this tour again, I would sneak in a little bottle of milk (I know it's silly!)

You know I couldn't resist taking a picture with the giant cheeses that were out.

  La Maison du Gruyère (Fromagerie) - Place de la Gare 3, 1663 Pringy-Gruyères, Switzerland - A trip to Switzerland wouldn't be complete if we didn't go indulge in salty, cheesy goodness. (Today was a great day for the salty & sweet combination, + wine). This fromagerie was only 10 minutes away from the chocolate factory by bus. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be, but when we went inside it seemed like it was so much bigger. The tour wasn't long either. They gave you an audio guide, and the character of the guide was very funny to listen to. It walks you through the different ingredients used to make Gruyère. cheese. You can smell the ingredients, some smelled great, and some made me feel like I needed to throw up. The second half of the tour, you could see the factory.
  Did you know that it takes 400 L of milk to create one 35 kg round of Gruyère. cheese? Can you imagine having to try and make a batch of 20 rounds? That's a lot of milk! The cheese is turned in these large barrels for quite some time, and then poured into containers where they're shaped and turned every... 16 hours I think? They get run through a salt bath, and then are placed on shelves. I was able to see the robot they use to turn the cheese. It goes up and down the aisles and spins and turns the cheese so everything is... even? I don't know. They can tell if the cheese is done by the elasticity and the "bounce back" of it. It's really interesting...
  The only thing was the cheese tasting was only given in a small packet of cheese that had 3 different ages of Gruyère. I ended up buying two slices of cheese because it was so good. I would've liked it more if it were like the chocolate factory, and you lined up in a room full of cheese.

The small town that was located at the top of the hill. It was quite the walk up.

• The currency is Swiss Francs, but most places take card or Euro. Some stores can only give you change in Francs though, so be mindful of that before you head back home
• Everything is very expensive in Switzerland, even fast food places. A meal at McDonald's for one person can sometimes add up to 20 Euro. Avoid this by packing snacks and maybe a few sandwiches if you're there for a day trip. If you're there for longer, maybe choose one meal you'll eat out for, and then buy some groceries to keep in your room
• The common languages spoken in Switzerland are French or German. Many of the people there speak English though, but it's still considerate to do your best to know common phrases in their language