Slow Train to Switzerland: One Tour, Two Trips, 150 Years and a World of Change Apart - Softcover

Diccon Bewes is a travel writer. A world trip set him up for a career in travel writing, via the scenic route of bookselling. After ten years at Lonely Planet and Holiday Which? Magazine, he decamped to Switzerland, where he managed the Stauffacher English Bookshop in Bern. In addition to grappling with German, re-learning to cross the road properly, and overcoming his desires to form an orderly line, he has spent years exploring Switzerland. Following the incredible success of Swiss Watching he is now a full time writer. See his website at www.dicconbewes.com

A delightful accessible throw-away style which is both amusing and endearing.―The Cultural Traveller

A brilliant book. There is a strong story to tell of the burgeoning country that Switzerland was in the 1860s, and the utmost change the travel industry effected on the land. The differences and similarities between the two excursions make this time capsule was well worth opening, the contrast well worth making, and this author probably the best to do so.―Bookbag

Very enjoyable. Bewes is a charming guide.―Geographical

This book gives an excellent history of our favourite country, not the usual battle of this or war of that, but at the much more personal level of the common people's everyday lives. Even those of us who think we know a lot about Switzerland will learn something new, and gain that knowledge in a very readable and entertaining way. If you enjoyed 'Swiss Watching' then you'll need to get a copy of this book by the same author. Highly recommended.―Swiss Express

Loquacious and genial.―The Independent

Fascinating. Charming. Bewes' breezy prose makes him a pleasant travelling companion.―Spectator

Bewes has become something of an expert on the Swiss. His first book, Swiss Watching lifted the lid on a country everybody knows of but knows little about. In his latest book, Slow Train to Switzerland he follows in the footsteps of Miss Jemima Morrell, a customer on Thomas Cook's first guided tour in 1863, and discovers how this plucky Victorian woman helped shape the face of modern tourism and Switzerland itself.―Wanderlust