Up on the hill

Most people aspire to an exclusive holiday in a place that none from his peer group has been to. If you have lots of money, there are tonnes of places which could fit the bill. Now Cox & Kings has come up with an option for the not-so-rich (read middle-classes).

The tour operator has entered into an agreement with the private owner of a mountain peak in Switzerland to brand it as Cox & Kings mountain, a first for any Indian company.

"Cox & Kings completes 250 years in 2008 and the countdown to the celebrations has just begun. We wanted to give our travellers something that was special and unique. Now we have a mountain in Switzerland named after Cox & Kings," says Karan Anand, director (contracting) at Cox & Kings.

A visit to the Cox & Kings Mountain is part of the tour operator's Europe packages, and are priced at Rs 1,32,00 and upwards. Most important, Cox & Kings there will not be any additional charge for going up on the hill.

Cox & Kings Mountain is a two-hour drive from Zurich in the picturesque Lungern region and is close to two destinations greatly favoured by Indians "" Interlaken and Lucerne.

So what can you expect on Cox & Kings Mountain? For starters, a 360-degree view of the Bernese Oberland as you go up on a cable car. Once there, travellers can see how exotic Swiss chocolates are moulded.

For kids, there is an animated cow stable and in the evening, a specially prepared Indian dinner with a performance of a traditional Swiss dance.

Cox & Kings sent over 15,000 tourists to Switzerland last year and this year the travel company expects to add 30 per cent to that number.