IAESTE Cheese and Chocolate Weekend 2025

Swiss food in two words: cheese & chocolate! IAESTE invites you to the Cheese and Chocolate Weekend 2025 on the 27th to 28th of September in the beautiful area of Gruyère and get a great taste of Switzerland!
During this weekend, we will visit Electrobroc exhibition which aims to make the energy sector understandable, the famous Maison Cailler, where we’ll eat chocolate and learn how it is made🤔. We will also visit a cheese-making factory, and taste different types of cheese! Last but not least, we will explore the medieval town and surrounding area of the castle of Gruyères.
We will sleep in an amazing chalet and eat fondue with incredible scenery.

Program

Date: September 27-28 September, 2025.

Number of Participants: 15 + 3 organizers.

Start of the event: 10:00 a.m.

Meeting point for all participants: Train Stop Broc-Chocolaterie 10:00am.

Saturday 27th of September:

09:57 — Arrival at Broc-Chocolaterie station and group up and walk to Electrobroc
10:30–12:00 — Electrobroc tour (energy exhibition)
12:00–12:55 — Lunch at Broc Fabrik (picnic/bring your own)
12:55–13:15 — Walk to Maison Cailler chocolate factory
13:30–14:30 — Chocolate tour & tasting 🍫
15:03–15:30 — Train to Gruyères
15:30–17:10 — Visit Gruyères Castle 🏰
17:10–18:10 — Explore the medieval town of Gruyères
18:20–18:44 — Train to Moléson-sur-Gruyères
19:00 — Arrival & check-in at accommodation
19:30 — Fondue dinner 🧀
Evening — Free time to hang out, games, snacks & drinks

Sunday 28th of September:

8:00-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-9:15 Check-out
9:45 Visit at Fromagerie d’Alpage (cheese making presentation and degustation)
10:45 Hike/Cable car to the summit of Moleson (weather-dependent)
Afternoon — Return travel

Participation fee

IAESTE affiliated*: 100 CHF
Non-IAESTE: 180 CHF

*The discounted rates apply only to Interns & LC members for the current calendar year i.e. 2025.

Included in the participation fee:

Electroboc exhibition tour,
Chocolate factory Maison Cailler tour,
Cheese factory Formagerie d’Alpage,
Castle of Gruyère – guided tour,
Accommodation from Saturday – Sunday,
Dinner on Saturday, Breakfast on Sunday,
Loads of Fun !!!

Not included in the participation fee:

Lunch on Saturday (Bring your food for Picnic),
Transport to and from the event place,
Additional drinks during dinner on Saturday
Lunch on Sunday

Registration

Registration opens on 9th of September (Tuesday) 2025 at 12:00 pm.

Registration link: CLICK TO OPEN THE FORM

By registering, you confirm that you have read and agree to the cancellation policy.

We will inform about the successful registration via e-mail after verification (max. 24h after submitting the registration – we ask for patience). In case of many interested we will open a waiting list.

Cancellation Policy

If you cancel your registration until 24th September 10am, you get the entire fee back.
After that time, the fee is non-refundable, unless you find a replacement.

Payment Details:

Payment instructions will be provided in the WhatsApp group.

What to bring?

In order to not have any bad surprises during the week-end, the following equipment will be necessary:

Enough warm clothes
If possible waterproof clothes and / or an umbrella, check the weather
Good shoes for walking the whole day and at the mountain
Usual bathroom / shower stuff, clothes to change, etc.
Try to fit your stuff in a mountain backpack. Do not take a suitcase, as it will be very difficult to carry it around

Remember that we will be very mobile in the mountains. So only take the necessary stuff you need and try to fit it in a good backpack. If you don’t have any backpack, try to ask some friends. In the worst case, contact us (email: aisha.khan@lczurich.iaeste.ch, pawel.kolodzieyski@lcbasel.iaeste.ch or alekandra.iskrzynska@lcbasel.iaeste.ch) and we will find a solution.

Connections:

From Zürich
From Basel
From Bern

See you soon,

Aisha Pawel Aleksandra