MY NAME IS GIADA
WALKING HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY WAY OF TRULY ARRIVING SOMEWHERE
Not just visiting it. There's a different kind of knowing that comes from moving through a place slowly, on foot, at a pace that lets you take it all in. You don't get that from a bus window. You get it step by step.
The mountains, especially, have always felt like home to me: their scale has a way of putting everything else into perspective. As a tour guide, yoga teacher and travel planner, I kept circling back to the same thing: experiences built on movement, curiosity and real connection. To nature, to culture, to the people who actually live here.
AS HEARD AND SEEN
PODCASTS, PRESS AND PEOPLE I WORK WITH
Holidays to Switzerland podcast, episode 136
Sponsored by Switzerland Tourism and hosted by Carolyn Schonafinger: urban hiking, sustainable travel and the circular economy, together with Diana Fischer of Detours Zurich.
For a long time, I assumed travel had already figured itself out: guidebooks, top-ten lists, curated apps, someone else doing the thinking for you. Then it hit me, almost embarrassingly simple.
WHAT IF THE REAL SWITZERLAND WAS NEVER SOMETHING YOU COULD LOOK UP?
What if it only exists in the things you notice at a slower pace: the trail nobody photographs, the ride between one famous location and another, the local mountain cheese dairy where you can sit down and enjoy life? I've spent years finding those places and those people myself, on foot, one trip at a time, from the highlights to the secret spots and everything in between. That's what I want to share with you.
Firsthand Switzerland: always lived, never looked up
FROM ITALY TO THE ALPS
HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH SWITZERLAND
I was born in Rome (yes, the eternal city, how could anyone not love it?). But funny enough, there's one country that stole my heart even more: Switzerland, the place I now get to call home. It's been quite the journey.
01
A diplomatic childhood
Moving from country to country, learning to adapt and soak up each culture along the way.
02
A lawyer in the U.S.
Long hours, desk job, the whole package. Then two beautiful kids came along, and one day it hit me: why spend 10 hours a day chained to a desk when life outside felt so much richer?
03
Yoga in Miami Beach
A far cry from lawyering. That chapter helped me reconnect with nature, movement and the joy of simply being and connecting with people on a more human level.
04
2019: Switzerland
Since moving to Switzerland, I've never stopped exploring this tiny country: the landscapes blew me away, but so did the traditions, the stories and the warmth of the people. I was hooked.
05
Yoga & hiking retreats in the Alps
Two years leading retreats that blend adventure with grounding practices. Guests always left smiling, and I realized my heart was full too.
06
Zurich Urban Hikes
I walk everywhere (my step count never drops below 20,000 a day). Why not turn city walks into mini-hikes? With lots of feedback from guests, the trails evolved into themed adventures, like the Chocolate Hike. More and more people proudly join "Team Stairs".
07
Switzerland Unscripted
Guiding, planning and self-guided routes across the whole country, built entirely around the person in front of me. This site.
WHAT THAT ACTUALLY MEANS FOR YOU
FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE, FORMALLY RECOGNIZED
For the past three-plus years, I've worked as a local guide, leading people through Switzerland in person, acting as a mix of "local friend" and personal Swiss Army knife: doing all the planning, thinking and problem-solving so my guests get to enjoy their Swiss adventure in good hands. Alongside that, I've spent two years leading yoga and hiking retreats in the Swiss Alps.
I'm also a certified Swiss Travel Expert through Switzerland Tourism. So what you get isn't just personal opinion, it's firsthand experience backed by real, formal expertise.
And I haven't stopped learning. I'm constantly out exploring new trails, testing new apps and resources, staying current on conditions, culture and the small local details that change year to year. A plan built on last year's knowledge isn't good enough for me to hand you.
