Dave & Eve Harpur, Rail Tour Trip Leaders

Eve and Dave Harpur both originate from Cape Town in South Africa. Eve graduated with a degree in History at the University of Cape Town and after years working as Library/Information Officer in the corporate world, she re-trained and worked as a registered tour guide before moving to Switzerland. Dave has a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Cape Town and worked in vaccine research and the specialty chemicals industry.

A stroke of good fortune 17 years ago brought them to Switzerland when Dave was offered a 3-year work contract based in Lucerne. They immediately felt at home in the beautiful Alpine environment which they explored extensively on foot, by bike, bus and train. And after Dave’s contract ended, they and their young son felt so at home in Switzerland that they decided to stay instead of returning to their roots.

They are now full Swiss citizens having successfully been through the long integration process, speaking both German and Schwytzertüütch fairly fluently as well as getting by in French. And after a friend in the tourism industry invited them to assist in leading outdoor day tours, they both found a new passion in sharing their inside knowledge of living in Switzerland—from its unique history and direct democracy, to its culture and cuisine, customs and traditions, how it works and why it is so successful today.