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The zurich
Insider's team
Meet Samantha Aeschbach
☞ Founder and Host, The Zurich Insider
Hello, and welcome.
I am Samantha, founder of The Zurich Insider. It is a pleasure to meet you.
I was born in Zurich and grew up in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, with family roots in French-speaking Switzerland and a Jewish-Polish heritage on my mother’s side. From an early age, Switzerland felt to me not like a single story, but a meeting place of languages, cultures, histories, and identities. Curiosity and adaptability came naturally.
Hospitality and tourism were my first professional love and, many years later, the path I found my way back to. My career has taken me through hotels and cruise ships, interpreting, volunteer work, and international public service. For more than 13 years, I served as a Swiss vice consul, working across continents, cultures, and circumstances.
That experience taught me to listen closely, adapt thoughtfully, and help people feel at ease, qualities that now shape the way I welcome and host travelers.
When I returned to Zurich in 2018, I began rediscovering my home city with fresh eyes. Zurich reveals its character gradually. Behind its polished exterior lie unexpected stories, quiet corners, contradictions, and a distinctly Swiss sense of humor; if you know where to look.
Years spent living and traveling abroad also taught me that the moments we remember most are often the most human ones: a home-cooked meal, a story shared by a local, an unexpected invitation, or an unplanned detour leading somewhere remarkable.
The Zurich Insider brings all these threads together: my Swiss roots, international perspective, love of hospitality, and endless curiosity about people and places. Our private tours are thoughtfully prepared to offer insight, context, and ease while leaving room for conversation, spontaneity, and the pleasure of discovery.
Whether I welcome you personally or your tour is hosted by one of our carefully selected guides, the intention remains the same: for you to feel genuinely welcomed and to experience Switzerland with greater understanding and connection.
And yes, chocolate regularly plays a role...although Switzerland has many other delights waiting to be discovered.
I look forward to welcoming you.
Samantha
Background & Qualifications
Selected Qualifications
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Switzerland Travel Expert 2025/26
Switzerland Tourism—training undertaken since 2022 -
Swiss Travel System Excellence Expert 2026
Swiss Travel System AG—training undertaken since 2022 -
Diploma in Systemic Mindfulness Training, Coaching & Consulting, CTAS, St. Gallen, Switzerland
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Diploma in Tourism & Hotel Management, Lugano, Switzerland, 1995
Safety & Field Trainings
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First Aid—BLS-AED-SRC, 2023
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NOLS Wilderness First Aid & Epinephrine Auto-Injector Training, 2023
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Crisis Management and Crisis Deployment Courses 1 & 2—Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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Field Safety and Security Course—Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
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Family and Personal Security and Protection Course—United Nations Department of Safety and Security
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South America Rapid Intervention and Support Group
*EDA: Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
**Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
LOCATION
Lives in Zurich, Switzerland
on a Personal Note
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A professional expat who has lived in 18 countries
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A passionate traveler whose journeys have taken her through more than 75 countries
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Equally at ease in a five-star hotel and on a backpacking trail
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A longstanding volunteer in international settings
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Convinced that curiosity, food, and humor are essential travel companions
Our Story
The Zurich Insider’s origin
The Zurich Insider began not as a business plan, but as a series of chance encounters.
It started with a conversation with a local architect who shared stories about corners of Zurich hidden in plain sight. Further encounters followed with an underwater archaeologist, a medieval church scholar, a graffiti enthusiast, and a historian.
Each conversation revealed another layer of the city and reinforced a growing feeling: there was far more to Zurich than what was usually presented.
Curiosity soon became a project. Countless hours were spent reading, researching, wandering through quiet alleys, and speaking with locals, visitors, and long-term residents. A question gradually took shape: what if Zurich’s overlooked stories and unexpected details could be shared in a way that felt thoughtful, engaging, and accessible?
In late summer 2019, that idea became The Zurich Insider.
The early tours brought together celebrated landmarks and lesser-known places, historical context and contemporary life, carefully researched stories and spontaneous conversation. The intention was never simply to see as much as possible, but to help travelers understand where they were and to make their time feel genuinely well spent.
When travel paused in 2020, the young company faced an uncertain beginning. The experience reinforced the qualities on which it had been built: adaptability, curiosity, and a genuine commitment to meaningful, personal hospitality.
Today, The Zurich Insider has grown beyond its Zurich beginnings. We design private tours in the city and curated day and multi-day journeys across Switzerland, supported by carefully selected guides and trusted local partners.
The destinations may vary, but the philosophy remains the same. We begin by listening, prepare each journey with care, and combine meaningful highlights with the stories, perspectives, and quieter moments that bring a place to life.
Travel will always leave some room for the unexpected. Our role is to prepare thoughtfully, communicate clearly, and adapt with care as the journey unfolds.
What began with a few chance conversations continues to be guided by the same curiosity:
What might you discover when you look beyond the obvious?
Meet The Zurich Insider’s team
The Zurich Insider works with carefully selected guides who share our commitment to thoughtful storytelling, cultural depth, and genuine Swiss hospitality.
Each brings a distinct background, area of expertise, and perspective. Together, they help us welcome travelers in several languages and offer private tours across Zurich and further afield in Switzerland.
Whether you are exploring hidden corners of the city or venturing towards the mountains, you will be hosted by someone who understands that meaningful travel is about more than simply seeing the sights.
What sets us apart
Personal from the Beginning
We believe a meaningful private journey begins with listening.
From your first inquiry, we take the time to understand what brings you to Switzerland, what interests you, and how you would like your time to feel. Samantha remains closely involved in shaping your experience, whether she welcomes you personally or your tour is hosted by one of our carefully selected guides.
We favor thoughtful pacing over rushing and responsive storytelling over rigid scripts. Familiar highlights may be part of the journey, but so are the quieter details, unexpected perspectives, and spontaneous moments that make a place feel real.
The result is an experience prepared with care, shaped around you, and given enough room to unfold naturally.
our Mission today
Travel with Greater Connection
For us, true luxury is not about excess. It is the ease of feeling welcomed, understood, and thoughtfully looked after.
Our mission is to create private tours in Zurich and across Switzerland that help travelers experience a place with greater context, curiosity, and connection. Through engaging storytelling and local knowledge, we seek to bring history, culture, and contemporary Swiss life together in ways that feel relevant and memorable.
We aim to make our tours welcoming and enriching and, wherever possible, adapt them to our guests’ individual interests and needs.
By working with knowledgeable guides, trusted partners, and locally rooted businesses, we also hope to encourage a thoughtful approach to travel: one that values quality, respect, and meaningful engagement over simply collecting sights.
our Values
What Guides Us
What we value shapes how we plan, how we host, and how we work with our guests, guides, and partners.
Connection & perspective
Travel is, above all, a human exchange.
Through storytelling, conversation, and attentive listening, we create space for travelers to encounter different histories, cultures, and ways of life. Often, the most interesting discoveries lie in the similarities and differences revealed along the way.
We approach these exchanges with professionalism, openness, warmth, and a pinch of humor.
Passion & EVOLUTION
The Zurich Insider began with curiosity, and curiosity continues to guide us.
We keep researching, listening, learning, and refining the way we share Switzerland. As the company grows, our tours and services evolve thoughtfully while remaining grounded in the qualities that inspired them: cultural depth, personal hospitality, and a genuine fascination with place.
If our enthusiasm leads to a deeper interest in Swiss history—or simply a newfound appreciation for Swiss chocolate—we will consider that time well spent.
Integrity & Trust
Trust grows through honesty, clear communication, and care.
We listen closely to expectations, explain what is included, and communicate openly about what is possible or may be subject to change. We prepare thoughtfully and work with guides and partners who share our professional standards.
Sometimes integrity also means acknowledging when something is not the right fit. We would always prefer to be honest rather than to promise an experience we cannot deliver with confidence.
Sustainability & a sense of place
The places we visit are not simply attractions; they are living communities shaped by the people who call them home.
Where appropriate, we favor walking, public transportation, local craftsmanship, and experiences rooted in their surroundings. We value long-term relationships with guides, artisans, and independent partners who contribute knowledge, character, and creativity to the journeys we create.
For us, meaningful travel is not measured by how much you manage to see, but by how deeply you are able to experience it.
