Dubai_Muthu

Hai Experts,

Myself and my Wife plan to visit Switzerland and Italy. Following are the Itinerary I have planned.

Day 1 to 3 : Arrival into Vencie, Italy and around venice.

Day 4 : Venice to Lucerne by train

Day 5 : Lucerne (Explore Mt.Titlis)

Day 6 : Lucerne (Explore Mt.Pilatus)

Day 7 : Lucerne (Explore to Mt.Rigi)

Day 8 : Lucerne to Interlaken by train (Interlaken Local Sight Seeing)

Day 9 : Interlaken (Explore Jungfrau)

Day 10 : Interlaken (Explore Schilthorn)

Day 11 : Interlaken to Zermatt by train (Zermatt Local Sight Seeing)

Day 12 : Zermatt (Explore Matterhorn / Gornergrat)

Day 13 : Zermatt to Chur by Glacier Express and Evening Chur to Zurich airport by train. Night Departure back to Home country.

Please someone suggest me whether the above Itinerary is ok or need to change and also clarify the below Queries.

1) Which rail pass or card can be use for the above Itinerary?

2) Which month would be best to have the above Itinerary?

3) Suggest me some Budget Hotels in Venice, Lucerne, Interlaken and Zermatt (If possible)

Regards,

Muthu.

Dukey1

For budget accommodations in Switzerland, take a look at www.rooms.ch

I am not certain you need a railpass at all

Dubai_Muthu

Thank you Durkey. What about my Itinerary? It is ok or need to change. Also suggest me a best month to Explore the above Itinerary.

thursdaysd

That's not very long for Venice. You could easily spend a week there, especially if you include the islands. There are also other places nearby worth exploring. Since you're starting in Venice I might substitute the Dolomites for Lucerne, too.

Avoid Venice in the high season - in fact, if you have to go in June to September I would drop Venice and just do Switzerland.

mamcalice

It would help to know whether you want to visit in winter or summer. If you are not interested in winter sports, a visit between May and September might work (although you should probably avoid August).

I too, would spend at least another day or 2 in Venice.

isabel

I think your itinerary looks pretty good. You could spend more time in Venice but 3 days is better than no days. And even though it's very crowded in summer it's the best weather. The crowds really stick to the main touristy routes between the Rialto and St Marks. It is very possible to get off the bean track in Venice even in summer. In fact I've been there in July and hotel prices were lower than in May/June/Sept. You could take a day from Lucerne and add it to Venice.

Switzerland is VERY expensive. In Interlaken try Susie's B&B. I only day tripped to Zermatt (I was staying in Lausanne that trip)but it looked very expensive. But taking the train up to Gornergrat and then hiking at least part way down was an incredible experience. www.pbase.com/annforcier/switzerland

If you decide Zermatt is too expensive to stay in you could do it as a day trip from Interlaken if you get an early start. The town of Zermatt I though was pretty boring.

Here's a link to my trip report from this past July. Switzerland was the last week of a five week trip so you'll need to scroll all the way down to get to that part.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...swiss-alps.cfm

drchris

We toured Switzerland in September and it was still warm when we were there, except at the high elevations.

If you do get a rail pass, it includes other forms of public transport (except the trips to the mountain tops such as Jungfraujoch, which is additional) Since they were included, we enjoyed taking boat trips on the lake in Lucerne; Lakes Thun and Brienz from Interlaken; and Lake Geneva between Montreux and Lausanne.

We found Zermatt to be delightful, but perhaps that was because it snowed, which was a treat for us. The Matterhorn was behind the clouds, so don't go there just for that as you may not see it. Zermatt is out of the way when planning an itinerary for Switzerland.

You may find that seeing all three mountains near Lucerne repetitious, although I am sure that each has its own beauty. (We only did Mt Pilatus, taking the boat on Lake Lucerne to catch the train up the mountain and taking the gondola back down.) Depending on your travel style, you ought consider more variety, meaning visiting more different types of places. We thoroughly enjoyed Montreux and Vevey on Lake Geneva.

I will look up my trip report for our 10 day trip and post the link. Unfortunately, it remains unfinished but
does include the itinerary and reviews of the first few days. Perhaps someday I will get back to it!

Switzerland is expensive, although we are currently planning a trip to Italy and it seems about the same. We saved by only dining at restaurants occasionally, buying sandwiches or getting a pizza to share for lunch, and buying bread, fruit, and cheese to eat on the trains. We also packed a lot of protein/granola bars in our suitcases and they came in handy. We brought a water bottle that we refilled in public fountains.

PalenQ

1) Which rail pass or card can be use for the above Itinerary?

With that many trains I'd look first at the Swiss Pass then the Swiss Card - the latter which would probably be a few bucks cheaper than the Half-Fare Card even though it gives exactly the same benefits plus a train trip from any border or airport to any place in Switzerland and then from any place in Switzerland to any airport or border in Switzerland. Your Domodossola to Lucerne and Chur to Zurich airport being the long trips that would probably make it better by a tad than the Half-Fare Card but check ar www.sbb.ch for fares to compare.

But with so many days of using the train I'd look at the Swiss Pass itself - for example the day up to Schilthorn and back is nearly 100% covered from any Jungfrua Region base (except Murren to Schilthorn 50% off) - the rest including the thrilling aerial cable ways from the valley up to Murren are 100% covered by a Swiss Pass.

A 3-day Swiss Flexipass could be your best best - gives three days of unlimited train travel in a one-month period - your three most expensive trips would be covered 100% then you'd get 50% off everything that move sin Switzerland in between your 1syt and 3rd day of 100% coverage. A 3-day flexipass is almost always better than a 4-day or longer flexipass.

Swiss Pass also give free entry to 400+ Swiss Museums if any of those are in the works.

For lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes, cards, etc check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html. Well certainly with all those trips one of those would definitely be better than buying regular tickets.

neckervd

I would do it the other way around:
Venice - St. Moritz - Glacier Express - Zermatt - Interlaken - Lucerne - Zurich airport (rather shorter and much more scenic itinerary).
Between Venice and St. Moritz you can choose between:
Venice - train - Desenzano - Lake Garda boat - Riva - bus - Rovereto - train - Bolzano - Malles - bus - Swiss National Park - Zernez - train - St. Moritz
and
Venice - train - Milan - Como - Lake Como boat - Bellano - train - Tirano - Bernina Express - St. Moritz.

PalenQ

I would advise forgetting the Glacier Express if the goal is just to ride what IMO is Europe's most highly overhyped scenic train ride - there are many more scenic IMO than it - now if you going to St Moritz to ride the Bernina Express, to me Europe's most awesomely scenic train then yes - but just to ride this 8-hour marathon where most folks get quickly bored by rather, for Switzerland ho-hum scenery don't do - a waste of time and money IMO.

drchris

I agree with PalenQ that the Zermatt to Chur leg of the Glacier Express was underwhelming. Were I to do the trip over, I would skip that. I do regret that we did not get to include the Bernina Express and hope to return for that some day.

You might also find visiting the Jungfrauoch and Shilthorn repetitive, although we only did the former, which we throroughly enjoyed even though it was very expensive. While in that area, you might consider exploring Lauterbrunnen (where we stayed), Wengen, and Murren. Or as I suggested previously, taking one of the lake cruises. (We preferred the cruise on Lake Thun.) You can take the boat in one direction and return by train for a different view and to save time.

Although we didn't find Interlaken particularly attractive except for Unterseen (across the river) we did enjoy eating outside at the top of the tallest hotel in Interlaken and watching the paragliders drift by us and land in the park across the street.

We allowed a day of unplanned time at the end of our trip and took the train from Zurich via Winterthur to Stein am Rhein, which was a delightful town with a heavily German influence. The train trip there and back passed beautiful rolling farmland and was very pleasant. The trip only took a half day and we spent the remainder walking around Zurich, which was having a street fair on that Sunday and was filled with families enjoying themselves.

Wherever you go, you will enjoy yourself!

Here is the link for the trip report, which includes links to photos of some of the places you plan to visit.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ember-2010.cfm

PalenQ

You might also find visiting the Jungfrauoch and Shilthorn repetitive, although we only did the former, which we throroughly enjoyed even though it was very expensive>

Well they are IME two very different experiences and if you have a Swiss Pass getting to the Schilthorn is 100% covered except 50% off on the Murren to Schilthorn portion but getting to Murren by aerial cable car and mountain train is 100% covered so if having a pass of some type not nearly as expensive as the Jungfrau Railway - one of the world's steepest railways with the world's steepest fares!

neckervd

"the Zermatt to Chur leg of the Glacier Express was underwhelming" ....but it's still more scenic than the alternative via Berne - Zurich (or than the Les Avants - Spiez leg of Golden Pass)

PalenQ

no mater how you view it drchris expressed an opinion I often hear about the Glacier Express - many get bored on the tedious 8-hour marathon Zermatt to St Moritz - if going to St Moritz it makes a utilitarian way to do it but if just going to ride a scenic train you have heard about then there are others much more scenic that do not require you to plop your rear on a seat for 8 hours.

PalenQ

Day 6 : Lucerne (Explore Mt.Pilatus)

the problem with pointing to Pilatus for a specific day is that the mountain - Lucerne's signature mountain right on its door step is that IME of being in Lucerne many times Pilatus is more often than not it seems shrouded in fog or clouds - making it a worthless trek up and a waste of a lot of money perhaps. Keep that option flexible.

Dubai_Muthu

Hai Experts,

Thank you very much for your advice. No one commented about Mt.Rigi, whether it is useful to explore or not? Mt.Pilatus or Mt.Rigi which is better to explore? or both?

shanmugamprakash

neckervd plan is more ideal since it is shorter. GE is covered by swiss pass so you can do that without spending much.
Mt Rigi Nothing much at the top but you can do a lot of hiking. A lot of beautiful trails are available. Added advantage - the Swiss pass if fully valid. i.e 100% covered and it is not classified as mountain train with 50% or 25% discount. Both Mt Rigi and MT Pilatus are good. In MT Pilatus lot of games are available which are fun and the travel by different modes will be a pleasure.

PalenQ

. GE is covered by swiss pass so you can do that without spending much.>

Yes but there is a rather steep supplement for Swiss Pass holders of about $35 bucks or so on top of using a day on the pass. Not a free ride 100% covered like most.

PalenQ

Rigi and Pilatus could not be more different - Pilatus is a single mountain peak - soaring up from near the lake - supreme views from the summit but not that much to explore unless an alpinist - Rigi however is known for its foot paths and view - not nearly so high but the view of the rocky spiny view over central Switzerland and its famous high mountains is the key here.

PalenQ

Well actually looking up elevations I see Pilatus peaks out at 6982 feet and Rigi at 5899 feet - not that great a difference but it seems Pilatus goes straight up - Rigi more of a foothill of true high Alps.

So not that much difference in height but still very very different IME.