Giulietta

My sister and I are traveling with my choir to Europe this summer. The first 18 days we'll be with the tour, which starts in Krakow, goes through Germany and Brussels and then ends in Amsterdam and then we'll extend our trip for an additional 7 days so we can visit Zurich, where we lived as young teens (we're now in our 50s). With the excellent advice of posters on this site, we've decided to stick to Switzerland for our extended visit and then return to Amsterdam for our flight home (this has already been set by the travel agent - we can't change this).
We know that we'd like to have a couple of days to explore Zurich and the towns nearby where we used to live, but then we'd like to take some day trips or overnights in the rest of the country. Does anyone have any "must see" destination suggestions? We'll plan on using trains, but could rent a car, too.
Thank you!

swandav2000

Hi Giulietta,

I love the town of Rapperswil, with its cafe-lined harbor, small castle on a hill, and lovely old town. I also love Zug and its marvelous old town. Otherwise, I would suggest Luzern and the small villages that dot its lakes, and of course the mountains nearby -- Titlis & Pilatus.

Have fun as you plan!

s

mokka4

I second the vote for Rapperswil. Stayed there for a week myself in November 2010. Small Polish museum in the castle with a deer park
fantastic views over Lake Zurich just 30 minutes
by train from
Zurich. Cobblestone town squares lined with outdoor cafe choices. Nice dinner on the small harbor. Famous Rose Gardens and Cappuchin monastery. A wooden bridge over the southern end of the lake to the next village of ?name-Hurden.
Einsiedeln is very nice too, about one hour by train.
Black Madonna fame,
click on my name to see my daytrip reports from Zurich!
I envy you!

Giulietta

Thank you for the ideas. And thank you to mokka4 for the wonderful blog! I remember going to Rapperswil when we lived there. I've never been to Lucern and that interests me. What about "Heidiland"? How far and is it a worthwhile overnight trip or would it require more time than we have?

Connie

The Berner Oberland---Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen, etc. Just magnificant Alp views. Actually, in some of these villages you are up IN the Alps.

nytraveler

Frankly I would get out of Zurich as soon as you can. Lucerne is much more convenient for seeing the countryside, lake and mountains and is a much more pleasant town than Zurich (primarily business). And you can get from Luzern to Zurich airport by train in only abuot an hour

mokka4

G:
Zuerich to "Heidiland" or Appenzell is a do-able 1hr48 by train, changing in Gossau.
Urnaesch is a stop in the area with an enticing museum of Swiss history.
Highly recommended is a gentle hike in the rolling hills from Gonten to Jakobsbad through cow pastures and known as the "BarfussPfad" for the soft pasture and suggestion to protect nature in the area though I didn't actually remove my shoes for fear of the ubiquitous manure!.
A FULL day there would include the whole trip up to Mt. Saentis at 2hr 30 via Schwaegalp (by bus) and the Luftseilbahn to the area's (modest) peak.
Personally, I would visit the Urnaesch museum and take lunch, and do the lovely and nontaxing 'hike' outdoors through cow pastures and brooks to get a real feel for the area.
Lucern is less than an hour from Zuerich as well and will keep you nicely occupied for a day or two.

Giulietta

Thank you again for the great replies. Mokka4 - This is great info. Have you stayed in the Appenzell area - any hotel/bed&breakfast suggestions?

mokka4

We did stay in Appenzell, but that was some years ago.
Do you read german?
If so, www.appenzell.ch has a wealth of info.
Click on Tourismus, then Left click on Unterkuenfte for choices of B&Bs, Hotels and Berggasthaeuser.
There are several hotels.. I 'think' we stayed in Hotel Traube, which was fine for two nights.
There are 3 B&Bs in Appenzell proper, 2 are 2-star and one is 3-star. Haus Lydia at www.hauslydia.ch looks nice and 'states' not too far from the RR.
The barefoot hike that I mentioned earlier was a real highlight for my friend that chose Heidiland.
Many of the town houses are painted fantastically, and ironically, I had switched to Black and White film just before arrivong to Appenzellerland! But the fields and farmhands with cows made for some haunting black and white images!
Enjoy your trip, I am returning to Germany this May after an absence of 8 years.

Giulietta

Thank you so much for the great info. I'm now looking at the Swiss Pass for my sister and I. It would be $508 for the two of us, giving us 4 days of travel within the 6 days we'll be in Switzerland. And includes museum passes. Is this a good deal? Or would it be better to buy individual train passes as we go?

FoFoBT

How about treating yourself to a day at one of the finest spas in Switzerland (and Europe, too)? Tamina Therme in Bad Ragaz is only 1 hour 15 minutes by direct train (no changes) from Zurich:
http://www.taminatherme.ch/en/2/36-5...tamina-therme/
luxuriate in the pools with the mountains around you.

mokka4

You can check point to point rail tix at www.sbb.ch (english option)then compare with the various pass prices and coverage terms.
I have always found the Half Fare Card (now about 130 CHF for one month) the most economical for my trips of around one week to ten days. It gives you half off the fare of trains, buses, boats, and many, but not all lifts. Do the math on YOUR specific trips to see whether it would be worth the investment for savings.
You would have to do more research to see what the museum coverage is. Many people actually do spreadsheets to compare final prices!

Connie

If you go to an area like the Berner Oberland where you will be repeatedly getting off and on gondolas, trains, lifts, etc NOT having to buy a ticket each time is well worth it. Even with a half pass, you still have to buy the ticket each time.