My 2 weeks Swiss Trip report and some tips for first timers.
Aug 11th, 2007, 04:58 AM
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My 2 weeks Swiss Trip report and some tips for first timers.
Hi guys,
Me and my hubby are final back from our 14 days swiss vacation. It’s the best holiday of my life. Switzerland , is really a heaven and it’s just so perfect. I sincerely want to thank Swandav, Bob Brown, Enzian and Kopp in giving me all the wonderful suggestions for my trip. Without this forum I would have been so lost. Below is a short summary and some of my tips for first time travels to swiss.
1.Always book all your hotel directly from the hotel’s website as it gives u the best rate. If you have that little extra money ,it’s always worth to get a room with view, as the swiss beauty is not worth missing even when u sleep. Read the review of hotel from websites like tripadvisor. Com as it really helps in choosing the right hotel.
2.Start you day early as , u will get to cover much more places and relax by the evening . Some how we always found the weather to be more much clear during first half of the day.
3.Visit all the mountain excursion like Jungfrau and Mt Titlis only if it’s a clear day, otherwise you would be only seeing fog once u get up there. We only realize how important is the weather , once we reach mt titlis and came back disaapointed . So pls pls check the weather.
4. Make sure you validate your swiss pass once u arrive in Switzerland , if you have bought from your country. You can do it in Zurich airport it self.
This is how my 14 days were.
Day 1
Arrive in Zurich in early morning and took the train to Lucerne. Check into Hotel des alpes and headed to Mt pilatus. Below is the link for the review of hotel des alpes.
We took the golden round trip ie , u first take a take a boat ride on lake ( which was the most beautiful boat ride in the whole of swiss), then u take world’s steepest cogwheel rail to pilatus kulm. We encountered real bad weather , so we could barely see anything once we reach the top. There is a toboggan run and park up there ,but we were too tired so we just took the gondola and bus ride back to Lucerne town.
Day 2
Today we started early to mt Titlis , but encountered bad weather again , so we hardly saw anything once reaching the top. But nevertheless the journey was specular, as we saw beautiful swiss cow and heard their cowbells too. But I can imgane how beautiful mt titlis would have look if it had been a sunny day. My advice , go only if it’s a clear day. In the evening we took a walk around Lucerne town and had dinner at nice Mexican restaurant. There is only one Mexican restaurant in town, so u can’t miss it. We also took a walk on the legendary Chapel bridge and we thought that next time we are in Lucerne we would rent a bike.
Day 3
After visiting the flea market in by the Chapel bridge , we board our train to Interlaken, as we are moving our base to Grindelwald where we would be there for the next 5 days. Grindelwald is such a magical town and it really like a fairy tale town. We stayed at Hotel Eiger and below is the link for the review of hotel eiger. We just relaxed and enjoy the spa and sauna at the hotel.
Day 4
We were told today was a good sunny day to visit Jungfrau .The journey top of Europe is just specutlar. We changed trains in Kleine Scheidegg and this place is awesome. U get to see mountain in such a vast dimension. Once we reached the top we the usual stuff of playing with the snow , visiting ice palace, observation deck and Tyrolienne ride. This ride was really fun. Don’t miss it. Sit on the right side of the train frm Kleine Scheidegg as u get better views.U also get a cheaper ticket if u take the ‘ good morning” ticket for Jungfrau. It leaves at 7.30 am and the best part is u get a place to sit. Dress in layers to as it’s really cold up here.
Day 5
Today was the day where I did the hike which everyone talk about on this forum., Mannlichen- Kleine Scheidegg .We took the cable up to Mannlichen from Grindelwald and once we reach Mannlichchen it was so windy that we I was shivering . The view u get at Mannlichen is mind blowing. It really one hike which I recommended everyone should do as it really easy , as it’s a downhill walk and you get different vista all along the walk. We then took the train to Interlaken and visited Bern . Bern is suppose to be a shopping paradise, but we were so lost as I did not do any research on this town. So we then headed back to Interlaken , and did some watch shopping. Interlaken is a nice place if you want to have lots of restaurant choices and shopping. But if you want to experience true Swiss , Grindelwald, Lauterbrunned or Wengen would be the place.
Day 6
Today we took the cable ride to First and did the hike to Lake Bachalpsee. Again our bad luck , it started raining and we could not see anything .But I was determined to the see the lake and we started walking and along the weather got cleared. The most enjoyable part of our trip was our trotti bike ride from Bort to Grindelwald. Highly recommended this to anyone , even if you don’t know how to ride a bike. We had so so much fun and I wish I could done it again. U can rent the troti bikes from Bort.
Day 7
Today was our day for Lauterbrunnen valley. This valley had so many falls and when it’s raining it even more beautiful. We visit trummelbach falls and I was frankly a little disappointed. There we too many steps to climb .So if you like me and don’t like climbing steps , skip it. I rather spend the time enjoying and doing easy hikes. We also visited a town named Gimmelwald .We took a walk from Murren to Gimmelwald , discovery so much peace and nature at it’s best.
Day 8
Today we moved on to our next destination which was Montreux. We took the golden pass train from Interlaken to Montreux and a VIP seat reservation . This seat are really good , u feel as if u driving the train. Upon reaching Montrex we checked into Hotel Suisse Majestic. Below is the link for the review of the hotel. Took a walk along the lakeside promenade and the best ice cream in the world- Movenpick. U must try this ice cream when u r in Swiss, it so creamy and yummy!
Day 9 and day 10.
We just relax and explored Vevey and Montreux further. Visited castle of Chilon and did not find it to exciting . I preferred visiting the flower decoration along the lake side promenade in Vevey. There is a different theme each year , it was about birds this year. One can also visit the wineywards in Lavaux. We did visit the Nestel Chocolate Factory and cheese factory in Gruyures. Gruyures was the cutes town I visited in Swiss. It’s really preety and the castle there is also worth a visit. Make sure u have the double crème when u r in Gruyures. It basically like whip cream with berries. Tried the cheese fondue, but did not really like it. The train to Roches De Naye is also very popular in this region but we did not do it.
Day 12
Today we headed for Zermatt. Checked into hotel Omnia. This hotel is simply amazing. I can’t write enough about this hotel. Pls read my review below and stay at this hotel if u can afford it. We paid about CHF 280 per night it’s has a Jacuzzi which has the view of the Matterhorn. We visited Gornergrat. We got down at Riffelsee , to see the reflection of Matterhorn in the Lake. But due to bad weather we could not see it. But on a sunny day it’s suppose to be realy nice.
Day 13
Today we headed for Lugano. We wish we had more time in Zermatt , for anyone going there pls at least 2 days in Zermatt. We had very good food in Thai restaurant in Zermatt. Can’t recall the name but it’s very famous. There is a nice river flowing thru the town , where one could walk around. We enjoyed the hotel so much , that we hardly went out.
As we took the train from Zermatt to Lugano , we could see the change in landscape. Lugano is very commercial and it’s also u don’t see so much greenery like you do in Bernese Oberland region. We stayed at hotel Du lac and below is link for the review of the hotel. It’s a shopping paradise and I would suggest there if you want to do some shopping save for Lugano. The area called via nassa which has all the possible brands like Gucci, Prada, and Guess. There is a also a factory outlet named Fox town where you get branded stuff at good prices. But we did not have time so we did not visit. We suppose to visit Morcote and Gandria but we had run out of time . The Swiss Mininature in Melide is suppose to be a cool place , especially with kids.
Day 14
Today was our last day in we headed back to Zurich. Hotels near Zurich airport is really expensive ,so we just slept in airport for the night. Yap there lots of bench near Starbuck coffee shop and nobody really bother you. We left we lots of memories and a pray that we would back soon.
Me and my hubby are final back from our 14 days swiss vacation. It’s the best holiday of my life. Switzerland , is really a heaven and it’s just so perfect. I sincerely want to thank Swandav, Bob Brown, Enzian and Kopp in giving me all the wonderful suggestions for my trip. Without this forum I would have been so lost. Below is a short summary and some of my tips for first time travels to swiss.
1.Always book all your hotel directly from the hotel’s website as it gives u the best rate. If you have that little extra money ,it’s always worth to get a room with view, as the swiss beauty is not worth missing even when u sleep. Read the review of hotel from websites like tripadvisor. Com as it really helps in choosing the right hotel.
2.Start you day early as , u will get to cover much more places and relax by the evening . Some how we always found the weather to be more much clear during first half of the day.
3.Visit all the mountain excursion like Jungfrau and Mt Titlis only if it’s a clear day, otherwise you would be only seeing fog once u get up there. We only realize how important is the weather , once we reach mt titlis and came back disaapointed . So pls pls check the weather.
4. Make sure you validate your swiss pass once u arrive in Switzerland , if you have bought from your country. You can do it in Zurich airport it self.
This is how my 14 days were.
Day 1
Arrive in Zurich in early morning and took the train to Lucerne. Check into Hotel des alpes and headed to Mt pilatus. Below is the link for the review of hotel des alpes.
We took the golden round trip ie , u first take a take a boat ride on lake ( which was the most beautiful boat ride in the whole of swiss), then u take world’s steepest cogwheel rail to pilatus kulm. We encountered real bad weather , so we could barely see anything once we reach the top. There is a toboggan run and park up there ,but we were too tired so we just took the gondola and bus ride back to Lucerne town.
Day 2
Today we started early to mt Titlis , but encountered bad weather again , so we hardly saw anything once reaching the top. But nevertheless the journey was specular, as we saw beautiful swiss cow and heard their cowbells too. But I can imgane how beautiful mt titlis would have look if it had been a sunny day. My advice , go only if it’s a clear day. In the evening we took a walk around Lucerne town and had dinner at nice Mexican restaurant. There is only one Mexican restaurant in town, so u can’t miss it. We also took a walk on the legendary Chapel bridge and we thought that next time we are in Lucerne we would rent a bike.
Day 3
After visiting the flea market in by the Chapel bridge , we board our train to Interlaken, as we are moving our base to Grindelwald where we would be there for the next 5 days. Grindelwald is such a magical town and it really like a fairy tale town. We stayed at Hotel Eiger and below is the link for the review of hotel eiger. We just relaxed and enjoy the spa and sauna at the hotel.
Day 4
We were told today was a good sunny day to visit Jungfrau .The journey top of Europe is just specutlar. We changed trains in Kleine Scheidegg and this place is awesome. U get to see mountain in such a vast dimension. Once we reached the top we the usual stuff of playing with the snow , visiting ice palace, observation deck and Tyrolienne ride. This ride was really fun. Don’t miss it. Sit on the right side of the train frm Kleine Scheidegg as u get better views.U also get a cheaper ticket if u take the ‘ good morning” ticket for Jungfrau. It leaves at 7.30 am and the best part is u get a place to sit. Dress in layers to as it’s really cold up here.
Day 5
Today was the day where I did the hike which everyone talk about on this forum., Mannlichen- Kleine Scheidegg .We took the cable up to Mannlichen from Grindelwald and once we reach Mannlichchen it was so windy that we I was shivering . The view u get at Mannlichen is mind blowing. It really one hike which I recommended everyone should do as it really easy , as it’s a downhill walk and you get different vista all along the walk. We then took the train to Interlaken and visited Bern . Bern is suppose to be a shopping paradise, but we were so lost as I did not do any research on this town. So we then headed back to Interlaken , and did some watch shopping. Interlaken is a nice place if you want to have lots of restaurant choices and shopping. But if you want to experience true Swiss , Grindelwald, Lauterbrunned or Wengen would be the place.
Day 6
Today we took the cable ride to First and did the hike to Lake Bachalpsee. Again our bad luck , it started raining and we could not see anything .But I was determined to the see the lake and we started walking and along the weather got cleared. The most enjoyable part of our trip was our trotti bike ride from Bort to Grindelwald. Highly recommended this to anyone , even if you don’t know how to ride a bike. We had so so much fun and I wish I could done it again. U can rent the troti bikes from Bort.
Day 7
Today was our day for Lauterbrunnen valley. This valley had so many falls and when it’s raining it even more beautiful. We visit trummelbach falls and I was frankly a little disappointed. There we too many steps to climb .So if you like me and don’t like climbing steps , skip it. I rather spend the time enjoying and doing easy hikes. We also visited a town named Gimmelwald .We took a walk from Murren to Gimmelwald , discovery so much peace and nature at it’s best.
Day 8
Today we moved on to our next destination which was Montreux. We took the golden pass train from Interlaken to Montreux and a VIP seat reservation . This seat are really good , u feel as if u driving the train. Upon reaching Montrex we checked into Hotel Suisse Majestic. Below is the link for the review of the hotel. Took a walk along the lakeside promenade and the best ice cream in the world- Movenpick. U must try this ice cream when u r in Swiss, it so creamy and yummy!
Day 9 and day 10.
We just relax and explored Vevey and Montreux further. Visited castle of Chilon and did not find it to exciting . I preferred visiting the flower decoration along the lake side promenade in Vevey. There is a different theme each year , it was about birds this year. One can also visit the wineywards in Lavaux. We did visit the Nestel Chocolate Factory and cheese factory in Gruyures. Gruyures was the cutes town I visited in Swiss. It’s really preety and the castle there is also worth a visit. Make sure u have the double crème when u r in Gruyures. It basically like whip cream with berries. Tried the cheese fondue, but did not really like it. The train to Roches De Naye is also very popular in this region but we did not do it.
Day 12
Today we headed for Zermatt. Checked into hotel Omnia. This hotel is simply amazing. I can’t write enough about this hotel. Pls read my review below and stay at this hotel if u can afford it. We paid about CHF 280 per night it’s has a Jacuzzi which has the view of the Matterhorn. We visited Gornergrat. We got down at Riffelsee , to see the reflection of Matterhorn in the Lake. But due to bad weather we could not see it. But on a sunny day it’s suppose to be realy nice.
Day 13
Today we headed for Lugano. We wish we had more time in Zermatt , for anyone going there pls at least 2 days in Zermatt. We had very good food in Thai restaurant in Zermatt. Can’t recall the name but it’s very famous. There is a nice river flowing thru the town , where one could walk around. We enjoyed the hotel so much , that we hardly went out.
As we took the train from Zermatt to Lugano , we could see the change in landscape. Lugano is very commercial and it’s also u don’t see so much greenery like you do in Bernese Oberland region. We stayed at hotel Du lac and below is link for the review of the hotel. It’s a shopping paradise and I would suggest there if you want to do some shopping save for Lugano. The area called via nassa which has all the possible brands like Gucci, Prada, and Guess. There is a also a factory outlet named Fox town where you get branded stuff at good prices. But we did not have time so we did not visit. We suppose to visit Morcote and Gandria but we had run out of time . The Swiss Mininature in Melide is suppose to be a cool place , especially with kids.
Day 14
Today was our last day in we headed back to Zurich. Hotels near Zurich airport is really expensive ,so we just slept in airport for the night. Yap there lots of bench near Starbuck coffee shop and nobody really bother you. We left we lots of memories and a pray that we would back soon.
Aug 11th, 2007, 01:16 PM
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I enjoyed your trip report. I am leaving for Switzerland and more in less than 3 weeks, I would like to know how you mad the arrangements for your day at Jungfrau and how much did it cost, if you don't mind telling me 
Thanks
Thanks
Aug 11th, 2007, 01:37 PM
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Hi monica
I'm so happy you had such a great trip! And what an attitude you have, even with the bad weather, you still call it the best holiday of your life. As you said, it's mind blowing. That's for sure! Didn't you just love those cow bells? Sometimes I think those poor cows must be deaf with all that ringing everytime they move.
It's sure been one of those summers where the weather has been so bad. Poor enzian had lots of rain on her trip too. Oh well. Guess you'll just have to plan to go again!
hpeabody - try this link for information on the Jungfraubahnen. I think monicanaha was referring to this in her post (the early morning train which saves some money
http://tinyurl.com/3ykkec
You can also try grindelwald.com for info on the general region. Be sure to click on "English" if that is your language.
Well done, monicanaha! Welcome home!
I'm so happy you had such a great trip! And what an attitude you have, even with the bad weather, you still call it the best holiday of your life. As you said, it's mind blowing. That's for sure! Didn't you just love those cow bells? Sometimes I think those poor cows must be deaf with all that ringing everytime they move.
It's sure been one of those summers where the weather has been so bad. Poor enzian had lots of rain on her trip too. Oh well. Guess you'll just have to plan to go again!
hpeabody - try this link for information on the Jungfraubahnen. I think monicanaha was referring to this in her post (the early morning train which saves some money
http://tinyurl.com/3ykkec
You can also try grindelwald.com for info on the general region. Be sure to click on "English" if that is your language.
Well done, monicanaha! Welcome home!
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