Switzerland help...?

Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 11:53 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Switzerland help...?

If you had 6 days in Switzerland, no firm budget, no real "must do" list, and the only requirement is you end up in Venice at the end of those 6 days, what would you choose to see or do? I have a group of 4, aged 36-67, all with different wish lists, so we're starting from scratch and would like to see if someone throws out something none of us have thought of...or maybe confirms what one or two of us might like to do? We just can't do anything too physically strenuous as there are some limitations in the group, but otherwise we just would love to hear from you if you've got a minute!! Thought hearing from some others might help us come to some kind of agreement...
tulpsntruffles is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:16 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 7,584
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
I read your post 3 times and still have no idea what you are looking for.

You don't even tell us how you are getting to Switzerland and Venice.

Are you flying in from ?

Taking a train?

Renting a car?

Only a mind reader, or maybe Theresa Caputo, can help you.


Thin
Pepper_von_snoot is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:29 PM
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Doesn't matter how I'm getting there...sheesh I didn't realize the question was difficult. If you could do anything you want for 6 days in Switzerland, what would you do?
tulpsntruffles is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:38 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 7,584
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Sweetie, If I am going to plan your entire holiday I want to be paid.

If I could do anything in Switzerland, I would take up digs at Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich and drink myself silly until I fell of my balcony and landed on top of Roger Federer.

Good luck in high school.

Tschüß,

Thin
Pepper_von_snoot is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:42 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
How about Locarno? Fairly easy train trip to Venice via Milan, spectacular scenery on a beautiful lake, funicular to the mountains, boat trips across the lake to little villages. Good range of accommodation and eating places.
And agree from the start, that you don't have to be joined hip to hip every day.
marg is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:44 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 660
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sheesh, your question is so open you could get 786 suggestions tulpsntruffles. How many people do you think come here to waste their time suggesting things that might or might not suit your interests?

So you get questions like the ones from Pepper that are intended to narrow down the field since YOU haven't seen fit to do so to begin with. So save your 'sheesh' for yourself.

You are right, YOU didn't realize the question was difficult. It isn't difficult to give an answer to. Any dumb question can get a dumb answer. But if you want an intelligent and relevant answer then you have to ask an intelligent question and provide enough relevant information on which someone can make a suggestion. Get it?

Here's an answer. Go to Ascona, stay in this hotel for your 6 days. http://www.hoteltamaroascona.com/de/galerie

I like Ascona and that hotel. Happy with that answer? Or would you want to know what there is to see and do in the area and how much the hotel costs etc.?

So tell me tulspntruffles, "if you could do anything you want for 6 days in Switzerland, what would you do?" Huh? What would YOU do? Give me your suggestion.
Sojourntraveller is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 12:54 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 5,969
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From your other thread, you are traveling heavy. This can be in impediment if you want to visit Swiss alpine destinations where cars are off limit. Bernese Oberland above Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald is accessible only by train/cable cars. So is Zermatt. The last segment to Zermatt is only allowed on a train. Once you get there, the hotels usually have electric carts to take your luggage from the train station to hotels. But the last segments are on your own.

Having "no firm budget", can be detrimental in Switzerland. Everything in Switzerland is very expensive. If your budget has an eventual constraint, start looking at transportation and hotel prices. For example, a full fare round trip from Lauterbrunnen to Jungfraujoch is about 161 SF. Of course, most people use some kind of discount passes to avoid paying the full fare.

Besides alpine destinations, there are big lake destinations: Vevey, Montreux, Lausanne, etc. City/museum destination: Bern. A city/mountain/lake combination destination such as Luzern. These are just a sample of large town/cities.
greg is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 01:04 PM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey Thin, if I wanted you to plan my trip, I'd have asked. I didn't realize asking for a recommendation on a pretty town to visit or great train ride was asking for an itinerary. Shut your arrogance down long enough to realize people are legitimately asking for assistance.

Sojourntraveller, you make a good point. While I may have asked a dumb question, I've got two parents who will never travel again in their lifetime and I'm doing my best to sort it out for them so we can enjoy our time together. Clearly I've landed in the wrong forum, where people would rather cut each other down and make each other look like fools than be helpful. I'll take my questions elsewhere and hope to find someone who might like to be helpful with a group who just needs a starting point.

Marg and Greg...many thanks.
tulpsntruffles is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 02:00 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We are not mind readers. If you don;t give us ay info how can we help???

What time of year? It makes a huge difference.

What are people's interests?

And what are the physical limitations? Limited walking even on the flat? Breathing problems so ascending mountains by cable car or train will be a problem?
nytraveler is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 03:07 PM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 4,497
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Spend all six days in Venice.
Peter_S_Aus is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 04:26 PM
  #11  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Your question is actually a bit more complicated than you might realize. For one thing, as nytraveler noted, it would help to know the time of year during which you plan to travel, as that can be a critical factor. And it would help to know a bit about your interests, given that Switzerland is incredibly diverse. (I couldn't keep my own plans for Switzerland down to 25 days and so ended up spending 30 days there. )
kja is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 05:07 PM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I
nothing_but_blue is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 05:11 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Whoops sorry about that last one...posted too quick!

I'll bite! Sorry you've met some of the Fodor trolls. Not everyone here is a jerk! I've lurked for a long long time and just recently got the guts to join to share some of my own travel experiences. Steer clear of the rude ones and there are actually a ton of people here who share an intense passion for travel and helping people learn to appreciate other cultures! Some just like to hear themselves speak and aren't worth your time. Don't be discouraged by them, just forge ahead and make this time with your parents great. It sounds like from this and your other thread this might be a last hurrah for both of them...so sorry to hear that for you. Enjoy every moment!

Switzerland is incredible no matter the season. For just 6 days, pick maybe 2 spots and no more, otherwise all you'll be doing is traveling and not really seeing anything. For me, I wouldn't miss Montreux or Lausanne (one or the other) on a short trip like that. The landscape is just jaw dropping. Zermatt is on my must-do-once list to visit the Matterhorn. Many hotels, cafes, etc there have a view that can't be beat so even if your group has limitations mobility-wise, you'll be able to find something for everyone. Consider one of the scenic train routes...easy on bodies but spectacular views. Golden Pass is shorter or the Glacier Express goes St. Moritz to Zermatt.

Your need to get to Venice at a certain time can be met by either train or plane from lots of locations, you'll just find it harder the deeper into the alps you are! Keep asking questions and best of luck to you!
nothing_but_blue is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 05:35 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 7,584
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Sorry, but I am not a troll, sweetie darling.

I have been posting here for 15 years.

I am quoted in multiple Fodor's Travel Guides, including Italy and Prague.

I am also the Fodorite who coined the term--naming these forums--Fodorville.

None of the longtime posters mind helping others, but it is extremely RUDE to waste their time.

Do your homework, then post questions.

Thin
Pepper_von_snoot is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 05:59 PM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You call people "sweetie" and think they're the rude ones? Get over yourself and your damn accolades. As if. The gal's parents are dying and she's here looking for help. Have you no compassion?! If you cleared your head for a moment...one moment and got over your sheer arrogance and your "I'm quoted in travel guides and coined the term" BS someone might find you helpful and interesting but yet in a single post you've turned people away from the very site you claim. How sad.
nothing_but_blue is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 08:01 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 660
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
LOL, where did you read that her parents were 'dying' nothing-but? Other than that we are all dying obviously, she simply said she didn't THINK they would travel again. As if that meant anything.

A dumb question is a dumb question, whatever the reason for asking it might be. As I wrote in my first response, such an open question could get hundreds of answers which would not get the OP any farther forward than she is now. Picking up and READING a guidebook on Switzerland or a site like myswitzerland would provide that same countless number of suggestions.

Unless someone provides criteria on which to base answers, all they do is raise questions in the mind of those who are in fact knowledgeable about the subject that are asking about.

You will note nothing-but, that the OP said I had a good point and THEN ignored it, providing no criteria on which to get responses. Instead she says she will go elsewhere. That to me says, 'I don't like being asked to think before I post'.
Sojourntraveller is offline  
Old Dec 23rd, 2014, 08:39 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The OP is also a poster on another site and has offered additional information about her family's situation there, granted people are being far more helpful and didn't tear her to the ground for asking an innocent question. And if you read her reply to you, she said they "will never travel again" ... she never said "think," so, as Thin so graciously put it, I did my homework before I posted. I can't imagine she'll be back...who would come back here after the verbal garbage spewed at her. Called names and beaten up in a message board? No way.

If you read the OP's initial post, it sure sounds like they've read plenty, and all have different ideas of what they'd like to do and we're looking for some others so they might come to an agreement or hear something new. I don't think anyone was coming into the conversation uneducated about travel.

I guess I'm just not sure why there's such hostility when someone new enters the boards. Silly question or not, she was immediately dismissed. Sarcasm, called dumb, demeaned, made to feel like an idiot. Why is it necessary? It happens over and over here. Instead of educating someone new...responding with "it would be helpful to know the following...," people are met with absolute jerks. Just makes me sad for the people who want so much to learn from this community and are so intimidated by a few.
nothing_but_blue is offline  
Old Dec 24th, 2014, 05:33 AM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,792
Received 83 Likes on 5 Posts
>>

I'm doing it right now - winter hiking in Scuol.
Melnq8 is online now  
Old Dec 24th, 2014, 06:37 AM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Trains are the best way to get around Switzerland, especially if going to the Alpine wonderlands you've been dreaming about - no need to walk much as there is a myriad of aerial gondolas and mountain trains - I would suggest the fabulous Jungfrau Region as the epitome of that Switzerland perhaps etched in your minds' eyes - glacier-girdled peaks soaring high above lush valleys.

For lots on Swiss trains check out these IMO superb sites: www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

with a party of six including oldsters strongly consider going first class - always lots of room and more comfort, especially for a group like ours.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Dec 24th, 2014, 08:27 AM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
https://www.google.com/search?q=imag...=1600&bih=1075

The fantastic Jungfrau Region - to me and many the absolute highlight of Switzerland for first-time travelers there!
PalenQ is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -