First off, thanks to everyone for their help, comments, and recommendations in making this trip very memorable.

Our flight from JFK to Munich with a transfer at Heathrow was filled with adventure.

-- Because of heavy aircraft departure traffic, we queued for about 2 hours prior to taking off. Missed connection at Heathrow. Connection was 2 hours late. Luggage never made it to Munich. Arrived next morning, delivered to Mindelheim at 7:30am. Wife thanked me for forcing her to take change of clothes on carry-on.

-- Took the S-Bahn from the airport to P/U rental car in the city – less expensive to P/U in city vs. airport because of airport fees. 17 Euro ticket for the both of us which included all-day transportation in and around Munich. Seven Euro taxi to rental car agency from the Hauptbahnhof.

-- Rental car was a Fiat Croma 1.8 liter engine 5 speed stick. I asked for a diesel and they said they didn't have one. The car was large enough, but was very sluggish getting it to go in first gear. Rented thru gemut.com, an agent for Autoeurope.com. $457 for the 10 days which included drop-off charges. Had to pay 12 Euro road tax when I turned in the car (about $1.50 a day). I knew that up front. Drove 950 kms, used 82.5 liters of fuel, cost 140 SFr. Ruff figures = $5.34 per gallon, 589 miles, and 27 mpg.

-- We brought our Garmin Streetpilot C330 with downloaded European Maps. It took about a half hour once we arrived in Munich to acquire the satellites. Maybe being inside the train has some affect, but once we acquired the satellite, it worked flawlessly. I preprogrammed it with cities/points of interest, and we never had to open up a map the entire trip. The first test of the system was to get from the rental car agency to the Augustiner Beer Garden (first stop – priorities in place) for my first cold brew. I ordered a half liter, but it was after 3pm and they only served liter beers -- damn!

-- We drove out of the city to spend the first night in a little quaint town of Mindelheim. What a great little town and thanks to whoever recommended it. Right on the city square, and woke up to the morning market. Luggage was delivered in the early morning, about 7:30am – wife happy. Costs us 125 Euro for the night which included a fantastic dinner the night before. Hotel Alte Post with large corner room with view of town square costs 85 Euro – Dinner with drinks (beer/wine) cost 40 Euro.

-- Headed out toward Grindelwald at about 9am by way of Ingo's driving itinerary and my trusty GPS. Just kept plugging in city-by-city directions. What a great drive and great sights along the way. Thanks Ingo!! Needless to say, it took longer than we anticipated. I programmed the GPS to avoid toll roads, and yes it did, so I didn't have to buy a vinette in Austria or Switzerland. It took longer driving in Switzerland by avoiding the Autobahns, but we didn't care. We were in no hurry and saw some great sights along the way. On occasion we were headed down some small farm roads, and we sorta looked at each other wondering where we were going, the smiled at each other when we reached the next destination. Lots of roundabouts in Switzerland. I thought I was in Ireland. Over and over again we heard the voice on the GPS say: "In 250 meters, enter roundabout and take the second exit."

-- Arrived Grindelwald about 7pm. Had a little problem finding the Chalet. Yes, I, a man, did stop to ask for directions. The apartment was great. Large L/R, D/R, KIT, separate B/R. We had our own private downstairs entrance. 700 SFr for the week plus 50 SFr for occupancy tax. All the grocery stores close at 4pm on Saturday and closed all day Sunday. Had to wait until Monday AM to stock up on provisions. Dinner that night at Memory's. Had Rosti w/smoked Grindelwald sausage. Yum Yum.

-- Sunday went to Lauterbrunnen, Stechelberg, and Trummelbach Falls. That's when I discovered we were not going to Murren, Gimmelwald, or up to the Schilthorn. My wife said there was no way she was going to go up in those cable cars.

-- Monday bought tickets to the Jungfraujoch. A little pricy, but only 75 Sfr each with the Half Fare Card and didn't have to take the early morning saver train. The weather did not cooperate, but it was well worth the trip. On the way back down we decided to take the train to/from Wengen from Kleine Scheidegg (the stop off point up to the Jungfraujoch). Not impressed with Wengen, small, not much going on. Maybe because not quite "in season" time.

-- Tuesday we took the gondola from Grindelwald to First. I could get her on the gondola because I convinced her that it wasn't high off the ground, and she bit. It wasn't too bad, although she almost ripped off my arm holding on. We got off at Schreckfeld because we could see that First was fogged in. Walked down to Bort, then across to Aellfluh for lunch. My wife had their salad special and comments that it was the best meal she had in Switzerland. I had their carrot soup and smoked Grindelwald sausage which was excellent. Somehow we got a little lost departing Aellfluh and heading to the beginning of the Firstbahn, and ended up at the main train station. The last part of the walk was down hill and a little trying on the knees.

-- Wednesday drove to Spiez. Had an hour to wait for the boat so toured the area. Took the boat to Thun by way of Gunten and Oberhofen. Was disappointed with Thun. Another big city after being in the village atmosphere. Should have gotten off at Oberhofen, toured the area/castle, and then head back to Spiez. Gunten also looked like another nice place to stop and visit.

-- Thursday we went to Harder Kulm. It was a clear day, and great views of the area. Had lunch then took the boat to Brienz. Completely forgot about it being Assumption Day and almost everything in town was closed. Did find a couple of places open, a great chocolate store. The boat trip to/from was relaxing. We liked Thun Lake as the better of the two.

-- Friday back up on the Firstbahn and got off at Schreckfeld to walk over to Grosse Scheidegg. An easy hike with a couple of ups and downs with great views. Had lunch and then took the bus back down to Grindelwald.

-- Saturday – about 9am bye-bye to Grindelwald and off to Luzern (Weggis). Drove to Beckenried to take the car ferry across Lake Luzern to Weggis (cost 25 SFr for the car and the two of us). Checked in around Noon as our room was ready and took the ferry to/from Luzern. Weggis was booming. They had a street fair for the weekend, the Brazilian soccer team was staying in town getting ready for the World Cup, and flea market with lots of fleas. They even had a grilled brat stand.

-- Sunday bought a round trip ticket to Vitznau and up to Rigi. Great trip and great views. It was a clear day, a little windy, but great views for miles.

-- Monday checked out and headed to Zurich. This was by far the most expensive stop of our trip. Around $500 for two night's stay and 2 really nice dinners on the lake.

Arrived Zurich about Noon thanks to trusty GPS. Brought us right to the hotel. We stayed at the Intercontinental (a huge bargain - $91 on priceline), and they let us check in. We unloaded the car then headed for the airport to turn in the car. Bought train tickets from the airport to Zurich train station which included all day unlimited tram/bus fares for 5.80 SFr each. This was a great bargain as I used the Half Fare Card to purchase them.

This was the only day we had bad weather – raining all day. We decided to take the 2-hour trolley tour of the city. At the end of the tour it stopped raining and we got out at the train station and walked around Old Town. Caught the trolley back to the hotel. The #3 ran every 7 minutes and dropped us off a block and a half from the hotel.

We originally were going to stay at the Hotel Adler which was in Old Town, but glad we didn't. We walked by it on our way thru the town. It would have been a hassle getting our luggage to/from the hotel as it is in the walking-only district and it had been raining all morning.

-- Tuesday – time to head home. Shuttle from the hotel to the airport left every half hour on the half hour beginning at 5:30am. We caught the 7am shuttle for a 10am flight. It took about 15-20 minutes, and we were the only ones on the shuttle. It cost 22 SFr for one person, and 30 SFr per couple plus tip. It was another bargain.

Anyone going to Zurich, I would recommend using priceline. Even though the Intercontinental wasn't downtown, it was inexpensive and very convenient to get to/from by way of trolley.

From the what it's worth department:

Having a car was convenient, and I would have one again. Parking was expensive and there was no free parking anywhere in the towns and villages.

We took 4 separate boat trips, and someone on this forum recommended paying the extra to go first class – they were right on. Go first class – you will avoid the crowds. One of the best decisions we made.

The GPS took all the map reading away. If we had to argue about directions, we directed it towards our Garmin. There were a couple of sections in the road that had been recently constructed or deviated, and this confused the GPS, but it recomputed almost instantly.

We spent a total of 504 SFr on boats, busses, trains, and gondolas for the both of us. It would have cost us 1008 SFr without the Half Fare Card, which costs 198 SFr for the two passes. That's 702 SFr for transportation, saving us 306 SFr with the Half Fare Card. Could we have done better with any of the other Swiss Passes/Swiss Saver cards? I'm not sure.

Sorry this is so long.

Thanks for sharing, B.

> Fiat Croma 1.8 liter engine 5 speed stick. ...27 mpg.

Very good to know.

We got about 40 mpg in a 2L Peugeot 307 Diesel.

What a great read. I'm now hunting for airfare to anywhere in Europe for middle of August. My sister is 50 and just returned to college and she can't go any other time. We usually go on off season and travel inexpensive, but that won't be the case this time. We fly out of Dulles. I always enjoy your posts, so if you see any cheaper flights to Europe, please let me know.

ira, I know I was disappointed that they didn't have a diesel. When we had a diesel in Italy a couple years ago, we got close to 50 mpg.

Thanks Budman, great trip report!

Glad you had a great time and I certainly enjoyed the planning portion of your trip, too.

VS :-"

Budman,
Mrs.Budman has a problem with heights?
How did she do in Ireland? I have major trouble with bridges and am starting to get worried about our trip.
Great report!
Susan

Hi Budman,
Great report. We'll be spending a week or so in Switzerland this September driving by car as well. You mentioned that much of your drive was scenic. What particular stretches of road were most memorable?
Thanks,
Whitey

PS Did you find any local brews that are worth mentioning?

Good job, Budman. Did you get to hike from Mannlichen over to Kleine Scheidegg? I was wondering if the trails were cleared.

Glad you opted for the upper (first class) deck on the ferrys. Only way to go!

Did you end up buying hiking sticks?

Budman, thank you for this wonderful trip report. I am glad you enjoyed the Switzerland vacation and especially the drive from Munich to Grindelwald! Your planning threads were fun too

Did you take photos? Could we see some, please?

Btw, it was definitely off-season in Wengen. The village becomes much more lively from June on.

Ingo

Enjoyed your report. We just returned from Lauterbrunnen a couple of weeks ago. We also spent a little time in Spiez and Thun. However, we enjoyed Thun. Kind of reminded me of Lucerne with the covered wooden bridge. And so many swans! We even saw a black swan. Don't ever recall seeing one before.

Hopefully, hubby will finish identifying and sorting pictures soon so he can post them on webshots.

njsusan, heights are not her thing. I was lucky to get her on the gondola -- twice. On all the cog trains and funiculars she had to be looking up no matter which direction we were going. You should have seen her at Trummelbach Falls. Wouldn't go near the rails, and thanked me for making her buy hiking tennis shoes with a good tread as it could have been a little slippery in some of the water spots.

whitey, some of the drives around the lakes on the secondary roads were real nice. Not a lot of places to pull off, though.

kopp, the gondolas to Mannlichen just opened the Friday before we left, but there was still a lot of snow and the trail from First to Kleine Scheidegg was closed. Even the upper trail to Grosse Scheidegg was closed because of the snow. It was also recommended that the hike over to the lake from First would not be recommended because the lake was still frozen and covered with snow.

The operators at the Firstbahn were very helpful in recommending hikes/trails. It was also well marked which trails were closed.

Didn't get any hiking sticks -- we're still novices and didn't take anything strenuous.

Was that you that recommended first class on the boats? Money well spent.

Ingo, I just met with Grace (auntgrapes) at the NJ/NY GTG yesterday, and she sings your praises. Pictures? How many pictures of snow covered mountains can one take? 300?

As for clothes, it was a blizzard up at the Jungfraujoch and did manage to walk out on the ice and fall on our butts. The ski jackets with zip in liners came in handy as well as hats & gloves up there. On the trips up to First, I had the liners in my backpack and had to take them out up there. Layers, layers, layers especially this time of the year.

Hi Budman! So, did you have a Cafe Zwetschgen? Or did you stick to Eichhof beer?

Enjoyed reading your report. We just got fresh snow this week, down to 700 meters. You probably hit one of our better weeks of weather in May. Glad to hear it.

What a lot of good info! So, how'd you like the beer?

Oh, I forgot the beer. Rugenbräu was the beer of the region and was pretty good. Feldschlosschen was another one along with Eichhof & Cardinal.

I had a split of wine on one of the boat rides -- not good at all. I bought a bottle of a Swiss Pinot Noir at one of the grocery stores for 5 SFr, and to my amazement, it was very good. Looks like the Swiss have gone to the screw caps, but that's not such a bad thing.

Thanks for giving us our swiss fix. If you think of any details you forgot to mention, feel free. You could have written twice as much, and I would not have complained. Sorry you didin't like Thun. J.

Hi Budman,

Thanks for your report--it'll come in handy for our September trip. I wish I'd remembered that it was the NJ/NY GTG this weekend (note to self to read the US board more often) since I'd have loved to hear about your trip first-hand...and to get Mrs. B's side of the story!

I especially appreciate the reinforcement about having a car...so many of the posts here focus on the public transport. Looking forward to the photos~

Maureen

Enjoyed your trip report Budman - I wanna go!

Welcome back Budman! I'm packing this very moment, leave on Saturday. I liked Cardinal beer, too. We found some excellent Swiss wine in the Valais and some great Merlot in Ticino. You won't hear about it in this country, though. I'm not into heights either, but I just suck it up and pray cause you have to take those things if you want to get to many cool places. I do whine a lot. So glad you had a great trip- isn't Switzerland just heaven?

Thanks for your report--I enjoyed it! We leave in two weeks; also won two rooms (4 nights) at the Intercontinental in Zurich, for $76 per! Glad to hear you were pleased with your stay, as some of the reviews on tripadvisor are not great. Did you go on any luge/summerrodelbahn rides?

Roundabouts ? Ireland ? You haven't been in Spain lately, right ?

Glad to hear you had a wonderful trip, budman and I understand Mrs.Budman perfectly..I have vertigo