greg_on_the_go

Hi, I've decided that I would like to visit Zurich for my first European trip. I have Swiss-German ancestry, and I would love to see some of the beautiful alpine scenery.

I will be traveling solo and I have some mobility issues but I will take it easy, and I am planning to do 2-3 escorted one-day trips. Any tips for slow walkers would be appreciated.

The day trips I'm hoping to do are: * Black Forest and Rhine Falls. * Lucerne for Mt Pilatus excursion. * (possibly) Swiss cheese and chocolate tour to Appenzell area.

Also please advise on accommodation - I'm hoping to stay in the price range of $100 per night or less. Is this achievable? Thanks for any and all advice. Greg
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kja

I must admit that I'm not quite sure how to respond, as your approach to your time in this area is so different than mine was -- not that your approach shouldn't be so different! It could be perfect for you!

If my goal was to see beautiful alpine scenery, then I would go to somewhere in the Bernese Oberland or somewhere in the Engadine.

I didn't take any escorted day-trips in Switzerland. Is that because your mobility issues demand that you have ready access to someone who can assist if necessary? (Rhetorical question -- no need to share the details,) If not, you might want to consider do-it-yourself options. There are a lot of wonderful walking trails in Switzerland that go across mountains, with little change in elevation and little difficulty, trails you can take at your own pace.

Switzerland can be expensive. You might be able to achieve that price point for accommodation, but probably by sacrificing location or convenience or whatever. Another reason to re-think joining escorted trips if you can....

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information in my trip report:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...thanks-983126/

Hope that helps!

swandav2000

Hi greg-on-the-go,

Yes, it's difficult to realize that Zürich isn't actually in the Alps; it is a very nice city set around a lake. The nearest mountains are outside of Luzern (Rigi, Pilatus, Titlis), but as kja notes, if you want to be surrounded by peaks, best to head to the Jungfrau region or the Engadin or maybe Zermatt.

You may find that travelling in Switzerland is quite comfortable. You can get assistance from the railways -- simply email them the times you'll need help boarding and getting off, and they will send people to help. You can send your baggage separately using the SBB Luggage Service:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-servic...e/luggage.html

You can even send your cases from your home airport to your final destination within Switzerland:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-servic...itzerland.html

so you can pretty easily get beyond Zürich. If you are staying in a car-free town like Wengen (Jungfrau region) or Zermatt, your hotel will pick you up with an electric cart.

The most difficult part of your plan might be to find lodging at $100 or less. You may want to take a look at booking.com, input your dates, and do a search for hotels in Wengen, Zermatt, and Zürich, to see what's available.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Dukey1

Just came back from Zurich a couple of weeks ago. You aren't going to see any "alpine" scenery there so forget that now. Half if not more of the country speaks German among other languages so i would agree that if you want to see the mountains one of the better places to do so would be in the Bernese Oberland mentioned above. The $100 or less thing is going to be a challenge but if you look at sites such as Booking.com OR www.rooms.ch you might have some success.

Switzerland is, as has been said, not a cheap place to travel but the scenery can be spectacular.

PalenQ

Yeah for dramatic Alpine scenery go to the Interlaken area and stay in a dreamy mountain village - trains are great and can get you around without having to walk much at all. for lots on Swiss trains in the Jungfrau area and in general check www.sbb.ch; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

neckervd

Do you know where your family comes from? In this case, it might be interesting to visit that place.

greg_on_the_go

I know this will sound out of left-field (brace yourself), but I think I might be better off flying to Milan. I would love to see the Last Supper anyway, and would do escorted one-day trips to Switzerland, as well as one of the Italian lakes.

Is the Bernina Express a good, scenic excursion?

Is it worth a few extra $$ for a one-day excursion to Venice (I know, probably a dumb question)? I don't know about getting in/out of a gondola, but it's ok.

I'd also love to visit Pisa for a side-trip.

Any advice on my revised plan would be great. Thanks, Greg

PalenQ

You're now going literally going all over the map and suggestions are impossible. Hone into an area you will go to and then come back and ask questions.

Dukey1

Yes, the Bernina Express is VERY scenic but I would do it from Switzerland (you can leave from either Chur (about 1.5 hour train ride from Zurich) or from St. Moritz (I might do it from Chur and I just did it again from there but that is a personal decision and I've been to Switzerland before). You can take a train from the end of that trip in Tirano to Milan.

greg_on_the_go

PalenQ, I have decided to forgo the Switzerland trip for the time being, since it's a bit out of my budget. Also, it would be more difficult to experience the Alpine scenery I was hoping for.

Therefore I will focus on Milan for this trip so I can experience a little of the Italian culture, since I really would like to see the Last Supper, as well as the Leaning tower of Pisa. And since I can do a one-day escorted tour to the Bernina Express, I will still get a glimpse of the Alpine scenery that I was craving. I know it's only a one-day experience, but it's better than none at all. Thank you

PalenQ

Well as dukey says the Bernina Express is awesome and will whet your appetite for seeing the Alps at the glory. Now makes sense.

greg_on_the_go

Thank-you, just 2 more Milan questions for now plz. What kind of weather can I expect for late March- spring like?

Does it matter if I fly into Malpensa or Linate airport? Are they both about same distance to city center?

PalenQ

No don't make any difference - Linate is actually closer but take whatever has cheapest flights IMO.

kja

Any decent guidebook will cover typical climate data, or you can consult numerous web-sites, including timeanddate.com and wunderground.com.

Dukey1

Linate airport is a LOT closer to the center of Milan than is Malpensa although Malpensa has convenient rail connections into the city that Linate lacks. Linate is about 6 miles from Central Milan; Malpensa is about 30 miles away.