andrea

Flying into Zurich on Dec. 28 (friend has an apartment in Zurich). Have 12 days to travel. Paris is the only planned stop. Any suggestions? Since is first trip, probably going to do the more "tourist" sites.

Dave

Few suggestions. Don't try and do "everything." So much to do, so little time. If you like it, the odds are good it will be there when you want to go back and see more. Only go to a few places. It is better to see a lot of one or two cities than a lot of airports, trains, and waiting rooms. Finally, don't be paranoid about goint to the "tourist" places. Most of them are tourist places because they are worth going to. Finally, don't let little things bother you if they seem "different." They are. Oh, yeah, one other thing. Have fun.

Linda

As you go toward Paris, try Zermott and Interlaken in Switzerland.

lili

beware, switzerland is very expensive (relatively), check out amsterdam, vienna

jw

A friend in Zurich? You are so lucky. If I had a friend to stay with in Zurich, I'd day-trip by train all over Switzerland and wish I had 60 days instead of 12. surprise, surprise.

susan

Lili, what a funny post! I didn't see andrea ask anything about saving money or being concerned with budget. Is it possible that some people are more concerned about going where they want to go and seeing what they want to see rather than just going where they can save money? And besides, since her stay is apparently free (staying with a friend) how would she save money if she had to get a hotel in Vienna or Amsterdam?

steve

A couple of years ago I got some free airline tickets to Zurich. My traveling companion had never been to Paris so that was one goal of the trip. We arrived in Zurich in the morning and took a train to Strasbourg, France where we stayed one night. We then took a train to Paris and spent a few days there. Next we took a train to Annecy, France a beautiful town in the Haute Savoie region. After spending a night there we took a train to Zurich (via Geneva) and spent a couple of days there. This plan worked beautifully for us because we got to easily see several very different places in a short amount of time. You might also consider using Zurich as a base and doing day trips to other areas in Switzerland.