manojkumat

Hi, we are a couple and one infant (1 and half year old) travelling to Paris and Swiss on the following mentioned dates:

Arrival in Paris - Saturday, Sep 30, 2017 (7AM)
Departure from Paris - Sunday, Oct 8, 2017 (10AM)

Within this duration, we are planning to spend 3D/3N in Paris and 5D/4N nights in Switzerland. Below is the tentative itinerary we have designed and would appreciate your expert opinions/suggestions.

Paris - 30th Sep to 2nd October
We plan to explore paris on our own, and might just take 2 days hop on hop off bus tour for sight seeing. We have booked our hotel in Porte de Versailles area, which i believe is in close proximity of popular location. We don't have any preference as such, but will try to cover all historic and iconic things in paris. Would appreciate your expert opinions on things which i can do during my stay at Paris.

Oct 3 - We plan to keep our base in Lucerne city of Switzerland, and will heading towards it from Paris by TGV Lyria train at 6am. After reaching to Lucerne, we will spend some time at the hotel, and will explore the city on our own.

Oct 4 - Lucerne to Jungfrouch & back
Oct 5 - Lucerne to Mt Titlis & Back
Oct 6 - Lucerne to Zurich. Visit Rhine fall & back.
Oct 7 - I'm not able to plan for this day, and would appreciate some suggestions here. I also have to head back to Paris as my return flight is at 10 AM, next morning from CDG, and the last train for Paris is at 4PM (TGV Lyria train). Anything i can do within the available time?
Oct 8 - Return to India after an overnight stay in CDG area.

Few additional details:
1. I plan to buy a four day swiss pass to cover my travel within swizterland. Will it be worth buying it?
2. I will book excursions to Jungfrouch and Mt Titlis from http://www.swisstours.com/Switzerland.aspx?cntry=US. Would it cover the train cost as well?
3. With the above itinerary i think I'm required to get a Swiss schengen visa, but can someone please confirm?

I would really appreciate your thoughts on the above itinerary and any suggestions are most welcome

Thanks in advance.

Edward2005

Since your plans in Switzerland are mostly to visit mountains, I strongly recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen and not Lucerne. The mountain scenery in Lauterbrunnen is much more spectacular than in Lucerne. It will also save you quite a bit of time and make for a less hectic trip. Check it out on Google Maps.

I would not book a trip to the Jungfraujoch in advance. If the weather is poor on the day of your trip, it won't be worth doing. The Jungfraujoch is easy to reach from Lauterbrunnen, so if you wake up to good weather you can decide to go up there at a moment's notice.

From Lauterbrunnen you can also easily visit Mt. Schilthorn, Tummelback Falls, lake cruises at Interlaken, a great Swiss Open-Air museum near Brienz, a castle in Thun, and an endless number of spectacular hikes.

However, visiting Mt. Titlis or the Rhine Falls is not practical as a day-trip from Lauterbrunnen. I would skip them or save them for another visit in the future.

If you do stay in Lauterbrunnen, a Bernese Oberland rail pass will probably be the best rail pass option for you. If you stay in Lucerne, a Half-Fare Card is probably the most economic choice.

I do not know the visa requirements for a citizen of India to visit Switzerland.

tipsygus

Check with your child's doctor about going above 2,000 metres in height. It is not recommended for children under 2 so that cuts out Titlis and jungfraujoch. I would stay in Lucerne and consider Moount Rigi and the Transport museum all kids whatever age like that museum.

You may find that by the beginning of October the higher villages in the Bernese Oberland Wengen,Grindelwald and possibly Luterbrunnen are very quiet with some of the hotels closed.

PalenQ

1. I plan to buy a four day swiss pass to cover my travel within Swizterland. Will it be worth buying it?>

Maybe the Berner Oberland Pass would be a better deal - check at www.sbb.ch- great sources of info on trains and those areas - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com.

Some kind of pass with travel everyday will probably be a great deal.

PalenQ

http://www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/en/

KTtravel

The Porte de Versailles area isn't very central (more central would be in the 1st - 6th arrondissements.) Since you have such a limited time in Paris, you might wish to be closer in to the major tourist sights. If you are planning on using the Hop on/Hop off bus, I would choose a hotel close to one of their stops. Their tour map is available on the website.

In two days you can not cover all the historic and iconic sights so will have to choose which ones interest you most. I recommend getting a good guide book to help you narrow down your choices.

I would also consider staying in Paris and taking day trips or visiting Paris and perhaps one other location in France, particularly when traveling with a small child.

KTtravel

I should clarify my statement above. I would consider only staying in Paris, or only in France, and leaving Switzerland for another trip.

PalenQ

2. I will book excursions to Jungfrouch and Mt Titlis from http://www.swisstours.com/Switzerland.aspx?cntry=US. Would it cover the train cost as well?>

These are easy to do on your own and a Swiss Pass would cover trains in full to Engelberg - from where you take the rotating aerial gondola to the icy summit.

Jungfraujoch Swiss Pass covers the trains from Interlaken in full and gives 25% off the last portion.

Again these things are so so easy to do on your own -no need to pre-book anything -ever for those excursions.

Dukey1

The Titlis trip can easily be done in 1/2 day, too

PalenQ

Keep those excursions in flux and check on weather before setting out to prevent a cloud-out or wash-out at the summits. Not unusual.

PalenQ

I'm not able to plan for this day, and would appreciate some suggestions here. I also have to head back to Paris as my return flight is at 10 AM, next morning from CDG, and the last train for Paris is at 4PM (TGV Lyria train). Anything i can do within the available time?>

You could go the day before to say Basel, a really neat city on the Rhine and have even more time - a great city to just stroll around - or go to Montreux on Lake Geneva and take TGV from Lausanne or Geneva to Paris.

In Zurich check out the lakefront walks on the east side and the old town nearby.