Switzerland + Paris in 1st week of October.
Jul 6th, 2011, 05:47 AM
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Switzerland + Paris in 1st week of October.
I am planning a trip to Switzerland (7 days) + Paris (2 Days) in the 1st week of October. I will land in Zurich on 30th September.
Before I finalize my Itinerary for the trip I want to get information about the weather in Switzerland during that time. What will be the weather like during that time. Will it be raining or windy or what. I don't want my trip to be spoiled by the rains.
My tentative itinerary will be like visiting Lucern, Interlaken, Jungfraujoch, Murren, Wengen, Mount Pilatus, Laussane and then go to Paris via Geneva. The order in which I will cover these places will be decided later and I will share that information later based on your feedback.
Right now my only concern is the weather in these places and if visiting a specific place during that time will be good or bad. My idea of a vacation is visiting the lakes, mountains and viewing scenery and some shopping. No hiking, tracking, skiing or museums.
Before I finalize my Itinerary for the trip I want to get information about the weather in Switzerland during that time. What will be the weather like during that time. Will it be raining or windy or what. I don't want my trip to be spoiled by the rains.
My tentative itinerary will be like visiting Lucern, Interlaken, Jungfraujoch, Murren, Wengen, Mount Pilatus, Laussane and then go to Paris via Geneva. The order in which I will cover these places will be decided later and I will share that information later based on your feedback.
Right now my only concern is the weather in these places and if visiting a specific place during that time will be good or bad. My idea of a vacation is visiting the lakes, mountains and viewing scenery and some shopping. No hiking, tracking, skiing or museums.
Jul 6th, 2011, 06:34 AM
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September CAN be rainy is parts of Switzerland, but this is never a given, and I've been lucky enough never to have more than one or two days of rain in a row. Weather is often nicely warm during the days and cool at night.
Late September/early October and May/June are my favorite times to go! I wouldn't worry too much, there are always museums and castles for rainy days.
Late September/early October and May/June are my favorite times to go! I wouldn't worry too much, there are always museums and castles for rainy days.
Jul 13th, 2011, 02:44 AM
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Finally I got my tickets done. I will be reaching Geneva on 1st Oct early morning and leave from Paris on 10th Oct early morning. So I have 9 days for Swiss and Paris. My tentative Itinerary is as follows:
Day1: Reach Geneva early morning. See Geneva and overnight in Geneva
Day2: Visit Lausanne, Montreux and Zermatt. Overnight in Geneva. Should I move one of these to Day 1 or it's ok?
Day3: Move from Geneva to Interlaken. See Interlaken. Overnight in Interlaken.
Day4: Excursion to Jungfraujoch. Overnight at Interlaken.
Day5: Move from Interlaken to Lucerne. See Lucerne. Overnight in Lucerne.
Day6: Visit Mount Pilatus or Rigi or Titlis. Which will be better? Any recommendations.
Day7: Move from Swiss to Paris. See Paris.
Day8: See Paris.
Day9: make some excursion from Paris. Is there any place with beaches near Paris where I can go for a day trip?
Day10: Catch early morning flight from Paris for back home.
Does the itinerary looks fine or I should change it.
This is my first time in Switzerland so please send me your valuable feedback to help me plan it in a better way.
Thanks.
Day1: Reach Geneva early morning. See Geneva and overnight in Geneva
Day2: Visit Lausanne, Montreux and Zermatt. Overnight in Geneva. Should I move one of these to Day 1 or it's ok?
Day3: Move from Geneva to Interlaken. See Interlaken. Overnight in Interlaken.
Day4: Excursion to Jungfraujoch. Overnight at Interlaken.
Day5: Move from Interlaken to Lucerne. See Lucerne. Overnight in Lucerne.
Day6: Visit Mount Pilatus or Rigi or Titlis. Which will be better? Any recommendations.
Day7: Move from Swiss to Paris. See Paris.
Day8: See Paris.
Day9: make some excursion from Paris. Is there any place with beaches near Paris where I can go for a day trip?
Day10: Catch early morning flight from Paris for back home.
Does the itinerary looks fine or I should change it.
This is my first time in Switzerland so please send me your valuable feedback to help me plan it in a better way.
Thanks.
Jul 13th, 2011, 09:09 AM
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If you are in europe for 9 days it is almost guaranteed that you will se at lest some rain. Yuo may get a little or a lot, one day or several. If this will spoil yuor vacation - europe probably isn;t for you.
(And the tops of mountains tend to be quite windy - and there you may well get snow.)
(And the tops of mountains tend to be quite windy - and there you may well get snow.)
Jul 13th, 2011, 10:18 PM
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I am in very early stages of planning my first Europe trip and don't know much about the area. If a beach trip is not feasible in this time period maybe I will skip it this time.
I wanted to touch a little bit of Paris also on this trip. So what do you think will be a good option:
a) 6 days in Swiss + 3 in Paris OR 7 days in Swiss + 2 Days in Paris.
b) How is the weather in the first week of Oct in Swiss and Paris. What are the general conditions like in Interlaken, Lucerne and Paris where I will be staying for most of my trip. I will pack my bags accordingly.
I wanted to touch a little bit of Paris also on this trip. So what do you think will be a good option:
a) 6 days in Swiss + 3 in Paris OR 7 days in Swiss + 2 Days in Paris.
b) How is the weather in the first week of Oct in Swiss and Paris. What are the general conditions like in Interlaken, Lucerne and Paris where I will be staying for most of my trip. I will pack my bags accordingly.
Jul 13th, 2011, 11:34 PM
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Beaches in October in Europe will not be pleasant, so I'd drop the idea of a beach until you can visit in Summer.
As has been said, if it's your first time to Paris, you will find 2 full days is nowhere near enough, but it's a start if you just stay in the city, don't plan on any day trips this time.
Switzerland - you're moving around a lot to see a lot, I get that, but I'd suggest that you stay in Geneva on your first night, then make your way to Luzern/Luerne first as you can train you way back towards Lausanne, etc and take the TGV to Paris from there without backtracking later.
In Luzern, to get to Mt Titlis takes an hour on the train to Engelberg, then a 10min walk to the base station for Titlis, so allow a whole day to get up, wander around, go on the ice flyer, etc and get back to Luzern. Pilatus takes 20mins on the public bus, then allow 30-45mins if going up on the cable car, or you could combine a lake cruise (30mins) from Luzern to Alpnachstadt, take the cog rail up, wander around for a bit then take the cable car back down (to Kriens) and the #1 blue and white bus back to the city. Rigi can also be reached by 1hour boat ride to Vitznau, then cog rail up, then back down to Weggis, bus to Kussnacht and train to Luzern. It's a very popular trip and would likely be the one which you would prefer.
That takes care of 3 nights already, so for the next section, I would suggest travelling to Lauterbrunnen from Luzern and staying either there or Murren (up the hill a bit) for 2 nights and visiting Jungfraujoch on the full day. On your last day, you can take the very scenic Golden Pass train ride from Interlaken (you can reach Interlaken Ost station from Lauterbrunnen by train without changing) to Montreux. Lakes, mountains, fields, cows, they are all on this route so you'll get your fill. Then you can stay in Montreux overnight, the next day travelling by train to Lausanne briefly (if you still need to see it) then continue from their on the TGV to Paris and you'll be there in 3.5hrs.
That way, you have extra time in Paris on arrival afternoon as well as the extra day taken from Switzerland. I realise I've taken Zermatt out, but I think you were just going there to see the Matterhorn, rather than go up. If you still need to see/go up the Matterhorn, then you'll need to leave Lauterbrunnen and go directly to Zermatt (via Interlaken anyway) in the morning, go up/see the Matterhorn, stay in Zermatt overnight and the next day travel from Zermatt to Paris via Geneva (quicker but still a long day) without seeing Montreux or Lausanne. This would also work as they may not interest you as much as all of the mountains, so leave them out if that's the case.
Don't forget that by early October it's getting dark around 6pm or so, thus there will be less daylight to play with.
As has been said, if it's your first time to Paris, you will find 2 full days is nowhere near enough, but it's a start if you just stay in the city, don't plan on any day trips this time.
Switzerland - you're moving around a lot to see a lot, I get that, but I'd suggest that you stay in Geneva on your first night, then make your way to Luzern/Luerne first as you can train you way back towards Lausanne, etc and take the TGV to Paris from there without backtracking later.
In Luzern, to get to Mt Titlis takes an hour on the train to Engelberg, then a 10min walk to the base station for Titlis, so allow a whole day to get up, wander around, go on the ice flyer, etc and get back to Luzern. Pilatus takes 20mins on the public bus, then allow 30-45mins if going up on the cable car, or you could combine a lake cruise (30mins) from Luzern to Alpnachstadt, take the cog rail up, wander around for a bit then take the cable car back down (to Kriens) and the #1 blue and white bus back to the city. Rigi can also be reached by 1hour boat ride to Vitznau, then cog rail up, then back down to Weggis, bus to Kussnacht and train to Luzern. It's a very popular trip and would likely be the one which you would prefer.
That takes care of 3 nights already, so for the next section, I would suggest travelling to Lauterbrunnen from Luzern and staying either there or Murren (up the hill a bit) for 2 nights and visiting Jungfraujoch on the full day. On your last day, you can take the very scenic Golden Pass train ride from Interlaken (you can reach Interlaken Ost station from Lauterbrunnen by train without changing) to Montreux. Lakes, mountains, fields, cows, they are all on this route so you'll get your fill. Then you can stay in Montreux overnight, the next day travelling by train to Lausanne briefly (if you still need to see it) then continue from their on the TGV to Paris and you'll be there in 3.5hrs.
That way, you have extra time in Paris on arrival afternoon as well as the extra day taken from Switzerland. I realise I've taken Zermatt out, but I think you were just going there to see the Matterhorn, rather than go up. If you still need to see/go up the Matterhorn, then you'll need to leave Lauterbrunnen and go directly to Zermatt (via Interlaken anyway) in the morning, go up/see the Matterhorn, stay in Zermatt overnight and the next day travel from Zermatt to Paris via Geneva (quicker but still a long day) without seeing Montreux or Lausanne. This would also work as they may not interest you as much as all of the mountains, so leave them out if that's the case.
Don't forget that by early October it's getting dark around 6pm or so, thus there will be less daylight to play with.
