sids

Hello everyone, i am planning for a Swiz-Paris trip along with my spouse and child(6yr)
Starting from Oct 7 to Oct 16.2011

1) Day 1 - Zurich airport (9am) to Luceren hotel ( 11 am), settle down, if possible 1/2 day trip to Mt Pilatus Kulm (is this possible, if i start this by 1 pm)
2) Day 2 - Day trip to Mt Titlis , back to room, evening if possible a lake trip
4) Day 3 - Early morning to interlaken via a golden pass line, halt at interlaken room
5) Day 4 - According to the weather visit Jungfraujoch or visit Montreux via the golden pass line and get back to hotel at interlaken
6) Day 5 - Interlaken to Zermatt, visit Gornergrat on this day and back to room
7) Day 6 - Zermatt to Chur (instead of St moritz) via the glacier express (heard Chur to St Moritz is not that much worth a visit..) halt at Chur
8) Day 7 Chur to Paris (Plz suggest the best way via Train, any scenic trains on the way?)
9) Day 8 visit to Disney Land
10) Day 9 1/2 day visit to Disney Land, evening visit around Paris
11) Day 10, depart back home by 2 pm

Please advice as i don't want to miss out any near by places in the above destinations.

P_Peppington

I don't know why you would want to visit the BO, then spend 2 1/2 hours on a train to go from Interlaken Ost to Montreaux. That would be 5 hours on a train in one day.

If you can't get up to the Jungfrau because of the weather, I would suggest spending the day in the BO doing something else. You could take a cruise on Lake Brienz or Lake Thun; take the cable car up to Murren/Gimmelwald/Stechelberg and bus back to Lauterbrunnen; visit Grindelwald and Wengen; There is plenty to do in the BO.

You seem to be using Interlaken as a base to explore another area of Switzerland instead of the BO. This is a mistake.

Pippy Peppington

Michael

To get to Paris it probably is best to catch the TGV from Basel. You might still be able to get reduced prices on the SNCF web site. I am assuming that you have a Swiss train pass to reduce the cost of travel in Switzerland. I do not know if that reduced price would apply if you booked the train from Zurich to Paris, which can be done, which is why I suggest looking at the TGV reduced price from Basel to Paris. The ticket from Chur to Basel would be a separate one.

P_Peppington

I just checked and the Mannlichen cable car is still running from Wengen to Mannlichen until Oct. 28.

One of the best walks in the BO: Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg. Much better than spending 5 hours on a train.

Pippy

PalenQ

About trains and passes - since you are in Switzerland for 8 days and are traveling a significant amount around on trains strongly look at the 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass - a Saaverpass for two folks traveling together on one pass - your child gets a free Family Pass and never pays a dime for any transports - even the Jungfraujoch trip which the Swiss Pass only gives a discount on - and when comparing fares look at pass prices in US dollars and Swiss francs - most of the past several years the exact same pass has been significantly cheaper bought in U S than in Switzerland - not always the case but was sizeable savings when I checked a few weeks back. and if you pay in dollars with a credit card you will not incur the often 3% charge on many credit cards for foreign transactions like those in Swiss francs.

That pass would cover all your transports from get there to get out except trips to mountain tops which it typically covers 50% (child goes free) except Wengen/Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch which is a 25% discount.

And if you travel to Paris by train on day 8 you also qualify for a Pass 2 discount on the TGVs - meaning your pass covers you part of the way and can be a good fare or go to www.voyages-sncf.com and book an online discount (act as far in advance as possible for that though as the number of discounted tickets is limited on each train I believe.

anyway some great sites for planning a Swiss rail trip - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com (check here for regular fares and pass prices bought in Switzerland in Swiss francs.

sids

Family card for the kid 0 CHF
Swiss Half Fare Card 220 CHF for 2 adults
Glacier Express 364 CHF for 2 adult and 1 child (with half fare card)
Mt Pilatus Trip 66 CHF for 2 adult + 1 child (with half fare card)
Mt Titlis Trip 110 CHF for 2 adult + 1 child (with half fare card)
Gornergrat 80 CHF for 2 adult + 1 child (with half fare card)
Gungfrau Still not able to get the rates (plz suggest accordingly)

Total Train Travel exp 840 CHF

do u guys suggest a better options than above, further made some more changes in the plan as below,

Day 1 - Zurich airport (9am) to Luceren hotel ( 11 am), settle down, if possible 1/2 day trip to Mt Pilatus Kulm (is this possible, if i start this by 1 pm)
2) Day 2 - Day trip to Mt Titlis , back to room, evening if possible a lake trip
4) Day 3 - Early morning to interlaken via a golden pass line, stuff the luggage at the locker, According to the weather visit Jungfraujoch or visit Montreux via the golden pass line and get back to hotel at interlaken
(basically looking forward to travel in the Golden pass train, my child loves the train travel so..)
6) Day 4 - Interlaken to Zermatt, visit Gornergrat on this day and back to room
7) Day 5 - Zermatt to Chur (instead of St moritz) via the glacier express (heard Chur to St Moritz is not that much worth a visit..) halt at Chur
8) Day 6 Chur to Paris (Plz suggest the best way via Train, any scenic trains on the way?)
9) Day 7 visit to Disney Land
10) Day 8 1/2 day visit to Disney Land, evening visit around Paris
11) Day 9, depart back home by 2 pm

Still wondering on this one
1/2 day trip to Mt Pilatus Kulm (is this possible, if i start this by 1 pm)

Thanks

PalenQ

well it is hard to believe that an 8-consedcutive day pass is much more than the Half-fare pass )costs about $130-140 to buy is much if any cheaper than the Half-Fare card - I would like to see the analysis of that. And with a pass you may do more than you anticipated - have you priced the Swiss Passes in U S dollars or just Swiss francs?

swandav2000

Hi sids,

I really think you are trying to do too much and have too many stops. Remember that every time you move bases, you lose about half a day of "outside time" because of the chores of packing up & checking out, then checking in & unpacking again. With a six-year-old child, this will take even longer! For that reason, I like to limit the number of times I move.

On days 4, 5, & 6, you are moving every day. On those days, you won't have time to see anything except the train tracks, the train stations, the hotels, and a few of the main streets of the towns you're in.

I really recommend that you make that difficult choice of seeing either the Oberland OR doing the Glacier Express with some time at Zermatt & St. Moritz/Chur (by the way, the countryside around St. Moritz is spectacular). I think your trip will be far more enjoyable and far more memorable if you cut down the number of stops.

Good luck as you plan!

s

marg

Re the trip to Pilatus, when we did it earlier this year the boat trip across the lake took 1.5 hours, then about 30 minutes on the funicular to get to the top. The return trip on the cable cars took about 30 minutes, then about 15 minutes on the bus back to Lucerne. I can't see why it wouldn't be possible in the time you have.
There is a new hotel/restaurant - possibly you could have dinner before beginning the return trip. If the cable cars run after dark, the views could be spectacular. The Lucerne tourist office can give you details.

PalenQ

Pilatus, however is very fickle about being clear up top. I have been in Lucerne many times and on the majority of days Pilatus has it seemed been enshrouded in fog or clouds - so if a clear day appears hop on it and also keep your options flexible as clouded in up top may be a waste of good money.

A_Guy_80

Hi sids, I did a 10 night trip to Switzerland and Paris and we spent 5 days each in BO and Paris. I think you are spending way too much tim eon trains. Switzerland is beautiful and is best experienced in the Alps walking and relaxing rather than from inside of train. Am also a bit confused that you are going all the way to Paris just to visit Disnelyland. Am assuming that you have been to Paris and explored it a few times before otherwise going there is so much more to do in Paris.

We used half fare cards as that was best value for our 5 days in Switzerland but then it was just me and my wife.
You are splitting your 8 nights 5 to 3 between Switzerland and Paris which seems fine. I will suggest just stick to Lucerne and Interlaken, 2 & 3 nights each.
Day 1: You could take it a little easy on your first day in Lucerne with a late afternoon walk around the city
Day 2: Mt Titlis
Day 3: To Interlaken + Lake Brienz Cruise
Day 4: Go to Wengen for Kleine Schiedegg Walk + Jungfrauoch
Day 5: Go to Grindlewald for walk from First to Bachalpsee
Day 6: You can catch train to Paris via Basel which will be quicker and spend later afternoon exploring Paris
Day 7: Disneyland
Day 8: I will keep this day again for Paris in general instead of Disnelyland

Have a good journey !!!