Excellent report! Thanks for taking the time to report.

Living only 30 min. away from Rapperswil, I've been there a few times. For families, the Rapperswil zoo, sponsored by the Swiss circus family Knie, is a magnet. A delightful smallish zoo for smaller children. The old town of Rapperswil is indeed delightful. Chock full of history, I found the architecture more appealing than the "roses". In fact, during an organised tour a few years ago, I was surprised that they market themselves as the rose city. However, this has more to do with its history than the number of roses in the city. There are a few roses and there is a rose garden, but I find the location, the castle and the old town much more interesting.

A great trip report yk! I loved the pictures from Zurich. I was there in 1998 and did not go into the Fraumünster! I guess it's on the "to visit" list for next time.

Thank you for posting the wonderful pictures.

TR

Thank you again for all your comments!

CPG - gosh, I don't know! My parents travel quite a lot independently; I'll have to see what's on their wish list next.

Here are some of my <b>final thoughts</b> on Switzerland.

• Gorgeous natural scenery, with its mountains and lakes
• Even though many towns are located on the lakeshore (Geneva, Lugano, Luzern, Zurich just to name a few), every one is very different from the other.
• We took ferries on 4 different lakes on this trip; again, each lake is unique.
• Though a small country, its various regions and cultures are very diverse.
• The country is very tourist-friendly.
• I love the efficiency and punctuality. Most of the trains/trams/buses are on time, or just 1-2 minutes late at most.
• In the cities, there is very little traffic jam. Public transport moves people around quickly and efficiently. This is a huge contrast to the chaos I encountered when I ended my trip in Manhattan.
• Everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful. We did not meet one single rude person.
• Switzerland is <i>very</i> expensive, especially when it comes to hotel accommodation and food prices. We circumvented these 2 issues by
1) Staying in a family room for 4 instead of 2 rooms
2) Staying in an apt when possible
3) Picking accommodations that have kitchenettes so we can cook some of our meals. In general, the cost of one main dish at a restaurant is enough to feed the 4 of us if we cook on our own.

And these final thoughts are again spot on!

First, a note about Zurich. I was also pleasantly surprised by what it had to offer. And locals dress very smart and sophisticated, especially along Banhofstrasse. :D

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As for the trip itself, I echo all of yk's thoughts, but will add a few of my own:

The diversity of the country really surprised me. The different regions are so distinct from each other, yet each is still un-mistakenly "Swiss". In fact, if someone could only visit ONE Western European country in his/her own life, I'd highly recommend Switzerland, as in a way it is a bit like going to Germany, France and Italy all-in-one.

We didn't encounter any single problem for a complicated 2-week trip, with everybody helpful and friendly like yk said. That was itself remarkable. In my travels around the world, the only place I find comparable is Japan.

Driving was easy. Well, we also had TWO GPSes with us, but still I had no problem finding my ways, and to find parking spaces or garage anywhere. It is a country that I would absolutely love to drive in again. Next time, I'd do all the major mountain passes.

The stay at the rental in Unterterzan was very very lovely, and the Heidiland region is very nice and scenic, and I knew nothing about it before this trip. I wouldn't mind just staying in that area for a week and do some hiking and visiting the smaller towns there.

Anyways, my parents had a lot of fun, especially my dad. Revisiting lots of places he had visited 40-50 years ago at his age (75), and chatting with locals (mostly in German) - yk and I are still too young to understand that feeling.

Finally got a chance to read the first half in detail and look at all the photos. I didn't know anything about Switzerland before, but now I want to visit Geneva and Lausanne.

I like your monochromatic water and sky shots -- the blue one of Ouchy, the green one of Lake Brienz, and also the gray one from Chillon. How did the inside of the chateau look? The open air museum sounds fascinating. Hard to believe the photo from Mt Rigi wasn't from an airplane!

Fabulous colors on that red-shuttered Wengen house with the "Fondue Raclette" sign, and the photo of the potted plants on stacked wood is so beautiful. Looks like you got more detail shots when you took off on your own? The Staubbach Falls photo with houses on the bottom (img_6429) should be made into a poster and framed.

I'm amazed that you could pull off such an active itinerary with parents in tow, and that they pack lighter than you! (I'm the only light-packer in my family, despite being the clotheshorse).

Still savoring the dark chocolate. Cailler 80% now joins Poulain 86% and Julius Meinl Edelbitterschokolade on my list of favorites. Now I have to go out and buy some cheese.

Fifi, thanks for your comments. I'm glad you like the dark chocolate!

I don't think I've ever seen so many shades of blue and green in nature in my life before until this trip. That's why I said each lake we visited is unique in its own way.

The inside of Chillon is like other medieval chateaux - cold, damp and dark. It's nothing like those Romantic chateaux in France!

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...0/IMG_6231.jpg


This photo of the main street of Wengen was taken from the steps leading up the the Hotel Schonegg, was it not?

I have stood in the same exact spot. It is strange to think that we don't know each other, but we have walked in the same footsteps.

Liz

Hi Liz,

I didn't make note of the name of the hotel, but you must be right. It was towards the end of the main street, and I sneaked up a flight of stone steps (to the hotel) for the IMG_6231 shot.

Yes, those are definitely the steps that lead to the terrace of Hotel Schonegg. Too bad you didn't know about this hotel before you left for Switzerland. The chef of the hotel, Hubert Mayer, is one of the best chefs in Europe. You should have had lunch there.

Very $$$, but worth every penny.

Liz

I am starting to post pics from this trip. So far, only for the flights and Day 1. This will take a while to complete since I still have photos from my Tibet trip in June to process. So, check back once in a while:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/switzerland0910

Great photos! Sorry yk but your brother is definitely the photographer in the family!

Thanks, sassy_cat. yk has no intention of carrying a heavy dSLR with a few lenses.

BTW, album updated with Day 2 (Lausanne, Cruise of Lake Geneva) and Day 3 (Montreux, Chillon, GoldenPass line to Interlaken). Just 10 more days to go.

rkkwan, I loved the photo of the cygnet.

I'm not into the donkey work involved in photography either but I appreciate the results! :)

Added Day 4 Ballenberg & Lake Brienz, and Day 5 Rigi, Luzern, Bern. 4 albums total. 8 more days to go, but I'm going to Asia/Australia next week, so those have to wait... :)

I thoroughly enjoyed your report, YK and rkkwan. I've taken several trips to Switzerland and never tire of it. I agree that old town Zurich should not be skipped. I'll be ending my next trip there. I've also been wanting to visit Rapperswil, but alas, it will have to wait.

Loved your trip report, so much work, congratulations! I'm bookmarking to check out all the links

Wonderful trip report! It brought back some wonderful memories and made me hope to visit some of the places you visited that we didn't. Now I need to get my own trip report finished!

Bumping this thread. I have uploaded and labelled about half the trip. From Day 1 to Day 7, including Lake Geneva Area, Bernese Oberland, as well as the Glacier Express:

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/switzerland0910

Ticino portion will be next.

All photos posted. 20 albums, 1,793 photos. With captions, of course.

http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/switzerland0910