We are the group of 4 adults and 2kids age 9
and 13 planning a week in Switzerland. We intend to stay 4 nights in Zermatt,
2 nights in Montreux during 9-16 April.
In Zermatt,we intend to have snow activities on the mountains,but not ski.
We have many questions to ask.
Could anyone pls help?
1.Where to buy winter gear clothing for snow activities?we will arrive at Zurich airport.Should we buy at Foxtown outlet in Zurich,or in Interlaken or even in Zermatt?
2.What passes should we buy?
3.We still have one more free night.
Pls recommend where will be the best place
for us to spend.If possible,we want to stay in a real swiss village.
Thanks a million.

Hi Porna,

You won't be skiing but will you be snowshoeing/toboganning? You'll still need waterproof clothes.

I wouldn't buy them at Zermatt itself. Zurich has plenty of places. I'm not sure about foxtown. I went there when it was first opened and found it quite dead.

One place to get great advice is the yahoo groups expats-in-zurich. You could join it temporarily. IT has 600+ members.

But honestly, if you're only there for a week with 4 nights in Zermatt and 2 nights in Montreaux and coming in from Zurich instead of Geneva, I would say, try to get your clothes before. Clothes are cheaper in the US/UK. If not, come into Zurich and head to the main street - Bahnhofstrasse - and go to Manor, C&A, Coop Sport - and the many other shops on the street. You'll find something there that isn't too expensive.

I don't think you have enough time to actually go shopping.

You should find most answers about passes on www.zermatt.ch - if you're referring to mountain passes.

www.sbb.ch is the main train websites and they do offer train+mountain passes. I think you should check there as there probably is something for zermatt.

I can't really tell you much about the villages around Zermatt. Hopefully you'll get better answers from the other posters.


Sorry if post is disjointed. In a bit of a hurry here.


Good luck!

Hi porna,

1. I agree with nanda zrh that snow-clothes will be cheaper in the US (if that's where you are); try a discount store like Target, etc. Alternately, you could rent pants and a coat from one of the sports stores.

2. I've always found the Half Fare Card to be the best value. It costs 99 chf for one month, and during that month you pay half the fare on trains, busses, and boats.

3. I'm afraid I don't know how to interpret "a real swiss village." Do you mean "small" or "untouristed" or "in the mountains"??? Do you want this place to be convenient for either Geneva or Zurich airport? Anyway, I can recommend Morges or Vevey on Lake Geneva as untouristed and lovely. I can recommend Wengen (in the Berner Oberland) and Saanen (on the extreme western edge of the Berner Oberland) as charming mountain villages, though Wengen is quite full of tourists.

Let me know if I can help more!

s

Where's the place near Zermatt where they train the St. Bernards? That would be a fun thing to do and see.

Nanda zrh,Swandav 2000 and Patrick, thank you very much for your kind help.

Yes, we will have toboganning and sleigh riding in Zermatt.I know buying clothes in Switzerland is very very expensive.But we come from tropical country and Switzerland is our first and main stop in Europe.
It's very hard to decide where to travel in Switzerland.It seems that all places are worth to visit including Wengen and St.Bernard.

My friends and I will finalise the trip this weekend. Maybe we have to change plan a bit.

Thanks again for all of your help.