4-5 days in switzerland help me out please

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    6 August 2011 at 23:52:53 #804613

    hi , i am ika from indonesia

    i am planning a vacation in switzerland with my husband and my 5 year old daughter in early oct 2011, i ve been reading n browsing some of articles explains places in switzwerland, but got me so confused also since it will be our 1st time visit

    can you please advise us best itenerary on how to spend our 4 days trip in switzerland
    our flight schedule : arrived at geneva on 3th oct 2011 and will be leaving for copenhagen from geneva on 7th oct 2011 (@ 10 in the morning)
    we already booked our stay in ibis geneva gare (geneva) from 3th to 7th oct 2011, we would like to see the titlits, lake geneva, water fountain, zurich if possible and other best places, but i am still confused about the efficient routes considering limited time and also the cheapest way to get us exploring switzerland in 4 days

    we are planning to buy the 4 days swiss saver pass

    Please please help us get the right, most time efficient an cheapest way to explore swiss not to mention advice of some attractive other places that i havent mention before, also the possibility if we can experience to ride the scenic train using swiss saver pass

    Tq very much for ur time n looking forward to have ur advice

    Ika n Fam

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    Annika
    Moderator
    7104 posts
    13 August 2011 at 6:56:59 #833895

    Hello ika! Welcome to the forum. A 4 day Swiss Saver Pass sounds like a good plan, considering the trips you want to make. Just fill out your country of residence and other data in the upper right corner of the Swiss Pass page to find the cheapest purchase option.

    I understand that Geneva will be your base during your stay. In that case, you’ll have to make some long day trips to get to the cities and viewing points you have in mind. The timetable will be of help here: just fill out your departure and arrival station for an overview of connections and traveling times. Please note that the Titlis would require a very long day trip from Geneva: a single trip takes about 4h30. You may opt for another viewing point, such as Glacier3000 (2h40 for a single trip). You may also like the Chocolate Train leaving from Montreux, or a part of the Golden Pass train ride (up to Gstaad or Zweisimmen for example): this is a very scenic route. The trip is covered by your Swiss Saver Pass, except for seat reservations.

    I hope this gets your started!

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    13 August 2011 at 23:37:43 #833896

    hi annika, tx for your reply,

    so its true ya, better for me to buy 4 day swiss saver pass than swiss half card?
    can we buy it by the time we arrive at geneva or is it better we buy it online? is the rate the same?
    for reservation seat on golden pass should we reserve in every journey?should we reserve along when we buy the swiss pass ?
    i ve read some other topics , and want to ask regarding free travel day? is it means the day we use the swiss pass or other policy in switzerland implementing free travel day :-), just to make sure my comprehension 🙂

    Best Regards

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    14 August 2011 at 3:39:20 #833897

    Hi Ika,

    No, the rate is not the same. Online is mostly cheaper. Please follow Annika’s advice to see for yourself.

    Traveling on the Golden Pass line only requires seat reservations if you plan to use the Golden Pass Panoramic train. Regular regional trains do not require reservations. The page Annika referred to explains all details about seat reservation.

    “Free travel day” is a term frequently used for days where you use a rail pass to travel around for free and unlimited. A Swiss (Saver) Pass only has free travel days.

    Enjoy your traveling!

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    14 August 2011 at 4:03:42 #833898

    thank you for your quick reply annika,

    I m surely gonna follow your advice:-)

    regarding seat reservation on golden pass, i should get the fix itinerary 1st before making reservation like the route and the date?
    as your advice i should take the route from geneva to gstaad/zweismmen right?

    1 more thing annika, where is the nearest place from geneva that i can view many beautiful pine tree?

    Warm Regards

    Annika
    Moderator
    7104 posts
    15 August 2011 at 4:30:21 #833899

    Hello Ika. You can make seat reservations through the Golden Pass website. The right link is mentioned at the seat reservation page. You’ll first have to pick one specific train connection before making seat reservations. If you want, you can check the timetable at the Golden Pass website or in the general Swiss timetable I mentioned before. The right route is Geneva-Gstaad-Zweisimmen indeed.

    The ‘Pfynwald‘ close to Sierre is a beautiful pine tree forest.

    Removed user
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    15 August 2011 at 22:27:52 #833900

    tq so much for your information Annika, its surely very useful 🙂

    sincerely

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    17 August 2011 at 3:39:21 #833901

    Hi again annika,

    regarding the purchasing of swiss saver pass, already tried n choose to buy swisspass via raileurope since its the cheapest, but the closest country to us the website acknowledge is singapore, and i m in indonesia
    is the print out of our transaction can be acknowldge as the ticket? because i dont want to choose to be delivered (we have a bad experience before while we ordered eurostar online ticket, that time we choose to be delivered but didn’t come to our home until last minute of our travel date, the eurostar in france couldnt re-print our ticket coz we select the option of “to be delivered”, as a result we have to buy new tickets 🙁 )

    BR

    Annika
    Moderator
    7104 posts
    17 August 2011 at 7:30:30 #833902

    Hi Ika! If you’re from Indonesia, you may prefer to purchase your Swiss Saver Pass at Trainticket rather than RailEurope. Did you enter your country of residence ‘Indonesia’ and the right pass variant ‘Swiss Saver Pass 4 days’ in the upper right corner of the Swiss Pass page, as I explained before? If you do so, you’ll see all rates applying to your country, and that shows that Trainticket is cheaper in your case than RailEurope.

    By the way, if you do prefer to purchase through RailEurope, that’s possible for Indonesia as well. Again, fill out your country and the right pass at the Swiss Pass page, and click the button for ordering at RailEurope. Add the right pass and proceed. When asked for your name and address, you can just select Indonesia from a small drop-downlist.

    Please note that there’s no alternative for having the passes sent to your home address in Indonesia when ordering online. I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience before, but in this case it’s the easiest and cheapest way to receive your Swiss Saver Pass. No, the print-out of the transaction won’t be acknowledged: you need the actual Swiss Saver Pass.

    Removed user
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    18 August 2011 at 4:51:19 #833903

    Hi annika,
    i just followed your instruction, but still like i informed you before, the websites didn’t acknowledge indonesia currency instead the converted to singapore dollar (SGD)
    So there’s no other way that i should select the delivery option if i want to buy online?
    Well in that case i will discuss it with my husband, for our consideration could give us information of the approximately price for 4 days swiss saver price if we buy at the ticket counter as soon as we arrived at geneva

    BR

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    18 August 2011 at 5:07:26 #833904

    Hi Ika,

    Yes, RailEurope Singapore will charge in SGD, as listed on the Swiss Pass page when you fill out your details like Annika explained. All purchase options are listed there, as well as prices when buying in Switzerland. I’m not sure what else to tell you. Just fill out your country, travelers and pass; read all the details presented to you; then decide which option suits you best.

    I hope this helps!

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    18 August 2011 at 5:21:20 #833905

    hi Arno,

    tx for your quick response,

    i do understand now,before i only concentrated at the cheapest price, didnt see the box at the bottom.

    yes already in the website ,the price if we come n buy from the ticket counter in switzerland, the difference is appoximately 100 sgd higher than buying online.

    that will be our consideration to the decide how are we gonna buy di swiss pass

    tq so much for ur help

    BR

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