Our first trip to Switzerland

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    9 November 2012 at 13:48:25 #805698

    Halo!
    I need your assistance to help me plan the picture perfect holiday in beautiful Switzerland. We will go skiing with family in St Anton am Arlberg from 22-28 December. From there me and my boyfriend want to return to spend the rest of our time exploring the BEST of Switzerland in the time we have. We will have from the 28th Dec to the 4th of January flying out of Zurich at 9h30 in the morning. Could you please recommend an itinarary to see the best of Switzerland in 7 days. We would also want to experience a special new year’s celebration. We will not do any more skiing in Switzerland but want to have some fun adventures (dog sledding, toboggan, mount pilatus) outdoors when the weather allows it.
    Could you also recommend hotels in these towns that you recommend for our trip
    We need to urgently apply for our visas but first need to work out our trip and book accommodation

    just some other questions:
    1. what is the easiest way to travel in Switzerland. maybe a swiss pass for 8 days? if there any specials available
    2. We want to be based in 3 central towns so that we can do day trips from the there

    Hope you will be able to help us

    Bernadette

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    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    11 November 2012 at 6:48:21 #837421

    Welcome Bernadette! Great that you get to visit Switzerland for the first time this December. Central locations for exploring Switzerland would be Lucerne, Interlaken and maybe Zermatt or nearby towns. All three allow you to make day trips and get up to viewing points and snow parks. Affordable and centrally located hotels near railway stations are to be found at the Lucerne, Interlaken and Zermatt hotel pages. From Lucerne, you could visit Pilatus and Rigi. Interlaken gives access to a stunning mountain region including highlighs such as the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn. Getting to Zermatt requires some traveling time (please consult the timetable to plan all trips) and you’d also be fine just staying on the northern side of the alps. But if you definitely want to visit three towns and get to see different regions, Zermatt or Saas-Fee would be good options, especially if you get there through the scenic regional Lötschberg Express via Kandersteg and Goppenstein. Don’t forget to visit the Gornergrat once you’re there.

    Yes, an 8 day Swiss Pass would definitely be the most comfortabel way of traveling, especially if you want to include longer train journeys and plan to travel nearly each day. You can get a Saver Pass, but you may also qualify for the even cheaper Youth Pass.

    I hope this gets you started!

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    16 November 2012 at 0:09:11 #837422

    Halo Annika,
    thank you for the advice! We’ve booked our trip and will be traveling to following amazing places
    St Anton – Zernez
    Zernez – Murren
    Murren – Lucerne
    Lucerne – Zurich
    Could you please recommend us if we should buy a 8 day swiss pass or 1/2 half fare pass traveling to these destinations to be most economical for us? We unfortunately do not quality for the youth pass any more 😉
    we want to do as much excursions as possible so need to book a pass that’s most economical and not spend a fortune on train tickets
    Regards from a warm beautiful Cape Town

    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    19 November 2012 at 14:46:33 #837423

    Hi Bernadette! You indicate that you want to do as much excursions as possible. In that case, the 8 day Swiss Saver Pass is definitely the best choice. All regular train, bus and boat transfers will be for free. You will only need additional tickets for mountain transportation.

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