Planning the Switzerland tour

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    20 February 2012 at 11:33:26 #804950

    Dear Forum members

    I and my wife shall be in Germany(Nuremberg) in March and April 2012. We are planning a trip to Switzerland on or around 20th. April 2012, for about 6/7 days so that I am back at Nuremberg by 25th/26th April. I have browsed through the various passes and feel that the 2 for 1 offer on the 4 day Swiss Saver pass is a good pass to use on this trip. I wish to visit 3 cities- Lucerne,Interlaken and Montreaux. I would be grateful if someone could guide me on the following:

    1. How to distribute these days among the three cities of Lucerne,Interlaken and Montreaux so as to get to see the best places nearby.
    2. Which places(mountains,lakes,monuments,chocolate factory,wineyards etc) should I visit?
    3. I have heard about the Golden Pass Panaromic trains which pass through the most scenic places and I would therefore like to travel on these trains one way at least.How do I get that?
    4. Given the above requirements, what would be the most economical way to travel and which passes to buy.Would the 2 for 1 offer suffice or any more passes would be required for local travel?
    5. Which cities(near the above mentioned cities) would be more cost effective to stay, in terms of hotel tariffs?

    Thanks

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    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    21 February 2012 at 11:45:48 #834971

    Hello sudhanshu! You’re right, you should definitely use the 4 day Swiss Saver Pass or 4 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass offer (the latter may be more convenient, since you can divide the 4 free travel days of the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass over your 6-7 day stay.) The pages I linked to provide more information, including links to map which show where free traveling is allowed and where additional (reduced) tickets have to be purchased.

    As for your further questions: I think you should first decide which highlights you definitely want to see. Browsing this forum will give you lots of ideas on this. You can use the day trip overview for the Interlaken region as well. Once you know what you’d like to see, you can start choosing how many days you want to spend on each location. Hotels can be found and booked through this page (we plan to update it soon, offering lists of manually selected, affordable and centrally located hotels in the towns you mentioned.) You can plan your day trips with the timetable.

    You could use the Golden Pass train when traveling from Lucerne or Interlaken to Montreux, or the other way around of course. You’ll need seat reservations apart from your Swiss Saver (Flexi) Pass.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    24 February 2012 at 20:08:46 #834972

    Thanks Annika. I have decided to book 2 nos. of 4 day (2 in 1 promotion offer) of Swiss pass so as to get 8 days of free travel from 19th April to 26th April 2012. However when I am trying to book this pass, I am finding that this pass will be delivered to my address in India only(booking through Rail Europe). Since I would already have left India by 7th march for Germany, I do not have a clear 14 days to collect this pass at my India address. Then I tried to book through the STC website, which says that the delivery address can be different from the billing address. I can ask them to deliver the passes to the German address where I would be staying. However, the STC site is not opening. I tried opening it from other Swiss sites also, but it is not opening. I do not know what is the problem. Can you please help?

    Thanks

    [quote]Annika said: Hello sudhanshu! You’re right, you should definitely use the 4 day Swiss Saver Pass or 4 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass offer (the latter may be more convenient, since you can divide the 4 free travel days of the Swiss Saver Flexi Pass over your 6-7 day stay.) The pages I linked to provide more information, including links to map which show where free traveling is allowed and where additional (reduced) tickets have to be purchased.
    As for your further questions: I think you should first decide which highlights you definitely want to see. Browsing this forum will give you lots of ideas on this. You can use the day trip overview for the Interlaken region as well. Once you know what you’d like to see, you can start choosing how many days you want to spend on each location. Hotels can be found and booked through this page (we plan to update it soon, offering lists of manually selected, affordable and centrally located hotels in the towns you mentioned.) You can plan your day trips with the timetable.
    You could use the Golden Pass train when traveling from Lucerne or Interlaken to Montreux, or the other way around of course. You’ll need seat reservations apart from your Swiss Saver (Flexi) Pass.[/quote]

    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    25 February 2012 at 1:57:48 #834973

    Hello sudhanshu,

    Delivery through Rail Europe India takes about 5 business days so that should be in time for you. STC is indeed not working currently. They’re probably down for maintenance. I’ll keep an eye on it and post back here.

    Annika
    Moderator
    7103 posts
    27 February 2012 at 6:22:18 #834974

    Helle sudhanshu,

    Your can order through STC again, the site works fine now. They deliver to European address as well.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    27 February 2012 at 11:54:54 #834975

    Thanks Annika for the information.

    [quote]Annika said: Helle sudhanshu,
    Your can order through STC again, the site works fine now. They deliver to European address as well.[/quote]

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