[Removed user]

13 June 2017 at 2:52:29 #812241

Hi Friends of Switzerland. We have recently returned from 8 nights and 9 days in glorious Switzerland (from 16-24 May 2017). The weather was brilliant and most of our trip went to plan, thanks to contributors of MySwissAlps.

We had planned to rent the Swiss Travellers WiFi but a few information places we visited in Zurich and Luzern hadn’t heard of it! We settled for a SALT SIM card at a cost of 14.95 CHF (on special that day!), giving us 20 CHF credit of phone and internet. This lasted us 6 days. We could renew for 30 CHF or buy a new one for 20 CHF.

We missed the best part of Lake Luzern because a man in tourist information centre showed us a map of the lake as far as Alpnachstad, from where we caught the cog train to Mt Pilatus. Looking at his map it seemed we were going to do the whole lake cruise! We had planned this trip carefully before leaving home and were going to do it in two stages. We got easily rattled, especially after a long flight!
The visit to Mt Pilatus was well worth it. The weather was very warm too.

The day we planned to visit Jungfraujoch, it was covered in cloud and we went up to the Schilthorn, the trip being spectacular all the way from Lauterbrunnen, where we were based. We later had time to visit Grindelwald via Kleine Scheidegg.
We were given the web address of Swisspanorama.com, which gives you up to date photos of the local mountains and the cloud cover in Jungfrau area.

Jungfraujoch was under complete cloud cover the whole day! We experienced one showery day, traveling to Zermatt. We did miss the more scenic route from Interlaken Ost to Zermatt via Kandersteg due to some confusion on our part and we got off the train a station too early. However, the shorter more direct train trip was scenic.

The next morning we got to see the Matterhorn from our accommodation and for most of the rest of the day from the town and Gornergrat. A real highlight for us!

We enjoyed the Glacier Express but enjoyed the shorter trip on the Bernina Express from Pontresina to Tirano even more. Both trains were very crowded so we decided to return from Tirano to Pontresina on the regional train. As other people have mentioned, you could open windows and move from side to side to take photos.

We completed our tour of Switzerland by train from Pontresina, Klosters to Rapperswil, where we caught the Lake Zurich ferry to Zurich. Very enjoyable. The weather magic!

Most of the trips were fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. The Swiss Rail system is superb- clean, comfortable and punctual and we travelled 2nd class. Having access to the SBB app while on the train is very helpful. The train conductors are also helpful. Accessing SBB timetable via google allows you to put in a “via” stop while the mobile app doesn’t give you that option. We would love to return to Switzerland and will only stay in one or two places next time!

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[Removed user]

13 June 2017 at 4:59:26 #865029

>> Accessing SBB timetable via google allows you to put in a “via” stop while the mobile app doesn’t give you that option.

Yes, that option is also available in the SBB app 🙂 See here:

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/sbb-mobile-app

Glad you had such a wonderful trip with mostly good weather! I enjoyed reading about your adventures – and misadventures!

A few travel mishaps are inevitable every now and then! I had a few on my last trip too, such as waiting in the wrong place for an infrequent bus, consequently missing it, and so having to give up my original plans for that day! But having a Swiss Travel Pass meant I could change plans and do something else without having to worry about wasted tickets!

I do hope you will get back to Switzerland again some time, and that you finally get to see the views at the Jungfraujoch on a clear day.

Alpenrose

[Removed user]

13 June 2017 at 6:21:36 #865030

Hi Woodies2!

Great to hear you had a great trip! It sounds like fun even with a few hiccups (I find they make trips more fun/unique whereas my wife (German) hates any schedule changes haha).

Thanks for the swiss-panorama website – useful!

We’ve had nothing but good feedback on the Traveler's WiFi – though I’m not surprised locals haven’t heard of it…It would be nice if the tourist info had though (clearly Traveler’s WiFi needs to visit Swiss tourism to tell them about their product!)

You can access the “via” stop on the SBB app (for any other readers wondering about it) I use it all the time, but you have to hit a settings button in the app to bring it up. Glad to hear you were able to find it through Google and the SBB website in the end!

Thanks again for your trip report! I’ve moved this thread to the Trip Reports forum for other to find more easily.

Lucas

[rockoyster]

14 June 2017 at 5:36:02 #865031

Hi Woodies2

Thanks for an entertaining report. We arrived in Switzerland 18 May and the weather was fantastic. I’ll be doing a trip report when I get over the jet lag (only arrived back in Australia late last night).

Where did you buy your Salt SIM? Mine cost CHF10 at the Salt shop in Basel. (see http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/around-switzerland-via-stp-flex-and-sbb-mobile-app)

The Salt Sim cost me less than 25% of what a Travellers WiFi would have done for the same period.

[Removed user]

15 June 2017 at 10:40:03 #865032

Hey woodies2!

I had the exact same question as rockoyster’s. Could you please post more details about where exactly you bought your salt SIM? And how it cost you that much? Thanks!

[Removed user]

15 June 2017 at 23:11:36 #865033

Hi, Jayy123. Unfortunately, we can’t remember exactly where we purchased SALT SIM card. It was in a Post Office, most likely in Berne. We didn’t think CHF 20 or 14.95 was too bad. We had good internet connection and we were able to send photos to Australia. The available data lasted 6 days. I managed to lose my Credit card on day 7 so we had to purchase another brand SIM to make international calls. It cost a lot more, I think CHF 30 and we only used half the credit! It was overall cheaper than Swiss Travel Wifi.

[rockoyster]

15 June 2017 at 23:22:06 #865034

Hi Woodies2,

Thanks for the update. I had been under the impression you could only get the Salt pre-pay SIM at a Salt outlet. Good to know they are available elsewhere albeit for a marked up price. Still great value.

I’m presuming you had to recharge after 6 days because you were using the phone for voice calls as well as data. My CHF 20 credit lasted 10 days using data only and I was able to recharge for CHF20 for another 10 days at the Salt shop in Lugano.

[Removed user]

16 June 2017 at 14:58:28 #865035

HI rockoyster,

i think the best offer so far I’ve come across is yours of CHF 10 Salt prepay card..

Just to clarify it gave u Chf 2 credit per day for unlimited internet?? a total of chf 20 credit for 10 days…

I’ll be there for 6 days… so any advice how to use it or any other option that suits me??

Also was incoming calls and sms free on this… and if u make an outgoing call from it how does it affects the balance on per day basis??

TIA

[rockoyster]

16 June 2017 at 19:46:40 #865036

Hi himarora,

You wrote . . . Just to clarify it gave u Chf 2 credit per day for unlimited internet?? a total of chf 20 credit for 10 days… I’ll be there for 6 days… so any advice how to use it or any other option that suits me??

For your initial outlay of CHF10 you get CHF20 credit. Internet access (mobile data) uses up CHF2/day for any day you use mobile data (to be perfectly accurate it’s CHF1.99/day but who’s counting). Internet access is actually limited to 10Gb/day which to all intents and purposes is unlimited (unless you spend all day streaming Netflix instead of taking in the Swiss scenery ;-0 ). If you are only there 6 days CHF10 is still ridiculously cheap.

And . . . Also was incoming calls and sms free on this… and if u make an outgoing call from it how does it affects the balance on per day basis??

As far as I know incoming calls and sms are free but you may have to check with Salt on that. I never paid any attention to the voice/sms side as I also had my Australian SIM installed so that I could be contacted from home.

Outgoing call/sms rates are as per the attached. Charges for any calls you make or sms you send are deducted from your available credit. If you use sms/voice then the amount of credit you have to cover mobile data will be reduced accordingly. You’d need to make quite a few calls to reduce the available credit to the point you wouldn’t have enough credit to cover your internet requirements for your 6 day visit.

Happy travels.