10 day road trip from Zurich – ideas
SriniN and his wife are visiting Switzerland from September 15th to 26th and are looking for a relaxed trip plan. They want to see Lichtenstein, enjoy hot springs, and are seeking recommendations for activities without a hectic schedule. They’re overwhelmed with planning and need some guidance.
- Consider using the Swiss Travel Pass for convenient access to public transport across Switzerland, which can also save you money.
- Check out hot springs like Leukerbad, which should be open now for a relaxing experience.
- For a leisurely day trip, Lichtenstein is easily reachable from Zurich by train and bus; make sure to try the local eateries.
- Explore beautiful regions like Jungfrau or Zermatt for stunning mountain views and serene lake boat rides.
AI-generated summary-
Hello All,
We just booked our tickets to Switzerland today and I am little overwhelmed on planning the trip. I and my wife will be arriving in Zurich from New York on Sept 15th. We are flying on Sunday Sept 26th early morning back home. We are planning to drive. We are reasonably fit in our early 50’s. I am wondering if someone can suggest some of the things we could do. We want to keep it slow paced and not pack it to the gills. We want to see Lichtenstein if possible. We also like hot springs and it would be great if we can try them out. Are they still open now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best
SriniN
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Hi SriniN and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Great that you are coming to wonderful Switzerland!
First of all, the Swiss rail system is amazing, clean and comfortable – there is no need to drive in Switzerland 🙂 I recommend you to try it in the end it can be also cheaper than renting a car and paying the parking costs and fuel etc. At http://www.myswissalps.com/carversustrain you can read more about the advantages of traveling by train.
In these older forum threads you can read about thermal baths: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/thermal-bath and http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/any-thermal-bath-spa-near-bern. I personally like Leukerbad.
From Zurich you can easily visit these places: http://www.myswissalps.com/zurich/activities. But as Switzerland is a small country you can travel everywhere.
At http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip and also at http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/composeitinerary you’ll find some tips on how to start planning your Swiss holiday.
Have a look at these regions too (these are the most popular if you are a first time visitor)
- Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion
- Zermatt: http://www.myswissalps.com/zermatt
- Lake Lucerne region: http://www.myswissalps.com/lakelucerne
I hope this helps you to start,
Ildiko
My wife & I have been to Switzerland twice from the US, for 10 days in 2018 and 15 days in 2019. Based on that limited experience, I highly recommend getting a Swiss Travel Pass and using the highly efficient Swiss public transit system rather than driving. The STP (Swiss Travel Pass) is valid on trains, boats, buses, some of the museums and mountaintop trains, and discounts for other museums and mountaintop trains. It provides maximum flexibility in traveling anywhere in Switzerland. Download the SBB app to your phone or tablet, and venture forth without concern. Beats the heck out of sorting out foreign traffic rules, signage, and parking. I think the 8 day STP would work fine for you; start it in the second day and simply buy one way train tickets from the airport to Zurich the first day and back again the last day. Those tickets are pretty cheap.
I also recommend getting the Traveler’s WiFi so that you can use the SBB app anywhere and have decent connectivity while at your hotel(s). Easily reserved online and picked up/dropped off at the Zurich airport. Works like a charm.
We took a quick trip to Lichtenstein during our last trip. It is very easy to do from Zurich, takes about 1.5 hours to get to the capital of Vaduz. We took the train to Sargans, then a bus to Vaduz, which is a pretty small town. The Made in Italy restaurant was a great little place to have lunch – cash only by the way.
Are you planning on staying in Zurich or moving from town to town? Maybe staying in two towns? Hard to give too much sightseeing advice in advance, but I’d include a trip to the mountains and one or more boat rides (Lakes Lucerne, Brienz, or Thun) at a minimum. And use one of the weather apps and/or weather cams before heading up a mountain or on the lakes.
Have fun.
Hi there,
great, that CabinJohn has mentioned the Travelers Wifi. It is very useful and easy to use. You can read all the details about it here: http://www.myswissalps.com/simcard
Ildiko
Hi Srini
I visited in May 2017 and wrote a detailed trip report. Also I have given sample itinerary. Pl see if this is useful to you
http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/trip-report-switzerland-may-2017
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