[Anonymous]

26 June 2019 at 6:27:17 #822487

Hi,

I am planning to visit Switzerland but confused how to plan my trip as this is the first time.. and i also want to know for 2 people should we plan our own trip or throught travel agents to save money.I want to visit the places which will make my trip very memorable..

We want to hike only one day as we dont want to tire ourselves. we want to do skiing and paragliding as well.. if there are any other sports please do tell us..

I came across the top 10 places to visit in Switzerland in google.. so please go through my list below and help me out in planning my trip.

Zurich, rhine falls.

Chocolate factory

lucrene, mt. Pilatus and mt. Titlis

lugano

cruise tour

bern

Jungfraujoch

Grindelwald

interlaken

vineyard

Geneva

Montreux

St. Moritz

I am not sure whether these places are worth for first visit.. Also please let me know the order that i need to visit these places..

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[User]

Reply 1 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 8:24:17 #916124

Hi,

It all depends on the time you can spare for the purpose of planning. It is very much possible to do it yourself and many of us on the forum have done it. The satisfaction gained out it is immense.

This forum is a wealth of information but you got to lot of homework though by going thru the posts and the trip reports. You may find lot of people have already planned 8 , 10, 12 days of trip and you can read their posts/reports to the see their itineraries and build on top of this.

The working days of many places depends on the season hence it is important that you state your travel dates.

Thanks

R

[User]

Reply 2 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 9:05:42 #916125

Thank you for the response.. i am planning a September trip.. I hope it is a good time to travel there .. I went through few posts but confused at the order like which place should be visited after which place.. I have never planned a trip on my own.. i want this experience so i am ready to spend time on planning.

Thanks,

Mahima

[User]

Reply 3 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 10:38:26 #916126

The most common driver to influence the route of your tour and the sequence of the places to visit is your port of entry and exit. Most popular airports are Zurich, Basel, Geneva.

You can choose to fly in and out of any of those or fly in through one and exit through other. It depends on the airfare deal who may get. Or if you are doing a multi country visit, you can enter by train and then fly out through any of the above airports. The choices are multiple.

When I started, I actually plotted all the places on google map to ensure that I am not doing back and forth travel . Over time, I became familiar with the map and roughly knew where the popular places are.

Do look at the trip reports posted by people which will give you a very good idea on drafting your first itinerary. You can post it here for review and suggestions and people here will help you build on top of it.

In my experience, pointed and specific questions will get much better responses than open ended questions 🙂

[User]

Reply 4 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 10:51:03 #916127

Thank you so much.. I will surely prepare an itinerary and post for review.. have a good day 🙂

[Arno]

Reply 5 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 11:37:59 #916128

Hi Mahimamv 10,

Welcome to MySwissAlps! In addition to the helpful tips by Rohan, be sure to look at our informational pages beyond the forum too. Below are a few to get started, and do use the search box too:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/pl antrip/doityourself
• http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit
• http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities

Once you have a rough plan, the forum can help you to fine tune the details.

[User]

Reply 6 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 11:41:45 #916129

THank you.. i will surely look into it and have a rough plan..

Just one question i have.. which month do we expect a clear whether without any rains.. could we do sight seeing even when it is raining or go to Mountains like titlis or pilatis during rainy season?

[Arno]

Reply 7 of 40 • 26 June 2019 at 13:18:29 #916130

Hi Mahimamv 10,

There is no rain season in Switzerland. It can rain at any time, for a few minutes or (unlikely) for days. You can visit the mountains but it won’t be worth it if they are covered in clouds. Please see my second link, and also http://www.myswissalps.com/we ather. Bottom line is that you need to be flexible, just adapt your daily plans to the weather. You just can’t know in advance. It may not rain at all, or only during the nights.

[Shroffchetan]

Reply 8 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 2:32:43 #916131

You can visit my blog http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/trip-report-switzerland-may-2017 to get some idea about places to visit public transport accommodation etc. The places which you selected are all good. Frankly Switzerland is so beautiful that you can visit any place and it is money s worth. It is very small country and check Switzerland map. I have given 2 tourist maps for planning itinerary. It is difficult to get lost or confused

Happy travel

[User]

Reply 9 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 2:39:16 #916132

Thank you.. I will make sure to plan the trip in a flexible way.. 🙂

[User]

Reply 10 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 2:42:03 #916133

Oh Thank you Chetan.. I went through your blog yesterday evening actually.. it is helping me to get an idea.. I guess i will take still couple of days to have a rough estimation and post here for the review.. Thank you once again..

[User]

Reply 11 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 2:53:40 #916134

Hi Chetan,

As you have travelled from India, could you please let me know the budget i should keep in my mind while planning.. For 10 days, is it okay if i keep a budget of 3 lakhs for 2 people, is it less for 2 or more?

[User]

Reply 12 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 3:31:43 #916135

Hi Chetan,

I went through you travel blog. It is a a nicely documented blog.

Hi Mahima

3 Lakhs for 2 people for 10 day is doable. Depends on your spending habits .

The major expense heads are Air fare, Hotel and the travel within Switzerland and meals.

Travelling by train all over is most economical and comfortable too and there are travel passes that allow you to board,bus, train, boats without buying tickets. However the choices for pass are multiple and you need to determine which pass is best suited and economical for your needs.

You can read about how to travel within switzerland and about the passes here http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain

Once your itinerary is finalised, this link will help to determine which is the best pass for you

http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

With a bit of smart planning, you can also control your meal expenses. Eating out in a restaurant for all meals is obviously going to be expensive and it may not be possible to fit the trip in the budget of 3 Lakhs. This forum has many threads on how to save expenses on meals. please do search and read them at your convenience.

Hope that helps

[User]

Reply 13 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:22:46 #916136

Oh Thank you so much Rohan..

We will have only one meal outside to save money and we will be carrying ready to eat packets as well..

I will go through the threads on saving money as well..

could you please let me know what kind of hotels should we choose.

Thanks,

M

[User]

Reply 14 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:27:43 #916137

That depends on your budget but look for ones which are closer ( max 5-8 mins walking distance would be good) to train station since that will be you primary means of daily transport. Plus when you move the bases, you will have to carry the baggage from station to the hotel.

We ended up in one hotel that did not have elevator. It was a B&B which was not explicitly mentioned on booking.com website. so do a check on these things.

[User]

Reply 15 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:30:27 #916138

Oh ok.. Will keep that in my mind while planning.. Thanks a lot.

[User]

Reply 16 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:33:43 #916139

Remembered an important point.

Lot of hotels have rules around cooking ( even ready to cook meals ) / eating inside rooms. So get familiarized with their rules before you book else you wont be able to use your ready to eat meals.

Some hotels keep a water kettle in the room which could be used while some of them keep a coffee maker which wont be as useful for the ready-to-eat packets. One of our hotels had strict rules around cooking/eating in room but they had a common area which had water kettle / micrrowave and some tables which we could use.

[User]

Reply 17 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:36:21 #916140

Oh.. Alright.. Thank you for the information.. If they have common area then that is ok.. If they dont have even that then that would be a problem.. Will check and decide..

Thanks,

M

[Shroffchetan]

Reply 18 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:39:00 #916141

INR 150,000 per person should be good for 2 persons

This includes super expensive and super touristy jungfraujoch and mt titlis

Money saving tips
Buy swiss travel pass 8 or 15 depending your no of days
If you plan one day in zurich 8 days swiss pass and 1 day Zurich card will do

Stay in apartment. You can have breakfast and dinner in apartment. We could locate Indian grocery store near Interlaken west station. We carried spices and cooking oil from india

Accommodation should be close to train station preferably not more than one kilometre

Switzerland is in mountains. But I hated jungfraujoch (lot of people will object to this) it is crowded with Indian and Chinese group tours. you have wengen, murren, Lauterbrunnen, first, lake thun, brienz. Days will be less and sightseeing will be endless but you should be nature lover. Switzerland is not for commercialised sightseeing and night life, it is nature every where.

Pl post any specific queries

[User]

Reply 19 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 4:57:26 #916142

Hi Chetan,

I have few queries,

1,50,000 includes even flight tickets is it?

Which site is the best to look for apartments that comes under my budget?

I have gone to many reports and got to know that we need to buy STP for our own benefits. So will surely buy that.

And also if i want to see Lugano, is a day enough for it and from which base is it best to travel to this place?

For St. Moritz, do we need an entire day to see the surrounding places? Which base is the best to travel there and come back?

We are nature lovers so we will definitely love seeing the nature and spending time.

Thanks,

M

[Shroffchetan]

Reply 20 of 40 • 27 June 2019 at 6:08:10 #916143

INR 150,000 includes flight

booking.com

I am not sure about day trip to Lugano but a day trip from Lucerne may be possible. Other forum members to comment

No idea about St Mortiz