[BarSal]

13 December 2017 at 7:46:18 #813814

We are 2 retired (older) Australians traveling to Germany and Switzerland in August/September 2018. First time to both places. Fly into Berlin and out of Zurich.

Berlin is so we can head north to Hamburg to find my g-grandfather’s village and we have a plan to visit a number of chosen cities (by train) and end up in Zurich.

Very flexible about when we to Zurich but we are flying out on the morning of Wednesday 19th September from Zurich Airport. I was thinking 7 – 10 days?

We are committed to travelling 43km north of Zurich to a town called Gippingen to see my g-grandmother’s birthplace (by train?) The area is Leuggern – not sure what else there is to see there but its up where the Aare meets the Rhine. The other thing I am keen to do is the Bernina Express (unless other train is recommended). And a boat cruise on a lake (mentioned by a friend). Not sure how to join all the dots to see as much as we can in a relaxed manner. Not fond of queues or crowds. I am sure someone has done this before and has a contiguous plan I could follow/adapt?

[Removed user]

13 December 2017 at 9:18:52 #872845

Hi Barsal, and welcome to MySwissAlps,

Is my understanding correct that you’re planning to stay for 7 -10 days in Switzerland? Gipping is not too far from Zurich. Less than one hour by train. You could either include this at the start or end of your Switzerland trip.

Below there are some links to topics related to your question. I hope that these will give you ideas about what to do and see in Switzerland. All words indicated in blue in the different posts are clickable. They bring you to relevant pages on our website. It might be a bit overwhelming in the beginning, but if you then come back to us with the key activities you would like to do, we can help you further fine tune your trip. I’m sure you’ll have some additional questions and we’re happy to answer them.

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/winter-7-days-itinerary-feb-2018-urgent-help

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/does-this-itinerary-work

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/scenic-train-routes-from-to-geneva-zurich

http://www.myswissalps.com/be rninaexpress

Be also sure to check the following pages:

Planning your trip

Rail passes and tickets in Switzerland

I hope this helps.

[rockoyster]

13 December 2017 at 9:32:02 #872846

G’day Older Aussies,

Have a read of this http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-reluctant-travellers-swiss-adventure and subsequent episodes and pick the eyes out of it.

You will love Switzerland. We did!

Cheers,

rockosyter

[BarSal]

13 December 2017 at 9:34:26 #872847

Thx Chantel

you are a treasure. We have lots of time so this is a good starting point. I’ll do my homework and get back to you.

I was recently on a domestic aircraft in Australia and sat next to an American woman doing a six day ‘tour’ of Australia. Ha ha … I had to laugh!

i am sure I can’t see Switzerland in 10 days either but it would be nice to get a balanced feel and return again.

Sally

[Removed user]

13 December 2017 at 9:48:46 #872848

You’re welcome Sally.

Ha,ha, six days. I’ve been to Australia, 7 months. Wasn’t long enough.

I’m sure we’ll be able to help you to get the best out of your 10 days.

[BarSal]

14 December 2017 at 3:40:20 #872849

Thx Rockoyster … I am about to read this with interest. I have my notebook on hand.

regards

Sally