MySwissAlps.com includes Roger Sexton
Forum replies
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in reply to: The cheapest way to travel from Mürren to Zurich
I do not quite understand your question.
If you are thinking that there are cheap long distance buses providing journeys ENTIRELY WITHIN Switzerland, then you are wrong. (If you have a Half Fare Card, fares on the regular rail-based Swiss public transport are reasonable.) (How did you get to Murren?)
Hi Yoda
I agree with everything Alpenrose says, but especially the point about the limited catering at Chiavenna. I was travelling Lugano to St Moritz. I was starving by the time I reached St Moritz. It was a sunny day in deep mid-winter. I was keen to go for a walk ON the lake. (That will of course not be possible in September!) But i had to get some food first.
Have a great trip
Roger
Hi Yoda.
Thank you for your very kind words. A couple of additional points.
On your journey to Interlaken, note that the fast trains to Bern are at 08 and 45 past the hour from Zurich Airport. The trains leaving at 08 are going to Geneva. The trains at 45, if not going to Interlaken, will be going to Brig.
Regarding Zurich. As well as the Hauptbahnhof, (Hauptbahnhof is German for ‘Main Station’) there are a number of relatively smaller stations in Zurich, such as Oerlikon which I mentioned previously. Where have you booked your final night before flying home? If you are staying at an airport hotel, then fine! If you are staying elsewhere in Zurich, get back to me on this forum.
Very best wishes
Roger
‘If replacement buses are in force, rest assured, it will be impeccably organised’. I can support that from personal experience. I used to base myself in Bern. On one trip to Zermatt from Bern, part of the journey up the valley was by replacement bus. Wow! The organisation was superb.
Assuming that these are the only places you are keen to see, Bern (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/bern/) is very well situated for ‘base camp’. It takes nearly two-and-a-half hours to Zermatt (change at Visp) just over an hour to Lucerne, and less than an hour to Interlaken. Interlaken is a good alternative. Two hours to Lucerne on a scenic train. Two-and-a-half-hours to Zermatt (changes at Spiez and Visp.), Spiez and Thun (both between Bern and Interlaken) are further possibilities.
(In the 1990s I regularly had one week Swiss holidays using Bern as ‘Base Camp’. Nowadays I stay in Zurich, as it is nearer to eastern Switzerland.)
There is almost always an exception to every rule. In the situation described by pKerr I would have given the waitress a nice tip.
I am a 76 year old Englishman who regularly visits Switzerland. I am not as quick on my feet as I used to be. My advice is designed to supplement Alpenrose’s excellent answers.
I would particulary stress that the whole Swiss public transport timetable is designed that trains, buses and boats interconnect with each other. As a train approaches a major station such as Bern, Visp, or Zurich Hauptbahnhof the conductor wiil (in German and then in English) read out a list of connecting trains, with the numbers of the platforms from which they depart. The same information will appear on the screens inside the train. In the unlikely event of your missing a connection you usually do not have to wait more than 30 minutes for the next train….
Day 1. Do not be afraid to change at Bern. There are through trains from Zurich Airport to Interlaken at 07 45; 10 45; 12 45; 14 45. If you just miss (say) the 0745 do not wait nearly three hours. Get the next intercity train to Bern and change there.
Day 3 Trains from Montreux to Visp are twice an hour. And they all connect with trains from Visp to Zermatt.
Day 4 I totally support everything Alpenrose (and I think Anna) have said. I would just add that trains from Chur to St Moritz are hourly at 58 past the hour. For the best views sit on the right hand side at the back of the train.
Day 5 I think your mom will be getting a bit tired by now. I would strongly support Alpenrose’s recommendation to take the Palm Express bus. Just four hours of splendid scenery, especially the stretch by Lake Como.
Day 6 The train/boat connnection at Fluelen is easy. About 200 yards from the station to the landing stage.
Day 7 In this year’s timetable there are no direct trains from Lucerne to Zurich Airport. The train from from Lucerne will arrive at Zurich Hauptbahnhof at a platform which is above ground. The trains to the airport go from platforms which are underground, usually platforms 33 or 34. There is not far to walk, and there are both lifts and escalators. Most trains to the airport are going through to destinations in north-east Switzerland or even southern Germany. Some trains have airport as their first stop. Others stop at Oerlikon before going on to the airport.
I regularly visit Switzerland. Hotel and restaurant staff are generally quite well paid. Unlike in many other countries, they are not dependent on tips to make a decent income. And the excellent public transport with frequent services in the evening means that they have no need to run a car, let alone get a taxi if working late.
In restaurants (including those on ships and trains) I might tip if the service is exceptional. On my most recent trip, (late April) I was on an IC train from Geneva to Lausanne, a journey which takes 35 minutes. The Restaurant Car crew rushed me a light meal which I finished just as we came into Lausanne. Two years ago the first class restaurant on a Lake Lucerne ship served me a delicious lunch at 16 00 in the afternoon! Those are the only two recent occasions I have left a small tip.I have never tipped hotel staff. What they do appreciate is being mentioned BY NAME in the feedback you give on line to the hotel management.
Regards
Roger
If you have a Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/) then I would not take a decision until July 3rd. If Zermatt ( https://www.myswissalps.com/town/zermatt/) is still badly affected by the floods, forget Zermatt and go somewhere else. That is one the (many) merits of the Swiss Travel Pass. If weather and/or transport disruption and/or anything else makes going to destination X undesirable, you go somewhere else! EG a few years ago the threat of Avalanches put the line from Brig to Andermatt out of action. A planned round trip Zurich-Brig-Chur-Zurich was therefore impossible. I went somewhere else – I cannot now remember where!
However, if the railway to Tasch has not been fixed by July 4, but Zermatt village is OK and you are keen to visit there, GO! There will no doubt be a fleet of buses on rail replacement, and there were will be big signs at Visp telling you where to go. The buses to Tasch are likely to take about the same time as the train (cog-wheel railways are slow!). Tasch-Zermatt, trains every 20 minutes.I would strongly support what Chalo Jai is saying about constant changing of hotels, even though I am perhaps a bit quicker at unpacking than they are! Packing is worse for me! I am always frightened of leaving something behind.!
Hi Queenie
I have been visiting Switzerland regularly ever since 1971, and I am in love with the country. I HAVE NEVER BEEN ON THE GLACIER EXPRESS. However I have been on the regular hourly trains between Chur and St Moritz via the Landwasser viaduct at least 40 times. The scenery is the same whichever train you take, and the journey time (just over two hours) is the same. (The Bernina express leaving Chur at 13 34 does not go to St Moritz., but to Pontresina, then Tirano. So there is another change of train if you take the Bernina Express. That is Arno’s point.)
Finally, consider Anna’s last paragraph. Like me (and many others) she prefers the ordinary trains leaving Chur at 58 minutes past each hour. For me (I am now 76 and a lone traveller) her reasons are totally convincing.
I have only been a member of the MySwissAlps community for about a week. I, a hugely experienced traveller to Switzerland, am amazed at the high quality of the advice given out both by the moderators and participants. I already have had one problem I had sorted out by ‘Alpenrose’!
Very many thanks for this reply!
If you look at the new Zurich-Grindelwald-Zurich ‘thread’, you will see that I have (at the end) referred the enquirer to this ‘thread’, in particular to this answer.
Firstly, I am assuming you buy a Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/) valid for eight days. (If any child is between 6 and 16, also get a Swiss Family Card.)
Travel from Zurich to Lucerne. The trains are twice an hour and double deck! Sit upstairs, on the left hand side in the direction of travel.
Leave your luggage in the lockers next to platforms 15 and 16 and go for a boat ride on the lake. I suggest go to Vitznau. The boats depart from a pier close to the station, usually at 12 minutes past the hour. (You have about a half hour break at Vitznau,)
On returning from the boat ride, catch the hourly Luzern-Interlaken express (departs at 06 minutes past the hour.) Sit on the right in the direction of travel. Do NOT change seat when the train changes direction of travel at Meiringen.
At Interlaken take the local train to Grindelwald. Remember to travel in the rear part of the train. In Grindelwald, be careful to get off at the station nearest your hotel.
This trip will take about six-and-a-half hours. If you left Zurich at 10 10 you would get to Grindelwald at 16 40.
Reservations are not required on any of these journeys.
If the weather in Lucerne is not suitable for a boat trip, take the kids to the transport museum (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/museum-of-transport/). See the ‘thread’, which I initiated, entitled ‘Lucerne Museum of Transport with Swiss Travel Pass’. See in particular the reply I have now got from a member of the MySwissAlps team.
in reply to: Are all Swiss scenic trains available in November?
The Glacier Express does not run in November. HOWEVER the lines it runs over are open 365-days-a-year. ‘Normal’ trains run hourly Zermatt-Brig; Brig-Andermatt; Andermatt-Disentis; Disentis-Chur; Chur-St Moritz.
Like all Alpine resorts Gstaad (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/gstaad/) and Saanen are worth it in October unless the weather is bad. The big plus is that the resorts will (usually) be less crowded! A potential drawback is that cable cars may not be running. Check the dates of operation on the relevant websites! The Zweisimmen-Gstaad-Monteux railway of course runs an hourly local service 365-days-a-year. The through ‘Golden Pass Express’ trains (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/goldenpass/) which run Interlaken-Montreux have specially adapted carriages and run only four times a day. They do not stop at Saanen. If you want to use one of these trains, I strongly advise making a reservation. I travelled on one of these trains on April 25 without a reservation. I was lucky to get a seat!
in reply to: Swiss Travel Pass discount via a travel agent?
What do you mean by ‘travel agents’? People who work on the railways? Or (the more normal meaning) people who make travel bookings on behalf of customers.?
This is fantastic news! Contrast that with the situation in Britain where I live. As a generalisation, fares continue to rise ahead of inflation. More than 5% of Swiss RESIDENTS buy an annual ‘General Abonnement’, a season ticket for the whole of Swiss Public Transport. Validity is the same as the Swiss Travel Pass. The current second class price is 3,990 Franks, equivalent to about £3800. An annual season ticket from Woking to London (40Kms, 25 miles) is £4070!
With the exception of day 2, all of this looks doable. But note that the Mannlichen cable cars finish on October 20.
With respect to day 2, three mountains in one day is too much. I suggest limit yourself to (say) Titlis and Stanserhorn. They are both reached by the Luzern-Engelberg railway line, and Stanserhorn is free with the Swiss Travel Pass. Alternatively Stanserhorn and Rigi, both free with the Swiss Travel Pass. And Lucerne to Vitznau (for Rigi) is by boat, which is, of course, free with the STP.
Day 7 is doable provided it is no later than 20 October. Just bare in mind that Lauterbrunnen to Zurich will take two-and-a-half hours.
Day 8 is eminently sensible!
Kleine Scheidegg is one of many, many places in Switzerland you cannot drive to. The nearest places to Jungfraujoch you can drive to are Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. (To get to Kleine Scheidegg or Wengen you have to go on a train.)
Are you really going to drive all the way from Greece?
More importantly, have you not heard that Swiss public transport is the best in Europe, and (except that there are no very fast trains) is comparable to Japan?
On one point you are correct. There are RELATIVELY cheap fares to Jungfraujoch if you go early in the morning.
On the Museums Pass website you referred me to it says Verkehrshaus – museum of transportation in Lucerne: 50% discount on full fare Holders of a swiss museum pass get 50% discount on the full fare to the museum including Mediaworld. Holders of a Swiss Travel System Ticket will get 50% discount on the full fare to the museum or even on the day pass.
I am 76 year-old Englishman whose first language is English. I have been visiting Switzerland regularly ever since 1971. This entry is FAR FROM CLEAR. In particular, what is a ‘Swiss Travel System Ticket’. I suspect that concept includes a General Abonnement (not relevant to tourists) a Swiss Travel Pass and a Swiss Family Card (that may solve Dick and Harriet). Does the concept extend to the Half Fare Card? Does it extend to an all-Switzerland one day ticket? These last two questions are clearly very relevant to tourists.
I am sorry to keep asking these difficult questions! You good people at MySwissAlps are certainly not responsible for this mess!
