An awesome trip to Switzerland… part 1

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    19 September 2018 at 15:15:54 #818437

    We just returned from our whirlwind 11 night vacation to Switzerland and would like to provide a report of what we did…

    First a summary…. We departed Newark (EWR) Labor day evening and returned on the evening of Sat 9/15. Although we booked through United Airlines using miles, the flight out was on a United aircraft and the return was on Swiss Air. Both flights were fine but the Swiss Air flight was better due to better service, food, and a newer aircraft. We purchased 2 – 15 day first class Swiss Travel Passes (expensive but absolutely worth it). We took a total of 44 train rides, 7 cable car rides, 3 boat rides, 2 tram rides, and 2 bus rides. They were all either totally covered by the pass or discounted. We also rented a Travellers WIFI device which we charged each night in our hotel and carried with us (in our backpack) all of the time. We left our phones in flight mode but always had internet. The SBB mobile app is a great tool and we always knew the times & platforms of every train and connection as well as the boat schedules. I installed Google translate on my phone but never needed to use it (I did anyway but my German seemed to make the locals laugh).

    Day 1 (Tues 9/4) – We arrived at Zurich airport at 8:30 AM. Immigration and baggage claim went smooth and quickly. We walked over to the service center (in the airport) and picked up our Travelers WIFI. It was all charged up and, upon turning it on, it provided the access code on it’s tiny screen. we connected both of our iphones and our tablet with no issues. We caught a direct train from the airport to Luzern and arrived at the Luzern train station before noon. Using the map app in our phones, we walked 5 minutes to our hotel (Hotel Stern Luzeren) and checked in. We freshened up and then caught the no 1 bus near our hotel to Kriens for the gondola up to Pilatus. All of the busses have video displays with the upcoming stops with etas. Since there were several for Kriens, we didn’t know which one to get off at. I asked a lady riding the bus if she spoke English. She said she did not but then said “Pilatus?” When I said yes, she motioned for us to follow her & she took us to the gondola station (she had ski poles with her and was going up as well). There were some clouds but the views were great. Once at the top, there are ridges to climb and tunnels to walk thru. Since we went up by gondola, we came down by train and took the train from Aplnaschtad back to Luzern. We ate dinner at an outside table at our hotel and called it a night.

    Day 2 (Wed 9/5) – Breakfast at our hotel was included (at all of our hotels) and the coffee is far superior to US coffee. We walked through the open air market along the river in old town and to a chocolate shop in the old town and then took a train to Stansstad on the other side of Lake Luzern. From the train station we walked along the lake to Fortress Furigen (about 20 min). Although it showed up on the iphone map, the entrance is an unmarked door in the rock about 100 yards further (around a bend) from where we expected. A friendly man sitting on a bench pointed us in the right direction. The museum (fortress) is only open on weekends but we e-mailed them several months earlier and arranged a private tour. We spent over 2 hours and saw most if not all of the bunker, rooms, cannons and then our guide took us to the outside where the canon nozzle pointed out. If you’re a history, military, or tech fan, this is well worth visiting.

    After our bunker tour, we took a train from Stansstad to Brunnen (2 trains actually) and walked from the train station towards the lake (15 minutes) to the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife visitor center and museum. We had previously arranged to build our own knives (you get to make the Spartan model and it includes having it engraved). Our instructor walked us through the steps and made it fun and informative. It takes about 1/2 hour to build your knife. They have several knives on display and available for purchase and you get 10% off on knives purchased there.

    Upon leaving the visitors center, it is only a block to the waterfront. We had a beer across from the dock and then caught the boat back to Luzern. The sunset over the lake during the boat cruise made for stunning views. We had dinner at a restaurant recommended (named Galliker – just outside of the old town) by the owner of the chocolate shop (visited that morning). We were definitely the only Americans at the restaurant but we were welcomed in although I’m sure we stuck out.

    More to follow…
    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/an-awesome-trip-to-switzerland-part-2

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