Visiting Switzerland from Frankfurt in June 2020
-
Dnnprice4Participant8 posts1 November 2019 at 17:36:13 #824347
We are planning our first trip to Switzerland for June 2020. We will be flying into Frankfurt because the airline tickets are half the price rather than flying directly to Switzerland.
Question: Should we focus on train travel or are we better off renting a car with our itinerary? Which would be the easiest and less expensive way to go? I know there would be parking fees for Zermatt and Murren since they are car free zones.
Also, is this a doable schedule?
Other questions w/in itinerary schedule?
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR SWITZERLAND
Jun 1 Depart for Frankfurt from Phoenix
Jun 2 Arrive at 5:00 PM
Do we stay the night in Frankfurt or head to Lucerne with late check-in?
Jun 3 Lucerne
Jun 4 Lucerne then head to Murren
Jun 5 Murren
Jun 6 Murren
Jun 7 Train/car to Zermatt
Jun 8 Zermatt
Jun 9 Zermatt
Do we spend extra day in Murren on June 7 and only June 8 & 9 in Zermatt? Is that enough time for Zermatt?
Jun 10 Train to Montreux -rent car and head to Park du Soleil to Chatel for son’s Mountain Biking or drive directly?
Jun 11 Day Trip to Chamonix while son at Bike Park
Jun 12 Day Trip to Gruyere while Jason at Bike Park Day Trip
June 13 Annecy day trip
Jun 14 Train to Strasburg – stay night
June 15 Train directly to airport in Frankfurt. Depart for Phoenix at 3:30 pm
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
-
AnnaModerator6274 posts1 November 2019 at 21:36:17 #924477
Hi Dnnprice4,
After a long haul flight, the last thing I want to be doing is drive a few hours to my destination. Obviously I would pick train travel but that’s just me 🙂 I am fairly confident with my driving but I still won’t drive in Zurich or other similar cities because of the many cycling lanes, tram tracks, bus routes and one-way traffic to get around. Parking is also expensive and limited. But I do understand that for some travellers a car is the the most convenient and practical way to travel. Sometimes a combination of both may be ideal. We have listed the pros and cons of driving vs train travel on the website. Be sure to check it out.
- Car vs train: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca rversustrain
- Driving in Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca r
If you decide to go the train route, there are various rail passes you can choose to suit your travel plans. You can also use the SBB timetable to plan and calculate the cost of your journey. Be sure to check out these links for details:
- Swiss railpasses: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issrailpasses
- How to choose a rail pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
- SBB timetable: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
- Train ticket from Germany: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/germany
- Train ticket to France: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france
About your itinerary — it certainly looks doable. On arrival I would personally take the train straight to Lucerne. The fastest train will take you from Frankfurt Airport to Lucerne in 4.5 hours with a change in Basel. But if you opt to drive, I would suggest you spend the night and get some rest first before you hit the road.
Should you stay an extra day in Mürren or Zermatt? I personally think there is a lot more things to see and do in the Jungfrau region so I would choose to stay longer in Mürren if I have the choice. For more information about the activities you can do, please see these links:
- Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion
- Mürren: http://www.myswissalps.com/mu rren/activities
- Zermatt: http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt/activities
- Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne/activities
- Montreux: http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux/activities
Best regards,
Anna
Removed userParticipant72625 posts2 November 2019 at 1:53:03 #924478We too flew into Frankfurt, but arrived after 1 p.m. and drove half way to Lauterbrunnen. I would not recommend driving after such a long journey. The roads were fine, but it was exhausting.
We chose to rent a car because we were not familiar with European train travel. We stayed the whole time outside of Lauterbrunnen but after buying regional passes for Bernese Oberland, ended up parking the car. I understand that parking for Mürren is expensive.
My only advice would be to investigate mass transit. I truly was amazed at the precision of the Swiss mass transport system. And we noticed when we disembarked at the Frankfurt Airport, there were trains right there we could have taken. You might want to stay in Frankfurt the first night, but I only suggest that because we are senior citizens and it was a long flight, You will love every minute in Switzerland.
Attachments:SlowpokeParticipant7567 posts2 November 2019 at 10:31:15 #924479Hi Dnnprice4 –
Welcome to My Swiss Alps-
You’ve planned a nice trip, and time in both the French and the German speaking regions is a great idea.
I’d like to confirm that you will have a child/children with you? Helps us offer suggestions.
Also, it may be hard to to visualize from Phoenix, but when you are in the Alps in in Switzerland on your dates it will be at the very tail end of Winter at higher altitudes. (Mürren and Zermatt). The best trails, which are at altitudes around 2000 meters, whether easy or difficult, tend to open at about June 15th, plus or minus a few days. The climate is definitely getting warmer, so those dates may be moving a few days earlier. The snow is generally not suitable for skiing, and the trails are not fully open, so there are few tourists. From late March until late May and into early June is “low season” and many hotels and tourist facilities will not be open in the Alps. Of course, many will be open, too. Those that are closed for the “between seasons” period start opening up in early June, and by mid June most have started up. Altitude counts. At lower altitudes, Spring is well along by the beginning of May. So, you would be in Luzern ( local German spelling – you’ll see it on the signs) and Montreux at a very nice time. June can still be a bit rainy, but I routinely visit Switzerland in late May or early June, and find beautiful weather for the most part. However, I don’t go up to the Alps until my September trip.
It is certainly possible to have a nice trip, and you have planned a good itinerary, but if I were doing that particular itinerary myself, I’d do it in late June. Much better still – September.
When you get to Frankfurt you will be jet-lagged and tired. You will be easily confused, even if you have been to Germany before. Unless you are exceptional people, you’ll not want to take the 4 hour and 13 minute to 4 hrs 52 minute long train trip to Luzern arriving at around 11 PM Swiss Time. Driving is out of the question, in my opinion. You’d certainly sleep on the train; if you do it, hope that you can catch the one at 1752 ( unlikely) because all of the later ones have two or more changes of train. The train at 1752 has only one change, at Basel. More likely, you’d catch the 1853 direction Munich ( München Hbf.), with a change 30 minutes later at Mannheim, arriving Luzern at 2305. It’s a 6 minute connection at Mannheim, which is tolerable, if you move quickly. Luggage? (The Swiss timetable shows inbound and outbound platforms in Switzerland, but not the German ones. Maybe the German “die Bahn” website does). Missing a connection early in the day is not a serious problem. As you go into evening , fewer options exist. So, I’d check to see what happens if you miss that connection. In fact, the next connection from Mannheim is two hours later, getting you to Luzern at 0116 the next day.
When I fly from the east coast of the USA to Zürich, I do not rent a car or drive for at least the first and second day. I know my way around, read some German, and am used to driving in Switzerland. However, I cannot make decisions quickly, and do not trust myself to drive safely.
There are plenty of airport hotels at Frankfurt, and I’d suggest that you take advantage of them. None are cheap, of course. ;-( . Makes the cheaper plane tickets a bit less cheap, overall, of course.
When I have flown into Frankfurt, in the days when seats to Zürich paid for with frequent flyer miles were scarce on my preferred dates, we arrived in late morning, and did make the 5 hour trip by train to Zürich. Then, and now, years later, we would not have done it if we arrived after a much longer flight and at 1700 hrs.
Slowpoke
Dnnprice4Participant8 posts2 November 2019 at 14:22:24 #924480Thank-you all for the great advice so far. Lots to think about. My son will be 18 yrs old when we vacation in Switzerland. He is a big mountain biker and quite adventurous. He want to go to Portes du Soleil in Chatel, France. He has researched one of the leading mountain bike parks in the world and it is close to Chatel in the area of Pre-La-Joux. If anyone has experience there, I would appreciate tips on accommodations. After reading your post Slowpoke, I researched if the lifts are even open during our dates and they are not. The lifts don’t open until mid to late June so I think we are going to have to change the dates for our trip as you suggested to late June -beginning of July. My son also wants to try to do the Via Ferrara in Murren but as a mom, I’m worried about his safety…that looks like a life or death experience.
SlowpokeParticipant7567 posts2 November 2019 at 15:33:10 #924481<<“The lifts don’t open until mid to late June “>>
Some open earlier, but late June works a lot better. The tourist density increases substantially as you enter July.
I can’t comment on the mountain biking. I believe that forum members have reported walking the Via Ferrata in Mürren. If they could report, they came back alive.
I’ve noot hada look at it, but, I’ve got to believe that there are safety precautions to render the risk to minimal.
Everyone has their own favorite village near the jungfrau. This page comments on them:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion
I can’t say which is best, but if Mürren is your target, you could also look at Wengen ( my favorite) and less obviously, Lauterbrunnen.
Here is bit of light reading, useful for the whole region:
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim
Some of the links are obsolete, but the information is sound.
I’m not clear if you are interested in hiking.
This superb topo map, based on the military dataset, is useful for hiking and for biking, because it gives altitudes:
Here is the color code for the trails:
http://www.schweizmobil.ch/en /wanderland/more-wl/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization.html
Mountain biking:
http://www.schweizmobil.ch/en /mountainbiking-in-switzerland.html
I use this general purpose map for planning….the train lines are clear if you zoom in far enough, you can turn on station icons in the menus, and mousing over a station icon gives the exact name for use in the timetable.
map.search.ch/?pos=641672,161328&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,velo,zug
Others maps are certainly valuable,but this one is better for rail travel than some common road maps.
Slowpoke
SlowpokeParticipant7567 posts7 November 2019 at 10:08:58 #924482Hi Dnnprice4 –
<<“My son also wants to try to do the Via Ferrara in Murren but as a mom,
I’m worried about his safety…that looks like a life or death
experience.”>>
Check this link:
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/via-ferrata-murren-report-go-for-it
Slowpoke
- The thread ‘Visiting Switzerland from Frankfurt in June 2020’ is closed to new replies.