Planning a 2-week trip to Switzerland in Sept 2021

  • Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    10 August 2020 at 16:04:54 #825650

    I had plans to visit Switzerland in 2020 September but now postponed to 2021 September for obvious reasons.Following is my itinerary.

    September 7 arrive In Zurich .Leave for Luzern in the afternoon.

    4 nights in Luzern to visit Mount Titilis,Mt Rigi,Mt Pilatus,Schillithorn and Lake Lucerne.

    September 11 Travel to Grinderwal.

    3 nights in Grinderwal to visit Jungfraugch and Grinderwal First.

    September 14 Travel to Zermatt.

    2 nights in Zermatt.

    September 16 travel to Geneva

    3 nights in Geneva .Day trip to Chamonix,day trip to Gstaad .

    September 19 Travel to Zurich.

    September 20 Fly back .

    My question is for this trip which pass will be better.STP or HFC.Our main interests are in mountains and lakes.We will be booking self catering hotels with breakfast.We will prepare our dinner and packed lunches.We are an elderly couple in our early sixties with reasonable mobility.We have an approximate budget of CHF 6000 for spends in Switzerland only.Airfare, insurance and Visa charges are extra.Is this trip doable so far as time and money are concerned?.Your suggestions are most welcome.

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    Anna
    Moderator
    6279 posts
    10 August 2020 at 17:00:43 #934076

    Hi Harishparekh,

    I think your itinerary is very doable. It’s well paced and not rushed.

    Four nights in Lucerne will give you enough time to explore the Lake Lucerne area and plan trips to Titlis, Rigi and Pilatus. However I think you should plan a trip to Schilthorn when you visit Grindelwald. Or did you mean Stanserhorn?

    Based on your proposed itinerary, I personally think the Swiss Travel Pass would be the ideal travel pass for you as it covers a wider area and therefore more convenient to use. Its biggest advantage is it gives you freedom to travel anywhere at any time without the need to buy a ticket.

    Link to Swiss Travel Pass details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass

    If you are considering combining regional passes with point-to-point tickets, I suggest looking at our guide on how to choose a railpass here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass
    It includes a spreadsheet that you can download and calculate all the different combinations of railpass and tickets to help you decide which one works best for you.

    Regarding budget, it’s difficult to say what amount is enough as not everyone travel the same way, eat the same food or shop for the same things. But I would think CHF6000 for a 2 week trip for 2 is fairly substantial and should cover all the basics. You might find these saving tips useful: http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/savemoney

    Hope that helps!

    Regards,

    Anna

    Ajittipnis
    Participant
    87 posts
    11 August 2020 at 2:37:53 #934077

    Good to know you are planning to go on your own. I did it with 5 of my family members n it was great. I suggest to take STP but this pass is not valid on mountain trains n u have to buy tickets for certain section. E.G Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch,n its expensive. But still STP is best option. Suggest to take a halt at interlaken instead of Grindelwald. Grindelwald you can visit on the way back from Jungfrau.

    Also consider Glacier 3000 and Montreux from Geneva. There is so much to see every where in Switzerland so you have to decide. But my personal opinion is Mt.Rigi can be skipped

    Message me if you need any help.

    Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    11 August 2020 at 14:19:47 #934078

    Thanks Anna and Ajittipnis for your prompt reply.I have planned a day trip from Geneva to Gstaad to visit Glacier 3000 only.If I plan to visit Montreux then I have to extend my stay in Geneva for one more day.Can I club any 2 mountain visits in one day out of the four mountains I want to visit namely,Mt Titilis,Mt Rigi,Mt Pilatus and Mt Stanserhorn?I will definitely opt for STP for 15 day consecutive days 2 nd class.

    Ajittipnis
    Participant
    87 posts
    11 August 2020 at 14:45:21 #934079

    You can visit Glacier 3000 from Geneva – Gstaad and on return , I suggest take a walk around Gstaad Nice Lunch at restaurants near station n then take the train to Montreux in the late afternoon or evening, a walk on the montreux promenade, its a very beautiful place to visit. And then you can return to Geneva. Its may be around 90 min by train. The budget you mentioned is quite good (Unless you need 5 star comfort), so I suggest you to think about 1st class STP, Its really worth for sr. citizens. particularly in September it will be a tourist season. But buy it from Swiss rail only.

    Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    11 August 2020 at 15:06:56 #934080

    I will definitely brake the 1st class pass as we want to make this trip as the best trip of my life.Also I wanted to know whether we get Indian ready to eat food packets in Coop or Migros supermarkets?

    Ajittipnis
    Participant
    87 posts
    11 August 2020 at 15:18:58 #934081

    Indian ready to eat food is not available but you get pasta pizza n Chinese fried rice in these super markets. We carried suhana masala n with chicken n meat we did manage our dinner. If you are Non veg, there will not be any issue

    Anna
    Moderator
    6279 posts
    11 August 2020 at 15:19:40 #934082

    Hi Harishparekh,

    The bigger Migros and Coop supermarkets do carry a selection of Indian and vegetarian food. There are some ready made ones in the chiller section.

    For more information about shopping for food, have a look at this link: http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/culturehistory/food (just scroll down to the supermarket section)

    Regards,

    Anna

    Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    11 August 2020 at 15:31:44 #934083

    Hi Anna,

    Just wanted to know whether the bio costoms of Switzerland is as strict as those of New Zealand.Can I bring some ready to eat packets from India as we are vegetarians.

    Anna
    Moderator
    6279 posts
    11 August 2020 at 16:52:02 #934084

    Hi Harishparekh,

    I think canned, dry and instant food are allowed but meat and fresh produce are prohibited.

    Regards,

    Anna

    Shroffchetan
    Participant
    255 posts
    12 August 2020 at 6:48:18 #934085

    Harish Sir

    Let me appreciate you for trip since you are ditching stereotype of typical Indian travellers – 1) You are not doing Switzerland as part of Grand Europe trip 2) You are doing on your own and ditching big bus packaged tour. 3) You are devoting sufficient time

    I am happy to see more and more Indian travellers coming on this blog

    I visited Switzerland with my parents who were 71 years and 68 years at the time of visit. If you do not have mobility issue, public transport is excellent and train station / bus stop is very near to attractions. It will be better if your accommodation is near to train station. In our case it was 600 meters from Interlaken West Station

    Swiss Travel Pass (STP) will be best for you since you will not have hassle for transport barring mountain excursion where you will get 50% off (except Jungfraujoch). It does not make significant difference between 1st and 2nd class

    CHF 6000 barring airfare should be sufficient in case you stay in apartment with cooking facilities.

    Regarding food, we carried spices and Indian cooking oil from India and some raw stuff. There is no ban in Switzerland which we experienced. You get Indian groceries in Indian grocery stores. Next to our apartment in Interlaken, we had Indian grocery store. You can search on websites before you travel for Indian grocery stores

    Since you are planning for 2 weeks you can add Lugano 2 nights stay. Also you can visit Bern and Zurich. If you can stamina and energy you can take easy walking trail like Murren to Gimmewald. Pl do not combine 2 mountain excursions. It will be very hectic. Also pl take boat ride in many lakes. This thing we could not do much due to paucity of time. I felt you have considered many mountain excursions.

    At last I shall give link of my trip report on myswissalps.com and check if you find it useful. It is a bit detailed and lengthy

    http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/trip-report-switzerland-may-2017

    Best wishes

    Ajittipnis
    Participant
    87 posts
    12 August 2020 at 7:04:35 #934086

    and dont forget to book Travelers wifi router, you can collect it at Zurich airport and return it at any airport station or post office, this will be very useful to use Google Map as you will be guided correctly by Google maps, I used it all through our trip and never had to ask any one for any direction or bus number or bus/train timing, Google maps did all. You can contact me if you need to talk to me 9099915818

    Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    12 August 2020 at 7:10:27 #934087

    Hi,Shroffchetan.

    Thanks for your very appreciative response.This kind of response generates a lot of confidence in us and it gives us direction that we are on the right track.We are planning to book self catering hotels with buffet breakfast .We will carry some ready to eat food packets for the dinner.Having done DIY trips to no of asian countries and New Zealand,we know the problems faced by Vegetarian Indian tourists.

    Regards

    Harish

    Harishparekh
    Participant
    17 posts
    12 August 2020 at 7:15:39 #934088

    Hi Ajittipnis,

    This is a totally a new information regarding Travellers Wi Fi router.It could be of great help.I will contact you if I need your help.Thanks for your very informative response.

    Regards

    Harish.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    12 August 2020 at 7:22:13 #934089

    Hi Harish,

    read more about Travelers Wifi here: http://www.myswissalps.com/simcard. You can order it here: https://www.travelerswifi.com/.

    About the food import to Switzerland, you can bring in spices for personal comsumption without any problem. More info can be found at http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/practical/websites (“Import, export and duty free shopping”).

    Ildiko

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