[Ajittipnis]

19 April 2019 at 11:56:00 #821076

On the top of my Bucket list was Long Switzerland Tour, But my main Idea was, it has to be detailed planned 100% by myself, it should be of minimum 15 days, to be traveled by 1st Class all over Switzerland and it should be at the end of Winter and beginning of Spring and most important it should be before the over hyper, uncivilized crowd reach there.

I started the study somewhere in the month of May/June that is almost 10 months prior to our planned date. Firstly the extensive study of places in Switzerland, then the attractions in these places, study of Swiss Railway network and connectivity, distance from city to city, features of Swiss Travel Pass, weather report of last year for this period, all this study helped me to conclude that period of Travel from 15th March to 30th March.

Then started the work of detail Itinerary, We both started to study the Switzerland independently, making notes and compiling it separately and then compiling it in a common file, after 30 days we could finally manage to compile a first tentative Itinerary, but the Time Table for every Place, Train, Bus, Boat was available for Summer only hence we made the Itinerary based on Summer timetable. The winter time table was due to declare in the month of November.

As soon as we decided on the Itinerary, the Budget cost was calculated based on current Hotel Rates, Swiss Travel Pass Cost, Entry fee, Mountain Train prices. Initially the tour was planned just for me and my wife but then my cousin sisters joined us.

And now the real deep study of the tour Itinerary was started, Now the search for proper accommodation for 5 persons was started, the main criteria for Accommodation selection was the distance from the Railway Station, availability of Supermarket, Restaurants, distance from the city center, Connectivity to Railway station by Bus, We could shortlist few Accommodations, few of them were just across the Railway station and other were well connected by Bus with the bus stop walking distance of not more than 200 meters.

Few web sites gave me the Fare fluctuation Indication and the best time to buy the Air Tickets, so accordingly the Tickets were booked.

Few days before winter, all the Time Tables were declared and once again we were busy in checking and correcting the time in our Detailed itinerary that includes not only Train arrival and Departure Time but it also included the Departure and arrival Platform too. This helped us to travel across Switzerland with absolute ease.

The Booking for all Panoramic train was 3 Months in advance so accordingly we did the bookings exactly 3 months before the date of Travel.

It is advised to do the Mountain train bookings after checking the weather report only, so I checked the weather report a day before going to the particular Mountain.

The main credit of this successful tour goes to the Internet, Google Map, Google search and the swiss Alps Expert forum MySwissAlps, the Moderators, Experts and the Member’s discussion of this forum helped me a lot to chalk out my Itinerary. Without the help of this forum, it was a difficult task.

Any question I raised on this forum was answered authoritatively by the Moderators and Experts within few hours.

Concluding the 18 days long tour of a country which you never visited was a mountainous task, however our tour was concluded like a clockwork, never had to compromise on any site seeing, the weather gave us a good support and sunshine all through the tour.

We love this country for its scenery, nice & polite people, awesome Railway system and Network.

Conclusion is that you don’t have to go with the tour operators, as when you yourself can plan it, you can see much more than the tour operators show you, but you have to be “Tech Savvy“ else you better travel with the tour operator only. Another thing that we Indians primary absurd concern is getting the Indian Food, I don’t understand why cannot they eat the Local Country food for few days, it’s a fun to taste the local food and develop the taste for that food, but such people should certainly travel with the tour operators, who does not give worth of your money in site seeing but for Indian food, yes certainly may be.

Thank you Moderators, Experts and Members of this Forum for contributing to our successful tour. Your unbiased reviews / suggestions helped me to conclude the tour.

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[Arno]

20 April 2019 at 7:52:28 #909787

Many thanks for sharing your planning strategy Ajittipnis! A trip can be so much more enjoyable with thorough planning. I’m glad MySwissAlps was able to contribute to that. Also glad to hear you liked the country.

[hockeyfan]

20 April 2019 at 18:21:19 #909788

Thank you for sharing. I have always said that planning is half the fun, especially when the trip turn out so well.

[rockoyster]

21 April 2019 at 22:50:30 #909789

Thanks for sharing. Good Planning is key. So glad it paid off for you. 😎

[Ajittipnis]

22 April 2019 at 1:45:32 #909790

Hi

Thanks Rockoyster.

Yes the detail planning is the essence of successful trip. With the unbiased guidance from this forum with the experts like you helped me a lot.

The tour was worth every every Franc spend by me.

[Removed user]

22 April 2019 at 16:17:19 #909791

Hi Ajittipnis,

Thank you for sharing your advice about planning your trip as I am sure future travellers will find it useful. I am glad it all worked for you. But you have left me curious now as to which places you visited while you were in Switzerland! If you have time please tell me.

Maggie

[Bridgettsl]

29 May 2019 at 13:40:00 #909792

Hi Ajittipnis,

Can you share with me your itinerary and which hotel or apartment you stayed ?

Thanks & Regards

Bridget