[drrpkesav]

20 May 2017 at 19:34:05 #811909

Hi guys,

I will be travelling to switzerland for 12days for conference cum tourism. My plan is as below. Kindly suggest any changes if necessary. Plus I would like to know if english would be enough to communicate or will I need any book/app for translation.

Day 1 – Arrive in Zurich around 9am. Local sightseeing(can you suggest a few places?) I want to visit the Old Town(Aldstadt) in the evening and walk around this place. Is it safe to walk around? Any suggestions on good local shops for good chocolates?

Day2 – Travel to Venice

Day 3 – Venice sightseeing

Day4 – Leave for Lucerne and reach by 1pm. Leave luggage in the station lockers and go to Pilatus. Can you suggest me which route I must take on the way up and which one on the way down as I feel am starting a lil late and may miss out on one of the routes

Day 5 – Lucerne-Engelberg-Titlis-Engelberg-Lucerne (can you suggest the time taken for this?). Leave to Interlaken at 6pm. Night at Interlaken.

Day 6 – Interlaken-Grindelwald-Klein Scheidegg-Jungfraujoch-Kleine Scheidegg-Wengen-Lauterbrunnen(Trummelbach Falls)-Interlaken (Night stay)

Day 7 – Lake Thun and Lake Brienz and visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum at Brienz. How to come back from Brienz to Interlaken? Train or Bus? What is the timing for the museum and which should I do first? Lake Brienz or Lake Thun? Is it possible to do both?

Day 8 – Leave for Davos (Conference)

Day 9-Day10 I have time in Davos for my Conference. I am free on Day 10. I am clueless on what are the places worth watching in Davos or should I take a short day trip somewhere nearby? Any suggestions?

Day11 – Leave for Zurich in the afternoon. Night stay in Zurich

Day12 – Morning flight back to India.

I have made all my plans based on the suggestions in this website and many other places. I have a Swiss Travel Pass for the entire duration. I would like to have your suggestions on this Itinerary at the earliest as I will be leaving for Switzerland in two days.

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[Removed user]

21 May 2017 at 5:07:58 #863629

>> I would like to know if english would be enough to communicate or will I need any book/app for translation.

Yes, you can get by in English. It’s always nice to be able to say “hello” and “thank you” in the local language though.

“Grüezi” (pronounced approximately GREW-e-tzi, stress on first syllable) is useful in German-speaking Switzerland for “hello” (There are slight variations from place to place, but this will be understood everywhere.)

“Danke” is “thank you” in German. Pronunciation is approximately “DAHNK-uh”.

Incidentally, you will hear Davos pronounced Da-FOHS (stress on second syllable), which is different from how English-speakers pronounce it.

>> Day 1 – Arrive in Zurich around 9am. Local sightseeing(can you suggest a few places?) I want to visit the Old Town(Aldstadt) in the evening and walk around this place. Is it safe to walk around? Any suggestions on good local shops for good chocolates?

There is some good information about Zürich here:

http://www.myswissalps.com/zu rich

Walking around the Altstadt in the evening is safe in my experience. The Altstadt has two main parts, on each side of the River Limmat:

-> Niederdorfstrasse up to the Grossmünster church and Münsterbrücke (Münster bridge). This part of the Altstadt is across the river from Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station). Start walking up Niederdorfstrasse, adjacent to the tram stop called “Central”.

-> The streets and lanes between Bahnhofstrasse and the river. This part of the Altstadt is on the same side of the river as Zürich Hauptbahnhof. Start walking up Bahnhofstrasse, opposite the station.

You can cross between the two sides of the Altstadt at the Münsterbrücke, or any of the other bridges.

You will see lots of good chocolate shops. For convenience, you could go to one of the four Sprüngli shops in Zürich Hauptbahnhof (at street level and below in the shopping area).

I love walking around the Altstadt in Zürich, and there are also a couple of places I like to go for views over Zürich:

1. Take the Polybahn up to the ETH terrace for a view over the Zürich rooftops. The ETH is a tertiary education institution. The Polybahn is a cute little historic funicular, which started service in 1899. The entrance is in Niederdorfstrasse, next door to Starbucks, which is adjacent to the “Central” tram stop. The trip in the Polybahn takes 1 minute or less, and it runs every couple of minutes until 7:15 pm. It is covered by ordinary Zürich public transport tickets (Zone 110).

2. Take the Seilbahn Rigiblick (funicular) up the mountain above Zürich for a view over Zürich, the Zürichsee (Lake Zürich) and the mountains beyond (if it is clear). It is easy to get to in about 20 minutes from Central tram stop or from the Bahnhofplatz tram stop outside Zürich Hauptbahnhof. Take Tram #10 (direction Zürich Flughafen, Fracht) to the stop called “Zürich, Seilbahn Rigiblick”. The Seilbahn (funicular) is at the end of a small plaza adjacent to the tram stop. At the top is a little park with some benches. This trip is covered by ordinary Zürich public transport tickets (Zone 110). If you go up there just before sunset, you can watch the city lights coming on as darkness falls. The Seilbahn runs until very late, so you won’t have any difficulty getting back to your hotel.

3. Walk up to Lindenhof, for a view over Zürich from the opposite side of the river. This can easily be found on Google Maps.

>> Day4 – Leave for Lucerne and reach by 1pm. Leave luggage in the station lockers and go to Pilatus. Can you suggest me which route I must take on the way up and which one on the way down as I feel am starting a lil late and may miss out on one of the routes

This will help you to plan your trip:

http://www.myswissalps.com/pi latus/gettingthere

The last cogwheel train down is at 17:45, and the last cable car down is 17:30 (but check these times yourself to make sure).

I suggest going up by cogwheel train, as it is more straightforward and a bit quicker to catch a train to the Alpnachstad station of the Pilatus Bahn than getting a bus and walking to the cable car station at Kriens.

You will need to present your Swiss Travel Pass at the ticket window at Alpnachstad to get a (free) ticket to release the barrier gates you have to pass through before boarding the cogwheel train, and will also need to use this ticket again at the top.

You can come down the same way, or come down in the cable car to Kriens. If you come down to Kriens, you will need to walk downhill to the bus stop called “Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus” in Luzernerstrasse to get a bus back to Luzern station.

>> Day 5 – Lucerne-Engelberg-Titlis-Engelberg-Lucerne (can you suggest the time taken for this?). Leave to Interlaken at 6pm. Night at Interlaken.

The links below will help you with the route, and planning your trip using the timetable:

http://www.myswissalps.com/ti tlis/gettingthere

http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

>> Day 7 – Lake Thun and Lake Brienz and visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum at Brienz. How to come back from Brienz to Interlaken? Train or Bus?

Train. The timetable linked to above will assist.

>> What is the timing for the museum

This will help:

http://www.sherlockholmes.ch/ en/Angebot/Opening_hou rs,_prices

>> and which should I do first? Lake Brienz or Lake Thun? Is it possible to do both?

The Sherlock Holmes museum is in Meiringen, just past Brienz. So if you want to go there, the museum opening times will determine the time and order of your cruises. You can use the timetable to find out what you can fit in by way of cruises.

>> Day 9-Day10 I have time in Davos for my Conference. I am free on Day 10. I am clueless on what are the places worth watching in Davos or should I take a short day trip somewhere nearby? Any suggestions?

I’m not familiar with Davos, having only travelled through it in the train. I think it’s mainly a winter sports resort and summer hiking destination. Most of the cable cars are closed at present.

http://www.davos.ch/en/summer /mountains/lift-cable-car-report/

However, the funicular to Schatzalp is currently open, and there is a panoramic restaurant at the top:

http://www.schatzalp.ch/en/re staurant/panorama-restaurant/

Day trips could include the village of Guarda and/or the town of Scuol, or St Moritz. Travel time to Guarda or Scuol is about 1 hour 15 minutes each way. To St Moritz it takes about an hour and a half each way.

If you are interested, you could read my trip reports on Guarda and Scuol here:

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/trip-report-lower-engadine-guarda-october-2016

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/scuol

There is information about St Moritz here:

http://www.myswissalps.com/st moritz

Alpenrose