Trip report May 27 to June 1st 2016

Hello Arno,Annika ,

Thanks to MySwiss Alps ,we had a near flawless vacation in Switzerland. The site is excellent as it gives real time information.I followed all your forums/threads/reports which helped me plan and execute our vacation sitting in Chennai India. . A Very Very Big Thank You .....

27/05/2016 - We took the TGV (10.20am) from Gare de Lyon to Basel and the 14.10pm connection from Basel to Luzern . We did not opt for Swizz pass on that day as we had planned not to travel much but to walk around only.

On reaching Luzern Bahnhof we went up the SBB office located on the 1st floor. We took our 3 days Swizz travel pass. My 13yr old son got to travel free with the Swizz family card. We wanted to pay by CHF and hence did not opt to buy it from india. We payed through currency card in CHF. SBB officers are extremely helpful, patient and work with us to get the best passes. The cards were printed and handed over to us in a nice plastic pouch and validated for use too (28/06 - 30/6)

We had taken an apartment in zihlmattweg 44 luzern . We took a bus No 20 to our stop. Tickets 2.50 CHF/per person got from SBB office.

28/05/2016 - We were told by SBB office too that Jungfrau was good and planned for that . Took the Golden pass 10.10 am train from Luzen . It went through exciting lakes and landscpape. & reached Interlaken at 11.50 am. Free with Swizz pass. We headed to SBB office at Interlaken and checked if the weather was ok up Jungfrau. It was confirmed that it was good and hence we took the round trip tickets for 3 adult tickets (Me,Hubby,16yr old son) and my 2nd son 13 years old traveled free. It was 133 CHF each with Swizz pass. .We went up thro Lauterbrunnen and came down through Grindelwald. The sights are breathtaking.Cameras and cellphones were constantly busy . The last leg from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfrau was superb . We had an excellent train driver who asked us to take our time to look at the views at all the view points like Eismeer. Jungfrau was clear and the my boys had a field day on the skies. (10 CHF for unlimited rides on Ski ). We literally had to drag the boys off the mountain slopes. Non stop fun .The rope line was also excellent. We played to our hearts content. Took max photos and it was really worth the journey time.

The small cafeteria on the top serves hot Masala chai and it was wonderful. We did take pictures with the post box and Lindt shop and headed back to Luzern via Grindelwald.

29/05/2016. Since we were tired from Jungfrau activity, we wanted to take it lightly today. Hence went to Mt.Rigi. Mt. Rigi is fully covered with Swizz pass. So no tickets. We took a beautiful boat to Vitznau. Got down and took the cog wheel up to Rigi Kulm. Mt.Rigi played hide and seek. When we went up we could see everything clearly . As we were taking pictures we could see clouds coming in and closing on us. Everything became invisible. We enjoyed that and waited. It cleared again. More pictures and back. This time we got down at Rigi Katbald and took the cable car down to Weggis. The cable car ride was excellent. It was a short walk from the Cable car station to Ship station. We strolled through Weggis and then took a boat back to Luzern.

30/05/2016 -It was planned for Mt. Titilis. Took the morning train to Engelberg from Luzern. Free with STP. At Engelberg we took 3 tickets up to Mt.Titilis (44CHF). Cable car ride was cool. The landscape was wonderful and we were marveling at the amount of engineering that went into it. Each cable car has a country flag painted. Very cool. The cable car gives you complete solitude and family time even in the sea of people. Rotair took us up the mountain from Stand. We did all snow activities. Cliff walk, Ice flyer and literally rolled in snow. We enjoyed snow flurries too. The restaurant serves up Indian /Chinese food too and hence had a good lunch. Finally we said Bye to Titlis and came back to Luzern. We had time and hence walked around Luzern to see the Dying Lion and back to Pier 1 for our sunset cruise. It was a 2.5 hr cruise from Luzern to Beckenried and back. It was free with STP. There is also a Indian Dinner cruise for interested people (at 60 CHF). The entire experience was beautiful as Lake Luzern is magnificent with Mountains on all sides and at night it was splendid with all lights on.

31/05/2016 - Checked out of our apartment. Roamed around Luzern and then took a direct train to Zurich airport (12.10 pm). We had booked at Hotel Allegra which was near airport at Kloten. Since one way fare was 22CHF and cheaper that pass, we opted for that . We spent our time in Zurich airport, Zurich HB and Kloten .

01/06/2016- Took the Zurich card (all zones) for 26 CHF and 1 junior card for 22 CHF from SBB office at Kloten. All swizz platforms have ticket vending machines which accept currency cards too. We took a train from Kloten to Winterthur and from Winterthur to Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall. Beauty is to get down at the railway station and get down the falls. How cool. We took our 5 CHF entrance and went down the adventure train to look at all the vantage point. We also took the boat to the falls. Magnificent right in the middle of a major city.

Back from Rhine falls we went to Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich's main downtown street. Wonderful window shopping. Had a coffee/fries at McDonalds near Globus . Took the tram to Bürkliplatz. From there to Bus No 165 to Schooren and got down in Chocolate heaven. The Lindt factory smells like chocolate heaven. We tasted and purchased and happily returned back to Bürkliplatz to take our 2.5 hr boat cruise on Lake Zurich to Rapperswil. There is a small castle. From there we took a direct train to Kloten to our hotel.

02/06/2016- Our hotel provided a free shuttle and hence took our 7 .10am British Airways back to Chennai with loads of memories.

Couple of Observations :

SBB network works like swizz clocks. Trains do start at times like 13.01 . Understood that 1 min is most important as we will miss or get our connection. Train, Bus and Ship stations are all at the same place. So easily accessible.

All stations have SBB offices to give route explanations neatly printed, Can get currency exchanged and also provide locker facility for luggage..

All stations have COOP and MIGROS which stock all staples. COOP at Luzern Bahnhof provides cooked Basmati with one vegetable, which can be packed weighed and billed.

Switch on your Wifi at all stations,keep your SBB app handy and off you go to any location.

We did London, Paris, Swizz this vacation. Next time planned to do only Switzerland.

A Big Thank you once again Arno and Annika !!!.

Cheers !!

SuganthyAnanth

Thanks you for your comprehensive trip report SuganthyAnanth! You managed to see a lot in a few days, and it seems like you were able to find your way around Switzerland just fine. I am glad to hear you intend to plan a next visit. There is much more to see, both in the areas you visited and other parts of the country. A tip for next time: you can buy your pass online directly from the Swiss railways and pay in CHF if you prefer. You can print it at home so you'll save time and can board your train immediately after arrival. No need to go through a ticket office first. You can find that option through www.swissrailways.com/ en, and all other options are here.

Thanks again for the very good report! And good luck with managing all the pictures you took :-)

Hi SugathyAnanth-

Arno has already said "Thank you" for your trip report. So will I.

I would like to add that your report provides an excellent example of how to travel well in Switzerland. You went on varied trips, saw a lot of wonderful things, knew to check the weather before going up to Jungfraujoch, and put all the pieces together with skill.

When I read a report like yours, it reminds me of how much I enjoy traveling in Switzerland and using the very effective travel network to work for me.

Slowpoke

Suganthy...Thanks for a detailed report. I am planning to take my daughter to Swiss/Italy from Delhi in mid August as a treat for her graduation from London.

i have nsome Indian specific questions which will not be of interest to others here.

Thank you

Hi Cupid,

I have removed your e-mail address because it's not allowed to post such private data here (see the forum rules), and because it's not good practice to post e-mail addresses on public websites. That might get you spam messages eventually. You can ask your questions here as long as it's related to Switzerland. If it's not related to this trip report, please post a new thread. Thank you!

Thanks Annika

and sorry for the lapse

Hello Slowpoke,

Thanks for taking time to read my Trip report. Appreciate it

As you rightly pointed out ,the Swiss transport system is one of the best and definitely a boon to all foreign travelers.

Only seasoned travelers like you,Arno and Annika can point out small but vital information like ,to check the webcams before going up Jungfraujoch etc. A very valid advice. Heard a few of our friends complaining as they could see nothing when they went up Jungfraujoch.

Keep posting and guiding people ...

Have a good Weekend !!

Thanks a lot SuganthyAnanth for the great trip report. It is really very inspiring to our forthcoming trip to Swiss Alps end of Aug to first week of Sept. For Wilhelm Tell Express train, did you make advance seat reservation or could get in without advance seat reservation ? I am also planning on for the this great train ride combined with boat ride. I might ask some questions time to time Cheers

I was interested in your trip to Mt. Rigi. Boat to Vitznau. Then you say "got down" and took the cogwheel up to Rigi Kulm. Then you "got down" at Rigi Katbald and took the cable car down to Weggis. I am not understanding what you mean by "got down". Can you clarify this for me? I want ti understand what this trip requires. Thank you.

Welcome to MySwissAlps Dicebj!

It's just another way of saying "get off" or "get out of" the train. This page may interest you: myswissalps.com/rigi.

<<"It's just another way of saying "get off" or "get out of" the train. ">>

Also, in this case, the lake boat.

Slowpoke

Thank you both for your quick reply and the page on Mt. Rigi. Trying to visualize all the trips and connections are a challenge. Your help is most appreciated.

Hi Dicebj-

<<"Trying to visualize all the trips and connections is a challenge.">>

This map is especially helpful.

If you turn on the "traffic" icons as I have done under points of interest, it helps to visualize the locations of the stations. Once the icons are visible, click on them. For those with a regular schedule, trips in the near future will appear in a menu.

map.search.ch/?x=18108m&y=16740m&z=64 &poi=verkehr

Also, once individual journeys are selected in the timetable, andyou click onthe "+" sign to the left, you can access a map from the footnotes.

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Slowpoke

Hi Dicebj,

Happy that you got interested in Mt.Rigi after my report . Slowpoke and Arno have already replied to your question on Getting on or off. I can understand your difficulty in visualizing as i did face the same before starting to Switzerland. On the contrary, it was just a breeze. The ship station at Vitznau and the Cog Wheel station are opposite to each other. So you get out of the ship and opposite will be the Cog wheel which will take you up the mountain.

At Weggis the Ship station is not right opposite the cable car station . You will have to follow signs and walk a short distance down hill to the lake front (ship station).

If you are not interested in the cable car,you may as well go down to Vitznau to catch your return boat to Luzern.

Since the entire trip is free with Swiss travel pass,it is all the more enjoyable.( No booking/tickets etc).Don't bother much to Visualize. Its is very easy ( From a first time traveler to Swiss).

Have a g8 vacation and enjoy the beautiful country

Suganthy .

Hi Dicebj -

This link may help:

www.myswissalps.com/ri gi

We discussed some options for getting up to the top of Rigi (Rigi Kulm), as well as some travel ideas around the lake, here:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/lucerne-boat-trip

The tools in this map on the menu under "Points of Interest/Traffic" can help visualize connections, especially if you zoom in ans switch to aeriala view. I have turned on "railway" and "Mountain transport."

map.search.ch/?x=31728m&y=22288m&z=8& poi=bergbahn,zug

Zoom in.

Slowpoke

Thank you all for the wonderful helpful information. This will be the first trip to Switzerland for my husband and me. We are seniors so I want to have all the info I can gather to make this trip as carefree as possible.

Slowpoke, The map you posted was amazing, it has the flexibility of browsing category wise, very helpful, I am going to use this during my trip. Thank you so much.

map.search.ch/?x=7376m&y=33904m&z=8&p oi=bar,geldautomat,kir che,mobility,polizei,r estaurant,schule,tanks telle,viasuisse

Also want to ask you a question, during my trip apart from SBB any other timetables I can use for the day trips so that I know the last train and bus trips and different transport options. Thanks

Hi Chandraks-

That map is very useful for trip planning.

In this edition, I have not yet figured out how to display altitude, so i find that I also use the SwissTopo map site even more frequently if I am planning hikes.

The SBB timetable contains everything that you ask for:

<<"during my trip apart from SBB any other timetables I can use for the day trips so that I know the last train and bus trips and different transport options.">>

I eleve thatthe samart phone display may be limited, having less information than the desktop version. Since I don't use a smartphone, I could be wrong, but I have that impression.

Try to do your exploring on a desktop computer.

Also, a lot of information becomes available if you click on the "+" to the left of an individualjourney and look at the details on the right and the footnotes at the bottom.

I find that the lake boat time table on lake Lucerne is easier to use for planning there, but all of the trips are in the SBB timetable.

www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ timetable-fares/timetable/

This link provides some useful instructions for the timetable:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Also, please spend time with the various options on the SBB timetable. There is a tremendous amount of useful information buried in sub-menus and links. It is a very complex and detailed system, but it has a huge number of resources. The better you understand, the easier your travel will be.

You may be aware that the entire set of Swiss timetables is published in a set of 3 books, totaling about 15 cm. in thickness. They are arranged to show all trips on a particular route (land route - rail and bus, or boat route, orcableway) by date and time.

Thus, for example, it can be useful to quickly see all trips from Weggis to Brunnen by boat on any day of the year at any time. To see the bus trips, in the books, you have to go to the book with bus routes. On line, they are integtrated, but you can select transportation mode if you wish.

At local train stations and moreso at larger stations, there re available...at the counter or in racks near the ticket windows ....small pamphlets which reproduce pages from that published book , just for the region around that station. Great for finding all trips to/from a village.

They are free. Often, an innkeeper will have them available for the guests.

I find them quite convenient, but they include no new information. It is all on the SBB timetable.

Slowpoke

Thanks again Slowpoke for the tips and will explore the options ......

hi suganthy

your trip report is is very good and informative.I would like to know regarding food and cost per meal and temperature feeling as an indian . we are reaching at first week of august for 5 days at wengen and lucerne