MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Wonderful 8 day trip – Jungfrau, Lucerne, Geneva
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Hello,
We just came home from Switzerland yesterday and had a great time there.
First, I want to thank you so much for the assistance from this site. It helps us so much.
What we find is the SBB timetable App on our phone is a Must-have to find all the train, bus, boat schedules. It has save us so much time on figuring out where to go and how to get between places. Transportation schedules is very on time. If it’s late 2 or 3 minutes, we could tell from the App or signs right away. Swiss Travel Pass is a great way to travel. It is very convenient to get on the train and boat we want and don’t need to waste time to get the tickets. It is worth it for us since we visit many places.
We have Verizon service with us, but we also rent a mobile wifi there. Great service even up to the mountains. Internet service is must have to find restaurants and we use google map for walking.
Public restrooms are very clean, 95% is free. Some train stations require fee (1 CHF or 2 CHF). All trains have restrooms.
We visited Mt. Rigi, Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Titlis, and Lake Lucerne. Harder Kulm, Grindelwald First, Jungfraujoch, Lake Brienz, Lake Thun in Interlaken. And take Glacier Express train, and spend out last day in Geneva to fly home from there. For us, Glacier Express is not our top pick, I guess it would be greater to ride this train in the winter.
Our top mountain picks are Mt. Titlis, Grindelwald First, and Jungfraujoch is very great.
Swiss Travel Pass covers 50% for funicular, cable cars and cog wheel trains to Mt. Pilatus (36 CHF extra), Mt. Titlis (33 CHF extra), Harder Kulm (17 CHF extra), Grindelwald First (32 CHF extra). STP gives 25% discount to visit Jungfraujoch (139 CHF extra). STP covers Mt. Rigi 100%.
Huge restaurant options, different cuisines. People are nice and courteous. And we feel less concerned about pick pocket.
We used BinaxNOW test kit for our return. We brought them from home. Connected to the website and took about 15 min to take the test, and got the result back in about 5 min.
Our trip went smoothly we know we got a lot of help from this site. We can’t say thank you enough. And hope to return to Switzerland soon.
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Hi HeartVoyage,
Thanks for making the time to write this trip report. So glad to know the trip went smoothly for you and that you are planning to come back.
Appreciate all the useful tips you’ve shared.
Regards,
Anna
Hi, wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing. Did your credit card work for everything or did you use Swiss Francs for some things? Also, did you eat or have a drink at the Harder Klum restaurant? Finally, did you ask for tap water at any restaurants? Thanks.
Thank you so much for your report. I’m very happy to learn about the wifi hotspot option and have just downloaded the SBB app. We aren’t going until December 2022, but I’m learning so much from travelers like you, and really appreciate your information!
Sarah
Appreciate the great tips! So helpful! Do you have suggestions for ATM use or best credit card to have while there? Also, do you mind sharing any hotel recommendations during your trip (Lucerne maybe)? Did you visit any city, or was the trip aimed more toward seeing the different mountains?
Thanks!! Bebe
Hi Bebe,
As for credit/debit cards, please find our tips under “http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfranc” on http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfranc.
I read the links you provided and will check out the Wise debit/credit card. I didn’t see anything about international transaction fees that some US credit cards charge. I want to avoid those, of course. I appreciate your prompt reply.
Thanks! Bebe
Hi Bebe,
It’s much cheaper in my experience. You’ll find prices at https://wise.com/us/multi-currency-account/pricing and you can contact them if you have any doubts. Also it’s more transparent because you can have a balance in Swiss francs, in this case. So there’s no exchange rate involved for each and every purchase you make. I cancelled our credit cards after I tried this for a while.
Thanks, Arno. Sounds like a plan! I’ll certainly give it a try!
Bebe
Hi Bebe,
We travelled Switzerland for 5 weeks in May/June 2019 from Australia.
In Luzern we stayed at the Hotel Central B&B, only one block from the station. Lovely room, the breakfast area/lounge is open 24/7 with tea, coffee, water, and usually fruit and croissants available, and you can bring in outside food and eat in using their cutlery and crockery. There’s also a small balcony with a few tables and chairs overlooking the street.
We use the 28 degree Mastercard when travelling overseas as it has no fees. In Switzerland we found we didn’t need the amount of cash we had originally taken, as credit cards were accepted pretty much everywhere.
Have a read of traveller’s trip reports in the Forum section of this site, there’s heaps of helpful information to assist in trip planning.
Regards,
Narelle
Hi Narelle – .thank you! I have read all your trip reports and thoroughly enjoyed them, especially all the extra descriptive details.This forum is very helpful! I really would like to include the Ticino area into a 12 day itinerary – with 4 days at Montreux first and then 4 days at Wengen to explore the Bernese Oberland region – and I also want to go to Lucerne. But I just don’t see how I can get it all in! Maybe one day at Lucerne on a day excursion from Wengen to go up Mt. Titlis? And then travel from Wengen to Lugano & depart for home from Milan? Does this sound doable? Thanks for any help you can give.
Hi Bebe,
With careful planning, this is surely possible. Switzerland is a fairly small country and the excellent public transportation makes it possible to travel across region easily.
Why don’t you post your question in a new thread here: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/miscellaneous
So we can all share and contribute in a single thread.
Regards,
Anna
I am currently planning a very very similar trip with excursions. Would you mind sharing your itinerary? I am having trouble deciding if we should stay in 1 place – like Wegen to do the Grindelwald First, and Jungfraujoch, Harder Klun and Lake Thon. Or if we should move around. Additionally did you buy tickets ahead of time for these excursions. We will be there peak tourist season, June 18-21 and although Id like to not buy Jungfraujoch for a specific day so we have flexibility if its cloudy. I am afraid it will sell out. Would love to hear what order you did things in and where you stayed please. Thank you for the review.
Hi Slotsve,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
For useful and practical tips about planning your itinerary, you might find this page helpful: http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself
If you have any questions or concerns, you can post on a new thread here: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/miscellaneous
Regards,
Anna
How was the weather while you were there in April? I’m going in June and am worried about the weather.
Hi Woodstock44,
Welcome to MySwissAlps! June is a great time. The weather can change quickly in Switzerland at any time of year, for the better or the worse. Forecasts are reliable from 3 days ahead of time. Here’s more information: http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/nature
Hello , Thankyou so much for sharing . I have a question about the Swiss travel pass . We have almost same itenary but we will be staying in wengen and interlaken . If we don’t combine Swiss travel pass and top of Europe . How can we travel in wengen Maureen lauterbrunne etc ?
Hi Frappuccino,
The Swiss Travel Pass provides free travel on public transport between Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Mürren. To access mountain transportation such as cable cars and gondolas, you need to arrange for tickets beforehand. These tickets are discounted with the Swiss Travel Pass. If you want to avoid buying tickets for cable, gondolas and mountain railways, yo might want to consider getting a regional pass such as the Top of Europe or Jungfrau Travel Pass.
You can find the Swiss Travel Pass validity map here: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/validity.
Regards,
Anna
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