How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : Where should you fly in? Should you stay in Zurich or Geneva?

Basics of Planning:

Switzerland is awesome with verdant green alpine slopes and snow topped peaks towering in the background.

RESOURCES FOR REFERENCE:

www.myswitzerland.com

is a good source to understand your options for Switzerland.

In the 1st tab of Destinations/Holiday destinations/ click on the map that appears on the right and you get all regions.

Popular ones are Bernese Oberland or Lucerne area.

If you click on the area for Bernese Oberland for instance, all possible destinations in that area open up as text and you can make your choice. Same way you can research for other regions also.

Choose the season of your visit (summer/winter) and research the options available for that season... Ignore the sample itineraries on the site as they are impractical.

I’ll summarize how you can go about planning your dream visit to Switzerland...

A polite Good Morning, Please and Thank you are essential in all interactions --- just as we start any interaction in India with a “Namashkar” and end with “Shukriya”!

How to Plan a Swiss Trip:

Please print out a map of Switzerland and mark where the prominent sites are.

Map 1 below shows different ports of entry and a few places you can base your stay in. International flight from

India

can land either in Zurich or Geneva. If you are taking a train from Paris, you’ll come in via Basel or Geneva as there are direct trains to both from Paris.

MAP 1: Ports of Entry and some bases

Depending on your port of entry, you can design your itinerary or the other way around… you can list what your priorities are and decide where to enter to achieve that.

Luzern and Interlaken are also marked in Map 1. Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald near Interlaken are scenic places to stay in.

What is a base and how can we choose one?

You have to understand the concept of “bases” when you are planning a holiday. A base means a place convenient to stay a few nights in and take trips in the vicinity. In Switzerland there are quite a few such bases with great transport infrastructure so that you can have lake cruises, or go to mountain tops, play in the snow etc. You choose a base after looking at the options in that region and plan trips in that area for the number of days you can allocate.

If you have only 4 days in Switzerland for instance, stay in one base. If you have a week, think of adding another base. Note you’ll lose ½ a day moving from one base to another… you have to pack your bags, check out of your hotel, take the train or the available appropriate transport to your next base, walk to your hotel there and check in, keep your bags, before you can start on your sight seeing for the day. Prime time is lost when you are doing all these; so limit your bases to a minimum and make best use of your time. Choose your base wisely and see all the nice sights available near by … most bases in Switzerland have plenty of options for at least 5 days.

If you choose Luzern as your base for example, you can take trips to see nearby mountains like Titlis, Pilatus, Rigi etc, one on each day. These trips are done by various modes and combinations of transport like cog wheel trains, cable cars, boats etc. It’s not just the destination that counts but the whole journey is scenic and you can stop anywhere on the way and enjoy the views and hikes. It’s NOT about rushing to the final destination, ticking it off in the list and rushing down to another.

COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY FIRST TIME VISITOR:

When you have 2 weeks or more, you have a lot of wiggle room to plan, but when your trip is short, you have to pick your priorities right. Try and avoid the following mistakes on a short trip.

1. Opting for a big city as base on a short trip to Switzerland:

People tend to include names of cities they have heard about in their trip plan. In the case of Switzerland you may think it’s important to include Zurich and Geneva. These are big cities and if you are in

Switzerland

for its scenic beauty, it’s OK to NOT spend time in Zurich and Geneva.

Both these airports have train stations. You can move on to your base as soon as you land. There are direct trains once an hour or even 2 per hour till late at night around 11PM and it's quite safe to travel onward to your final destination straight from the airport. Get exact timings from the sbb site as explained below under heading How to use trains

2. Scheduling Interlaken as an attraction in itself:

Tour companies offer packages listing Luzern and Interlaken as the main places to visit. So people mistakenly believe Interlaken in itself is a tourist attraction… the reality is different. Interlaken is comparatively quite charmless and has become very congested with loads of tour buses and the resultant shops catering to the crowd. See where it’s located in map 2 [under point 4 below]…region Bernese Oberland (BO) with Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, etc is very beautiful with lakes and mountain peaks.

Interlaken is between 2 lakes. At best it’s a transport hub and may make a decent base only in leaner tourist season. Interlaken has restaurants catering Indian food and is appealing to Indians on that account.

If you are looking for a serene alpine experience, there is no need to allocate time for sightseeing in Interlaken. Use it only for touring the beautiful region surrounding it (Bernese Oberland which has the famous Jungfraujoch and plenty of other scenic spots)

3. Trying to include ALL highlights:

Another mistake of first timers is to include ALL the sights they have heard of in their plan…Top Swiss sights are listed in brochures as Matterhorn, Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Rhine falls, Chateau de Chillon, Glacier 3000, Lake Geneva (which in reality is referred to as Lac Leman as it belongs to an entire region, not just to the city of Geneva). You don't have to include all these in one short trip...don't have FOMO.... Fear of Missing Out.

There are many issues in trying to tick off ALL the sights on a list in one short trip as explained below.

4. Not analyzing logistics/location of different sights:

Let’s mark these sights on our map 2 below.

You’ll see it’s not possible to visit all the "TOP SIGHTS" in a short time as they are geographically far apart.

MAP 2: Tourist Attractions--Schafhausen (Rhine Falls), Pilatus, Rigi, Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn, Glacier3000, Gornergrat and Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

As you can see in map 2, you can include Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis if you are based in Luzern.

But Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn are much further south to Luzern and you can't successfully do a day trip to them from Luzern

Note where Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is.... it can be accessed from Zermatt and you can include Gornergrat also from Zermatt.

Rhine falls is in Schaffhausen, extreme north in this map. You can make a day trip from Zurich, not from the BO region

5. Including similar experiences without opting for variety:

Matterhorn, Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Glacier 3000, and Diavolezza in Engadin valley are all glacier experiences…. That is, you go up in a cable car or by cog wheel train and arrive in perennial snow. You get to see high peaks all round covered in snow. So when your desire is to be on snow and play with snow for a little while, and see snowy peaks around you, it is enough if you visit one of these on a SHORT TRIP.

Above is the cable car operating for Schilthorn... it's big with a few seats; rest of the people stand as seen below and watch the sights as the cable car ascends...

Below is the gondola plying to Klein Matterhorn from Zermatt... it's a smaller car with 2 opposing seats; 6 people travel seated in one such gondola... you can see the famed Matterhorn in the pic...

All these are lovely experiences and it’s best if you stay at a convenient base near them and do the hikes and enjoy the whole ambiance in that particular place for a few days. It’s not advisable to run over to a place for just one day to tick off a list.

Just pick one Glacier Experience and spend a few days in the surroundings, if you are short of time. Out of the 5 listed, Glacier 3000 is not as impressive as the others. Matterhorn is at the end of a narrow, remote valley and makes for a long day trip if you are not based nearby. Jungfraujoch is reached after an expensive train journey. Klein Titlis can be easily enjoyed from Luzern.

You can choose one of these glacier experiences after analyzing what suits you and your needs. You may add Mount Blanc to the list if you are based near Geneva. Think about going to the Aiguille du Midi at Chamonix, France. You can get to Chamonix in 90 mins by shared van transfer from the Geneva airport and from the Aiguille du Midi you have superb views of the highest mountain in Europe - Mt Blanc. You can also do the "Step into the Void" - walking out on a glass platform a couple of thousand meters above the valley floor. If you are based in Montreux, train through Martigny to Chamonix... easy and scenic.

6. Not understanding altitude issues:

Remember these glaciers are above 2000 m in elevation…Klein Matterhorn (3,883 meters/12,740 ft above sea level), Klein Titlis (3,028 m), Jungfraujoch (3454m), Glacier 3000 (glacier of Les Diablerets which as the name says is 3000m), Diavolezza (3000m) .

As altitude increases, the available amount of oxygen to sustain mental and physical alertness decreases with the overall air pressure, Acute altitude sickness can begin to appear at around 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level,

Symptoms include Headache, Fatigue, Stomach illness, Dizziness, Shortness of breath upon exertion, Nosebleed, Persistent rapid pulse, Drowsiness. Exertion aggravates the symptoms.

Reliable treatment and in many cases the only option available is to descend. Supplemental Oxygen may be used for mild to moderate AMS.

Anybody may be susceptible to altitude sickness. So be aware of symptoms; slow down and seek medical help when needed.

When your party includes children below 2 years (they may not be able to articulate their discomfort), pregnant women (they have to oxygenate the blood of the baby too, hence "breathe for two"), the elderly, those with prior breathing problems, get your doctor’s advice before attempting such trips.

7. Scheduling a mountain experience for a specific day much ahead:

You can ensure good views in a mountain experience only when the weather in that particular place is clear and not cloudy/rainy.

Main problem in planning mountain excursions is predicting weather. If there are low clouds, you don’t have any views of the tall peaks around you—there is only fog. You should always check the live webcams for the place you plan to visit in the morning before you start your trip. The forecast the previous day is also reliable.

You can’t plan “I’ll visit Jungfraujoch on this particular day”….because you will not have any views if you go on a cloudy day. If your heart is set on Jungfraujoch, you should stay in a base nearby in BO (Bernese Oberland)/Jungfrau region for at least 3 days, so that one of those days may have clear weather for your Jungfraujoch trip.

Same way, for Titlis, stay in Luzern for 3 days at least so that your chances of good weather improves. For Klein Matterhorn, stay in Zermatt.

8. Scheduling a mountain experience from a distant base:

If you stay in a far away base, by the time you make your long journey, the clouds may gather and obscure the view. So in addition to the inconvenience of a long train trip, you may lose out on your goal of seeing nice views.

NEVER schedule a trip to Jungfraujoch from Luzern… the journey is 4 hours one way… You wake up, and yup, it's a clear and lovely day, bright blue sky. So you set out on your way to the Jungfraujoch…

But, 4 hours later when you finally arrive -- the whole area is socked in by clouds. Things change very quickly in the mountains, and the weather may turn during the five hours you'll be travelling. . Your best chances for a clear day are in the morning usually.

As said, it's best to do the mountain trip from a nearby base. If you are coming in from a distant place, by the time you reach there after a long train journey, the clouds may have won the race!

That's why it's best to stay overnight in a nearby base.... for saving precious time as well as to have a great mountain top experience.

9. Focusing on taking the famous train trips without analyzing suitability:

Glacier express is a 7 hour journey from Zermatt to St. Moritz. Yes, you have heard it’s a beautiful journey but look which area it covers and don’t try to cram it into your plan involving another area of Switzerland.

The map below shows the area for Glacier express (Zermatt to St. Moritz.) and Bernina Express (Chur or St Moritz to Tirano-Lugano).

Base yourself in the Engadin valley if the Glacier Express ride is important to you. Andermatt to Chur is the most scenic part of that trip

.As a general rule, take a scenic train ride only if it fits into your plan. You enjoy yourself much more when you are actually walking around in scenic surroundings, with the cool wind caressing your hair and sun stroking your face…

How to use the trains:

For high speed trains to/from France/Italy etc you need a seat reservation, you buy the ticket for a specific train. You get highly discounted tickets if you buy 3 months ahead... prices go up as travel date approaches.

Within Switzerland, most visitors use the wonderful public transport to enjoy the country:

http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

We can put in our place of origin and destination in the above link and get all the train/bus/boat options available. Tickets can be bought on the day of travel and are valid for the whole day, not just for a particular train. Ticket machines are easy to use... by default, it'll be in the local language but you can change it to English for convenience. You can use the manned counter as well during working hours. If you have data, SBB. CH app is very easy to use. Of course it's always cost effective to use a travel Pass ... I've discussed how to choose a travel pass in the first part of this particular intro:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/switzerland-part-3-passes-food-safety.html

Though there may be many transfers to get to one place, it's always easy to make the transfers as the connecting train's platform will be just opposite or just down a ramp.

No need to worry if one connection is missed as trains are frequent, usually one per hour or even one every 30 minutes.

In Switzerland, regular tickets are for an itinerary, not bound to a specific train - so you could leave your luggage at any intermediate railway station (lockers or left luggage service), spend the time you want in that place, and take one of the next trains to your final destination. The whole journey has to be completed in one day –the day you have bought the ticket for.

Trains ply every hour on popular routes, so there is no fear that you'll miss your connection. Be sure to check when the last connection is from the official site! Be aware of the time for the last connection to avoid being stranded.

No need to reserve tickets for ordinary trains. Only Glacier Express and Bernina Express need mandatory advance reservation which should be done online. For Golden pass, if you want to travel in the very first coach ahead of even the engine, you need reservation.

For cable cars etc, we need to look at the official site of that attraction as these are not operated by the sbb train company mentioned above.

If you have an early flight out of Zurich you can still have a full day of sight seeing at Luzern and then take the public transport to the airport.

There is an early bus from Lucerne to Zurich airport - www.flugbus.ch - which brings you to the entrance of the airport when it opens in the morning if the first train (leaving at 04.55h) would not be early enough.

Look at http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html for train time tables

Below is the map showing important train lines... you can see how well all places are connected

I've discussed the travel passes in the next part... let's go ahead with the general introduction now...

This blog continues with tips on when to go, where to stay and must-dos in the following post:

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/switzerland-part-2-when-to-go-vacations.html

Tips on choosing the correct travel pass, currency/handling money in Switzerland, clothes, food, safety tips are covered in the post:
https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/04/switzerland-part-3-passes-food-safety.html

In case you need info on basics of planning a trip to Europe in general, 3 earlier posts will help you:

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-plan-trip-to-europe-air-tickets.html
covers booking air tickets, train trips, Hotel bookings, restaurant tips, safety recommendations.

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-plan-trip-to-europe-planning.html
covers the factors governing number of days allocation, self drive options, tour vs independent travel etc

https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/03/how-to-plan-trip-to-europe.html
is an introduction on passport, visa formalities for Indians.