Planning Trip to Switzerland in August?

Question

Hi,

I stay in India and wish to travel to Switzerland in the month of August for around 15 days. We are a couple with a small 11 month old kid.

- Should we opt for a packaged group tour or make the trip on our own? Some people said to be on our own as group tour would be very hectic and the baby would find it very difficult to adjust those timings.

Having said that, does anyone have any suggestions for a great itinerary?

- Should we stay in hotels or in apartment?

- Should we hire a rental car or use public transport?

- Is the country safe?

- If you compare Switzerland with New Zealand, which one would you prefer?

- Since I have no idea about the tariff range, what sort of a range should I opt for? I prefer staying luxury.

Please provide me some tips.

Answer 1

There is almost nothing to add to what fhtagn's and Rand O's said. Still, may I suggest to read a good guide about the country? Since there is not only chocolate and watches there as many tourist believe. And, no!, cows are not milked on the famous Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich ;-)

There is online info about Switzerland available on the WWW, too. Start with this site

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/home...

from where you can get personalized info.

Happy travelling!

Answer 2

- Consider that Switzerland is really small: if you traveled by train between any two cities, it wouldn't take more than 5 hours. This means that it's easy to move around, and do so on a short notice, you don't need to have a tour operator organize it for you. And if you set your own pace, it will be better for your baby, as you pointed out. So my advice is: go on your own.

-Hotels. Apartments are mostly rented in weeks, this would mean you'd be stuck in the same place for one week. Plus, hotels are much easier to find and usually of a good standard. If you plan on moving around, you will find it a lot easier to find a hotel anywhere you go.

-Public transport is well developed. It is quite expensive though if you just buy a ticket at a time. I don't know the details, but I think that for tourists there are one-week passes on basically all public transport in Switzerlad. Check out this site

http://travel.sbb.ch/

Renting a car is of course possible, and would give more freedom in terms of mobility. I suppose you'll have to do your own research to find out which one is more worth it, car or public transport.

-Yes, it's safe. Not 100% safe of course, but you can drive and walk around without fear.

-I'm swiss and I've been to New Zealand twice. I love NZ, probably because it's similar enough to Switzerland (in the way of living), but has things we don't have here: open spaces, more varied climate, the ocean. For a 2 week holiday, Switzerland has an advantage: it's a lot smaller. 2 weeks are enough to at least see pretty much all of it.

-Switzerland is pretty expensive. If you prefer luxury be prepared to pay for it. I can't really give you any price range.

And a few tips.

All cities are smallish. The largest by population is Zurich, with roughly half a million people. All other are half of that or less. Bern is worth seeing, the old town is beautifully preserved. Sankt Gallen has beautiful cathedral, also worth a visit.

Between the 6th and 16th of August, an international film festival is held in Locarno. During that time the city is buzzing with activity. Locarno would be worth a visit anyway, it's in Ticino, the italian speaking part south of the Alps and bordering Italy. I would suggest to spend at least 2-3 days in Ticino, if you do it during the festival, that would be a plus.

Most of Switzerland is covered with mountains. A few of them have become a touristic attraction. The Jungfrau, Eiger and Mönch, in the Interlaken area, are definitely worth seeing.

Ok, one last thought: if I were you I would go on my own, with only the first few days already organized. I suppose you will be arriving by plane in Zurich. You could plan on staying a couple of days there, then were to go for the next few days, and then see on a day to day basis. Like I said Switzerland is small, if you don't like a place in the morning you can go to another one in the afternoon.

In any case, enjoy your holiday :)

Answer 3

use public transport, its cheap and good any you can go ANYWHER with it, cars are rlly expensive and also parking is very expesive and threse not enough, and most interesting places for sightseeing are pedestrian zones. so use public transport

Answer 4

So many questions , all i can do is pass comment on a few and stacks of links to help you. It's entirely subjective but New Zealand is spectacular and more varied. But Switzerland is also magnificent.

NZ in August - COLD !! but snow on the peaks , leaves off of the trees .... but spectacular.

Switzerland in August .... beautiful .... roads are full of tourists during this bust summer month though .... and expensive.

Hotels and Route Planners in NZ ...... check this out

Auckland : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...

Wellington : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...

Christchurch : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...

Rotorua : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...

Taupo : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...

Queenstown : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.nz/New-Z...    .... magnificent !!

..... and check out the maps on this site.

Stacks of last minute deals in August .

Switzerland : http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.uk/Switz...

Try the National Tourism Offices :

New Zealand : http://www.tourismrankings.com/New-Zeala...

Switzerland : http://www.tourismrankings.com/Switzerla...

Switzerland

Answer 5

I'm going to agree with the suggestions above: no group, stay in hotels. I would say get a SwissPass, then you have most of the flexibility of a car (you don't have to buy a ticket or make reservations in advance) and the advantage of a train--you can hold/feed your baby, enjoy the scenery without getting into an accident, have a drink while on the go. Oh and the SwissPass is valid on boats too: I definitely recommend a boat trip on Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee) and/or the Lake of Brienz (Brienzersee). AND it offers free entry to most of the museums and castles--check out the Chateau de Chillon.

The only disadvantage I can think of for the train is carrying around a lot of stuff. But if you plan it right, you can send your suitcases on ahead of you at the train station.

Answer 6

Hi, check this link:

http://www.tsitours.com

they provide many tours to Switzerland. choose yours one.They also provide car rental service & hotel reservation. If you don't have any idea about range go for a tour package.

Answer 7

I would advise you not to join a group for 2 reasons:

1. Switzerland is a great place to just stop when you come across somewhere really pretty- you cannot do this in a group.

2. Organised groups usually cost more, Switzerland is VERY expensive.  So if you want luxury and group then the cost will be very high.

Switerland has great public transport and so the trains will be very easy way to get around with a child.

NZ and Switzerland are quite similar, but bear in mind that Switzerland has 3 main influences (French, German & Italian).  When you visit different areas there are notable differneces in the culture, architecture and cuisine etc (which makes for a more interesting trip).

I would stay in hotels since it gives more flexibility to visiting the country.  Most appartments will have a minimum stay of a week during the summer and with a child it would really restrict how much of the country you could see.

The must see places are:

1. Luzern - a very 'chocolate box' swiss village/town on the lake with views of the alps (for luxury try the Grand National Hotel)

2. Bern - the historic capital

3. Zurich - cosmopolitan blend of swiss architecture and arts

A good idea might be to take the glacier express.

I would not reccomend Geneva.  It is not really worth the trip, unless you are visiting it for a specific reason (i.e. to visit the UN buildings).  It has many of the things the other cities have but is not as great and is quite a distance from the rest.

One additional place to visit would be Basel/Basle.  It has some nice historic parts and has a very nice 5* hotel on the banks of the Rhine called Les Trois Rois (the three kings).  Basel is quite interesting since it borders on both Germany and France.  It even has a restraunt which I recall is called Dreilander (3 lands - as it borders on Switzerland, France & Germany)

Enjoy!

Answer 8

Yep.

I absolutely agree with fhtagn's and Rand O's comments and I'm Swiss!

August 1. is the Nationalday of Switzerland. There are great fireworks in every city (exept in Basel, there it is on August 31.).