Help on a visit to Switzerland please

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Clive005

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Hi all, myself wife and 12 year old boy are going to Germany and a couple of other stops for 6 weeks in Sept/Oct, looking at Switzerland we thought it may be to expensive but accommodation looks ok that time of year and the more we look the more we want to go.

Im thinking spending 5 nights there,
Can I please have some advice on were best to be located? Zermatt or Wengen looks great
and what is the best ticketing to get for the trains/ cable car's
We are looking too stay in a hotel/Resort what's the best way to get to the hotels? just Train it?
our other stops will be in order (not yet finalised) we plan on train travel as much as possible

Frankfurt
Amsterdam
Iceland
Hamburg
Berlin
Munich
May get a flight from one of the locations to Switzerland or may just train it, advice apriciated
We plan just to eat on the cheap eg supermarkets etc. What are the prices like everyone says very high but what's very high.
This is by far the biggest trip I have planned, its a bit daunting but fun, We are flying out of Adelaide in J all reward flights with SQ, So we are really exited

Thanks

Clive
 
Cheap eating tips in Switzerland - the breakfast buffets at most hotels feature sliced cheese and sliced meats. Easy to make a sandwich or roll for lunch to take with you. For dinners, the supermarket chains Migros and Spar (and perhaps others) have extensive hot and cold prepared food displays, eg pastas, curries, salads, casseroles and veg. If you go about half an hour before closing you can easily pick up a cheap dinner when they reduce the prices to clear the food. (Also visit the chocolate aisle for Swiss chocolate). As for dinner in a Swiss restaurant, expect to pay around A$80 per person for a main course and a glass of wine in a reasonable restaurant, or about A$40 per person for a main course and a drink in a cafe or burger bar. Geneva is a horrendously expensive city especially for accommodation.

Swiss trains are great and so is the SBB website and both are far superior to German trains and DB website. Train to Iceland might be a big ask even for the Swiss though ;)

Google Maps can give directions to help you arrive at your hotels from the main train stations by public transport. I had no problems with that in Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva. Many Swiss cities provide free public transport for tourists with hotel bookings. Look up the tourist bureaus online for the cities you are visiting to find out what offers are available for tourists. Sometimes you need to pick up a pass at the main station, in other places showing your hotel confirmation is enough for a free tram ride to the hotel.
 
Can I please have some advice on were best to be located? Zermatt or Wengen looks great
and what is the best ticketing to get for the trains/ cable car's
We are looking too stay in a hotel/Resort what's the best way to get to the hotels? just Train it?
our other stops will be in order (not yet finalised) we plan on train travel as much as possible

Both Zermatt and Wengen are only accessible by train. No vehicle access. Zermatt is at the end of a long valley but has the iconic Matterhorn, whereas Wengen, which is located in the Bernese Oberland, is not at quite such a dead end, being accessible from both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, which are both about 30 minutes by train from Interlaken..
Grindelwald is another village in the area you could consider as is Murren, though the latter is more isolated.
 
Thanks for the info, The Alps look incredible, I think we need to go. Wengen looks like the place to be. Do you think there would be snow in September/October?
 
I don’t think there would be snow in Wegen in October, though some of the alpine road passes are beginning to close by then. The railways should will be fine.
Traffic information Switzerland - roadworks, pass conditions
As offshore171 mentions, the higher peaks are snow covered all year round.
Swiss railways are efficient but expensive. It might be worth investigating a rail pass, but be aware that SBB (Swiss national railways) passes may not cover all the rail lines in Switzerland as many are privately owned, including the one serving Wengen.
Tickets for Switzerland | SBB
Wengernalpbahn AG
 
In my short trip driving trip around Switzerland, I found food and hotel prices highly variable. In Zurich I was in a four star hotel costing me a fortune a night, and it didn't even have a fridge/minibar. Food prices in that hotel were through the roof, so we wandered around the streets till we found a reasonable place to eat. On the other hand, at the Best Western Hotel in Biel, the price for the hotel room and prices in it's restaurant were pretty reasonable.

If you should decide to do some driving in Switzerland, it's good fun with a navigator. The biggest problem I had was that I kept coming across triangular shaped signs with a big X in each. And everyone kept blowing their horn at me for some reason. Turned out the sign meant I was approaching an uncontrolled intersection (no stop signs), where I was supposed to give way to the right.

Just a note about staying in Berlin. I tend to meet two types of people who have been to Berlin - those who loved it and those who didn't. We loved it. When I questioned the people who didn't like it, it turned out they had stayed in the former East Berlin. You won't go wrong staying in West Berlin - near the Zoo and/or the huge KaDeWe store - and just take the subway to East Berlin.

And best stay away from Amsterdam on a weekend - prices are through the roof, and the place is ultra crowded.
Regards,
Renato

P.S. In Munich beware about booking a hotel off to the western side of the city, read reviews carefully. It's an easy walk into the city, but it's also a sex-zone. Also, when wandering around Munich, look for Mlinar bakeries - great pastry covered hot dogs and other filling meaty pastry treats. Also, the Arabs types who have stalls selling bratwurst, chips and kebabs tend to be delicious (I liked them more than typical Bavarian fare)
 
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I would probably look at a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass, children under 16 are free if travelling with 1 adult who holds a pass. That would give you free unlimited travel on trains, buses and boats including the panorama trains such as the Glacier Express. For the panorama trains you are required to pay a small additional reservation fee though. It also gives free rides on local buses which comes in handy aswell as some free gondola excursions such as the Schilthorn and Rigi and 50% off others. Free entry to a stack of museums also.
This is the Metropol Hotel in Zermatt in August last year and the view from our room

EF12B167-EDBA-40BE-9A33-D8FD213E4491.jpeg 6CE89D8D-67AE-4B1B-A420-CB2F72922E5B.jpeg
 
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Just looked back at some old photos of our trip that included Zermatt & St Moritz. We stayed at Hotel Tannenhof in Zermatt and I see it is getting strong reviews for its central location & value for money.
I think it is fair to say that you will find Switzerland expensive but visually amaazing
 
I think Switzerland will be money well spent, Im choosing between Wengen and Zermatt to stay att what are peoples recommendations?
 
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As much as I love Zermatt if you have only a few days Wengen is probably better suited. Zermatt is fairly isolated and whilst there is still a bit to do there is nowhere near the transport options that you have in Wengen.
 
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