Switzerland : Europe’s mountain playground

Last summer we visited Switzerland and Paris, we flew via Air France to Paris – loved the service, food on Air France.

Switzerland has been covered in 2 other posts –

1. Priyanka’s post – Absolute Beauty ; Switzerland Paris
2. Nilay’s post (Covers lot more spots and must do/skip) –  Switzerland itinerary

Putting our itinerary/details as well for future travelers.

Instead of train travel we rented a car from Paris airport and drove to Switzerland.
Europe seems to have more manual cars and they are cheaper, so while reserving a car, select the right option (manual/automatic). Entry/Exits at country borders was almost like neighbors passing by, i.e no issues at all.

We took the half fare card instead of swiss pass. Kids were free with half fare card. So depending upon your itinerary, see which one works better for you.

With inbuilt GPS in car, navigation wasn’t difficult. One difference in Switzerland and Germany was roundabouts – they did not have 4-way/3-way stop signs at junctions but roundabouts for efficient flow of traffic.

1. Currency – One can withdraw Euro’s from BNP Paribass ATM locations in Paris. BOFA card works.
Get a no transaction fee credit card before your travel.

2. Gas – At lot of gas stations we had to fill gas first and then pay to the attendant.

3. Parking – In Switzerland, some street parking locations will only accept Francs so will need those instead of Euro’s. And at parking lots/structures near train stations, one needs to pay either at the counter on platform or automatic machines for parking ticket validations.
There were no attendants or payment facility at the garage exit.

4. Stay – We rented a 2-bedroom apartment in Lauterbrunnen valley (Lauterbrunnen recommended by Priyanka here – thank you so much for the article Priyanka).   Lauterbrunnen has about 72 different big and small waterfalls. And absolutely loved this valley for our stay. Each floor had only one apartment and the view from every room/window/patio was absolutely gorgeous.  Breakfast in the patio the sound of waterfalls (Staubach waterfall could be seen from patio/windows) and alps view, a unique and memorable experience. The apartment was fully stocked with pots, pans, dishes, cups, cutlery etc.

Link to Apartment Rental – http://www.hornerpub.ch/

Lauterbrunnen, town where we stayed

Grindelwald, Wilderswil, Interlaken are towns similar to Lauterbrunnen (surrounded by alps and recommend staying here instead of big cities).
Milk, yogurt, bread etc can be bought from the nearby Co-op store (similar to Safeway).  Store even had things like Indian toor dal to cater to visitors :-).

5. Places we visited in Switzerland –

• Bern – We stopped at Bern enroute Lauterbrunnen from France. This was our first glimpse into a Swiss town. Picked up a car parking pass from tourist office here and did a quick drive through.  The whole drive from France to Switzerland is scenic and beautiful. We stopped by at a local grocery store in France to pick up water, snacks etc.
  

  Clock Tower in Bern

• Trummelbach Falls – We checked into our apartment and went to see this beautiful waterfall. Numerous levels of waterfalls and fun experience. Do not Miss.
  

  Trumelbach Falls

• Jungfrauoch – The train ride to Jungfrauch is enchanting. Once you reach the top, you will feel like Tahoe 🙂 but the ride is filled with beautiful views and vistas. It’s always amazing how mankind thought of things years ago when they constructed the railroad to reach top.
• Geneva – Did a day trip to Geneva from Lauterbrunnen. If you visit Geneva, then Patek Phillip Watch
  museum is a must visit IMO. Other attractions like Cathedral could be skipped (if you have done it at other
  places). Parking near Patek Phillip museum, cathedral wasn’t an issue, but had to spend some time finding parking near Lake Geneva. Shopping area around Lake Geneva closes around 6 pm and did not find that many vegetarian food options nearby.
• Grindelwald – Town similar to Murren (Murren mentioned in Priyanka’s post) where they have cable car rides. We picked Grindelwald over Murren as they had alternative options to come downhill. Did a zipline for one leg. One can do scooter bikes for second part of the journey downhill after the zipline. You can buy tickets accordingly at the base. Ate a delicious pizza lunch at the base after the activity. Plenty of hiking options once you go up. One thing is unique about Switzerland – visibility can change (i.e clouds could cover your view) when you are at height. There was an Indian restaurant in this town but it closed at 2 pm for lunch.
  

  Grindelwald view

• Interlaken – The town of Interlaken seemed like mini Asia, you will find lots and lots of chinese and
  Indians walking around. Lake Breinz is very beautiful – just stop by to enjoy the lake if you don’t have time to walk, bike, cruise etc . Lake cruise close early (atleast in June) – last roundtrip departure was around 4-4.30 pm.
  Interlaken Co-op grocery store is much bigger (you can shop here for Swiss chocolates) then Lauterbrunnen and you will feel like you are in India 🙂
• Zermatt – A trip to this beautiful and upscale town to see “The Matterhorn” is a must. The Matterhorn is truly magical and gorgeous. Before the visit I kept wondering why do people find it so unique, but once I was there, could feel it. One can just keep staring at this nature’s wonder for hours. Higly recommend visiting Zermatt/Matterhorn. The driving route from Zermatt is one of the must do road trips and is truly very scenic – breathtaking views.
  We took different routes each way and each ride was unique. On the way, we had to put the car in a train to reach on the other side.
  You get various travel options from Zermatt for a closer view of the Matterhorn. And need a train ride from the town of Tasch to get to Zermatt – Zermatt is car free town, only electric and utility vehicles (taxis were there). One can ski 365 days here, we saw few passengers in train with snow gear. We stopped at the visitor centre and took a train to the town of Sunnega to get a better view of Matterhorn.  The train from Tasch to Sunnega runs at an elevation – i.e. the staircase was the platform to get into the train. Imagine walking on the stairs and realizing that the train is actually waiting for you to board.
  

  Matterhorn

• Lake Luzern/Lucerne – After doing lake Geneva and Lake Luzern both, if you are choosing between the two then would recommend Lake Luzern over Lake Geneva. Lake Geneva ofcourse is huge and has more brand name shops for shopping etc but lake Luzern was more fun. Parked at the railway station and walked around. All the attractions mentioned in Priyanka’s post are at walking distance from the train station.
  One new thing we experienced here – restrooms at Luzern station charged 2 Euros. MacDonalds, Starbucks etc give you a code to use restroom.