Switzerland Travel Answers

I would not travel around so much. Switzerland is small. It's better to just pick a few bases, and explore the country on day trips. Luzern is a good base. Bern is too. You could also spend some time somewhere along lake Geneva shore. It's perfectly doable using public transport. Actually using the very efficient and user friendly public transport system is part of the Swiss Experience. The Swiss railways have a luggage forwarding service, that will even forward luggage from your flight directly to the place where you are staying: sbb.ch/en/station-services/s...

You wont do much waiting on trains simple rule of thumb "if its not at the station within a bout 5 mins of its scheduled arrival time its not coming!" Simply put Switzerland has the worlds finest fully integrated public transport system. Their trains are modern fast clean fragrant frequent and punctual and in conjunction with the postal bus service trams lake steamers cable and funicular railways will take you almost anywhere you might wish to go in Switzerland in fact for some Alpine places they are the only way of getting there. I would go so far as to say don't bother with a car at all!!! I spent a two week holiday in Switzerland solely using trains, buses,trams, lake steamers and cable and funicular railways using the Swiss rail pass swisseuropetravel.com.au/swi... Not once did I feel I was missing out by not having a car AND with these modes of transport even the driver can get to see all that fabulous scenery!!!!!!

I totally agree with everyone on the train system. I spent 2 weeks in Switzerland a few years ago. The train system is excellent. I wouldn't dream of driving. I also agree you wouldn't need 3 days in Zurich, unless you plan on using it as a base for taking a day trip or two somewhere else. (may I suggest Appenzell?) I took both the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express. I found the Bernina Express alot more enjoyable. One place I'd like to recommend is Lauterbrunnen. There's plenty of things to see and do in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Everything is just a short walk, cable-car, or train ride away. From Trummelbach Falls to Murren and Gimmelwald, to Shilthorn and Jungfraujoch. There's ALOT to see! You can get to Interlaken from Lauterbrunnen in 20 minutes by train. Hope this helped.

Yes, the train system is great and punctual. You can get to all the places you want to go easily and will see some amazing scenery along the way but... The Swiss train system is also very expensive. You will definitely want to buy a week Swiss pass if you decide to go that route but with so many people in your party, it will cost you a lot more than renting a car (even at Swiss car rental prices). check out www.sbb.ch for train prices. I travel by train when i am going to Zermatt or to a specific location because i have seen everything in Switzerland over the years. For someone coming for the first time, i think the car is a good option as everything will be interesting and you will be wanting to stop a lot and take pictures of the amazing scenery along the way. A lot harder to do on a train. I disagree that Zürich is not very interesting. I think 3 days may be a bit much but 1 day is too little. I have traveled around a lot of the world and Zürich is my favorite city for its architecture, old town, restaurants, cleanliness and all-around comfortable feel. I would at least take 2 days to walk around the old town and enjoy the shopping along Bahnhofstrasse, one of the most famous shopping streets in the world. It is expensive but hopefully you don't come here looking for deals. Those places you mentioned are great but in 8 days, you could add a bit more. If you are already going to Lausanne, might be worth taking another 30 minutes to head to Geneva or Montreux is also beautiful. Lugano and Locarno are also worth visiting. Check out the pictures online. Anyway, i hope i helped you make your decision. I hope you enjoy your trip. I came here and didn't leave. Kind Regards Kurt

When comparing the cost of rental versus a train pass you have to take in to account how big your party is, and what it is composed of. Kids travel for free for example. If there's more than 5 of you you'll probably need some special car...