Euro Trip advice
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
SinghUlarity... wrote:
renting a car be cheaper/advisable?
Depends on your bagagge ;-) You can nearly get anywhere in a reasonable time by public transports - But specially during the Rush hours you might have problems if your bagagge is too large. Zermatt and the Matterhorn are very often visited, also Geneva, Zurich, Luzern (Lake Lucerne) and Basel. St.Gallen is also worth a look. Tell me something about your interests and I'll see if I could make any other suggestions to you.
cheers Marco Bertschi
Software Developer & Founder SMGT Web-Portal CP Profile | My Articles | Twitter | Facebook | SMGT Web-Portal
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
What are your interests? I could tell you to go to Stuttgart and rent a Porsche, but that might kill you as they have free speed on Autobahn. So I'd better not. But as it is Switzerland I'd probably just rent a car and drive up the mountains.
"The ones who care enough to do it right care too much to compromise." Matthew Faithfull
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
SinghUlarity... wrote:
have a US license
Can you drive manual ? A car would really be good to have. Price: about 300€ for 5 days, without fuel. April is indeed a good time to go, May even better.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
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SinghUlarity... wrote:
renting a car be cheaper/advisable?
Depends on your bagagge ;-) You can nearly get anywhere in a reasonable time by public transports - But specially during the Rush hours you might have problems if your bagagge is too large. Zermatt and the Matterhorn are very often visited, also Geneva, Zurich, Luzern (Lake Lucerne) and Basel. St.Gallen is also worth a look. Tell me something about your interests and I'll see if I could make any other suggestions to you.
cheers Marco Bertschi
Software Developer & Founder SMGT Web-Portal CP Profile | My Articles | Twitter | Facebook | SMGT Web-Portal
At the moment my interests are as simple as "watch everything that's famous" :rolleyes: but seriously I would love to spend time in the mountains :)
I are n00b.
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SinghUlarity... wrote:
have a US license
Can you drive manual ? A car would really be good to have. Price: about 300€ for 5 days, without fuel. April is indeed a good time to go, May even better.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
Oh Yes, I'd much prefer a manual. 300 doesn't sound bad at all. Thanks for the tip :)
I are n00b.
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What are your interests? I could tell you to go to Stuttgart and rent a Porsche, but that might kill you as they have free speed on Autobahn. So I'd better not. But as it is Switzerland I'd probably just rent a car and drive up the mountains.
"The ones who care enough to do it right care too much to compromise." Matthew Faithfull
I'm saving the "no speed limit Porsche drive on the Autobahn" for another trip but a drive up to the mountains sounds equally nice ;)
I are n00b.
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
"Euro Trip advice" Don't go.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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At the moment my interests are as simple as "watch everything that's famous" :rolleyes: but seriously I would love to spend time in the mountains :)
I are n00b.
SinghUlarity... wrote:
but seriously I would love to spend time in the mountains :)
Look out for Göschenen, Andermatt, Zermatt, St. Moritz, Davos, a region called "Oberwallis" and the Jungfraujoch if you want to spend time with mountains. This train line could be interesting[^]. You travel 7.5 hours through the mountains of switzerland, from Graubünden to Wallis. Using the Glacier would bring you to some of the nicest places of switzeland and the Glacier is also one of the world's most famous train lines. See details here[^]. You can see famous things in all of the previous mentioned places, specially the lake lucerne is very well known.
cheers Marco Bertschi
Software Developer & Founder SMGT Web-Portal CP Profile | My Articles | Twitter | Facebook | SMGT Web-Portal
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"Euro Trip advice" Don't go.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
:laugh:
I are n00b.
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"Euro Trip advice" Don't go.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
Quote:
Don't go.
Bad advice. Do go - but unless you want higher prices and traffic jams don't go in the winter.
- Life in the fast lane is only fun if you live in a country with no speed limits. - Of all the things I have lost, it is my mind that I miss the most. - I vaguely remember having a good memory...
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
City or Country side ? Where in switzerland will you be ? it's not a big country, but depending on where you are you have different options. If in Geneve, you can go to the Mont Blanc area and spend some time there and cross over to Italy to the very nice Aosta Valley. If in Geneve, you can go to the Jura wine region (Arbois is nice). Near Geneve, there's the town of Evian (the water); you could go to a spa there and get a swiss massage... If in Zurich or elsewhere, there are the mountains; in April, there might still be some snow up there, have a day of skiing. You can go to the Gruyère town for a "real" Swiss Fondue (near the village of Bulle) ...
Nihil obstat
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Quote:
Don't go.
Bad advice. Do go - but unless you want higher prices and traffic jams don't go in the winter.
- Life in the fast lane is only fun if you live in a country with no speed limits. - Of all the things I have lost, it is my mind that I miss the most. - I vaguely remember having a good memory...
Switzerland: world's most boring country, full of bankers.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
The only thing I'd add is watch the laws: the Swiss are generally very law abiding, and they seem to hate motor vehicles with a passion. You must for example turn off your engine if the car is stationary - large fines are levied if you don't. Alcohol limits are pretty low, so the best advice is "don't at all, even the next day" - you can be punished for being a passenger in a car being driven by someone who is over the limit! There is a short summary for US citizens here: http://safety.worldnomads.com/Switzerland/75196/Switzerland-Road-and-Driving-Guide[^] But it is a beautiful country, with friendly people and well worth a visit.
If you get an email telling you that you can catch Swine Flu from tinned pork then just delete it. It's Spam.
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I'm saving the "no speed limit Porsche drive on the Autobahn" for another trip but a drive up to the mountains sounds equally nice ;)
I are n00b.
If you don't like Switzerland you can always go to Luton.
"The ones who care enough to do it right care too much to compromise." Matthew Faithfull
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I will be travelling to Switzerland in April and would appreciate some pointers on maximizing the fun in my 5 day(Excluding travel time) stay . I read about the Eurorail passes but would renting a car be cheaper/advisable? (i have a US license). What are the must visit locations? Is April a good time to go? Thanks in advance :)
I are n00b.
Take plenty of money! :laugh: Switzerland doesn't like US$. They use Swiss Francs but will accept the euro. Changing US$ to Swiss Francs should be ok but changing US$ to the Euro would mean the banks change it first to the Swiss Franc and then to the Euro, involving two commissions and two poor exchange rates. (This was my experience at a bank in a village.) Eurail Pass doesn't work on private rail lines. Have Swiss Francs or Euros as they won't take US Dollars on the train or a credit card. Being stuck on a train between Interlocken and Grundelwald with only US dollars and credit card and a Eurail Pass wasn't fun! The ticket-taker talked to his supervisor on his cell phone and we were finally able to give him US dollars. Otherwise we would have been offloaded at the intermediate station, I suppose. Lost a backpack due to carelessness with 4 US passports and $4,000 in cash. Went back within 30 minutes to the station and was told no backpack was found. Same answer the next day too. Reported it to the local police the next day and he said it was impossible for the backpack not to be found, got on his motorcycle and rode off to Lautenbrennen, and retrieved the backpack for us, with passports and all the money intact! As to friendly Swiss folks, forget it, they don't smile at all. Polite, yes; friendly, no! Don't go up Jungfraujoch on the private rail line. Unless you want an Indian experience! The restaurant on top was named "Bollywood", played Hindi film music and half the visitors spoke Tamil or Hindi. :laugh:
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Take plenty of money! :laugh: Switzerland doesn't like US$. They use Swiss Francs but will accept the euro. Changing US$ to Swiss Francs should be ok but changing US$ to the Euro would mean the banks change it first to the Swiss Franc and then to the Euro, involving two commissions and two poor exchange rates. (This was my experience at a bank in a village.) Eurail Pass doesn't work on private rail lines. Have Swiss Francs or Euros as they won't take US Dollars on the train or a credit card. Being stuck on a train between Interlocken and Grundelwald with only US dollars and credit card and a Eurail Pass wasn't fun! The ticket-taker talked to his supervisor on his cell phone and we were finally able to give him US dollars. Otherwise we would have been offloaded at the intermediate station, I suppose. Lost a backpack due to carelessness with 4 US passports and $4,000 in cash. Went back within 30 minutes to the station and was told no backpack was found. Same answer the next day too. Reported it to the local police the next day and he said it was impossible for the backpack not to be found, got on his motorcycle and rode off to Lautenbrennen, and retrieved the backpack for us, with passports and all the money intact! As to friendly Swiss folks, forget it, they don't smile at all. Polite, yes; friendly, no! Don't go up Jungfraujoch on the private rail line. Unless you want an Indian experience! The restaurant on top was named "Bollywood", played Hindi film music and half the visitors spoke Tamil or Hindi. :laugh:
Vivic wrote:
Polite, yes; friendly, no!
That was my experience as well. I dated a German-speaking lass and I went to visit her and her family in Zurich. I was not invited to stay with them so I put up for the week at a well-run small hotel. The owners were a tad too formal and polite. Her parents looked on me as a sort of social misfit which is fair comment as I had long hair, rode a BMW bike and it was the decade of the Baader/Meinhof gang after all. During the day, lass and me would ride off somewhere and drink excellent beer. The mountains in the south were spectacular. Yeah, a very pretty country for sure and from where I sat, it had one major fault, they don't play rugby. I never saw her again after that brief visit but she was a fine lass. If they'd have played rugby I might have married her. :)
"I do not have to forgive my enemies, I have had them all shot." — Ramón Maria Narváez (1800-68). "I don't need to shoot my enemies, I don't have any." - Me (2012).
