From bowl to soul

Switzerland travel- My 9 day family travel experience exploring Switzerland- Interlaken- Jungfraujoch- Lucerne- Zurich. And so much more, so many experiences, all shared here for you to read, and plan your travel.

Switzerland is like a dream destination for anyone. Those stunning alps, mesmerising lakes, charming cobbled streets, drool-worthy swiss chocolates always made me wonder if this enchanted land actually exists. But yes, one trip to Switzerland, and you are in awe (pinch me).

It truly is a magical place with its snow white mountains, turquoise coloured serene lakes, picturesque landscapes, and the most beautiful ever ,quaint , picturesque villages!!

Someone has rightly said about Switzerland-

“Mountains have never looked more beautiful.” -Unknown

Planning the Switzerland Trip

We had been planning a trip to switzerland for a very long time, but just for some reason or the other, this trip always got postponed. One of the reasons being ,that we really wanted to spend more days exploring this beautiful country, and we could never manage to get that much time off from work. This year, on our 10 wedding anniversary, we finally managed to check this place off our bucket list.

As excited as i was for this trip, it was giving me few jitters because it was almost 10 days long, and my daughter who is 5 years is never too keen on leaving the home, and a slight change in her schedule, always takes a toll on her health.

But with the right planning, and making sure that the trip wasn’t too hectic for her, we managed to have a great holiday, and in the end it was all worth it.

We loved it, and more so our daughter loved the trip, and exploring all the places. Maybe i was just too paranoid, and she was grown up enough to enjoy travelling, or maybe the wether there was so pleasant, that we all had a really great time.

One thing that i really felt, made our travel more convenient was the amazing public transporation system in switzerland. All the main Swiss cities have an efficient public transportation, with trams and buses forming the core of the travel network. The trains, bus or boat rides are very comfortable, and run perfectly as per schedule.

Travelling in switzerland – 6 important things to keep in mind

1.Switzerland is a very expensive country. Yes.. Be it food, groceries, transport, the prices are all very high. If you are on a budget , the prices of every commodity will hit you. But don’t let that deter you from travelling to this amazingly beautiful country . You can find some smart options to tackle this.Sharing a few things that helped us plan within the budget were-

1. If you are travelling intercity, you should get either of the below, to make sure you save on the journeys
   • a swiss travel pass-
     • If you’re staying in Switzerland for more than two days, and you plan to travel a lot, you should go for this option . This gives you a very comfortable travel at a reasonable cost, and you only need to buy one ticket. The Swiss Travel Pass is especially suitable for travellers who want to use public transport to visit several places during their journey through Switzerland.Check the complete details here.
   • a swiss half fare card-
     • This option is ideal for short trips and excursions throughout Switzerland, and this entitles you to a 50% discount on all travels by train, bus and boat and most mountain railways. The Swiss Half Fare Card has a validity of one month .Check the complete details here.
2. Most of the hotels in Switzerland will give you a city pass/ visitor card, that includes free travel within a particular city. If you have a swiss travel pass, you will not need this, but if you have half fare card, this is very useful. Zurich hotels do not give city travel card. You have to buy this separately.
3. Information centres at all railway stations were really helpful , during our travel. I would suggest you speak to them before any journey, to make sure you take the best route, and the alternative options to the route.
4. Make sure to carry your sunglasses, sun hats, and a good sunscreen , because even though the temperatures are low, and you are on a mountain peak, the sun is really really strong (if at all it is sunny). I had completely forgotten about it, and my daughter got a nice rash on her face and had itchy skin for some time after our visit to Jaungfrauch.
5. Carry a refill water bottle with you. Every street in Switzerland has water fountains, and the water is good enough to drink. You can refill water anywhere. That saves a lot of money on buying water, and of course helps saves environment.
6. Download this really really helpful app SBB mobile app on your mobiles, for a really easy and real time train timetables, and booking your tickets. Though we did not use this to book tickets, but we used it every-time to check the routes and train timetables.For apple you can download the app here and Android app here.

Now let’s embark on the journey to this incredibly beautiful land of marvellous alps and dazzling lakes, with my experiences during those 9 days travel.

Our 9 days itinerary covered the cities of Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich, and quite a few stunning areas in and around these places.

Day 1- Day 3- INTERLAKEN

Our flight was from Manchester to Zurich. The first leg of our trip was Interlaken. Zurich was just the landing point. We were staying in Zurich for a day during our return, so as soon as we landed in Zurich, we took a train to Interlaken.

At zurich railway station we had enquired about travel passes, and decided to take the half fare travel pass for our travels, as we knew we would not be doing some random travel. Thats not something my family would prefer with a 5 year old. But if you know that you would want to explore every nook and corner of the city and around it, go for a swiss travel pass.

The train journey from Zurich to Interlaken west (there are two staions in interlaken. Interlaken west and interlaken east known as interlaken OST) was almost a 2 hour journey.

The train was till Interlaken OST, but our hotel was in west so we got down at Interlaken west. On our first train journey we were stunned by the beauty of this country. Even if you are tired , make sure you do not sleep. It is worth keeping your eyes open and getting used to all the beauty around you.

Read here about my travel to Interlaken.

DAY 3- 8 -Travel to Lucerne, via lake Brienz

We travel from Interlaken to Lucern. Our next destination!

And now that i had read and heard sooooo much about Lake brienz, that was a must stop on my list. Best thing was that lake Brienz was enroute from interlaken to lucern. so we planned our journey accordingly. We got down at lake Brienz station. We had two full size big suitcases, and it was impossible to explore this beautiful sight, with all the luggage we had.

The best thing is there are lockers available at the station. They are big enough to accommodate one full size suitcase. The cost of a locker is 5 francs. I did not have any change, but the local store at the station was really kind enough to give me the change.

We shoved our luggage in the lockers, and went for a walk by the lake. It is one of the most beautiful lakes i have ever seen. Whatever i had read about this lake was absolutely true to the T. The ethereal turquoise colour of the waters is unmissable. If theres one spot in Switzerland i would really ask you to not to miss is this lake and this pretty charming town of Brienz. My bad luck, was that it was a Sunday and the town was mostly closed.

Read here about my travel to Lucerne via Lake Brienz, travel to Lucerne , Mt pilatus.

Day 8- Day 9 – Zurich and Rhein falls.

After spending last 8 days in Switzerland, exploring the beautiful towns of Interlaken, Thun, Brienz, Lucerne, we now head to Zurich.

We had only one full day in Zurich, and almost half a more day. Our flight back to Manchester was from this picturesque and lively city of Zurich, in a day.

Zurich is a pretty charming city. If you like shopping and are into big league designer merchandise, you are going to loooove this place.

In a days time we had our flight back to Manchester. So this day we started our journey, back from Lucerne to Zurich ,relentless to go back home, but at the same time excited to travel another lively city.

Read here in detail about my stay in Zurich, and visit to Rhein falls .

Have you ever been to Switzerland ? Tell me about your favourite experiences, the food you enjoyed, or your disappointments ? Are there any places that you want to recommend. Let me know all of this in the comments. I would love to read your stories, and experiences.

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More on switzerland

• Lucerne/ Luzern – Via Brienz and 4 days in Lucerne
• A day trip to Jungfraujoch from Interlaken.
• Zurich in 24 hours.
• Interlaken, Lake Thun, Jungfraujoch

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