Summer special!
Summer vacations around the corner, we all must have made
some plans by now to go out to some cool destination isn’t it. If haven’t done
any planning yet this blog will help in getting an idea on where to plan your
next holiday this summers. When we think of a cool destination in scorching
summer, the first destination that comes to our mind is Switzerland. But many
of us have a notion that planning a holiday in Switzerland on your own is
complex. It isn’t complex at all. You can go to this lovely destination on your own
and cover most of its tourist spots easily. It is a very tourist friendly location
and people talk in English here. Oh yes, you need to believe me on this. I will
take you around Switzerland in this blog and you can refer it while planning
your Swiss holiday.
On entering Switzerland thee first thing you must do is to
collect your Swiss travel pass which can be a 3 day, 5 day or a 7 day pass
depending upon your tour. This pass eases your movement in Switzerland and also
gives benefits on entry tickets at many tourist locations with discounted
prices. Some locations are even free using this Swiss travel pass so please do
buy this pass and this can be bought at the information centre of any train
station in Switzerland. You just need to show your passport and make the payment
to avail this.
During your holiday in Switzerland you must start with
Lucerne. It is an exotic location and it’s beauty is unimaginable. You should
visit the below places once in Lucerne.
Kapellbrucke
Lions Monument
Lake lucerne by boat
Trip to Mt.Pilatus
Swiss transport
museum
Jesuit Church
Mt.Rigi
Mt.Titlis from
Engelberg (Engelberg is just an hour from Lucerne by train)
You can also refer my earlier blog on Lucerne for
more details
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| Kapellbrucke |
It depends on how you are entering Switzerland, Is it by
air to Zurich or by train from some another country , you should definitely
plan starting your Swiss trip from Lucerne. You can make your initial base here
and then from here you should make your day trip to Engelberg where you can
visit Mt.Titlis. From Lucerne you can reach Titlis very easily. Take a train
from Lucerne to Engelberg which you would reach in an hour approximately. From
Engelberg station just follow the board and walk towards Rotair station where
the journey originates. It is advisable to buy tickets to Titlis in the station
where you purchase your swiss travel pass. It would save you some time. You
can also refer my earlier blog for detailed info on Mt.Titlis
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| Mt.Titlis |
One day is enough to cover Lucerne locally, but if you are
a shopaholic you should not miss the summer shopping in Lucerne. It has lovely
stuff and is loaded with discounts. To shop in Lucerne you must do it before it
gets late as shops shut at 6 pm here. On some occasions or days they may extend
till 7pm. So if you want to shop in Lucerne you need to keep a day extra. So
you can keep one day for shopping and relaxing in Lucerne. It makes 3 days in
lucerne.
Switzerland is known for its lakes, mountain and villages.
So once in Switzerland one must cover one lake, one mountain and one village.
Now it depends on you what would you choose. You may choose Mt.Titlis over Jungfraujoch
which is also called the top of Europe. Both are equally beautiful and the only
difference is the approach. Mt.Ttlis is reached by Rotair and Jungfraujoch is reached by train. Both
experiences are one of it’s kind and you can cover both or choose one depending
upon your choice.
Now as we are already done with three days in Lucerne we
proceed to Interlaken. Journey to Interlaken from Lucerne is a beautiful train
ride for about 1 hour and 45 mins. I suggest you get down at Lungern on your route
to Interaken. The train stops at Lungern, which is a very beautiful village
having lake lungern one of the most beautiful lakes in Switzerland. You can get
down at Lungern, and take a stroll through the village and spend some time out
in lake lungern. If you love to stay in a village do make a stay here. You will
love it totally! If you don’t want to stay you can catch your train to
Interlaken where you are booked for your stay. By now you must have already
covered one lake , one village and one mountain and still half of your trip hasn’t
yet begun.
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| Lake Lungern |
Once you are in Interlaken, you will find it completely
different from Lucerne and Engelberg. This place is beautiful with a usp of
flowers and lovely plantation around. I must say in Switzerland, all its towns
are beautiful in their own unique way and no one is less than the other, So
there is obviously no scope to miss a single place J. Once
in Interlaken you must visit Lake Brienz by cruise which operates from
Interlaken OST. You are going to love the cruise truly. You can refer my
earlier blog on Lake Brienz for more details
In Interlaken you must visit the below places or choose as
per your likes:
1.Harder Kulm
2.Jungfraujoch
3.Lake Thun
4.Lake Brien
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| Jungfraujoch |
You can choose between Lake Thun or lake Brienz or even
both if you have time in hand. To keep in mind is that the cruise departs at
specified timings so you need to plan accordingly. The time table for the
cruise can be picked from the information centre at Interlaken OST. So this
makes it another two or three days in Interlaken. It depends on how tight or
relaxed you want to keep your itinerary. On your last day in Interlaken you can
also travel to Bern which is the capital city of Switzerland. It takes mere 50
minutes to reach Bern from Interlaken. Bern is definitely not to be missed if
in Switzerland.
Bern
in a snapshot
Bern the capital city is built on sandstone ridge and is
covered on all three sides by Aare river. Bern is known for having the UNESCO
building and is a world heritage site. On entering Bern, you must visit the old
town to get the complete feel of Bern. You can walk down to old town and also
visit the UNESCO building there. Visit Rosengarten for best views. Visitors who
are in love with history will love this city for its numerous monuments. One of
it is the famous Einstein monument. The city has beautiful cathedrals too, here
you should visit Berner Musnter which is
Switzerland’s largest church from late middle ages. After this you can visit
the Clock Tower which is another not to miss. You can get as much in detail as
you want to in Bern depending upon the time in hand.
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| Old Town Bern |
As we are already done with six days in Switzerland and
have covered Lucerne, Engelberg, Lungern, Interlaken and Bern we have
actually seen fairly a bit of this
beautiful country. As we need to catch our flights back to our home country
from Zurich we must definitely keep the last day of stay in Zurich too.
Zurich
is a beautiful city and must be explored once in Switzerland. Two main
locations which should not be missed once in Zurich are Rhine falls and Lake Zurich. Other
than this you must see Old Town, Bahnhofstrasse if a shopaholic , Swiss
National Museum and Fraumenstar church. The list is long so depending on the
time in hand you need to choose as per your likes and decide your itinerary. And
on covering all this you are almost done with a day trip in Zurich too! It all
depends on you how much time you want to spend in Zurich and how much detailed
your visit can be. Zurich has lovely monuments and cathedrals so if you are interested
you can extend your stay here and cover them all.
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| Zurich |
In this blog we explored Switzerland in a snapshot and I
hope this would help the first time travellers. We did touch a good geography
of Switzerland but it has still much left to be explored. You can keep the rest
for your second visit to Switzerland!
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