Help me plan my Swiss trip!

[luiz]

I am going to Switzerland with my girlfriend on February the 17th, and flying back on the 27th. I will arrive at and depart from Zurich, where we'll stay with friends, so we'll stay there for at least a couple of days. Those friends also own a ski cab in Davos, and we'll stay there for a couple of days to do some skiing.

So those are the only restrictions: arriving and departing in Zurich, spending at least a couple of days there, and spending at least a couple of days in Davos.

Other than that I am completely open for suggestions. I don't know anything in Switzerland, I have only been there very briefly, so any and all tips are welcome. I am also not limited to staying in Swizterland: if you think I should visit something in neighboring France, Italy or Austria I'll consider it.

I have a decent budget so time is my great constraint.

What other cities should I visit? Geneve, Lausanne? Where are the most beuatiful landscapes? What food I can't miss? Hotel tips are also appreciated!

I really appreciate all help, as I want to make the most out of those 10 days.

So what say you, CFC?

 

[luiz]

Come on , OT! I know the are some swiss posters among us!

 

[Lillefix]

You should go see Matterhorn if the opportunity arises. Even more famous than Sugarloaf Mountain. And perhaps Mount Blanc. And I would use Booking.com to see reviews of hotels. It's very handy.

 

[warpus]

You guys should suggest some hiking trails in case he's interested in that sort of stuff

I used to have a friend from Switzerland, but things went sour after a failed copulation attempt. I kinda miss her! I speak German (not fluently anymore) and it was interesting to hear her speak whatever the hell she was speaking (some sort of a German dialect that sounded far removed from German itself.. but not as far as Plattdeutsch for example)

 

[Lillefix]

Wouldn't hiking trails be a bit difficult? I imagine the interesting hiking trails are around the mountains where there is a lot of snow in the winter. Walking in deep snow is not fun.

 

[Maniacal]

Snow shoes.

 

[Skwink]

I'm a fan of their knives, especially Victorinox's.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

It's not very traditional, but you probably should go visit a Swiss mosque. Their minarets are said to have the shape of rockets, which sounds bad ass.

 

[Lillefix]

It's not very traditional, but you probably should go visit a Swiss mosque. Their minarets are said to have the shape of rockets, which sounds bad ass.

They look like rockets you say... Perhaps the Swiss had a good reason when they banned more minarets...

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Don't tell me. You have autism and are not able to spot humor.

 

[Maniacal]

You could take a drive down this road (7:20)


Link to video.

 

[Theov]

This year I did the same.
Went Zurich, St Morritz, Zermatt, Lausanne, Luzern... round trip.
1: expect it to be expensive. Food, train, hotels are all double what you'd expect it in the rest of europe.
2: Zurich is a nice place. Take a boat tour at the lake.
3: Basel is a nice city, river runs through it, nice people.
4: Interlaken is a very nice place too, take the train upstairs.
5: Glacier express is very nice, but the stay in St Moritz and Zermatt is quite expensive, StMoritz is boring, so it's overrated. The train ride is impressive though if you like things like that.

I dunno your budget and your interests, but PM me if you want to know what's nice.

 

[Kal'thzar]

Zermatt - Go see the Matterhorn, maybe buy some toblerone and put two and two together (seriously, I've had to point this out to friends...). If your a decent/keen skier you can go skiing on the glacier (on the Klein Matterhorn). I stayed with a group of friends for a couple of days at a youth hostel because damn its expensive

Interlaken - Yes I took the train up to the Jungfraujoch, expensive, I'm not sure if its worth going. I have spent a grand total of 10ish hours in Interlaken mostly passing through and waiting for trains. I wasn't impressed, buuut did not get to see a lot of it. Think the areas much nicer in the summer for hiking (stayed in Axalp a bit south of Brienz)

Zurich - as theov said, take a boat tour. I was also able to visit a lindt chocolate factory, not sure if they do tours, but....CHOCOLATE FACTORY! (also they sell cheap chocolate in the factory shop....). Mhmmm, what else, Could go to the zoo, there are a couple of OK museums but I'm a bit enthusiastic with them so not sure if thats you (or your girlfriends!) style. Oh A bunch of the Churchs/Cathedrals are worth a visit too!

Liechtenstein - I do not advise trying to go EVERYWHERE in the 10 days you have, but a visit to Liechtenstein just has a certain novelty to it (again...I went in the summer).

Chur - Not sure if its because I've been stuck here a number of times changing trains but, cute town. Really nice Church/Cathedral (I get the feeling that this should apply to Interlaken too, I think I just saw the wrong parts of it).


Rhinefall - its the largest waterfall in Europe? Eh....its good for a day visit but again...maybe not in the cold (indeed it might be closed...).

Berne/Geneva - Last time I was there I was too small and young to really take it in...they were cute? I don't really remember, worth thinking about though.

Lugano/Locarno More summer places (from what I remember)

Mosocco - Nice castle...but a summer place...

Sorry, mostly spent summer holidays in Switzerland to get my tourism on, in Winter we just picked a place and skied.

 

[luiz]

Thanks for all the tips, guys!

So here's how the trip's looking so far (all days are in February):

18 - Arriving in Zurich at 18:50. Will do something at night but won't get to see much of the city.

19 - Zurich. We have a party to go to and will spend this day with friends we have there.

20- Zurich. Here I'm planning to do the touristy things.

21 - Davos. Arriving and skiing.

22 - Davos - Skiing and doing whatever else is to be done at Davos.

Now comes the open part. I could go straight to Geneve, spend a couple of nights there(23 and 24), then to Lausanne, spend a couple of nights there as well (25 and 26), and then by the 27th I'm back to Zurich to catch my flight back to Rio at the afternoon.

Or I could go from Davos to Zermatt, on trip bordering Italy. Then from Zermatt I could go to Geneve, then Lausanne and then Zurich. Naturally, either Lausanne or Geneve would lose one night (or maybe I could leave Zurich on the 20th instead of the 21st).

The question is: is Zermatt a worthy destination for someone coming from Davos, another ski resort?

What other modifications should I consider? I'm thinking of doing all my travels inside of Swizteland by train, is this really the best option? Would renting a car be a smart thing to do or just a waste of money?

Again, thanks in advance for all tips!

BTW, in August I'm going to France / England / Scotland, so CFC can expect a new thread asking for more travel tips!

Edit: I suppose I could also replace Lausanne altogether by Interlaken or Lucerne. How about this idea?