Folks,

Two Adults and one infant - plan to visit Swiss in third week of oct 2009.

This is our first trip to Swiss from US.

Any suggestions & places to visit.

Thanks in advance

Hi lux_1, it may help for starters if you give a general idea of what (large) city you're intending to stay in / near?

Surely amazon.com deliver travel guides even to the *gasp* US ?

I've just Googled that and no, not for Swiss they don't.

Plan to stay in hotel in Zurich.

Thanks folks, looking forward to visit Swiss

Unfortunately, I'm not terribly familiar with Zürich and it's surrounds... perhaps this website will help though:
http://www.zuerich.com/de/welcome.cfm
(You can choose to view it in English)

I was looking at your post, and I was thinking that perhaps if you want detailed information than you should give us some detailed information as to what interests you?

OR you could buy the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide?

Just ordered Lonely Planet book from amazon.com

We have 10 month old baby. so we plan to visit close to zurich ( may be one day trip and back to zurich hotel)

like

Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe (from Zurich)

http://www.glacierexpress.ch/theglacierexpress.php
Not sure how to go from zurich to this train location. Yet to find a way.

Interlaken - Grindelwald in the Bernese Oberland (from Zurich)

Basel town

Cool.

Do a search, and you will find all of that info

You'll find all the information you need about Swiss on this website.

The head office is in Basel so that's where you'll be going. I'm not sure that there will be sufficient to keep you interested for 11 days, especially with a young baby but it is an interesting company - you know that they're owned by Lufthansa don't you.

Well anyway, if you get bored visiting Swiss then you might enjoy visiting Switzerland which is quite nearby and a lovely place. I hear that Sweden is nice as well. Actually, on second thoughts, Sweden and Switzerland may actually be the same place.

Cheers

Jekyll

Have you tried www.englishforum.ch ?

If this is your first trip from American to Swiss, I am sure you will have some idea what you want to do here. So if you have specific queries after you have done basic search, feel free to ask, people have in the past given excellent commets.

However if you don't want to do even the basic search (e.g. have you found out the Swiss rail website ?), and instead rely on ready answers from starngers, I think you will miss a lot of fun and general knowledge from your trip.

If you are planning to spend some time in Basel while here, I can offer that the last week of October and first week of November are the weeks of Herbstmesse which is essentially a fall festival.

I was a little out of it last fall so can not give many details (it was a bit of a blur of activity for me those couple of weeks) but if I remember right it is set up as a carnival with some "simple" rides as well as stalls with games, foods and crafts, a lot like a county fair would be in the US.

It is a bit of a crush so I do remember my brother-in-law carrying their baby most of the time rather than fiddling with a carriage much.

Basel is right on the river with the southern side (Grosse Basel) being quite hilly, some pretty steep so you will want to have some good walking shoes that are "broken in"... and the weather can be quite chilly and misty at that time so you will want to plan for warm layers.

Thanks Niranjan. Will do the search. Looking to get some local tips to travel, thats all.

Anyway our google is there always to help: )

First of all how about calling *Switzerland* by its normal name?



Damn I start getting annoyed when i hear people calling the country wrong. I must be turning into a *Swiss* person! And just after 10 months :P

That said enjoy your stay. Cant help you though as i dont know Zurich

I haven't heard of this place called Swiss that you mention? I have heard of Swiss people? is Swiss near Switzerland by any chance?

I think you may have already noticed that people are not too receptive to planning other people's vacations for them. Really, why should anyone?

You may try www.myswitzerland.com. It has tons of information. For train times and routes try www.sbb.ch.

Perhaps if you did some of your own research, and came back to ask about specific places, it would be more helpful overall.

Don't know if this is a viable suggestion with a baby, but anyways...
I take it that since you're heading to Switzerland you have some idea of the nature here. Taking a drive in the country side to some of the many lakes here is just stunning. Just get a map at the airport or Zurich Hauptbahnhof and get a rough idea of where to go.
As for car rental companies, all the big ones are here (Avis, Hertz etc.).

But one thing worth mentioning about the car issue. If you're only going between cities and not out in the country side - don't bother with a car, it's just too much hassle. Trains may not be cheap but they are fast and efficient.

Good luck and have fun!

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...e-Zuerich.html

I find the above site good for local advice and of course, once you have a more specific idea of what you want to do, asking here is good.

there are nice train trips

I would not bother with the Glacier Express. It is not possible from Zurich and back the same day. I think that it is over-rated as well. As mentioned, check out My Switzerland website for plenty of better ideas.
The quickest route to Interlaken from Zurich is via Bern, but it is a nicer route via Lucerne and the Brunig Pass.

1. Try visiting Lucerne. It is 45 Minutes away from Zürich by train.
2. Pilatus is a mountain close to Lucerne with breathtaking views.
3. Bern is one hour by train.
4. Top of Europe is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for what you get.
5. Berner Oberland is nice all the way around