Europe Itinerary

[pink vagabond]

Also swiss trains are punctual and sbb (their transport site) is super helpful. geneva area you have the cheese and chocolate factory tour, which kids and some adults love. the alps are beautiful, and it is a pleasure to hike just 5-6 kms in a day, take a cable car ride the other way, and then put your feet up in the apartment sipping tea and just enjoying the beautiful locale. I stayed at lauturbrunnen for 4 days and it was lovely. Found grindlewald (slightly more commercial but very picturesque) and murren (the place with no vehicles) also very pretty.

Also, what are your interests? cities or countryside. I ditched interlaken for a smaller village and loved it. Spent 6 days in paris and did not find it good. so pick what is the experience you want and then you can plan accordingly.

 

[gsarkhel]

Thanks a ton @pink vagabond. Loved your suggestions. Specially Halstatt. That was not on the itinerary. I'll add that too. Also I'll add more days to Interlaken. Deducted Zermatt.

You said you ditched Interlaken for smaller village. Can you suggest a place of your choice around Interlaken? Can you name some villages you would love to stay there on your next visit?

I'm not a city person but my wife is. So I'm trying to decide something in between. How is Insbruck? Is it worth staying there?

I wanted to drive because that way you have the freedom to roam around the place at your own ease. Go to remote places just like that.

 

[pink vagabond]

Lauterbrunnen, Murren, grindlewald are all villages near interlaken. Would take roughly half an hour extra from interlaken by train. Murren is reachable by a cable car which does not run at night, so if you go there, you need to plan accordingly.

All are very pretty, you can choose anywhere.

If i have to travel again to europe, i would choose dolomites in italy, norway and slovenia. In Switzerland, would repeat Bernese oberland, may be grindlewald this time instead of lauterbrunnen, and Montreux, with the visit to the cheese/chocolate factory.

Haven't been to austria, and it is again beautiful, just less convenient but cheaper than swiss. Halstatt and Grundlsee are places i liked there. The entire Tyrol area is where i would base myself, if i go there. Flights wise, milan is a cheap airport to fly into, so you can use that one way, but then car drop will become a problem.

Wife's wishes are always most important for a happy life... so just show her both the places and if she picks the city, better go with that.

 

[pink vagabond]

Switzerland, also check Rhine falls, in case that interests you. Its couple of hours max from zurich. Is a nice place, unless you have been to niagra or our very own chitrakoot falls in chattisgarh.

Also, the first day you land in zurich (mostly early morning from india), you can head to lucerne, around 2 hours from there, much better than zurich.

 

[gsarkhel]

Thanks once again.

If i have to travel again to europe, i would choose dolomites in italy, norway and slovenia. In Switzerland, would repeat Bernese oberland, may be grindlewald this time instead of lauterbrunnen, and Montreux, with the visit to the cheese/chocolate factory.

When you say Bernese Oberland, does that means the Interlaken, Grindlewad, lauterbrunnen area in Switzerland? I'm anyway fascinated by that place for atleast 4 days stay.

Lauterbrunnen, Murren, grindlewald are all villages near interlaken. Would take roughly half an hour extra from interlaken by train. Murren is reachable by a cable car which does not run at night, so if you go there, you need to plan accordingly.

Can I get to all the places without having a car? How do you commute from station to the chalets where you'll be staying? If it is possible to go everywhere without a car then I shouldn't be thinking about hiring a car. I'm only looking to that option because I want to travel interiors around the place where I'll be staying.

How convenient is taking a train from interlaken to Milan and then till Halstatt? Which website is best to book a train?

Also, the first day you land in zurich (mostly early morning from india), you can head to lucerne, around 2 hours from there, much better than zurich.

Lovely option. Would definitely consider this.

 

[pink vagabond]

Chalets are generally 100-500 myrs from station, so manageable unless you have lot of luggage. Trains are once an hour mostly around smaller circuits and you can check all schedule on sbb website. Generally I didn't feel the need of car anywhere in Swiss. Austria and Italy most likely you will need.

For inter country routes check raileurope. Bookings I did on the spot so limited idea on which sites to use.

 

[gsarkhel]

Thanks a ton. I'm throwing a lot many questions but you're the only one person who's helping me planning my trip. I don't know how to thank you.

I'm now facing an issue with the visa. VFS says, flight tickets and hotel booking has to be done prior applying the visa. I can book everything but in case I don't get a visa then cancelling everything would cost a fortune. Any idea on this?

 

[pink vagabond]

Generally tourist visas are given quite liberally, so risk is not that high. If you think that is an issue. You can mail the chalet owners to give you a booking contingent on getting the visa. Also, you can write an application saying you plan to take overnight train, so haven't booked a hotel.

 

[gsarkhel]

Thanks once again for the most valuable suggestions.

Now the final trip is like this:

Day 1: Land at Zurich and take a train to Interlaken.
Day 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5: Explore Around Bernese Oberland and relax by making Interlaken as a base. Pretty laid back.
Day 6: Take a train from Interlaken to Venice.
Day 6, 7, and 8: Explore Venice and around.
Day 9: Take a train to Salsburg.
Day 9, 10, and 11: Around Salsburg. Like Halstatt one day.
Day 12: Take a train to Insbruck. And take another train to Zurich on the same day.
Day 13 and 14: Around Zurich.
Day 14: Fly back

I have covered the cities about 50% of my trip as they are suggested by my wife.
Please tell me honestly what you feel about the itenary?

 

[pink vagabond]

Looks much better. For halstatt you are taking a long detour to salzburg. Innsbruck and the Tyrol area is much more convenient (2 hours lesser from venice) and is very beautiful as well. Halstatt is very pretty, but interlaken is also a lake side town so you are anyways around a lake. plus tyrol area itself has a few lakes, check that out in case you want to avoid a little bit of travel. Travel time saved gives you more time for enjoying. Its a personal call, so discuss with your wife and take a call one way or another. Within austria, the public transport may not be as great as swiss, so can check on short term car hire.

Interlaken, there is a huge limestone cave, can go there, unless you have been to meghalaya.
Grindlewald first in oberland is a nice place, if you are there in summers and like hiking. I hiked to Balchapsee lake (40 mins one way), but there were quite a few other longer options as well, which were not suitable for a 3 year old.
Lauterbrunnen, there is a waterfall view, where they have carved a way in the mountain and you go behind the waterfall, interesting, especially for a 12 year old. You can spend one day in Lauterbrunnen/Murren easily.
Makes more sense to spend most time in swiss in a single go, as it would be convenient to plan with passes. Zurich stay you can minimize on the return leg, to make it economical.