Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast Episode 114 Transcript

Top 10 Travel Tips For Switzerland For 2025

You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.

Announcer

Are you dreaming of visiting Switzerland? Planning a trip to Switzerland is very exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. How do you choose which of the many scenic cities, towns and villages to visit, which mountain top excursions should you take? And what’s the best way to get around Switzerland and of course, how much of the country can you realistically see within your time frame? If you’ve asked yourself any of these questions, this is the podcast for you. This is the Holidays to Switzerland travel podcast. And in each episode, your host Carolyn Schönafinger chats with Swiss travel experts to answer your most commonly asked questions, provide practical tips and take you on a virtual visit to the most popular destinations, and, of course, some hidden gems to help you plan your dream trip to Switzerland. And you’ll hear plenty of conversations about Swiss cheese and chocolate too. Are you ready to plan your trip to Switzerland? Well, let’s get started.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Hello. Welcome to the podcast and a very happy Christmas to those of you who celebrate. This is the final episode of the podcast for 2024 but I have some exciting news for you, starting from next week, January, the first the podcast will be coming to you weekly, so you’ll get even more Swiss travel tips and inspiration to help you plan your dream trip to Switzerland. But before then, to wrap up the year, as I always do, I wanted to share my top tips for planning your trip in 2025. 

Now it seems like the interest in visiting Switzerland is as high as ever. So there are a few things that I think you should be mindful of when you start making your vacation plans. Tip number one is to book your accommodation early. There’s some major events happening in Switzerland in 2025 including the FIFA Women’s Euro 2025 soccer tournament, or football tournament, as it’s known in Europe. This will be held from the second to the 27th of July and games will be taking place all over the country in eight different locations, in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St Gallen, Lucerne, Thun and Sion. So in those locations, particularly, and probably in neighboring towns, accommodation will be at a premium. So if you’re planning to visit in July, I would suggest booking your accommodation as early as possible. 

There’s also the Mountain Bike World Cup being held in Valais Canton, so that includes Zermatt, and that will be held from the 30th of August for two weeks. Again, if you’re planning to visit that region, definitely book your accommodation as far ahead as you can. And then there are, of course, regular events like the Montreux Jazz Festival, which is held in the first two weeks of July. 

Other reasons why you might want to book your accommodation in advance is to secure rooms with air conditioning if you’re traveling over the warmer summer months, many people assume that because they’re going to Switzerland, which is a mountainous country, it’s not going to get very hot, but during the summer months, it can get very hot, and without air conditioning in your hotel room or your apartment, it can be quite uncomfortable, so do consider booking ahead to secure air conditioning as well. 

Tip number two is to consider buying a first class rail pass or first class tickets. And the reason for this is not only the seats a bit more roomy and there are fewer seats in the first class carriages than there are in second class carriages. The demand for travel has increased incredibly in the last couple of years, and just to quote some figures from travel Switzerland, the official public transport marketing company, visitors from the US increased by 38% from 2023 to 2024. Number of visitors from Japan increased by 64% and these were just two of the countries that had a massive increase in visitor numbers. 

As you can see, with increased visitor numbers, increased numbers of people using the public transport network, it’s fair to assume that many of them, and probably most of them, will be purchasing second class tickets or second class travel passes. The locals tend to travel mostly in second class. So second class is therefore going to be a lot busier. So if you can, I would definitely suggest that you consider paying a little bit more and booking first class tickets or buying a first class rail pass. 

Now, while we’re on the subject of trains, tip number three is to book the seat reservations for the panoramic trains early. Demand for these is still incredibly high. There’s never been more interest in the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express and the other panoramic trains in Switzerland. And one thing that makes it a little difficult for visitors is that there are different opening dates for the reservations for each of these trains. So for instance, with the Glacier Express, it’s around 93 days before travel that you can actually make your seat reservations, whereas for some of the other trains, you have a longer opening period there. So it can be quite difficult. And there is an article which I’ll link to in the show notes that I have on holidaystoswitzerland.com which goes through the details about booking the seat reservations for each of those panoramic trains and when the booking windows open. 

Now keep in mind that even if you have like a Swiss travel pass which covers the actual journey on that train. You do need a seat reservation. It’s compulsory, and it’s at an additional cost, and that article that I mentioned covers all that information as well. 

Now, if all that sounds a little bit tricky, because you’re planning on traveling on a couple of the panoramic trains, or even all five of them, and you’re thinking, goodness, how am I going to know when to book the seat reservations for all those trains? You can actually book a rail package from our friends at Switzerland Travel Center, and they will make all those seat reservations on your behalf. And when you book and use our promo code, HTSwiss, you actually get 5% off your total rail package, which makes it even better and even easier. Again, the link to find more details about those rail packages and the discount offer will be in the show notes. 

Tip number four is to mix up your destinations. Of course, you’ll want to visit those popular tourist spots, but why not include a few lesser known places as well? Now this might mean just doing a day trip, or a half day trip to somewhere that’s a little, let’s say, off the beaten path, or you could actually base yourself outside those popular destinations. An advantage of Switzerland’s compact size and its excellent public transport system means that you are rarely isolated, so there’s always a larger town close by that you can reach by train or bus or even boat in 10-15, minutes, sometimes maybe half an hour. Staying in some of these lesser known places, or even visiting them, gives you a taste of life in a regular Swiss town that’s perhaps not reliant on tourism like some of those more popular destinations, and there are so many to choose from. Just because you haven’t heard of them or they’re not all over social media doesn’t mean that they’re not worth visiting. 

The most beautiful villages in Switzerland Association has around 47 member villages all across Switzerland, and I’ve done a couple of podcast episodes about some of those villages. And there’s also a very detailed article on the website where you can find out which member villages you might like to visit as well. The UNWTO, the United Nations World Tourism Organization also has an annual best tourism villages list, and there are now nine of these villages in Switzerland with two new members being added recently. They’re Romoos, which is in the Luzern Canton, and Splugen, which is in Graubunden. So there’s another couple of villages that you might like to consider, including in your itinerary. 

Tip number five relates to those folks who are traveling during the summer months, when it’s very busy. And during this time, you can expect long queues and waiting times for activities in those popular locations. And Grindelwald First is a prime example. So if waiting in line doesn’t appeal to you, and you’re on vacation after all, so you want to see and do as much as you possibly can, why not plan to enjoy similar activities somewhere else? Sure, you might still go to Grindelwald first. I’m not saying don’t go there, because it’s fantastic and the view. Is from up there are just amazing. 

But if you don’t want to spend a long time waiting in queues to get your turn on the zip line or the mountain carts or the trotti bikes, etc, those kind of activities are available in other places. There’s a zip line at Pfingstegg, which is just on the other side of Grindelwald, easily accessed from Grindelwald town in about 10 minute walk. So that’s another option. If it’s the trotti bikes, or sometimes called the fat tire bikes, that you’re keen on, you’ll find them at Beatenberg and Hasliberg, which are both in the Bernese Oberland, so not very far at all from Interlaken. There’s also trotti bikes and mountain carts on Rothorn, which is a mountain that you can easily access from Zermatt. 

And if you’ve seen images, or you’ve heard of the Alpine coasters or rodelbahns, which are like a summer toboggan or a bobsled ride, these are very popular in Switzerland as well. There’s one at Frakmuntegg on Mount Pilatus, which can be quite busy. I definitely recommend getting there as early in the day as you possibly can. I think from memory, it starts at 9am so you would definitely want to be there at nine to avoid long queues. I have been there at nine, and then last year we were there later in the afternoon, I think it was about three or 3 30 and yeah, there was at least a 45 minute wait at that time of day. So either get there early or try some other options again, at Pfingstegg from Grindelwald, you can enjoy a Rodelbahn. There’s also one in Gurten Park in Bern. So that’s another option as well. 

Now my friend Tanya from Swiss Family Fun, who was on the podcast a few episodes ago, has a great article about some of the most popular rodelbahns or Alpine coasters in Switzerland and some great alternatives. So I’ll include the link to her article in the show notes as well. 

Tip number six is to consider visiting outside of peak season. I’ve just mentioned how it can be really busy in those popular destinations during the particularly busy months of July and August and into early September. So why not consider traveling in late May or June or in late September or October, most of the mountain railways and activities will be operating, and the prices for accommodation are likely to be lower. Again, there’s lots of information that you can find on holidaystoswitzerland.com we’ve got articles about visiting in spring and autumn and what you can expect at that time of year, and also an article which lists the cable car operating dates for all of those popular destinations. So if you are thinking of going perhaps in late May, it would be worth checking that article just to make sure that any mountains that you wanted to visit will be able to be reached by the cable cars or the mountain railways. 

Tip number seven is to consider booking a tour with a local guide. Now, I know some of you are going to say, No, I like to travel independently. I do everything myself, and that’s perfectly fine. I’m like you. I mostly tend to do things independently and make my own bookings and go sightseeing on my own and do things at my own pace. But there are some really great advantages to booking a tour with a local guide. And when I say a tour, it can be anything from an hour to a full day or even longer. And I think the greatest advantage is that the local knowledge that you get from someone who lives there and who knows these places inside out, you can discover hidden places like the amazing lake that Roberto talked about in last week’s episode that he takes his guests to, and you can even get a different perspective on places that you’ve visited many, many times before. During my visit in summer this year, I had the opportunity to go on a guided hike with James, a local from Wengen, and it was just amazing. He took us to a farm that he knows the people that own the farm. He took us there. We saw the cows. We saw the cheese being made in the farm, and then we had a great breakfast, and we had stunning views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley from Wengen that I’d never seen before. So just having those hidden local secrets is wonderful.

And another thing. That I love about this is that you’re supporting locals, and all the money that all the money that you’re spending on the tour goes back into the local community. So it’s a win win for everyone. And I’m hoping to feature more of these kind of activities on the podcast during 2025 if this is something that you would like to know more about. Please do let me know. There are so many options for these kind of tours, city walks and food tours and hikes with amazing scenery. So I think it’s easily something that you can combine, sure you can travel mostly independently, but it’s easy to add in a half a day or a couple of hours with a local guide and really get that intimate experience and insights into the part of Switzerland that you’re visiting.

Tip number eight is to incorporate some flexibility into your itinerary. Now, I always love to leave room for spontaneity in my vacations. Sure, I have a list of things that I would like to see and do in each destination that I get, but I love leaving some room there, because oftentimes there’s something that’ll catch your eye that you didn’t know about there might be something new that’s opened, a new attraction, or something is open at the time of year when you’re visiting when it normally isn’t. So it’s great to have that spontaneity. Now, another reason this is important is if the weather is unsuitable, if you have planned a very rigid sightseeing schedule, and the weather is unsuitable, particularly if you are planning to visit the mountains, it can be really difficult then to find time to fit that in on another day when the weather is better, if your schedule is so rigid that you can’t move anything around you might also perhaps need to be a bit flexible if you’re trying to visit or if you’re trying to witness, perhaps something like an Alpine descent. These are held usually around late September and into October, and this is when the farmers bring their cows back down the mountains, back to their farms. So they spend the summer months up on the mountain pastures, grazing on the beautiful herbs in there and the Alpine grass up there. But as soon as the first snow is forecast, the farmers like to bring the cows back down into the barns for the winter. So the dates aren’t known a long way in advance, because they’re very weather dependent. So if that’s something that you really want to see, you’ll need to leave some flexibility in your itinerary so you can work around those dates as soon as they are announced. 

And perhaps you’ve done an activity, or you’ve been to a place the first day you get to a location, and you just loved it so much that you want to do it again. If you don’t have any room in your itinerary, it’s going to be hard to fit that in, unless you actually skip something else that you had planned to do So flexibility is always great to incorporate into your itinerary. 

Tip number nine is a really important one, and it’s to be mindful of your actions. You’re on vacation, but you’re actually visiting someone’s hometown. They have to go to work, they need to get their car out of their driveway. They need to have the roads clear so that they can get to wherever they’re going. And they don’t appreciate tourists blocking roads and being inconsiderate. Yes, this applies to noise and rubbish and trespassing on private property. Now, I know most of us don’t do any of these things or cause any of these issues on purpose, but sometimes we’re just in the moment. We’re just doing our own thing. We’re having a great vacation, and we we, we forget to stop and consider that this is someone’s home, and we need to be respectful, so please be a considerate tourist, and Switzerland will keep welcoming us all back for many years to come. 

Now, before we finish up, tip number 10 is to utilize the free resources that are available from Holidays to Switzerland. I’ve mentioned a few times articles that I have on holidaystoswitzerland.com. There are so many articles on there about every kind of topic you can imagine for visiting Switzerland. Destination guides, suggested itineraries. Articles about things to do, very detailed transport guides and information about the different rail passes. So there’s loads and loads of information there that you can access for free. Of course, you can keep listening to this podcast, and as I mentioned earlier, it will be out weekly from the first of January 2025 there’ll be plenty of excellent information to help you plan your trip in those upcoming episodes, and don’t forget to look back. We’ve got over 110 episodes already published, so make sure you go back and listen to some of those as well.

We also have a private Facebook group which has over 35,000 members, and this is a great place to ask questions and share your experiences and ask for advice, as well as myself, we have some wonderful moderators who know Switzerland very, very well and are happy to answer any questions and provide tips in there as well. That’s called theSwitzerland Travel Planning is the name of the group. So search that on Facebook and you can join and get loads and loads of helpful info there as well. 

And of course, we have a monthly newsletter so you can get Swiss travel tips and inspiration and news and loads of info about what’s happening in Switzerland, delivered directly to your inbox every month, and when you subscribe to the newsletter, I’ll also send you a free copy of my guide, 21 useful things to know before you visit Switzerland. The links for all those ways to get additional information will be in the show notes. Those show notes you’ll find at holidaystoswitzerland.com/episode 114. 

I hope you found these Swiss tips helpful and that you’re now ready to start making your very own Swiss travel plans for 2025. As always, if you enjoy the podcast and you find it helpful, I’d be super grateful if you could leave a five star rating and review on your favorite podcast platform until next week, whether I’ll be back again with more Swiss travel inspiration, Tschüss.

You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.