Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast Episode 81 Transcript
How to plan your Switzerland itinerary
You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.
Intro
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 are the many scenic cities, towns, and villages to visit? Which mountaintop 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. 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
Grüezi, and welcome to another episode of the Holidays to Switzerland Travel podcast. Are you ready to start making your Swiss travel dreams come true by booking the trip of a lifetime? I hope so. This breathtakingly beautiful country has to be seen to be believed, and it truly does offer something for everyone. But a word of advice, one One visit is never enough. With so many beautiful cities, stunning mountain resorts, and charming villages in Switzerland, it can be difficult to decide which places to include in your itinerary. In this episode, I thought I’d share with you my tips for planning your Switzerland trip itinerary. In this episode, you’ll learn the tools and resources I use when I’m planning my own itineraries, how to decide which places to visit, I’ll share a couple of classic itineraries for first-time visitors to Switzerland, and I’ll discuss the three main ways that you can go about booking your trip once you’ve finalised your itinerary. Plus, there are some exclusive bonus offers for the Holidays to Switzerland audience. That’s you. Before we get started, I’d like to say thank you to the team from Switzerland Tourism for sponsoring the podcast. Whether you plan to explore Switzerland by bus, car, or train, you’ll find lots of helpful info on their website, myswitzerland.com. So do go and take a look. But remember, if you need the train ride of a lifetime, you need Switzerland.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Okay, so you’ve decided that Switzerland is the destination of choice for your next trip, and it’s a great choice, I have to say. But how do you decide where to go? You’ve probably seen plenty of beautiful on photos on Instagram and Pinterest, maybe looking through guidebooks and on blogs and so forth. And there’s just so many places that you’re pretty overwhelmed and you’re just wondering, how on earth am I going to fit all these places into my itinerary? Well, chances are you probably won’t be able to fit them all in, or else you’re just going to be rushing around and you won’t remember anything at all that you’ve seen. So you need to make a bit of a plan and make it doable, not too rushed, but just the right amount of time so that you can see what you want to see, find the most important things and the things that interest you, and make your itinerary from there. So what I usually do is throughout the year, if I’m thinking, okay, I’ve got a trip coming up next year or in nine months or six months or whatever, whenever I see something that appeals to me, I make a note of it on my phone, or I’ll take a screenshot and save that into my photos.
Carolyn Schönafinger
So I’ve got a bit of a reference there. When I’m ready to sit down and start planning my itinerary, I’ve got a starting point. Now, I might have 50 different places that have attracted my attention. And I think, yeah, I definitely want to visit those. So at least I’ve got something to start with. Now, I’m going to have to whittle it down, of course, because I’m never going to be able to fit all those places into a trip, even if I went for a whole year. And for most of you listening, probably one, maybe two weeks, is generally about the average amount of time that you’ll have to visit Switzerland. So I’ve got this list of all these places that I’m interested in visiting. Then what I’m going to do next is to write them down into a couple of lists. In one list, I’m going to have all the things that I really must see, my high highest priority. And then in another list, I’m going to have some of the places that are just nice to see. If they fit in, if I’ve got time, if they’re in the right location where I’m going to be.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Yep, I’d love to include those as well. But at least now I know what places and what excursions and what activities are the highest priority for my trip. Then I’m going to have to have a think about the logistics. How much time do I have for my whole trip? How am I going to travel around Switzerland? And what time of year am I planning to go? Because this can have a bit of a… You need to take this into account. For instance, in winter and the cooler months, there’s going to be less daylight hours. Some places might close earlier than normal. So you need to take that into consideration. Iteration. Once I’ve got all these lists of the things that are must-sees and nice to see, and I know a bit more about my trip, how long I’m going to spend in Switzerland, et et cetera. Then what I do is I spread out a map and I mark all those places on the map. Now, I really am a bit of a map nerd. I love nothing more than getting at the map and just pouring over it and and seeing where everything’s located.
Carolyn Schönafinger
So with the map on the floor, you can do this online, if that’s how you work, or if that works better for you. But I love to get an actual physical printed map, spread it out on the floor, and mark off all the places that I want to see. So I might use sticky notes or pins, and I will put them all into different categories. So I might, for instance, use Blue sticky notes for all the places that are the highest priority. And then I might use red sticky notes for the places that would be nice to see if I’ve got time. This way, I can get a bit of an indication of the location of all the places. It might so happen that all the places in my must see list are in the same region or are just across central Switzerland. And there might be a couple of places that would be nice to see, but they’re either in the south or they’re right over in the west of Switzerland. Now, Switzerland isn’t a huge country, and the transport times, they’re generally not too great. But at least if you know, if things are grouped together, it’s going to be much easier to visit those in a shorter space of time.
Carolyn Schönafinger
If you find that the places you want to visit are spread right around the country, you’re either going to have to shorten the number or the length of time that you stay in each place, or you’re going to have to extend your trip a little bit. So that’s something to keep in mind. And I think one of the most important things to consider when planning which cities and towns you’re going to include in your itinerary is to ensure that you actually get to see what you want to see in each place. So for instance, if you really want to visit the Lind home of chocolate in Zurich, but you’ve only factored in, okay, we’re going to get back to Zurich on day nine at four o’clock, and then we’re flying out first thing the next morning. Well, by the time you get to the museum, it might actually be closed, or it might be closing in half an hour. So it’s really pointless to even go there. So keep that in If you particularly want to see a place, make sure that you’re going to have the time to see it when you get to that town that it’s located in.
Carolyn Schönafinger
And on a similar note, cable cars often finish operating for the day around 5:00 PM in the afternoon. So if you’re arriving in a mountain village late in the afternoon, you may not have time to actually go Go up on the cable car to the mountaintop, have a look around, and then come back down again, because there just may not be the time to do that. So definitely keep that in mind as well. I think one of the biggest, not really an error, but one of the biggest things that people get caught up in when planning their Switzerland trip is that it can be so tempting to try and fit so much into their trip that they then risk overdoing it and being too rushed. So you may need to eliminate some places if they’re too far from other destinations or they take too long to get to. Now, to find the travel times and the distances between places, some great tools to use are the Swiss Federal Railways website, which is sbb.ch. And there’s also an app, SBB Mobile. And they show the timetables for all the public transport network in Switzerland.
Carolyn Schönafinger
So you can see how often the services operate and how long the journey times are. So that’s a fantastic resource that includes most cable cars, and boats, and trams, and buses as well. So it’s really an app or a website that anyone going to Switzerland can make use of. Another one is Rome2Rio, which covers, as well as train timetables, it also has information about driving distances. So if you are planning on driving around Switzerland, you can check on that, how long it will take you to get from A to B. And similarly, Google Maps does the same. One of my biggest tips when planning your itinerary is to ask yourself, is your itinerary realistic or are you cramming too much in? If If you plan to visit Jungfraujoch or the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, for instance, it’s wise to allow more time than you think you’ll need for your visit. You’re going to be at a higher altitude, and that means you need to slow down and not rush around. So build an extra hour or two into the time you set aside for that activity. If you’ve spread that map out and there’s just way too many pins marking those must see and nice to see places, and you’re still a bit overwhelmed, then I’ve got a couple of classic itineraries to share with you that might give you a good head start in planning your own itinerary.
Carolyn Schönafinger
The first is a seven-day itinerary. It can be started and finished anywhere in Switzerland. But for the point of this exercise, let’s say that you’re arriving and ending in Zurich. The first two nights are spent in Lucerne. Then you have three nights in Interlaken or or the Jungfrau region, followed by one night in Zermatt before returning to Zurich. This ticks off three of the most popular destinations in Switzerland. One comment I would make is that, please, if you do decide to do this, please make sure you allow at least half a day in Zermatt so that you can do one of the amazing mountain excursions there to get really up close to the Matterhorn. Another classic itinerary is what’s known as the Grand Train Tour. This is an eight-day itinerary, but ideally, you would spend longer because it visits a lot of different places, and it would be great to be able to stay in at least some of them for two nights rather than one. Again, the itinerary can be started and finished anywhere within Switzerland, and you would then make your way to the first overnight stop, which is Interlaken. The itinerary then includes one night stays in Montreux, Zermatt, St. Moritz, Lugano, Lucerne, and St. Gallen. And along that itinerary, you’ll be using all of the different panoramic trains. So it really is a great itinerary to give you a very good overview of Switzerland. But as I said, if you can spend more than the seven nights, eight days, I highly recommend you do.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Now, there’s no best itinerary. Your itinerary should be one that suits your interests, not what someone else tells you you should be seen. And back on episode 13, 87 of the podcast, my guest, Gary Martin, made a really wonderful comment. He said, your trip should be about seeing and doing what resonates with you, not ticking off the attractions on someone else’s bucket list. So keep that in mind. Just because you keep seeing a photo of a destination on Instagram, that doesn’t mean you have to include it in your itinerary if it really doesn’t appeal to you. Once you’ve decided on your itinerary, when it comes to making all the arrangements for your trip, there are three main options that travellers choose from. The first is the DIY approach. Here, you research, plan, and book everything yourself, including your transport, your accommodation, your excursions.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Now, it definitely takes a lot of time. But for many folks, planning a trip is almost as much fun as taking the trip. We’ve got heaps We have helpful resources on our website, holidaystoswitzerland.com, which cover every aspect of trip planning, including the different transport passes, driving guides, details about mountain excursions, accommodation, and we even We even have an itinerary section. If you’re planning a DIY trip, you’ll likely spend hours researching. You’ll use multiple booking sites, and you’ll make payments to a number of different suppliers. It’s a lot of work, but it can be very, very rewarding. Now, if that all sounds like a bit too much for you, you might prefer to go with another approach, which I’m calling the Travel Assistant approach. This is when bookings are made for you, but you travel independently. So you have that initial assistance that someone goes ahead and makes the accommodation arrangements and buys all your train tickets or passes for you, but you still get to travel independently. Now, this is great if you don’t have the time or the inclination to do all the research required, to map out your own itinerary, and then to go and book every element of your trip but you still want to travel independently when you get to Switzerland. So this is where booking a package holiday can be a great option. Packages generally include your transport, so either car rental or rail tickets, as well as hotel accommodation, some meals, sightseeing, and in some instances of rail packages, they can even include luggage transfer. A great example are the rail packages offered by Switzerland Travel Centre. They have a wide range of itineraries, and all of them can be amended to suit your requirements. So you could add an extra day. As I mentioned in that Grand Train Tour itinerary, you could add additional days You can upgrade or downgrade accommodation, choose the mountain excursions that you’d like included, and there are heaps of other options. The packages give you the freedom to choose your own itinerary, but you get the convenience convenience of having a specialist travel company book everything for you via their easy-to-use online booking tool.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Now, the third approach is what I’m calling the Travel Guide approach. This is where everything is done for you. So if you’d rather hand every aspect of your vacation planning to an expert and just sit back and enjoy the scenery, then a guided tour is a great choice.
Carolyn Schönafinger
Whilst there are a large number of different travel companies that offer tours in big coaches, think 40 to 50 passengers, they can be a bit impersonal. So that’s why small group tours are so good. Small group tours usually feature a predesigned set itinerary. You travel in a small luxury coach with a tour guide, and up to a dozen or so passengers. They include accommodation, some meals and sightseeing, And of course, your luggage transportation is taken care of, too. Now, understanding that some travellers like the security of travelling in a group, and that they like to have the knowledge and expertise of a local tour guide at hand, Switzerland Travel Centre have come up with a great small group tour. It’s called the Grand Tour of Switzerland Explorer Tour, and it’s an eight-night small group tour that visits the country’s most popular destinations. And you travel in You’ve got a small luxury coach. You’ve got the experienced driver guide with you. You have rides on some of Switzerland’s most famous panoramic trains, and it’s all there done for you. So it’s a great option. You really get the best of both worlds on that tour. But if you’d like to go even one step further and have the services of a private driver guide just for you and your travelling party, then a private tour is ideal.
Carolyn Schönafinger
A huge advantage of a private tour is the ability to have the tour designed exactly to your requirements. Each day of your tour can be tailored to suit your interests, so you just have to sit back and relax whilst your private driver guide takes you wherever you’d like to go. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? Private tours can include accommodation, meals, admission fees, and even train rides. So it’s totally up to you what what you would like included in your private tour. So whether you’re a DIY fan and you want to do the whole trip arranging and booking yourself, whether you want a little bit of assistance, but you still want to travel independently, or you’d like everything done for you and to have a guide with you as you travel around Switzerland, there’s a travel style just perfect for you. Now, I’m thrilled to share some some exclusive bonus offers for our Holidays to Switzerland audience. We’ve collaborated with two extremely reputable Swiss companies to offer you some fantastic discounts simply by quoting our special code, H-T-S-W-I-S-S. That’s H-T Swiss. If you’re interested in the rail packages and the small group tour that I mentioned, our friends at Switzerland Travel Centre are offering a 5% discount off the total package price for our audience.
Carolyn Schönafinger
You just have to enter the code HTSWISS in the promo code box when booking your trip on their website. For those of you who like the idea of a private tour, you could benefit from one free night’s accommodation when you book with Swiss Epic Tours. Again, you’ll need to quote our promo code HTSWISS in your first point of contact with them to receive the discount. You’ll find full details about accessing these great savings in the show notes, as well as links to other helpful Switzerland trip planning guides and our range of itineraries that you’ll find on the website. The show notes can be found at holidaystoswitzerland.com/episode81. Thanks for joining me today. I hope you’re now ready to get stuck into mapping out your Switzerland itinerary and booking the Swiss trip of your dreams. Until next time. Tschüss.
You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.
