Recs for a week long no kids vacation?

1,814 Views | 22 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by third coast..
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Switzerland. beautiful scenery, historical sights, castles, outdoors stuff if you want it. plus the country is small enough that you can have a home base in one of the larger cities and do day trips and don't have to pack/unpack multiple times. if you don't mind it hot, then do spain as an alternative.
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Their public transportation system is honestly pretty amazing. If you are going to be going a lot of places all over it will probably make more sense to buy the transportation pass. I did the first two times I went. The last time we stayed more in one place so we just bought tickets as needed.

Haven't been back since Uber was a thing so don't know if it's gotten big there or not. It was nice in Budapest two years ago but don't know if that means anything for Switzerland.
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
I would suggest seeing more than two limited areas.

See Bern
See Murten
See the chateau du chillon
See reichenbach falls
Try the via ferrata
See lugano
Try some Basler lackerli in Basel
Get fondue and raclette
See the Matterhorn
Go to the top of the jungfrau
Just walk around Grindelwald and soak up the Alp-y-ness
Take a boat taxi from town to town near Interlaken
Explore Schloss thun in thun
Get fresh baked bread and cheap chocolate from migros, kind of a Swiss heb.
Have a mountain picnic anywhere.
The whole country is like a postcard. Just soak it up.
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
SoupNazi2001 said:

schmendeler said:

I would suggest seeing more than two limited areas.

See Bern
See Murten
See the chateau du chillon
See reichenbach falls
Try the via ferrata
See lugano
Try some Basler lackerli in Basel
Get fondue and raclette
See the Matterhorn
Go to the top of the jungfrau
Just walk around Grindelwald and soak up the Alp-y-ness
Take a boat taxi from town to town near Interlaken
Explore Schloss thun in thun
Get fresh baked bread and cheap chocolate from migros, kind of a Swiss heb.
Have a mountain picnic anywhere.
The whole country is like a postcard. Just soak it up.


To each their own but that sounds awful for a one week trip. You would be traveling the entire time. Jungfrau region where Wengen/Murren is best area in Switzerland IMO but I prefer to stay several days in the same location and soak it in, not switch hotels every other day. Lucerne and the lake there is great and beautiful as well. Can do day trips from either location quite easily.


All of those things can be done as day trips. Easily. That's why I said in my original post that you can pick one place and venture out from there. I went to all of those places from either near Bern or in Zurich. I never stayed anywhere else.

And of course you can have days where you do as little as you want. Just wanted to make sure that he knew that it's very easy to cross the breadth of the country via day trips. The farthest places (most extreme directions) I mentioned were lugano (did a day trip from Zurich) and Zermatt (day trip from Zurich) or Chillon (day trip from Bern) which is near Montreux.
Post removed:
by user
Post removed:
by user
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
third coast.. said:

did you do all that with a car? My internet out at sea is incredibly terrible. I looked up zurich to Geneva via car and it was about 3.5 hours I thought. Zurich to Zermatt said 5.5 hours. are those times incredibly off? I am all about maximizing my time of relaxation but also enjoying as much as possible. can any ole boy rent a car there? sorry to be asking so many questions but the Switzerland tourism sites are bogging my computer down like crazy.


All of that was done on their train system. I have traveled by car before but it's not really any faster. Bern would be slightly more convenient than Zurich, but staying in Interlaken might be the best compromise. I think they get the IC (inter city) trains like Bern and Zurich. Try looking at the travel times from there.

Zermatt takes a long time because you are not going in a straight line. You have to take the tunnels through the mountains and then take a special cog wheel train to Zermatt.

Also, travel times can vary quite a bit depending on the category of train you are on. Some are like express trains that go directly from large City to large City and some stop at every single little small town. And some are in between, stopping at the mid size towns on the way to the large cities.
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
third coast.. said:

also, are Swiss watches cheaper in Switzerland? haha


I don't know, but I don't think so. The only thing I found cheaper in Switzerland is chocolate. I doubt they are cutting great deals on omegas and rolexes, but I was never in the market for one anyway.
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Also, if looking at rail tickets, don't bother with 1st class unless you just want to splurge.

I also would suggest getting Rick Steve's Switzerland book. I used it on my second trip and found a bunch of stuff that I hadn't considered seeing the first time.
SquirrellyDan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
Switzerland is awesome, but I prefer Southern/Bavarian Germany, for the cheaper cost if nothing else. Garmisch area is beautiful, plus you can day trip by car/train to Austria, the Dolomites in Italy, even Venice.
eiggA2002
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
We are going to Italy in two weeks sans kiddos. We will be there a few days longer, but you could still do at least a part of Italy in a week. We've got 2 nights in Florence, 4 in Montepulciano/Tuscany, 4 in Rome. We will do day trips while in Tuscany. DFW has direct flights to Rome now and they arrive early so it helps get a jump start on the trip.
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
That sucks! But airfare to Zurich goes on sale pretty frequently. Also check Basel.
Post removed:
by user
notheranymore
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I love Spain. All the Roman architecture at a fraction of the price of Italy. Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Cordova, Sevilla...love.

Edit: that would be a hot time of year for Spain.
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
third coast.. said:

yea but all of the good air bnb's are getting gobbled up. I pretty much had the entire itinerary planned, including a night in Milan on her Bday. don't want to drop 1800/ticket for economy though.


Consider airfare to another Euro city and then fly Ryan air or easyjet to Basel or Zurich.
Post removed:
by user
schmendeler
How long do you want to ignore this user?
AG
glad I could be of assistance! my wife and I love it, so I hope you enjoy it just as much.

also, I'd love to hear about your experience when you get back in august or whatever.
Post removed:
by user
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.