Expert Tips for Planning Your Dream Swiss Vacation

Are you planning your first trip to Switzerland and wondering how to make the most of your visit? This episode is packed with expert advice and insider tips just for you!

In this unique episode, in which we celebrate five years of the Holidays to Switzerland podcast, I switch roles and become the guest. In my chat with Lynne Niemann from the Wander Your Way podcast, I share my personal journey of falling in love with Switzerland and why I keep returning again and again.

Lynne and I discuss my recommended 7-day Switzerland itinerary for first-time visitors, my favourite places to visit - both famous Swiss destinations and some lesser known beauties - and why I love travelling by train in Switzerland.

I’ve also got some money saving tips and practical advice that will be super helpful if you are visiting Switzerland for the first time.  We also discuss the best time to visit Switzerland and how to include authentic Swiss experiences in your trip.

Tune in now and let me help make planning your Switzerland vacation as smooth as Swiss chocolate!

Safe travels,

Carolyn

👉 Show notes - Episode 143

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Transcript

Carolyn Schönafinger

Welcome to the Holidays to Switzerland Podcast if you're planning a trip to Switzerland, this is the podcast for you. I'm your host Carolyn Schönafinger, the founder of holidaystoswitzerland.com and in each episode my expert guests and I share practical tips to help you plan your dream trip to Switzerland. You'll get helpful advice about travelling around Switzerland and hear about the most popular destinations as well as some hidden gems and we'll introduce you to plenty of wonderful experiences that you can enjoy as part of your Swiss vacation. Each episode is packed with expert tips, itinerary ideas and inspiration to help make your Swiss vacation planning easy. So let's dive in.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Hello, welcome to this week's episode which is a little different. This time I'm on the other side. Of the microphone answering the questions rather than asking them. A little while ago I was invited by Lynne Nieman, the host of the Wander your Way podcast, to be a guest on her show. Lynne is a travel planner who loves visiting Europe and her podcast covers a wide range of destinations in Europe and and provides lots of handy travel tips for her listeners. Lynne has visited Switzerland a couple of times, but each visit has been quite brief, so I was happy to chat with her about my favourite places in Switzerland and to share my advice for first time travellers, including my suggested seven day itinerary. We also chatted about the fantastic Swiss public transport system, how my love for Switzerland came about, and why I keep returning again and again. Honestly, I could talk about Switzerland for hours and it seems like I have been doing just that as this week marks the fifth anniversary of this podcast. It's hard to believe, but yes, it was back in June 2020 when the very first episode of the Holidays to Switzerland podcast went live after releasing new episodes every every two weeks for the first four and a half years. In January this year I switched up to weekly episodes. It is a lot of work, but when the topic is a country as beautiful as Switzerland, I'm never going to run out of things to share with you, so you can expect to keep hearing from me for some time yet. When this interview came out on the Wander your Way podcast, I thought there's lots of info here that my listeners will benefit from too, so Lynne has kindly let me share it with you. Here's our chat.

Lynne Nieman

So today I have with me Carolyn Schönafinger from Holidays to Switzerland and she is coming in from nearby Melbourne, Australia. So we are at a major time difference here. So welcome to the Wander your Way podcast, Carolyn.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Thank you so much Lynne, it's a thrill to be here chatting to you today from across the other side of the world and talking about a country that's even further away.

Lynne Nieman

Exactly. So oddly enough, I'm sitting here in the States, Carolyn is down there and where, where it's summer and where as we record this here in Ohio, it's cold and there's snow on the ground. But we're going to be talking about somewhere that's in between. We're going to be actually talking about Switzerland. Hence, you know, Holidays to Switzerland. This is what Carolyn does. But before we get started, I always like to start with like how you got into travel and then why specifically Switzerland?

Carolyn Schönafinger

Okay, well, my story goes back a long way actually. Still when I was in high school, I had a real interest in, in travel and I used to actually collect travel brochures back in the day and flick through them and just think how wonderful it would would be to be able to travel the world. When I finished high school, I was actually lucky enough to get a job in a local travel agency and started as the junior there doing all the things like sweeping and selling bus tickets and things like that. And then eventually did my training and became a travel agent where I was able to plan and book holidays for clients. So I did that for a few years and then got married, had children. So I stopped working full time. But eventually after a few years, I sort of had the urge to get back into the the travel biz again and started up. Well in between time actually we'd been to visited Europe a few times and I decided to start a website about European travel. So I did that for a number of years and worked from home writing blog articles and things and giving people information about visiting Europe.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Fast forward a few years and I noticed that a lot of the articles about Switzerland were really the most popular on the website. And Switzerland, I've always just absolutely loved it from the very first time I visited. It's, I don't know, it's somewhere I just feel really drawn to Switzerland. So because the Switzerland articles were so popular, I decided well, okay, maybe I'll start a Facebook Facebook group about Switzerland travel planning. Because that way I could have really have more one on one contact and help people one on one with their questions and give them advice about visiting Switzerland. So that went really well. And then I decided, well, okay, maybe I need to have a website specifically about Switzerland rather than doing Europe in general. So I started that website October 2019 and a couple of months later, guess what happened.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, we all know what happened then.

Carolyn Schönafinger

The world shut down and no one was travelling to Switzerland. So as a result of that, I was desperate to share my love of Switzerland with people and help them to plan their own trips. So I, then in June 2020 started a podcast, the Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast, so that I could, yeah, still share that information in, in another way so that when, when the world did open up again, people were, you know, well armed and with, and informed with info about planning their trip to Switzerland. So that's my story.

Lynne Nieman

So can I ask, I'm curious, like, then how, like how old were you, if you don't mind me asking, when you went on that first trip to Switzerland?

Carolyn Schönafinger

I was 20. So I started working at the travel agency when I was 18 and when I was 20, I went with my boyfriend at the time, who's now my husband of over 30 years. We went on a Contiki tour, which was what every, you know, young person did back in the day. And one of the stops on the Contiki tour was Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, which is in the Jungfrau region. And yeah, look, honestly, when the bus drove into the Lauterbrunnen Valley, I was just like, in awe. And I've just been back to Lauterbrunnen so many times since. It's, I mean, I love almost everywhere in Switzerland, but Lauterbrunnen is, yeah, it's got a really special place in my heart.

Lynne Nieman

So. So you kind of explained then why Switzerland? It just. So you must obviously, like, I'm going to assume as, as a mountain lover myself, that you like the mountains because Switzerland has a lot of mountains and, and Lauterbrunnen is that is that way. It's, you know, it's out there in the, in, in the middle of the Alps. I've kind of been out in that area, been out to Grindelwald and feel the same way. It's like, oh my God, it's just, it's breathtaking. So let me ask you, you have a lot of information. Your podcast is really good because you bring on, like, you bring on a lot of local people. You bring on people from like, local, like the regional tourism boards and things like that. But let me ask you this, are there those places? I mean, you know, if somebody is going to Switzerland for the first time, where would be some of the places that you might recommend? You know, maybe first some of those places that are sort of the more well known, maybe on the tourist track. And then I always like to ask people for some places that are a little bit off the main tourist track?

Carolyn Schönafinger

Well, I think, so, most people that are coming from abroad will fly, if they're coming directly to Switzerland, they'll fly into Zurich or Geneva. But often a lot of people combine Switzerland with other European countries, so they might be visiting Germany as well, or France or Italy. The great thing about Switzerland, it's quite a small country, so the distances aren't great. Although, having said that, because the mountains or the Alps go right through the middle, sometimes it's not quite as straightforward as getting from one place to another, as you'd expect. But going back to your question about where should people visit? I think that let's say the majority of people come to Switzerland for a week, or if we're assuming they come for about a week, a great itinerary is to start. So perhaps fly into Zurich. It's a beautiful city, but if you're short on time, you could go straight to Lucerne. I know you've been to Lucerne and it's. It's a beautiful city and it's only an hour from Zurich, so, you know, once you land, it's easy to get a train straight from the airport to Lucerne. It's definitely worth spending a couple of nights there to wander around the beautiful old town.

Carolyn Schönafinger

And if you've got time to go up to one of the mountains which are nearby from there, the Jungfrau region, it's not to be missed, it's just stunning. Interlaken is the main sort of town there, but just 30 minutes away, you can stay like right in the heart of the Alps. The Lauterbrunnen valley is one of those places, Grindelwald, that you mentioned you've been to. But there's quite a few towns and villages around there. And look, really, you could stay there for two weeks and do something different every day. And yeah, you know, there's so much to do there. But I always recommend if, if people can allow at least three nights there so they have a good two full days and perhaps a little bit of time on the day they arrive and the day they leave. Another popular destination is Zermatt and famous for the Matterhorn. Again, a couple of nights there is ideal if you can. So that nearly brings you to a week. So really, you know, three places for a week, you're going to get a good feel. But keep in mind that with those three destinations, you are mostly spending time in the mountains.

Carolyn Schönafinger

So if you wanted to do something quite different, Montreux, which is on Lake Geneva, I know you've spent a bit of time around there, it's a beautiful town, got that very Mediterranean kind of feel. They actually call it the Swiss Riviera and it's very, a very attractive town down south near the Italian border. Lugano is another beautiful city and it's on a lake also, Lake Lugano, very, very close actually to Como. So quite often people combine the visits with Lake Como with Lugano and Lake Lugano as well. So, yeah, it really just depends what you want. But you've really got so much choice because you've got four different language speaking regions in Switzerland. Now those first three places that I mentioned, Lucerne, the Jungfrau region and Zermatt, they're all German speaking. Montreux is in the French speaking part and then Lugano is in the Italian speaking part. And then on the eastern side of the country, in the Graubunden canton, which is one of the biggest cantons in Switzerland, they actually, parts of that they speak a language called Romansch, which is a very ancient Latin sort of based language. So, yeah, you've got four quite, quite different cultures and landscapes as well. So yeah, there's really something for everyone.

Lynne Nieman

Right. And so where would be like, like if somebody did have a little bit more time or somebody was really seeking out something that was maybe a little bit more off the tourist track, where might be like a couple of places that you just might kind of just randomly throw out there, that would be good places to go?

Carolyn Schönafinger

Well, yeah, that's the beauty of Switzerland because even the lesser known places can be really beautiful and spectacular. And there's one place it's called, well, the region is called the Appenzell region and this is a really traditional part of Switzerland. It's not actually that far from Zurich. You can get there from Zurich in about an hour and a half, I think, by public transport. But it's quite a farming sort of community. Lots of rolling green hills rather than those big mountains that, that you see in lots of other parts of Switzerland. Yeah, farming is a big part of the income that derived from there.

Lynne Nieman

I bet there's a lot of good cheese there too. I'm thinking about all the cows.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, you can actually go to the Appenzell show dairy and see the cheese being made, which is really good. We stayed in a little farm, a cottage on a farm there, a couple of years ago. And inside when I was in the kitchen, I looked out the window and the cow went past with its bell ringing and it was quite, it was great. So that's a really nice part of Switzerland that's a bit off the, I mean, you know, the Swiss know about it, but international tourists certainly visit there a lot less than other parts of Switzerland. There are some beautiful lakes there and some really nice hikes you can do as well. And because as I said, you're not right in the Alps there, the rolling green hills are just, yeah, really, really attractive. Another place closer to the Jungfrau region, but a little sort of off the tourist trail, is Spiez. And this is on a little bay in Lake Thun. So for those that are familiar a little with the area, Interlaken has a lake on either side. On one side is Lake Brienz and on the other side is Lake Thun, which is heading back towards the city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland. And on Lake Thun is this little bay with a town called Spiez. And it's, oh, it's just gorgeous. This on, on the shores of this little bay there's a mediaeval castle, there's vineyards behind it, boats bobbing in the, in the water. Yeah, it's, it's idyllic.

Lynne Nieman

It sounds nice. Sounds really nice.

Carolyn Schönafinger

It's really nice. So that's, that's a great, great spot to stay. You can do cruises on the lake, of course, walks by the lake, and because the public transport is so great, you can get to all those other places in next to no time. I think it's, you know, 40 minutes to the capital Bern, you're 30 minutes back the other way to Interlaken and then you're at the gateway to the Jungfrau region. So that's another great place to stay. And one more actually that I'd like to mention is in the Valais region. So this is in the same region that Zermatt is in. And this place is called Bettmeralp. It's a, it's a car free village and up on a plateau. So you, you can only reach it by cable car. So you either arrive by train or by car and leave your car at the bottom, you hop on the cable car, go up to this car free village and it's just amazing. It's authentic Switzerland. And you can see views of so many 4,000 metre high peaks, including the Matterhorn. And the piece de resistance, I think, is the Aletsch Glacier. So this is the longest glacier in the Alps, it's 20 kilometres long. And you can actually see the other end of this glacier from Jungfraujoch, which is probably the most famous, one of the most famous mountains in Switzerland, which you see from back there in the Jungfrau region. But from Bettmeralp you see the other end of the glacier and you can practically see the whole length of it, the 20 kilometres. And to look down from one of those viewpoints at this massive glacier, oh, it just, it's breathtaking. It's. It's something that you've just got to see. It's incredible. Wow.

Lynne Nieman

It sounds amazing. And I love that this village is car free.

Carolyn Schönafinger

It's great.

Lynne Nieman

I mean that's kind of like an added bonus if you ask me.

Carolyn Schönafinger

It is. There's actually on this plateau, the whole area, they call it the Aletsch Arena and it's a very popular ski resort for the Swiss. But you know, like, no international tourists go there. They have, I guess they haven't had to promote the region because Swiss go there for skiing or for hiking. But yeah, I was lucky enough to visit there for the first time last year and yeah, it's, it's just amazing. And on this plateau there are actually three car free villages. So you can hike between two of them. And it's not, you know, it's not a very difficult hike I believe, but you know, just to be up there, to wander around with no cars. The only other language pretty much that you hear spoken is German or Swiss German. You, you really feel like you're in a typical little Swiss Alpine town. It's, yeah, it's really great.

Lynne Nieman

You're making me want to go back to Switzerland. So I know in one of your recent episodes you did mention Basel. Like that was the first time that you had gone there. And I just kind of wanted to bring that up because I know that that's like, that is a popular spot for. That's where you would get on a river cruise for the Rhine. You would either start or end there. But a lot of people don't really spend time there. They, you know, if they're going to do, you know, a Rhine river cruise, they're going to either get on there or they're going to, you know, disembark there and go on. But you seem to, I think you maybe only spent like a day or something there, but you sounded like you were like, oh, wow, it's really, you know, it's really nice.

Carolyn Schönafinger

It was, it was, you know, I'm not typically, I'm not really a city person. If I'm going to Switzerland, I want to be in the mountains, I want to be by lakes. And whilst Switzerland has some beautiful cities with, with, you know, which have fabulous Old Towns, I always tend to head straight for the mountains as much as I can. So we had been through Basel many, many times, but because on this trip I was actually flying from the, the small Basel airport up to to Copenhagen before we flew home to Australia, it made sense to to have a night in Basel and have a look around. So yeah, we, we had a limited amount of time probably. I think we were probably only there 24 hours all up. But yeah, it. It just really impressed me. The, it's a really compact city. We just walked everywhere. I mean, there's trams which can get you all over the city, but we were mainly in the Old Town area and it was just beautiful. The buildings are so attractive with the painted facades. I don't know if you've ever seen a photo of the Basel town hall, but it's this like a bright rusty red sort of colour with beautiful paintings on the front of it. It's really nice. There's a huge cathedral. We climbed up the tower of the cathedral for great views over the Rhine and over the city and then the, the alleys in the in the old town and just everything's so neat and tidy and you know, the buildings are all different colours and it looks like, you know, they're all, someone said, well, he's got a green building so I'm going to paint mine yellow and next guy paints his blue, you know. So I'm sure that doesn't happen but yeah, it's just everything's so perfect. It was, yeah, really nice. It really impressed me. We didn't actually have time to visit any of the museums in Basel, but there's something like 40 museums there. Yeah, so that's definitely something to do on another visit, I think.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah. And have you spent? I mean, I know for me, you know, I have a friend who the first time I went to visit her in 2014, she was living right in the heart of Geneva. So I got to kind of spend some time there. And now she lives along. She's maybe partway along. She's near. She's in this little village called St Cergue Small, it's a small little village. It's kind of sits above the above Lake Geneva. I think the closest kind of bigger town where there'd be kind of a bit more of a main train stop is Nyon. N Y O N. I always wanted to call it Nyon. I'm like, remind me how to say it again. Nyon. Have you spent.,I mean, I think that that area too like a Geneva. Like I've walked, like through the Lavaux Terrace vineyards or vineyards terraces, however it's, however you call it, which is just lovely. Have you spent any other time. I mean, I. I know Montreux is there, but I'm just curious because I know you spent time there, but have you spent any other time along. Any of those other. I mean, because there'smI mean, Lake Geneva is pretty, pretty big, so there's so many towns kind of just dotting along the shore.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, there is. We. We haven't actually spent very much time in Geneva. we've come into Switzerland, into Geneva a few times and spent the night and had a, had a wander around, but not, not a great deal of time there. Well, I have stayed in the Lavaux Vineyards in a little town called, and I'm not sure how to pronounce it properly in French, Chexbres, I think.

Lynne Nieman

Oh, yes, I know that one. C, H, E, X, B, R, E, S. Chesbricks. That's what Lynn and I called it. No, that's not how it's pronounced. But I remember we kept calling Chex bricks or ch or something like that, because she wasn't sure how to exactly pronounce it either. Yes, it's French.

Carolyn Schönafinger

That's the one.

Lynne Nieman

So we just always called it Chesbricks or chess bricks or whatever. So. Just a joke. So. Yeah, nice. Oh, what a beautiful spot.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah. And it was so hot that that time. So we were actually there for three nights, I think, and it amazingly coincided with the last night of the Montreux Jazz Festival. And we were lucky enough to, actually, I just happened, we're not really into jazz as such, but I thought, I'll just see who's performing and happened to get, look at the programme. And Van Morrison was performing on the final night. Wow. Which was the day we arrived, so managed to get, you know, the cheapest tickets. And so that that was our big, big treat for the visit. But, yes, we stayed in, let's call it Chexbres, and took the train from there to, between there and Montreux. And it was just beautiful. Like waking up in the morning looking out the hotel window. The lake with the vineyards in front of you and and then the lake and then the Alps in the in the distance. Yeah, it's a beautiful part of the world.

Lynne Nieman

Yes, I agree. I agree 100%.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah. I think I heard you say on your podcast about Switzerland, too, that you'd wandered, you'd done a walk through the vineyards.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, we, we walked. So that, that was when my friend who's whose name is also Lynn. She's Lynn without an E. We. We took the train from Geneva to. I think we started in Lutry, so I think we had to change in Lausanne. And then we we started. We picked up the trail in Lutry and then we walked to Saint Saphorin. And it took us a better part of the day. I mean, it was kind of. It was early September. It was kind of a warm. It ended up kind of being a somewhat warm day. And we just took our time because we both, you know, had our cameras. We were just having a really great time. And then we stopped and we got to St. Saphorin and we got some we got some really nice wine and a little something to eat. And then we trained back to. We had to go again through Lausanne to change trains, then to go back to to Geneva. And it was just beautiful. I remember it was real foggy, kind of like first thing in the morning. But as the fog kind of kind of burned off a little bit, you know, there's, you know, it's just kind of really cool to kind of watch that. And of course, the mountains have their their own weather, so, you know, you can sometimes you see the peak, sometimes you don't. So. Yeah, it's just. You're right. I mean, it's such a beautiful part. I like. Geneva is kind of one of those cities, like, you know, it's okay. You know, it's, you know, it's kind of busy. It's, you know, very international and, you know, it's fine. But ye,h, get out of there and go, you know, you can very easily go along Lake Geneva with, like, from Geneva very easily and. And get out of the city and stay somewhere where you can kind of enjoy the small towns and nature and beautiful vineyards and actually enjoy some good Swiss wine. I mean, the wine's good, you know.

Carolyn Schönafinger

And, you know, like, they don't. They don't export it. I think they export something like 5% and it's mostly to Germany. The Swiss love it so much. They just keep it all to drink for themselves.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, and it's, and there is, there's some really nice Swiss wine. So. So. So one of the things that I wanted to ask are what are some of your favourite places in Switzerland? Now, maybe we've already talked about them and that's okay. We can kind of bring them up again. I mean, you brought up the Lauterbrunnen. Jungfrau. Jungfrau region. I'm gonna guess that that's one of your favourites.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, absolutely. I don't know. That that very first visit just left such an impression. You know, people say to me, why, why do you always go back to the same place? Well, it's because I just love it so much. And every time you go, you notice something different. You know, the weather might be different, there's more people, there's less people, whatever, you know. So every time you have a different experience, even, even though you're at the same place. And Lauterbrunnen and the whole Jungfrau region actually, like, there's no denying it's very busy in the, in the peak season, July and August particularly. And I tend to usually visit during the summer. But I find that if you're staying in the village, yes, it might be busy during the day, but come five o' clock when all the day trippers have left, you know, it's just you and nature again. And there's a little walk around the village along the river that we, we love to do every night.

Lynne Nieman

And is this right in Lauterbrunnen, is that where you usually stay?

Carolyn Schönafinger

Okay, yeah, that's where I usually stay. A couple of times I have stayed in Grindelwald as well, depending on what we're doing or I was just recently there over December and January and I stayed in Grindelwald this time just because, you know, being winter, I thought more facilities. Yeah, it just seemed to be a bit more convenient. But in the summertime I, I love staying in, in Lauterbrunnen, just for the, the tranquilly.

Lynne Nieman

And Are there a couple of other places that you would rank as your favourites?

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, look, I'd have to say Lucerne and, and the lake there. I've lucky, been lucky enough to stay both in Lucerne and also just a bit further out on the lake. And again, lakes and mountains are just my thing. I could just sit there all day looking at them even if I had nothing to do. They're just, I don't know, they're just so, so calming and you just, you just feel so at one with nature, I think. But Lucerne, yeah, it's a large, largish town, I guess. I think it's about 80,000 people. So there's always something happening. But it's got all those, you know, beautiful mediaeval buildings. The Chapel bridge. You can wander around those back streets and look at the beautiful buildings. And then you've got the lake. And then of course, such easy access to the mountains as well. Mount Pilatus is one of. It's called the, the home mountain of Lucerne. Really easy to, to get up, up there from the city and then you just get the magnificent views over the lake and the, the Alps in the, in the distance. Zermatt is always a favourite too. You know, every angle you, you turn or every way you turn that the Matterhorn's there staring over you. And it's. Yeah, it's quite amazing. Seeing the, the sunrise on the Matterhorn is something really special too. I'm not usually an early riser, but, but, but if I'm staying in Zermatt and I know the weather the next day is meant to be good, I'll definitely get up at, at sunrise to, to watch the sun glowing on the top of the Matterhorn. It's. Yeah, that's pretty special.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah. Oh, I can imagine I'd be all over that. So let's talk about a couple things. Let's talk about some logistics. So transportation I know is very easy. The Swiss like, as soon as I arrived there, because I had been in Italy on this last, this last trip in 2024, and I was like, oh God, look, the trains are running on time. It's such a difference from Italy where you're like, this train gonna come. And I remarked, you know, I made that remark to my friend Lynn, who has Italian heritage and has spent time in Italy too. And she's like, yeah, she, that's one of the things she really loves about, about Switzerland is how everything is very much connected. So. I know, and I think you've said this in some of your podcasts, is it is definitely very easy. You do not need a car to get around Switzerland.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, absolutely. You know, the, there's, there's a, a famous driving route in, in Switzerland called the Grand Tour of Switzerland, which, which takes you around the country in, well, a minimum eight days, which you can do by car. But as you said, you definitely don't need a car in Switzerland. The public transport is so good and in fact, to reach some of those places, you can't take your car anyway. So that, like that car free village I mentioned, and there's a couple of car, well, Zermatt, you can't drive right to Zermatt, you have to leave your car in the next village down. So there's numerous villages like that that you can't take your car there anyway. So the Swiss have just got this most fantastic public transport system where everything is just connected seamlessly. For instance, if you were doing that trip to Mount Pilatus from Lucerne, you can take a bus from the city, from the main train station to the little town called Kriens. You get off the bus, you walk a short distance, you hop on a cable car, it takes you right up the top to Pilatus. You can go back the same way, or in the summer, you can go down the other way on a cogwheel train to Alpnachstad, which is a little town on Lake Lucerne.

Carolyn Schönafinger

You walk out from the train station a few steps and then you're at the boat pier, you hop on a boat and you cruise back to Lucerne and, you know, everything's just there. And that's just timed to perfection. It's. It's quite amazing how they do it. The intercity trains run every half hour at least, and then the trains in more regional areas run at least every hour. And as I said, when you arrive at the train station, if you then have to take a bus to the. Or a cable car to your next destination, you know, the timing will be the, the next service will be in five or 10 minutes. There's not huge time spent wasted, you know, waiting for that, for the next connexion. So it's. Yeah, it's really amazing.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah. I was actually surprised, my friend's, this little village that she's in now, St Cergue, there's a train, you know, there's a train that comes up to it and she even said, she's like, you know, every, every town and village has to be serviced by, at least by a bus. So you can, you know, you can get everywhere without a car. Sure it would be, you know, sure. You, you know, if you wanted to do something like, like a road trip, obviously, you know, you might, you might want to do a car or you might want to have a car for a couple of days or something like that, but you don't, you don't need it. Yeah, the, the public transportation is, is amazing. And like you said, everything is just everything times out. So you're not sitting around for an hour waiting for, you know, the next train or whatever.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, My husband, he, he loves driving and so typically when we would go to Europe and go to multiple countries, we would rent a car. And as you say in Italy and some other countries, the, the public transport isn't quite as good, perhaps reliable on time. And so a few years ago I convinced him, come on, let's, when we're in Switzerland, we're just going to use trains. And it can be a bit concerning, like, if you're not used to travelling by public transport, you think, oh, I'm relying on another service. I don't have that freedom to go whenever I want. But when people get to Switzerland and they start using the public transport, they realise, oh, wow, this is unbelievable. And I don't have to worry about navigating or, you know, finding somewhere to park and all those sorts of, you know, additional things that come with renting a car as well. So, yeah, he he's now convinced that public transport in Switzerland is the way to go too.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, yeah, it is. And I know that there are like, there are different passes that you can buy as well to, like, cover, like, different regions and we can kind of just put some links in there. We don't have to go into a whole lot of that. But. But if you are going to be there for multiple days, you can utilise some of those passes that can maybe help, like, defray the cost a little bit too.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, absolutely. And the great thing with the passes too is depending on obviously, which pass you buy, there's the Swiss Travel Pass, which covers the whole of Switzerland, and then there's regional passes that just apply to a particular area. Once you've got the pass, the trains and the buses are included, so you don't have to buy a ticket every time you want to take a trip, you just hop on. On most trains in Switzerland, you don't need to reserve a seat or you don't need to make a booking, so you just hop on board, sit down, and then when the conductor comes around, you just show the conductor your rail pass and that's all you need to do. So it makes it really, really, really simple. And with those passes, often cable cars and mountain railways are either included for free or they're heavily discounted with the pass. So that's, that can save you considerable money as well.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, and then, like, when to go. Like, you just said something about how you. And, and you. I know you have a recent podcast out talking about your recent trip in the winter, being there in winter. And you know, and then you just said something about July and August. Obviously they're always the busiest months and, you know, in most travels, because that's when kids are out of school and, and the, the Americans, the Canadians are out of school, the Europeans are out of school, you know, so people are. That's when people take their. Take their holidays. But if that's the only time you can go, obviously that's when you go. But what other, like, when would you say is an ideal time to go to Switzerland?

Carolyn Schönafinger

September is a really good month, probably May, June as well. So just sort of the end of spring coming into summer, in those couple of months most of the snow will have melted. You've got all the flowers coming up. The meadows are just beautiful and green and you've still got the views of the snow capped mountains. I mean even in July and August, the highest mountains, you'll still see snow on the top.

Lynne Nieman

So.

Carolyn Schönafinger

So whenever you go you're going to have the opportunity to see snow. But May, June, before the, before the crowds really start arriving. And then in September, obviously most of the kids are all back at school, the weather's still warm enough. It's great for hiking. You mentioned you've been there in September and then even into like coming into the end of September, early October, the leaves on the trees will start to turn. So you're getting those beautiful autumn colours as well.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, I was there, I think it was a little bit later in October this last trip and we did have some rain but we had, oh, we had one day, I think it was one of my last days there and it was just beautiful. We went out for a nice hike and there was still, we, there was still a little bit of colour on the trees. A lot of it was gone but there was still some here and there. I think if I had been there maybe a week or so earlier, it might have been a little bit nicer, but it was still like I would say, you know, October still might be even kind of getting into the middle of October could still maybe be okay as well, kind of depending on what you're going to do.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, and the thing is too, like even, even in summer when you're in the mountains, the weather can change so quickly.

Lynne Nieman

Oh yeah.

Carolyn Schönafinger

And quite frequently. So you know, I've been there in, in July and we've been out hiking, we've had the most perfect weather all day. And then we look at the, at the weather app and hang on, there's a change coming and like within five minutes it's pouring rain and you know you're going for your sweater and it's. Yeah. So it can change very, very suddenly whatever time of year you're visiting.

Lynne Nieman

Right. And I know you, you said that that winter was really a nice time to go. You were there. I think maybe it sounds like maybe there are school holidays in February. So February tends to be a little bit busier, but kind of maybe like in January, if you wanted to kind of have a little bit of winter fun, enjoy some time then.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah, absolutely. And like for us coming from Australia, where, yes, we do have a few snow fields but they're pretty small compared to the Swiss ones. And we don't, we'd never see snow. Well, rarely would we ever see snow like covering a village. So that was a really special experience. And yes, December, obviously over the Christmas New Year period is very, very busy. But then the, all the Swiss schools have a week holiday during February and it's, it's, you know, staggered. So some regions have it week one, et cetera. Yeah. So February, yes, is very busy, but January was great wandering around, you know, I stayed in Grindelwald, but we wandered around in Lauterbrunnen and to see the so few people there, when I'm used to seeing the busy July crowds, it was, it was really good. It was a lovely change.

Lynne Nieman

And then the last thing I want to bring up is, you know, I always, when, when I get approached from my travel clients to say they want to go to Switzerland, I say, you do know that it's pretty expensive. So I always forewarn people because some people think that, you know, maybe it's going to be a similar price of going somewhere, you know, like, you know, an Italy or a Spain. And I'm like, no, I mean it's going to be more expensive, is that it's worth it if you want to go. But just know that, you know your costs are going to be higher. So what do you tell people that maybe have some concern or maybe have to worry a little bit more about budget as far as that goes.

Carolyn Schönafinger

I mean one, one consideration of course is travel off season. If they, if they don't have to travel in July and August. Yeah. Travel in September or May, June, because the accommodation will be cheaper. Flights are probably cheaper, so you can save some money that way. Another thing to consider is staying outside of the actual hotspot, you know, so if you want to go to Zermatt you don't have to stay in Zermatt. You could stay at the next village down, which is called Tasch, because there are shuttle trains every 20 minutes or so, which only takes 10 minutes to get to Zermatt. So you're likely to pay less for your accommodation there because you're not, you know, right in that hot spot. You can also think about self catering accommodation. Dining out is one of the biggest expenses in Switzerland. Food is not cheap. You go to a restaurant, you're like, wow, I know. And at least for you from the US, your dollar is kind of, you know, one to one. With the Australian dollar, it's ridiculously expensive. So having the opportunity to cook your own meals can save you a lot of money. And the supermarkets have such a great selection. You can buy pre packed salads and beautiful sandwiches and even hot meals to take and have a picnic or have it back in your accommodation even if you're staying in a hotel. I mean, countless times we've gone and just bought our dinner from the supermarket and gone back into our hotel room and eaten it. Buying your own food and cooking your own meals is definitely a good way to save money.

Carolyn Schönafinger

What else? The water. You should never buy water in Switzerland because there's fountains everywhere and the water is like you've never tasted. So definitely take a refillable bottle with you or buy one when you first get there as your Swiss souvenir and then just refill it as you go. Yeah, you should never have to buy water in Switzerland.

Lynne Nieman

Nope.

Carolyn Schönafinger

And I guess from a transport point of view, those rail passes that we touched on before, if you've got to go and buy a ticket every time you want to take a train trip or a gondola ride or whatever, it can really add up. So if you have a bit of an idea of your itinerary and you know what trips you want to take and what mountain excursions you want to do, you can, you know, work out which is the best value pass for you to buy.

Lynne Nieman

Right.

Carolyn Schönafinger

And on an another note there too, if you don't buy a rail pass or because you're only going to be doing a couple of mountain excursions, say you can buy perhaps maybe buy a one way cable car ticket, go up on the cable car and walk back down. Yeah. Often the hiking trails are, they're not difficult. A lot of them, they'll all be well signposted saying whether they're for beginner, you know, for the average person or they're more alpine hiker. So yeah, you could buy a one way cable car ticket and hike the other way.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, that's a good idea. Yeah, I like that.

Carolyn Schönafinger

So there are a few things that come straight to mind.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah. So is there anything else that you want to share about Switzerland before we wrap this up?

Carolyn Schönafinger

It's the most beautiful country in the world. You've got to go.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, I agree. I'm so happy that I decided to make it back again in 2024 because I was there and I was kind of like, I think I was there for about a week. No, five days, I think five or six days. I was like, I could come back here again and again.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Yeah. And I guess the other thing I would say is if, if you are able to visit Switzerland of course you want to include all those famous popular spots in your itinerary, but try and squeeze in a night or two in one of those little lesser known, off the beaten path towns just so that you, you know, you get a different look at Switzerland. If you're only going to the really popular places, chances are that most people that you run into are going to be fellow Americans or Australians or English or whatever. But if you get away from that a little and you stay in one of the smaller, non touristy towns, you're actually going to see what's what Swiss life is really like. And I think that, yeah, that really can. Can really make your trip.

Lynne Nieman

I would agree because I think it was the last. It was the second. I think it was the last day that I stayed with my friend in St. Cergue and it was a Sunday and there was some little like festival markety thing and we had. And we just kind of caught the tail end of it after because we had been out for a walk. Cause it was such a lovely day and there were these, you know, it was all locals there and there were a couple of crazy guys just. They were just a kick. I don't know what they were doing. They wanted to. They were making some sort of like, like sweet sort of sauce, almost like a, like I, I don't know, it was like a caramelly sort of thing anyway. And then they were like dunking everything in it and having it with beer and all this kind of stuff. So it was, it was fun. I mean, there was like a, you know, there was like people selling some crafts and everything. And then we, you know, we got some food and we were just kind of taking it all in and it's like, you know, her little village is is not on the tourist map, you know. And so it was just really fun to be able to. I mean, that's going to be one of my lasting memories from, from Switzerland is. Is being in her little village and experiencing this little whatever, whatever little festival it was. So. So yeah, I mean, I will, I will echo what you said is. Is trying to get into some of those smaller towns. Just pick a place on the map, you know, too. It's like you don't, you know, it doesn't have to be, you know, you have to read up on it. Just pick a place and see what happens.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Absolutely. And it's Switzerland, so you can get there really easily. It might only be 15 minutes from, you know, the next big town, but can be such a different experience.

Lynne Nieman

Yeah, exactly. Well, Carolyn, thank you so much for talking to us about Switzerland and kind of giving us some highlights of of places to go and and expertise. I really appreciate it.

Carolyn Schönafinger

Thanks so much Lynne. It was great to chat.

Carolyn Schönafinger

I hope you enjoyed my chat with Lynn Nieman from Wander your Way. Make sure you check out her website, wanderyourway.com and the Wander your Way podcast for loads of helpful info to help plan your trip to Europe your way. If you're combining Switzerland with another European country, you'll find heaps of fabulous info in both of those places to help with your trip planning. If you're keen to learn more about any of the destinations that I mentioned in this episode, head to the Show Notes. I'll also include links in the Show Notes for Lynne's website and podcast to make them super easy for you to find. Would you like to see my suggested 7 day itinerary in more detail? Or have you got a basic itinerary sorted but it needs a little refining? Head to the Show Notes for further info and to get our exclusive discount code to save 5% from the preferred partners of Holidays to Switzerland. Discounts apply to itinerary planning services, rail packages, small group guided tours, private tours, hiking trips, and even self drive packages. So regardless of whether you prefer to travel independently or with a group, you can save money.

Carolyn Schönafinger

To see the Show Notes with all those links, click on the podcast menu on holidaystoswitzerland.com thanks so much for joining me today for the fifth anniversary episode of the podcast. I hope you've really enjoyed it and if so, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email via the contact form on holidaystoswitzerland.com or leave a voice message via the link in the Show Notes. I'd really love to hear from you. Until next week, Tschüss.