Honeymoon to Switzerland

[avalancheseah]

Hi all,

I'm planning to go for my honeymoon to Switzerland in Jul this year.

This is my draft itinerary.
Day 1 Land Zurich, go to Montreux. Put down luggage. Half day tour at Geneva. Stay Montreux
Day 2 montreux vineyard, Lake Geneva boat trip. Stay at Montreux
Day 3 take chocolate train to cheese factory, chillon castle and chocolate factory
Day 4 early morning, move to interlaken. Day tour at Bern and Thun.
Stay at Interlaken
Day 5 Jungfrau trip, stay interlaken
Day 6 interlaken free and easy
Day 7 Matterhorn. Stay zermatt
Day 8, take early morning glacier express to Chur, transit to Zurich
Day 9, early morning, go to Rhine fall for day trip, stay Zurich
Day 10 lucerne day trip, stay Zurich
Day 11, go Basel for half day trip. Return zurich to take flight back to Singapore.

Is this itinerary fine? Did I miss anything?
Any suggestion for the accommodations? Thanks.
I will be getting the 15 day swiss pass.

 

[NineEleven]

Hi, I've been to most of the places you mentioned. Travelling by train from Zurich to Montreux/Geneva can be a tiring affair as it's several hours expecially right after a lenghty flight (not pleasing for your Mrs). Are you arriving in Zurich before 7am? Otherwise, you'll arrive in the south late in afternoon or evening because you need to take train from the airport to the Bahnhof. Zurich is an international city with plenty of Asian food so don't be surprised to find nice Malaysian or Singapore cuisines there

I would suggest to stay a night or two in Zurich then go down south doing town hoppings as train arrives hourly while you can leave your luggages in train lockers (very safe). Lucerne is a pretty city with that lake & a snow mountain worth half a day's trip but then you're going to Jungfrau so can skip most of the mountains. Most other cities like Basel & Schaffhausen are an hour single-journey away from Zurich so it's kind of wasting time going to & from+waiting for trains that leave on the dot but also Zurich hotels are more expensive than the smaller towns. So, I would suggest that you stay in towns along the round trip & shops or rather life in Swiss finishes at 6pm; 5pm in villages so better start your day early. Sundays are PH to them except churches & some major attractions but could be better in the Summer.

Enjoy your trip. The routes leading to Interlaken are awesome with overwhelming sceneries.

 

[macVince]

I would suggest you start from the nearest towards the furthest; i.e. Zurich > Interlaken > Zermatt > Montreaux > Zurich. If too tiring nearer the end of trip, skipping Montreaux would not impact the trip much. The lake cruise at Lucerne, covered by the Swiss pass, will somewhat make up for the Lake Geneva lake cruise.

Your plan looks hectic. You might want to consider skipping Thun or Basel or both to enjoy each place longer.

 

[macVince]

Missed out one city: Zurich > Lucerne > Interlaken...

 

[avalancheseah]

Thanks all, may skip Thun, if time does not permit.
Understand that there is nothing much at Basel. Just want to be there as both of us are working in banks, and Basel is the place that created jobs for us, Basel Accord.
We knew each other from a Swiss bank, which is why we choose Switzerland as our honeymoon location.

One other question that I missed out in my earlier post.
Planning to bring my tripod, canon 60d, 17-55 and 10-22.
Also considering getting a second hand 15-85, so that I do not need to change lens.
What were your setups that you brought to Switzerland? Thanks.

 

[macVince]

In that case, including Basel makes good sense. For a honeymoon, you might want to explore staying in Grindelwald instead of at Interlaken. It is a beautiful town about 1/3 up towards Jungfrau (at the top) from Interlaken (at the foot). July is quite a peak season, booking the hotels earlier may save some CHF. As an example, the prices in the last 2 wks of Dec are 3 to 5 times more than the 1st two weeks. Another consideration is the Swiss pass may be convenient, but buying single trip train fare may be cheaper by quite a bit. (For myself & family, I will skip the Swiss pass in my next trip.)

 

[NineEleven]

Oh no wonder then Bern might make sense if your bank has presence there otherwise, I find Bern to be a little boring compared to other towns. Basel has that river which passes through it so do take the boat trip across & dine along the river beds. I used to visit the watch fairs annually & it's a fairly large town to cover by foot but buses & trams do move you around.

We've also rented a small power boat with my wife for an hour or two in Lake Lucerne which is very nice (just the two of you & they take it that you know how to use it ) & we stayed in Hotel Montana facing the lake but for more budget ones there are plenty in the old town.

What MacVince said is right. July is Summer time & prices go up plus crowded. People like to go hiking there especially in Jungfrau, we went there in thick snow which was really cold & took over 2hrs one way from the town by train so you probably need min 2D1N or 3D2N there & if I remembered right, there's a lake further down as well.

For lenses. I would recommend an 18-200 zoom plus a wide angle for landscape & churches then pack a small prime for low lights (they make a huge difference). Tripod during holiday is always a redundant unless you do a lot of B modes which I always make do with dustbin, fence etc & couple shoots? Just seek other tourists to help.

 

[costa777]

If you are interested, you may follow this link to see my Switzerland photos. I usually go to places that are lesser known but scenic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/travel-2007/sets

 

[MachCurve]

If you are interested, you may follow this link to see my Switzerland photos. I usually go to places that are lesser known but scenic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/travel-2007/sets

Wow I saw your photos! They're stunning! May I ask what camera/lens u are using? Are all of those HDR shots as well? Thanks

 

[avalancheseah]

Hi all,

Anyone has any Airbnb in switzerland that you can recommend? First time going to use airbnb, as hotels in switzerland are expensive, but afraid of scams. Thanks in advance.

 

[-120-]

Don forget to skii

 

[kaiser76]

I would suggest that you take a short half day trip up to Harder Kulm when you are in Interlaken. Only 20min tram ride up the mountain and the view of Interlaken is very nice.

I used a 10-22mm and a 15-85mm during my trip last year. Be prepared for strong winds on the mountain. My 600D on tripod was blown to the ground at peak of Jungfrau. Damaged the body and had to rely on my P&S camera for the remaining days.

Have a lovely time!