City Tours, Cultural Places,Historical sites, Shopping, Trains and Food
- Sight Seeing
- Food
- Transportation
- Activities
- Culture & History
Duration: 10 days and 10 nights
Switzerland – Zurich, Interlaken, Lucern, Bellinzona, Mt.Titlis
France – Paris
Netherlands – Volendam, Edam, de Zaanse Schans
Germany – Dachau (Munich)
Italy – Como
Airline – American Airlines, British Airways
Port of Entry and Exit – Zurich International Airport
Budget: $1500 per person excluding airfare
When living in UK, European destinations had been a short flight hop even for weekends. Almost after 18 years, decided to visit Mainland Europe again last December and wanted to get in a mix of the flavors for the trip – Mountains, Food, Culture and some history.
Initial plan was to visit more than 8 countries over 3 weeks and I had to rebook the entire trip in October and cut short to nearly 12 days including the travel days and so had to take out some countries and cities from the itinerary.
The plan was to visit Switzerland for 3 days before hopping to Paris. Amsterdam area was covered from Paris using a day trip and then return to Zurich to cover the rest of the itinerary.
Best Food & Drink
1. Pizzeria Mancini
A very cozy small family run resturant near Sacre Couer Basilica, serving pizzas and pastas. Great taste and very afforadable.
2. Hotel Hiltl, Zurich
Busy restaurant near the Zurich Train Station, that has been serving execlusive vegetarian food for more than a century. Excellent variety of vegetarian food from across the globe.
3. Swiss Chuchi Restaurant
If you want to experience the Chesse fondue, the Swiss way, then this is the place to go. Reservations are recommended. Offers both indoor and outdoor dining options
Day 1
Our flight from Philadelphia landed at 7.00 AM local time. Immigration and customs were super quick and we were out to the arrivals area.
Since we were spending 7 days in Switzerland, we decided to take our Swiss Rail Pass ( highly recommended) that gives you unlimited rides on trains and buses. The line took us a further 1 hour to due to the crowd.
We checked into our hotel in Zurich at 10.00 AM after rolling our suitcases from the nearest train station.
Christmas market was live on Zurich’s main train station and lunch was at the market’s food stalls.
We visited Uetliberg on the outskirts of Zurich and returned on time for our free walking tour of Zurich.
Day ended with a fondue dinner at Chuchi.
Day 2
An early morning start from Zurich took us to Jungfraujoch via Grindelwald which we reached by noon after multiple connections.
Jungfrauouch is nicknamed the “Top of the Europe” and is 3466 meters above mean sea level.
The Swiss railways took us to Interlaken Ost and we switched to the Bernese Oberland Railway to Grindelwad. After a wait for 20 minutes, we switched to the rack railway to Kleine Scheidegg and from there, switched to the Jungfraujoch for another panoramic ride to the top of the Europe.
One can feel the oxygen level going down all through the climb from Grindelwald through to Jungfraujoch.
After a good lunch at the food court in Jungfraujoch, we covered the attractions at the top of the Europe and started our descent down to Grindelwald by 4.00 and made it to Interlaken Ost by 6.30 PM.
Day 3
Overnight snow in Zurich meant that we had to start a bit early than our planned time to wade through the streets with about 5 inches of snow.
Breakfast was at one of the many options at Zurich stations underground plaza and taking another train ride we reached Lucern at 10.00 AM.
Our plan to go to Mt.Pilatus was hit as the cable car and the cog wheel were not operational that day. So after an early lunch and some carry-outs, plan was altered to go to Mt.Titlis and we reached Titlis around 1.00 PM.
After a good time at the top, we decided to do some ski lessons, but were too far out on the waitlist for the lessons and instead decided to do snow-tubing ( which was free) and everyone in the group enjoyed a couple of hours of snow tubing.
Reached Zurich back for the night and retired to bed early to catch an early morning TGV Lyria train to Paris
Day 4
TGV Lyria is Europe’s answer to Japan’s Shinkansen and it did live up to its hype.
Our early morning departure from Zurich got us on time to Paris Gare de l’est and an Uber ride from there took us to our boarding in Paris – a VRBO property.
After checking in into the property and taking instructions from the care taker, lunch was at one of the Pizzerias opposite the property.
Checked out Louvre museum for about 3 hours covering most of the interesting sections and after some photo ops, we went to Eiffel Tower and our plan to go to the top had to be scrapped as there were long lines for the current booking to go to the top (yes, we did not have the booking!!).
More time was spent on photo ops around the Eiffel Tower and we called it off for the night after a good Indian dinner near Gare du Nord.
Day 5
Another early morning start saw us taking Thalys high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam. The high speed run was spoiled and our train was delayed, thanks to an overnight incident on the line in Belgium.
We had booked a group tour in Amsterdam and had to run to catch the tour bus due to our delays with the train.
This was a 7 hour group tour covering Edam, a Cheese making factory , Volendam and the Zaanse Windmill village.
Lunch was in one of the many restaurants overlooking the lake.
Reached back on time to catch our return to Paris that evening from Amsterdam and the delays from the morning continued into the night and arrival was 30 minutes delayed in Paris.
Day 6
Having booked a combo ticket to Eiffel Tower and the Paris Catacombs the previous day while on the train, we visited the Eiffel Tower in the morning and with no crowd to bother, we had plenty of photo ops.
We then visited NotreDame cathedral and had lunch in one of the many restaurants near by.
Our next visit was to the Paris Catacombs, an ancient burial site below the ground which houses more than 4 million bodies. Since this was a timed booking, we were able to skip the crowd and had were able to spend good quality time there.
We then decided to visit Sacre Coeur Basilica which was actually 200 meters from our VRBO accommodation and enjoyed a panoramic view of Paris from up the basilica entrance with the illlumination.
Day 7
An early morning TGV Lyria took us back to Geneva from where we took a Swiss Rail connection to Zurich.
After some rest which was duly needed after the long journey, we spent the evening seein the Christmas markets in the Zurich area and the lightings.
Day 8
Bellinzona is a nice little castle town in the south of Switzerland close to the border of Italy and this was on our visit list for today.
Taking a high speed train from Zurich we arrived in Bellinzona and were surprised to see that the retail pricing on the goods were cheaper here than in Zurich.
Waling a mile and half, we visited the Bellinzona castle and enjoyed the panoromic views from its grounds.
Bellinzona has some very good restaurants and you can savor the Italian taste here.
On checking the rail map, we found that the Italian border was just a few stops away by train and decided to visit Italy spontaneously. So a short train ride took us to Chiasso, the border town of Switzerland.
You can find lines drawn in this station for Italy and Switzerland and you will find both the immigration and customs on duty here.
Taking an Italian rail from here, we went to Como – the luxurious getaway town of the multi-millionaires and after a short visit, returned back to Chiasso and took an ICE from Chiasso to Zurich.
Day 9
We had booked an ICE ride to Munich on this day to visit Dachau – a Nazi Concentraion camp from 1933. The ICE takes 4.5 hours from Zurich to Munich with a reversal in between.
This train passes through Bergenz, Austria and so you will find 3 crews on this train from start to finish – Swiss, Austrian and German which includes Immigration checks ( if needed).
The scenery on the route is not to be missed once you enter Germany.
Dachau camp is a short metro ride from the Munich main station and we arrived on time for the guided English tour. Some of us chose to do the tour on our own and it took us 2.5 hours to finish the walking tour.
In honor of those who were killed in the camp, no photos were taken inside the camp.
One has to visit the camp to witness what went on here.
We returned to Zurich that night taking an ICE back.
Day 10
After arriving late the previous night, we decided to start a bit late this morning and after a good breakfast was soon on our way to Lucern to connect to another train that took us to a Chocolate Factory.
After making our own chocolate, we had the opportunity to taste some Swiss chocolate and mousse.
Rest of the day was spent in Lucern shopping.
ICE Train to Munich
Chiasso Station
Swiss Scenary
Zurich by night
Sacre Couer
Night walking tour of Zurich
Christmas lighting in Zurich
Paris Catacombs
An park in between the lanes in Paris
A retail shop in Zurich
Famous bridge in Lucern
Lucern Fountain
Windmills of Zaanse Schans
Edam town in Amsterdam
Edam near Amsterdam
Grounds of Bellinzona Castle
Eiffel Tower by night
Zurich by night
Near Zurich train station
Lucern Station
Zurich Christmas Lighting
Belly view of Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower by night
Zurich by night
Zurich
Zurich Christmas Lighting
En route to Jungfraujoch
Zurich Night Tour
Toast with hot Elderberry drink
Travel Tips
Swiss Rail Pass – https://www.swiss-pass.ch/
You can purchase this in many of the main Swiss Rail Stations or even from abroad. When purchasing this, you will need a copy of the passport. Strongly advised to purchase this in person in Swiss rather than purchasing it from agents.
Paris Metro Pass
Purchase a day pass or multi day pass to use the metro and bus services in the Paris Metropolitan areas. The fare varies by the zones that you want to cover. Most of the tourist attractions fit within the zones 1 and 2 in Paris.
Food suggestions in Zurich :
1. Hotel Hiltl – Very crowded restaurant very near to Zurich Train Station serving multi cultural vegetarian cuisines. Takeaway available on weight basis.
2. Zurich Christmas Market – Try the various international food on offer here. Highly recommend to try the Hungarian bread -Langos and the Swiss dish Raclette made of Cheese
3. Swiss Chuchi – Must try fondue restaurant in Zurich. The Christmas market is right in front of this restaurant.
Food Suggestions in Paris
1. Pizzeria Mancini – A very cozy dine in restaurant near the Sacre Couer serving pizzas and pastas. Must try their chili infused olive oil with bread.
2. Hotel Saravana Bhavan – A popular Indian chain near the main train station serving till very late with a variety of options.
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