Travel To Paris and Switzerland

I'm not an expert, but I can tell you that you will want an afternoon flight home from Zurich, so keep that in mind when you book your air.

Kenny,
People can't really help you unless they know more specifics.
For example, some people visit Paris and spend all their time visiting restaurants and bakeries. Other spend all their time visiting museums.
So you need to say more about what your children like, what the adults like, what your budget is, whether you like going out or getting an apartment and cooking yourself, whether you like to walk or take taxis, whether you are comfortable with using the Paris metro, whether you like to hike in Switz. or take trains, etc.
Have you looked at Rick Steves videos on this site regarding Paris and the Jungfrau region? Have you read "Europe Through the Back Door"? Have you been to Europe before? The more specific you are, the better the advice you will get.

Your best instructions taking into account your famiy's interests and money available will be best managed by you with the help of guidebooks and maps. It's your trip. Self-planning is a lot of the fun for the whole family. Don't miss out on that part of travel.

This is my first visit in Paris and I want to see all famous places in Paris in 5-6 days then I want to travel to Switzerland for 4-5 days by train (Any advise about train). I like to see Mountain and alps in Switzerland. I checked the places of Jungfrau and like that. Then I want to travel from Switzerland to Toronto (Not sure which Airport should pick to book from Switzerland to Toronto).

Please also help to choose Hotel in Paris and Switzerland. I have budget to spend $150-$300/night. If I can save some money in Hotel then it will be great for me.

Please let me know if I need to provide more information.

Kenny.

I don't mean to be snarky but this forum is not a travel agency. The trip is yours to plan. People will give you advice on certain questions you might have, but don't expect people to plan your trip for you. It's YOUR trip. Go to the library and get some guide books or order some from a book store. Use the web. There's lots of information out there to help you. Try it!!! You'll enjoy the planning and research. The more effort you put into planning and researching your trip, the more you will get out of it.

"I want to see all famous places in Paris in 5-6 days" There are hundreds of famous places in Paris. You need to study and figure out the ones that will interest you.

The airports to fly back from would be Geneva or Zurich. So for flights, use a web site like Kayak or Google Flights; look for 'multi-city' flying into CDG and home from either Geneva or Zurich. Agree with others - go to library or bookstore and get a Rick Steves book. Enjoy your trip!

https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/vacation-tour-in-europe-countries-1171227/

This is your post of 2016. Seems like you haven't gotten any farther along on your planning.

Clever you, 75020!! Brilliant sleuthing.

Since there are four in your group put each person in charge of one day.

Your children are old enough to be involved in the planning. We used Cynthia Harriman's "Days to Choose" method (see her book "Take your Kids to Europe" for details) but the general idea is everyone comes to a family meeting with ideas of maybe two or three things each person wants to see (knowing they may only get to see one of them). Help your 8 year old check out some children's books from the library on France and Switzerland to generate ideas.

Everyone gets some input and agrees to participate in the choices of others. From these suggestions you build an itinerary. Sometimes it works better if an adult lays out the route then the family contributes suggestions of activities in those locations. We use a Captain for the Day approach where the captain plans meals (chooses restaurants) as well as activities.

It takes some "group mindedness" but in my family at least everyone is willing follow the Captain's plan knowing that each will have a turn. On our trip to Japan we saw some of the sights everyone sees but we also went to a bird refuge, a baseball game, a video arcade and a Samurai house.

Hi,
The fare from Zurich to Toronto is so high. I am thinking to fyl Tronto to Paris, then Paris to Wengen,Switzerland, then Wengen,Switzerland to Paris, then fly from Paris to Toronto.
How much will be cost of train fare approx from Paris to Switzerland and then return back to Paris for 2 adult and 2 kids (8-12 yr). Please help on this. Thanks

Hi, I have 2 options.

Option-1. Fly from Toronto to Paris, then Paris to Wengen,Switzerland by train and then Wengen,Switzerland to Zurich to fly to Toronto.

Option-2. Fly from Toronto to Paris, then Paris to Wengen,Switzerland by train and then Wengen,Switzerland to Paris to fly to Toronto. This is cheaper than option-1. I am not sure what will be the cost of train from Paris to Wengen,Switzerland and then Wengen,Switzerland to Paris for 2 adult and 2 kids (8 and 10 yr).

Please help on this options. I have to change/book my trip ASAP because seats are being sale very quickly.

As others have repeatedly pointed out above, we on the forum are not your travel agent. Go online to Google and start doing searches. Go to airline websites to determine fares for the dates you want. Go to sncf or trainline to determine costs and times for train trips. Based on all your questions and absence of planning on your part, I recommend you either hire a travel agent to plan and book every aspect of your trip, or book a tour.

Kenny, you can look up trains from Paris to Switzerland, and see the prices, on the Swiss Federal Railways website: https://www.sbb.ch/en/
There are two routes, via Basel and via Geneva/Lausanne, both with roughly train ever 2 hours. Which is quicker depends on where you are going in Switzerland. For example, for a random date in mid-May:

07:23 depart Paris Gare de Lyon, 13:19 arrive Wengen, price CHF 106, per person 2nd class
10:23 depart Paris Gare de Lyon, 16:19 arrive Wengen, price CHF 154, per person 2nd class
12:23 depart Paris Gare de Lyon, 18:19 arrive Wengen, price CHF 117, per person 2nd class

And so on through the day.
You also need to consider what travelling you will be doing in Switzerland, and whether a local or national Swiss Rail Pass is a good idea. A pass may cover the last part of your trip to/from Wengen, and so reduce the above prices.

Hello - Please help to choose hotels in Paris and Wengen,Switzerland. We have 2 adult and 2 kids (8 and 10 yr).Budget $150-$275.
Thanks for your help.

Hello - Please help to choose me hotels in Paris and Wengen,Switzerland. We have 2 adult and 2 kids (8 and 10 yr).Budget $150-$275.
Thanks for your help.

You will want to get a recent guidebook for ideas, but here are a few suggestions from three years ago:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/paris-hotel-quad

Kenny's posts and questions, however well meaning, illustrate a common issue and irritant, one which I have addressed partially in other posts by other persons.

This Forum (dare I say "our Forum"?) works best when we share information on the particulars of travel. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have traveled with the ETBD philosophy want to calm the fears of novice travelers, encourage them to take the leap into travel as a political act, and to make the most out of their vacations and hard earned travel funds.

As such, we presuppose that at least some research into travel destinations and methods has been done. "I have a problem with gluten; how can I eat in Rome?" or "Is it too ambitious for me to do the Louvre, the Orsay, and the Cluny on the same day?" are issues that we can address and offer advice on. Open ended requests for trip planning, however, without any prior research having been completed by the wannabe traveler, place us into the unwelcome position of seeming to be unhelpful due to both our lack of insight into the desires, budget, and time constraints of the questioner, and the very real allocation of our time when the poster does not want to do the necessary homework to make his trip an exceptional one.

The point is made that we are not travel agents. We presuppose that posters here will have done the basic research for their trip, either online or by reading travel guides and books, before seeking particularized information. That does not always happen, and I think an excellent way of assisting those who have not spent the necessary time to assemble a trip outline or preliminary plan is to suggest that they purchase guidebooks or that they scour this and other websites with free travel information. None of us have the desire to be snarky, although I have been tempted once or twice.

I am hopeful that Kenny's trip research will enable him to pin down tentative costs, locations, and outcomes before he comes back to the Forum so that he can benefit from our collective input on making his trip an exceptional one for him and his family.

The best advice I can give you is to read the Rick Steves Paris and Rick Steves Germany, Austria, and Switzerland books. You will be amazed by how helpful those books really are. You will find itineraries, maps, recommended hotels and restaurants, and so much more.

Please help to choose hotel. I will be staying in Paris from Sep 14-17 (4 nights) and was looking hotels in expedia from $200-$350 with free cancellation option but hard to select hotel because I am not sure which area's hotel will be good for me with 2 kids. Any help on this?
What about Citadines République Paris hotel?

Best for most tourists is in a single-digit arrondissement, e.i. 1st - 9th, and within a 5 minute or so walk to a metro station. BTW expect Paris to be extremely crowded on that weekend, it's European Heritage weekend there.

Any advise for hotel in Wengen. I picked some of the following but not sure which is good. OR which should I pick in Wengen.

Hotel Regina, Wengen
Hotel Schonegg, Wengen
Hotel & Spa Victoria-Lauberhorn, Wengen

Kenny, buy this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Paris-2018-ebook/dp/B06Y116ZCF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520975478&sr=8-1&keywords=rick+steves+paris+2018

Next, buy this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Switzerland-ebook/dp/B017QL9QS2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1520975522&sr=1-1&keywords=rick+steves+switzerland+2018

Read both books completely. Then come back to the Forum and ask the questions you still have.

Hi wbfey1 ,
I think you should come back when you have knowledge. I am asking help for other peoples and other peoples are helping me and I don't know why you have a problem.
Any advise for hotel in Wengen. I picked some of the following but not sure which is good. OR which should I pick in Wengen.
Hotel Regina, Wengen
Hotel Schonegg, Wengen
Hotel & Spa Victoria-Lauberhorn, Wengen

Thanks for help.

Hi Kenny,

You might want to post your Wengen hotel questions in the Switzerland forum. If no one there has a recommendation you could read reviews on tripadvisor.com

EDIT: I see you already posted in the Switzerland forum.

Have a great trip!