4 Nights In Switzerland - Help

rishi,

With only four nights, I'm not sure you'll have time to see all the places on your list. A few thoughts on your questions.....

1. I'd suggest travelling directly from the airport in Zürich to the Berner Oberland. There's a rail station at the airport so that's certainly possible. The most central location for accessing both the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthornbahn would be to stay in Lauterbrunnen. Spend two nights there and then move to Lucerne for the remainder of your time, where you should be able to take day tours to Mt. Titlis, Pilatus or Rigi as well as cruises on the lake.
2. If you decide to stay in Lauterbrunnen, there are lots of hotels that are close to the station (it's not a very big town), so you won't have any problems there. If you decide to stay in Lucerne, you might look at Hotel Stern. It's not close to the station, but reasonable walking distance.
3. I'd have to spend some time doing some number crunching, so I'll leave the Pass question to others.
4. It's difficult to offer hotel suggestions without having a definite idea of which cities you'll decide to stay in.
5. If you make Lucerne your last stop in Switzerland, it's easy to get from there to Paris. The trip will be about 4.5 hours, with one two changes. The leg from Basel to Paris will be via TGV at 300 kmH (reservations compulsory) and you'll probably arrive at Gare de Lyon (there are seven stations in Paris). You can get from there to your hotel via Taxi, Metro or whatever.

I'd highly recommend getting some hotels booked SOON!

Hi, Rishi. Find the departure time you like from Luzern or Lauterbrunnen to Basel, then add about 2 hours connection time at Basel, just in case of delays. You might be able to book a reserved Basel-Paris TGV ticket now to get a better price, but these tickets cannot be exchanged if you miss the train. I don't know the best way for you to book that ticket from India, but try http://www.raileurope-world.com/. Look for a ticket that you can print at home. I'm not recommending the SNCF web site because the cheapest "Prems" fares are already sold out for June 5 (the date I tested). You can also buy full-fare tickets at a Swiss train station, such as when you arrive at Zurich.

At Zurich Airport train station, you can buy a Swiss Saverpass for 4 consecutive days for 245 Swiss francs per person, to cover most trains, buses, boats, trams, and musuems during your stay, which is very convenient, plus offers discounts on the higher mountain lifts (50% off Muerren-Schilthorn and 25% off Wengen-Jungfraujoch). Or a Swiss Half Fare Card for one month costs 120 francs and you stop and buy half-price tickets for all transportation (no museum discounts). See more tips and price estimates at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes (but not ordering for delivery to India).

Yes you can book at Rail Europe and pay an additional "Booking Fee" or "Delivery Fee" or you can just buy from www.sbb.ch and print at home without the additional fee. 99% of people on these forums recommend not booking at Rail Europe because they are just a reseller (middle man) . Sometimes they also do not show you the entire list of available trains.