Best of Switzerland RS Tour prep

I had one full day and the morning before the tour starts to explore Lucerne. On the one full day, I did the Mt. Pilatus circuit, including cog railway, toboggan rides and cable car back to Kriens. After I got back to Lucerne, I did a beautiful sunset cruise on the lake. Very relaxing.

On the partial day, I went up Mt. Rigi and did some hiking before heading back down. The weather was beautiful both days and I had a great time. I was there in mid July last year.

Keen sandals: I was on this tour July into August 2 years ago. I wore my Keen sandals and some Merrell sandals. Had no closed shoes. Since you say you already are taking sneakers, I would vote for the Keen sandals. I wear mine in Pennsylvania through October, maybe into November.

I spent my pre-tour time in London, so no help there! Enjoy your trip.

Debbie

Very helpfu! Thanks.

Eric, did you buy a Swiss Travel Pass for Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi? I'm trying to sort through the information in the RS book to see if it makes sense to purchase one.

If you're only going to Mt. Rigi and Mt. Pilatus, a Swiss Travel Pass would not be a good value. If you're doing other things, it may be.

Unfortunately, there is no shortcut for passes; you have to do the math for your situation, for the trips you are definitely taking and the ones you are possibly taking. If you're seeing museums, remember that the Swiss Travel Pass is also a museum pass (museums in Switzerland are as expensive as everything else there).

To find prices, go to the Swiss Rail website, as this has not just trains, but travel for the whole country (boats, buses, etc): https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html. Just remember, the first price shown assumes you have a Half Fare Card; if you aren't going to get one, double the first price you see to find out what you'll pay. Then compare that to various passes.

Remember that a Half Fare Card costs 120 CHF, so if you're definitely taking more than 240 CHF of transit, you can't lose with one.

Has anyone done the Stanserhorn excursion? This is a recommended excursion in the RS pre-tour planning, but it is not listed in the guidebook.

Suzanne, I did the Stanserhorn and loved it! It was a little more low-key than many of the other more popular mountain lifts (Pilatus, Schilthorn, etc), which I liked.

Book online ahead of time if you can; there was a LONG line there in late June. Get in line early so you can get a spot on the second floor open-air area of the gondola on either the way up or the way down--a little scary but wow, so gorgeous! There are a few walking trails up at the top as well as a large patio with lots of seating (great place for lunch or a glass of wine with a beautiful view).

I also enjoyed walking around the town of Stans: several cute shops, interesting architecture, and a lovely little town square.

I had the Swiss Half Price card while on the RS Switzerland tour. In addition to Rigi and Pilatus, I did a sunset cruise on Lake Lucerne, boat trips and funiculars in Lugano, funicular in Zermatt, various lifts in Berner Oberland (but not Schilthorn or Jungfrau - damn rain!), plus trains to and from Zurich at beginning and end of trip.

I think the half price card paid off, but not by a lot. Had I done the Jungfrau, it definitely would have paid off big time.

Would also love a suggestion for a convenient hotel in Zurich for our final night before flying home. Would love some place convenient to train station with air condiditioning.

Re hotels in Zurich: We stayed at the Hotel Alexander two years ago and were pleased with it. A 10 minute walk from the train station in the Old Town. Most rooms have air conditioning, and they have a discount for Rick Steves travelers. Be sure to ask for these when making a reservation. Some people have complained about street noise at night, but we didn't have that problem. Maybe it depends on the day of the week you are there.

Hotel Walhalla is next to the train station. I stayed there last July. I can recommended. It's in the book too.

For end-of-August through the first two weeks of September, be prepared for any kind of temperature and weather. I was there at that time of year, a few years ago, and a cold wave with freezing cold rain and wind came through for a few days. It was so cold that the sports store in Interlaken West, where I was at the time, brought a barrel of gloves up front for sale! And Interlaken isn't even up in the mountains. After a few days, the weather became milder for us--50s in the mornings to 70s in the afternoons.

I find hiking shoes make even easy hikes much more comfortable when stepping on rocks in the paths. I like the Keen brand of hiking shoes. And it rains so often, closed-toe shoes, rather than sandals, suit me best in Switzerland, most of the time.

One week and counting!!

A couple more questions...

Do the Rick Steves continental adaptors work in Switzerland? I’ve seen some conflicting info on this in other RS conversation threads.

Does this tour have a laundry drop-off opportunity? On my last 2-week RS tour (Best of Adriatic), at the tour midpoint in Split, we dropped off our laundry on our walk to dinner one night and it was ready for pickup the following day.

I took this tour last year.

The two round prong euro plug worked fine for me.

There was no drop off laundry. There was a self service laundry in Lugano. The tour has a full free day there. My friend took abou 2.5 hours to do his laundry. This included time spent finding it. It’s over near a major bus stop/station.

Hope you have great weather and a fun trip.

If you do end up doing your own laundry, here are some things I've learned the hard way about washers and dryers in Switzerland, and other European countries:

Be sure to select "short cycle" on the washer, or it will take 90 minutes instead of 30 minutes.

Be sure to use the highest setting on the dryer, no matter what you're drying (pretend you have all cotton even if you don't). And even after 60-90 minutes of drying, the clothes will still feel mildly damp. This is because Switzerland uses condensation dryers. Plan on hanging your clothes for a few hours after removing them from the dryer, so they're "finished drying."

If you stay at Hotel Alexander, insist on a room away from the street. The air conditioning kept me cool while I was awake listening to the loud street noise/partying most of the night.

Suzanne,

I'd also recommend Hotel Walhalla in Zürich. It's really close to the train station, and right across the street from the Sihlquai bus stop. There's a stairway next to the hotel going down to the Rail City underground mall and you can walk to the station without getting wet in the rain.

Any restaurant recommendations in Luzern? We will be there three nights prior to the tour.

My Luzern restaurant recommendations:

Zunfthausrestaurant Pfistern--Kornmarkt 4 (in Old Town, up steps from Reuss River)
Get the Luzern specialty: "Chögalipaschtetli" also called "Fritschi Pasty"

Rathaus Brauerei--Unter der Egg 2, by Town Hall in Old Town, by Reuss River

Au Cachet: La Maison du Chocolat--Pfistergasse 15
(chocolate candy shop; not a sit down restaurant)

Tibits--top floor of Luzern train station
Vegetarian buffet restaurant with glass wall view of trains below

So helpful!! Thank you!

My favorite place to eat in Luzern was Manora. It's on the top floor of the Manor department store in the old town (Manor is a chain, with stores in most Swiss cities). It's a "cafeteria," but much nicer than that term implies, and the food is prepared fresh for you, rather than sitting on steam tablets. For instance, if you get fish, a piece of raw fish is taken off the ice and cooked for you. For 3 CHF, you can add beilage to any main dish, meaning all the starches and veggies you can load onto the plate. It's delicious (the food comes from their ground floor supermarket, which is quite fancy) and half the price of a regular restaurant. The only catches are, it's always crowded (the Swiss know it's the best deal in town), and it's only open department store hours, which in Luzern means early dinner Monday through Friday, lunch only on Saturdays, and no meals on Sundays.

The Tibits referenced in LindaL's post is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner, and is also good value.

If, like me, you are daunted by the prices of regular restaurants, in addition to the Manora and Tibits, you can get prepared foods from supermarkets (sandwiches, pasta salads, precooked eggs called "picnic eggs," etc). There's a Migros and a Coop supermarket in the old town (closed Sundays), a Coop in the train station (closed Sundays) and an Aperto in the train station (not as nice as the others, but open Sundays).

In Luzern now awaiting our tour start in 2 days. Weather will finally be nice tomorrow, so we are ready to choose a mountain day trip—Rigi, Pilatus or Stanserhorn? We did not buy tickets in advance because the weather has been drizzly and we wanted to make sure forecast looked promising for great views. Crowds seem pretty light so far. Any guidance on which to choose?