Planning a few days in Switzerland with family - first time visitors

Your first day's itinerary is far too ambitious. You need to factor in the effects of jetlag. Although driving to Appenzell from Zurich is reasonable, going all the way to Hohenschwangau after spending several hours in Appenzell is not. It is a much longer drive than it appears on the map, and you will be VERY tired.

Having driven from Frankfurt to Verona on the day I landed, I agree with Tom. I would leave Neuschwanstein for your next trip. Think about how cranky the kids will be with all of that driving after all of that flying. Either stay the extra night in Appenzell or in Liechtenstein and have a MUCH more pleasant trip.

One other thing, you will be there at the height of the season so consider that there will be lines for all of the popular sites. You need to factor that into your timing as well as all of the driving. Incidentally, as I said before I drove from Frankfurt to Verona the day I landed. I ended up with a raging migraine the next day. I'm an experienced traveler and still messed up on that one, big time. It also really annoyed the other folks in my group to have to spend all that time in the car after they had just gotten off of a plane. We ended up taking THREE days on the return to Frankfurt because the others DID not want to do it in a single day again.

A couple of thoughts. First, get a free family card from the Swiss train station. With this card, your 9 year old daughter will ride any public Swiss transporation free when accompanied by a parent with a valid ticket of any type. As for the 4 year old, I see nothing on the Swiss website about a fare for a child younger than 6 years old. I have emailed the Swiss site to find out.

For the adults, you may want to look into a Swiss pass or card of some type if you will be doing a bit of train travel around the country.

Thanks for the helpful input. I was concerned about all the travel on Sunday after we arrive, and so after some more though I'm thinking we should hold off on the drive to Hohenschwangau until Monday (my 9 year old daughter is SO excited to see the castle, so it is a must-do on our trip!). So my new thought is:

Sunday:

• Appenzell only

Monday:

• Schoggi Land choclate factory

• Drive to Hohenschwangau

Tuesday:

• Visit Neuschwanstein Castle

• Drive to Bellinzona (stop in Liechtenstein on the way)

Makes for a bit longer drive on Tuesday, but sounds like that would be better than driving on Sunday.

Well thought.

Gretchen,

Yes, that should work. It is too bad you already have your airline tickets. For future trip planning, consider open jaw flights where you fly into one city and out of another. In this case I would have flown into Munich and out of Zurich. From Munich, go to Fuessen for the castles and spend the night (nice easy day your first day). Next morning go to Appenzell and then continue on through Liechtenstein the third day.