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Swiss Alps trip Part 1

Posted by (Florida) on

Getting there….flew into Zurich. Got our bags and took them over to the train station office so we could “check” them to Basel and pick up there three days later. This was a huge convenience for us as we didn’t have to lug them all over and we just carried our back packs for the first three days. Highly recommend using this service. Cost if $12.00 each bag so minimal expense.

While on the topic of our luggage, I can’t recommend enough that you purchase Air Tags for your bags. These are small tracking devices we placed in our suitcases so that we knew exactly where our bags were at any given time. A great peace of mind kind of thing. Once on our cruise, we met folks who never got their bags and were told they probably never would. Being able to tell the airlines exactly where your bags are would probably go a long way to getting them back.

Ok, so on the train from Zurich to Murren. Well, you have to take a gondola then another small train but we arrived in Murren in time to have dinner at our hotel and watch the sun set over the mountains. We pre purchased a three day Swiss Rail pass when they went on sale last year. (Thanks to this site for that tip!) I think te cost was close to $400 but it got us on everything except the Jungfrau express. It’s important that you pre purchase this or get it when you arrive because sometimes we had only a few minutes in between trains. Stopping to buy tickets would have been a real hassle.

One thing I wanted to say to everyone is that we were prepared for outrageous prices in Switzerland. We didn’t find that to be true. I know we did not stay in Zurich but I paid basically the same for a Starbucks coffee (don’t judge!) in the Zurich train station as I do for one in my hometown. Our dinners in Murren ran us the same as dinners at home, especially considering the wine was cheaper. All in all, we were pleasantly surprised.

We stayed at Hotel Bellevue, which I reviewed in the Hotel forum. Murren was a dream location and I want to go back as soon as we can. I felt we could have stayed a month. Idyllic is the best word I can think of.

Posted by
188 posts

Right?!? We put one in each suitcase and one in each backpack. Easy.

Posted by
4690 posts

My daughter uses Tiles, they have been around for several years. She places them on her car keys, wallet, and suitcases. A few tears ago, we transited thru Heathrow, Terminal 5, security check, on very little sleep. We were about to enter the Lounge, and I looked at her, and said, where's your carry-on suitcase? She was so tired that she picked up her backpack after it went thru security, and forgot all about her carryon. She checked her phone, and we tracked her bag back to security, using the Tile app. Since the bag had been sitting at security awhile, she went thru an extra security check, but all ended well.

Posted by
188 posts

Jungfrau day!! We chose not to purchase tix in advance as we read (on this forum) there is no point in going if it’s a cloudy day. But everyone we ran into, from a guy in the Boston airport, to our hotel owner said we had to go up on Tuesday because the weather was going to be fabulous.
So we booked our tickets (25% discount if you already have a rail pass) and got up early the next morning. We were also told to go early as it gets really busy later in the day. Typical vacation advice, early bird gets the worm!!
A few hours later, we arrived. It was a glorious day and the views were incredible but what made it even better was the glacier hike!! We walked up the glacier to the little restaurant at the top. I had to stop every once in awhile as the air is so thin but we made it!!! Really incredible and the highlight of our trip to the top.
The one thing I didn’t enjoy was the Ice Palace exhibit. I’m not particularly claustrophobic but it got waaaayyyyyy too busy in there and it’s like a maze. No thanks. This is why ya go early.
Jungfrau was awesome but without the glacier walk, I’m not sure I would have felt it was worth the price. Certainly it would be a waste of time and money on a cloudy day. And there is so much to do that we would have been fine exploring Murren or nearby cities. If you miss Jungfrau, it’s not a big deal so don’t be disappointed.

Posted by
32737 posts

thanks for posting this.

I'll put the link here for part 2 if you like so they don't become separated.

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