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.