28 Aug - Classic Tour review
A wonderful tour very much focused on scenery and the outdoors. Fairly physically demanding with lots stairs. We had amazing weather the entire trip. Warmer than I expected so I slightly over packed on cold weather clothing and could have used a couple more warm weather items.
The hotels were excellent and most gave us rooms with a view. All had full amenities (including bathroom scales – how rude). AC a bit of a rarity but in most like Zermatt and Interlaken, you could open a window. Food was a bit hit or miss. Breakfast buffets still the norm. Great chocolate everywhere – just make sure it’s actually made in Switzerland. Also cheese of course.
Dress code very casual. Per the TD – the dressiest definition was Smart Elegant which meant no sneakers, shorts or jeans. No need for dresses or sport coats. Just dressy enough for dinner in the hotels. No need for hiking boots or poles unless you plan some independent excursion. More important to be able to layer and adjust to different temperatures.
Covid impacts mostly on needing to wear a mask on the bus/trains and indoors. On the bus we were spaced with at least 1 row apart but did have seat rotation as normal. Several hotels provided masks and/or small bottles of hand sanitizer. Larger containers everywhere near doorways. At the time we were there no one in Switzerland asked to see our CDC cards. The only time was for the lunch in Stressa. That may have changed.
If you have any euros bring them. They will come in handy for small purchases in Stressa and Belaggio.
Day by day to follow. Yes, bkmd there are character limits on posts.
Comments
Day 0 – Gift of Time – Flew Atlanta to Amsterdam, then on to Geneva. CDC card checked both at our home airport and again at the gate in ATL. Upon arrival in Geneva, no customs or passport control needed and no one asked for our Swiss Entry forms or QR code which we’d gotten before leaving the US. Checked into the Lausanne Palace and were wowed with our lake view room which is standard for this tour. There were 5 family members on this trip and we went looking for dinner. Decided to make it easy and went to the Five Guys Burger right across the street (don’t judge, we were tired).
Day 1 – started the day with the breakfast buffet which was excellent – I was glad to see that buffets hadn’t disappeared with covid – we then used our hotel provided Lausanne passes to take the metro from the Flon station nearby down to Ouchy so we could tour the Olympic museum – got held up slightly as it was Sun and a triathlon had streets somewhat blocked – the museum is really well done even if you aren’t a sport fanatic – we then stopped at a Coop quick mart and a Pain de Fleur for some lunch items – headed back to the hotel to rest a bit – later we metro’d to Ripon station and walked/climbed up to the cathedral – great view of the city – the evening ended with our welcome reception and meeting our group – all 22 of us – the joy of a small group without the $1,000 pp add on – sadly the meal was not good – weird starter and the toughest beef filet I’ve ever had – hopefully Tauck will work with the hotel to improve
Day 2 – first travel day started with 1 hr drive to Chillon castle and a guided tour – interesting – then another hour to Gruyere where we had time to tour it’s castle (8 CHF reimbursed by Tauck) and have a scatter lunch (35 CHF provided by Tauck) – we had fondue and the waitress asked if my husband and I wanted to share a 1 serving pot which we did – the perfect size and even meant we got down to the “burnt” cheese at the bottom – yum – then on to Taesch to catch the short train ride up to Zermatt – check in to the Mt Cervin Palace where most of the group got rooms with views and/or balconies – we were allowed to move our hotel dinner to the next day so we just walked around the town and found something to eat on our balcony looking at the Matterhorn
Day 3 – train to Gornergrat which takes about 45 minutes – from there you could return by train back to Zermatt whenever you wanted or join the TD and a local guide to walk part way down – hiking poles were available for loan from the hotel concierge – the hike isn’t difficult except that it’s very sloped and rocky – I had brought hiking boots but wished I’d just had sneakers with good traction – the sloped terrain meant my boot tops kept digging into my ankle – it was a nice excursion with rest stops as needed – we then boarded the train at Riffelberg - got our swim suits and headed to the pool which is indoor/outdoor, has jets for massage – before dinner we visited the Matterhorn Museum on Tauck – small, quirky place - dinner that night at the hotel – again, not that great – starting to worry
Day 4 – train back down to Taesch – bus headed to Stressa, Italy – after we’d gone thru the Simplon Pass we made a rest stop in a small town for coffee & pastries – then on to Stressa for a set lunch and a short time to wander – then a water taxi to Isola Bella island and tour of the Borromean Palace – interesting place - a lot of stairs touring the house and even move to visit the lovely gardens which have white peacocks – back on the taxi and our bus to Lugano – checked into the Hotel Splendide and were so excited to see our room with its balcony overlooking Lake Lugano – so excited we managed to lock ourselves out on it – lol – rescued in time for dinner at the hotel – thankfully good except my husbands octopus
Day 5 – guided walking tour on the city ending in the garden – then we boarded our tour boat to cruise around the lake and have a wine tasting – lunch at an outdoor grotto – excellent – back to the hotel for free time – we took the #1 bus back to town and picked up food at the Manor Dept store food hall to enjoy on our balcony (but not without putting a shoe in the track of the sliding door to keep it from closing) – a bit of a treat for car buffs that day as there was a car show and every bit of open space covered with fancy new cars
Day 6 – bus leaves to drive along Lake Como with a surprise stop to take a water taxi to Belaggio, IT – also supposedly we passed George Clooney’s villa but really hard to know – back on the bus to Menaggio and a lovely lunch again outdoors – then the drive to St Moritz via the Maloja Mountain Pass – quite exciting switchbacks – check in for one night at the Kempinski hotel and dinner – meal good and desserts amazing
Day 7 – boarded the Glacier Express – our group had an entire Second Class car to ourselves – the seats are set 2x2 with tables in-between and half the seats facing one way and half the other – the journey sets out facing one direction then switches after the stop in Chur – also a good part of the route to Chur has several long tunnels so scenery and picture taking in tht section is not as easy as it is later in the journey – we were served lunch at our tables with real plates and glasses – got to Andermatt about 2 and rejoined the coach for the drive to Interlaken (2 ½ hrs) – quick bus drive around the town then dropped off at the Harderbahn for the ride up to Harder Kulm and dinner – this dinner used to be on Day 8 but was moved to Day 7 – that’s fine but there was no restroom stop for over a 3 hour period – not good – the dinner was in a private room and was excellent until a large group came into the room for a stand up cocktail party – not good covid safety so we quickly finished and went out to take photos which were amazing since it was raining slightly and we had a rainbows over the scenery in the valley below
Day 8 – starts with the bus to Grindelwald and train to Kleine Scheidegg, then another train to Jung Frau Joch – we toured the outdoor viewing platform, the ice palace, had some wine and snacks, then went outside in the snow – a bit of a hard climb up a slope with mushy snow – but the views were amazing – ended with hot chocolate then the train back to Eigerletsher and the new Gondola to Grindelwald – back about 2:30 for free time and dinner in the Italian restaurant at the hotel – warning the portion sizes are huge – especially the pizza or calzone – one fun part of the hotel is there is a park in front where the paragliders land pretty much all day
Day 9 – a 1 hr drive to Bern for a guided tour including the Bear pit, the rose garden and the city clock – lunch at hotel Bellevue – drive to Lucerne and our final hotel the iconic Schweizerhof where were realized we’d been getting spoiled with mostly hotel rooms with great views – not so here where we had an excellent view of the Coop grocery store/parking garage behind the hotel – free time to walk around a bit and dinner at the hotel – many of the group also had their appointments at a local facility for covid testing – the TD has set up appointments before hand
Day 10 – last full day began with a guided walking tour of the city – rest of the day on your own until 5:15 when we headed across the street for the boat to take us for a cruise and the lake to the Seehotel Bamgarten for dinner – we were greeted at the hotel with an accordionist and Alp Horn player who also provided music during dinner – dinner was outdoors viewing the lake – excellent meal at this family owned hotel – I’d go stay there in a heartbeat – back to our hotel to finish packing
Day 11 – departure day – our family group had booked 3 additional days at a hotel in Zurich and Tauck arranged for the transfer driver to take us directly to the hotel – another instance where the publish transfer options aren’t the only ones available
Thanks, Claudia, for your post. When you traveled from Bern to Lucerne, did Tauck not stop at the Lion Monument? Viewing it and learning of its historical significance brought me to tears.
kfnknfzk - I was on this tour w/Claudia. On Day 10 w/the guided walking tour, at the end of the city walk, anyone who wanted to see the Lion Monument continued on w/the guide. Only 6 of us went to see it.
Kathy0529,
Thanks for the clarification.
The Lion Monument popped up at different times in different itineraries but as Kathy said was an optional add on to the city walking tour. Lucerne is a very walkable city.
Thank you, Claudia, for such generous sharing. It was fun reliving my Swiss tour, though sounds a bit exhausting, esp. with your back-to-back travel. Tauck should put you on retainer btw.
Thank you for the review! I'm hoping my thrice rescheduled trip happens next summer...
I really enjoyed the overview - very helpful. Crossing my fingers for some (consistently) good food :-)
Great review Claudia !!!