Switzerland - Europe’s Crown Jewel - Sept 2024
Looking forward to our Sept 2024 trip. I am wondering if anyone has recommendations for the free time listed on the itinerary. Day 2 in Gruyeres, Day 3 after the Matterhorn Museum, Day 5 in Lugano free afternoon and evening, Day 8 in Interlaken, and Day 10 in Lucerne. I appreciate any suggestions or tips to make our trip even better than I expect.
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We did that tour in 2023. My only recommendation has to do with the visit to the Jungfraujoch. They take you into the ice cave (Ice Palace) and the ice bar. The floor is ice and very slippery. There are slip on things for your shoes that are designed to give you better traction on ice and they're about $20. These were discussed in another thread and on my blog at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2023-2Switzerland-03.htm#IcePalace
They will improve your experience and safety in the Ice Palace and Ice Bar.
[Edit for spelling]
Thank you, Mike. I have read your interesting blog! Looks like a great trip. Did you find yourself with much free time? The other Tauck trips we have taken didn’t appear to have as much down time as this one.
On a different Tauck tour we loved visiting the Lion Monument in Lucerne and strolling around the little lake. If your tour doesn't take you there, I suggest that. We found Lucerne to be so lovely that we stayed in town and strolled through the side streets.
This was one of our favorite trips. We went in 2021 and I must agree with Mike that there were times when I felt very uncomfortable as I was afraid that I would fall on the ice.
I am in my early seventies and the last thing any of us need is to fall.
We did this trip in September, 2019 and I honestly don’t remember a lot of free time. It was one of our favorite trips and our guide, Mark Helbig, was outstanding. He took us to see the Lion Monument in Lucerne. We didn’t schedule any additional activities and found ourselves meandering around the beautiful towns during any free time we had.
We took the tour in Sep 2021 and I wrote an overview and a detailed day by day of our experience. It's posted in the Switzerland: Europe's Crown Jewel category list. It's titled 28 Aug - Classic Tour review.
https://forums.tauck.com/discussion/15129/28-aug-classic-tour-review#latest
Lotusgirl and MikeHenderson also wrote reviews worth reading.
As Claudia Sails states, we took this tour in September of last year, and I posted a trip report. We did make use of our free time, as you can read. Reading through the previous posts on this forum was very helpful for my pre-trip research.
If you have specific questions, I would be happy to answer them. It is a wonderful tour.
Thank you, Claudia. I have carefully read your day by day. Very helpful! Thank you for taking the time to write it!
Thank you, Lotusgirl for your trip itinerary, too. I had already read all three….Mike’s, Claudia’s, and yours. I appreciate all of the info and the time it took you all to write them. Can’t wait for our trip in Sept!
You're welcome. It's why I bother doing the reviews. I'm very detailed oriented and want to know all sorts of details about tours.
My husband and I are going on the Crown Jewels of Switzerland trip on June 28, 2024. I've done extensive research via internet, articles and Fodor's travel book. So here you go....
Lausanne
Transportation card free from hotel
M2 connects to Lausanne-Flon to Bessieres by Catlhedral
Bus 16 winds through town
Walking tour
Bel Tower & Salle Metropole, Grand Point (Rue de Grand Pt) to Place & Church St Francis, Rue de Bourg (ped street), Lausanne Cathedral, La Cite (bistros and shops), Fossils of Molluscs on rue Cite Devant, Escaliers du Marche, To walk down Escaliers du Marche (Pass cathedral on right, continue to l’ Ancien Regime (old academy), walk back to viewing point of cathedral and take stairs down to Rue-Pierre-Vint and take market stairs down), easier route to Cathedral (rue de la Mercerie from Place de la Plaud)
Medieval shop lined streets, Grant Pont bridge, Pont Chauderon bridge, Panoramic stroll down hill,
Sat and Wed morning-local market
Rue Du Bong (ped walkway), Rue St Francies, Rue du Pont, Place de la Palud, Place de la Riponne (food area), Rue Madeline, Rue Saint-Lurent, Place de la Palud (main square) and Fountain of Justice
Olympic Museum
Flon footbridge (shopping area)
Port d’Ouchy Promendate
Walk exit train station, walk up Rue du Petit, chene crossing Place St Francois continue to Place du la Palud (clock above pharmacy), right around building with clock see medieval escaliers du Marche)
CGN boats, Lake Geneva Cruise Line, Belle Epoque boat, ask for 1st class deck, 2 hr Lake Geneva, pier 5 5 min walking distance from M2 (Ouchy Olympic), make left Quai Jean-Pascal Delamurz
Charlie chaplin manoir de ban
Maison Cailler choc factory (Jorge Cardoso world class choc)
Chocate at Blondel-best choc in the World
Mad Rooftop Bar-trendy in old town
Cabbage filled sausage with leek gratin papet Vaudois
Lausanne cathedral, M2 from Lausanne Garet to Riponne M Bejart
La Pinte Besson, oldest pub, Rue de L’ale 4
Rue de l’ale between Rue de latour, off Rue du Valentin
Café Romand, near Lusanne Palace, Rue de Boug before St Francis
Gruyeres
Fondue Academy
HR Giger Museum and Bar
Zermat
Sit on right-side of train for best views of Matterhorn
Chez Vrony and Findeln and Finlen best resturants on top
In town Whymper-Stube restaurant inexpensive
L’Atelier (all 5 starts)
The Kirchbrucke-best viewing point of Matterhorn in Village
Klein Matterhorn Cable Car
Outside bar The Cervo Hotel and terrace of Omni and Schonegg Hotel and Stafelap restaurant for good views
Kirchbrocke Bridge
Hangeburcke Suspension Bridge near Furi cable
Corner Gorge, near Forest Park between Furi and Zermatt gondola, 20 min walk from south end of village
Train to Grindelwald to Ice Palace (can we stop here and turn around?
Day trip to Lauterbrunnen (valley of 72 waterfalls and Muren Village $228)
Fuchs, family-owned bakery
Cervo-boutique hotel, elevator across the street with splendid views, elevator drops you back on street
Snowboat, yacht shaped bar known for burgers
Mountaineer Cemetery
Hangebrucke-suspension bridge
Rotenboden for view of Matterhorn
Train to Gornergrat detrain to Riffelap 10 min walk to Riffelap resort (7,290 ft) train to Rotenboden
Bus to Trackener Lift, buy ticket to Matterhorn Glacier (gondola at tope elevator ride takes you down to glacier below where you can see ice sculptures and another elevator takes you for a 360 view
Elsies Wine and Champange Bar
Bahnhofstrasse-choc truffles
Matterhorn Museum
Le Chalet de Giuseppe – good restaurant
Snowboat restaurant-good burgers
Lugano
*Monte Bre take funicular
Church of S Maria degli Angeiol, fresco of Last Supper
Ana Capri, great restaurant by the lake
Tues and Fri, Farmer’s Market
Pareo Ciani Gardens
Morcote-shores of Lake Lugano
Ascona-norther shore of Lake Maggiore
Gafano bakery
Lugano to Bre Paseo (cable car)
Lake Maggiore
Isola Bella
Villa Taranto-most beautiful gardens
Isola Madre
Eremo di Santa Caterine del Sasso
Stessa -best shop off Piazza Giocoo Mattetotti
Laveno bucket ride
Baroque Palace and gardens (white peacocks)
St Moritz
Badrutt Palace
King Secial House, oldest club in Switzerland
Renisasance Bar
Interlaken
Lake Brienz and Lake Thun
Monastery and Abbey
Lauterbrunnenn and Murren
Lucerene
Cheateau Gutsch -view,Mt Rigi 1 hr boat ride out of Luceren and then 30 minutes by cogwheel train
Lion glacier garden
Boat to vitnau, cog wheel to summit and then hike down to cable car for ride to Weggis then boat ride back to Lucerene
Mt Pilatus
Bourbaki Panoraoma painting
Wochenmarket
Oldest covered bridge,
Wall around wall and climb old clock town
Lion Monument
Golden Road trip Lucerne by boat to Alpnachstad cogwheel to Pilatus to Kriens to Mt Pilatus to Kriens then back by bus
And a great video about the race to the Matterhorn and the 4 deaths in the 1800s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0rwg_zsAag
Wow, that is extensive research. Congratulations!
How much free time is there on rhis tour to do any of these suggestions?
Mid tour not a lot of free time but if you give yourself extra time pre or post there is lots to do in Lausanne and Lucerne. I do wish more time was spent in Interlaken than Tauck includes.
Thank you Doris! Please post a review upon your return, we go next year!
Doris McGuire - WOW, I think we need a second trip to do all those things!! You certainly have done your research!!!
What great information Doris!! Thank you so much for sharing your incredible research.
Thank you, Doris! You and I seem to enjoy the same things…..I always research extensively before any trip we take. I will carefully look at all of the places and experiences you have written about here. Please post when you return! I am so looking forward to Switzerland!
Doris, we are going in September and I compared your notes to mine. We also want to do a walking tour in Lausanne and have many of the same points of interest. Did you also print out the actual walking directions from your hotel using Google maps? For us, this is really helpful because we don't speak the language. I have read that in Lugano, you can ask for a "Ticino" ticket in your hotel which covers all public transport and gives other discounts, and in Lucerne you can get a free visitor's card at the hotel that covers all city related travel, pus 10-20% discounts at sights. We have been looking forward to this trip for two years.
I think it helps to be open to unexpected delights- in Lucerne our TD told us about an organ concert in a local church. Several of us want - it was wonderful!
I like to be busy on my Tauck tours, but not to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes, just people watching in a cafe can be quite entertaining!
Good point!! This tour seems very busy from beginning to end.
I found self-guided walking instructions online just took notes as provided previously and compared to a map found online. Looks pretty easy and some of the fun is getting lost and discoverying new areas. Most of sites are near Lausanne Palace where we are statying. Here is an easy guide https://visitsights.com/sightseeing-tours/Switzerland/Lausanne/1. I also found this GPS app https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/lausanne-4375.html and here is another app https://www.smart-guide.org/destinations/en/lausanne/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGmV-RpVL_Q
First Cliff Walk at Riffelberg station. https://fullsuitcase.com/first-cliff-walk-grindelwald/ If you're scared to go on the walk just watch the video
Excellent information. Thank you very much.
I'm sure my wife will love the Cliff Walk, can't wait for her to tell me about it upon her return.
Doris, thank you!!!
We are on the 9/23/24 Crown Jewel Switzerland.
Any fellow travelers?