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Switzerland Crown Jewel Trip Sept 12 - 22, 2025
We are celebrating our 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2025 and are going on this fabulous Tauck Tour. We are arriving a day earlier and are also staying at the Lausanne Palace, Are there any other guests on the same trip? Also, if there are other guests that have been on this trip, do you have any recommendations or suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated as this is our first trip to Switzerland!
We have been looking at some really nice restaurants to eat at on our free evenings!
Thanks Leo & Linda
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I wrote a review of this tour from Aug/Sep 2021 including what we did for our extra time in Lausanne. Lots to do.
My only warning is the slippery floor in the Ice Palace at the Jungfraujoch. You can purchase some traction slip-ons to wear in the Ice Palace. The traction slip-ons cannot have metal for the grip.
I did not have anything and was very uncomfortable in the Ice Palace. I have some suggestions for grippers in my blog at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2023-2Switzerland-03.htm#IcePalace
If you want to see the whole trip, go to https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2023-2Switzerland-01.htm
We read Mike's blog prior to our trip and wore the grippers he described used by curlers. We felt very safe in the Ice Palace. The pictures on Mike's blog are beautiful. The day we went, it was snowing. We couldn't see much of anything (when outside) once we made it to the top. We did get nice pictures until we boarded the last cog wheel train. We still enjoyed the trip and are glad we went. The first picture below is one we took just before boarding the first train. The second picture is one we took from one of the terraces at the top.
McConville - we took this great tour in September of 2023. In Lausanne, we enjoyed walking up from the hotel to the old town and visiting the Cathedral, and taking the Metro down to the waterfront and visiting the Olympic Museum.
I suggest that you review past posts on the Switzerland forum, as there is a lot of useful information from previous travelers. This was very helpful to me when preparing for our trip.
McConville,
To celebrate your anniversary, you might check with the hotel concierge before your arrival and inquire about restaurants to celebrate your milestone. It appears your pre-tour stay might be the only time you have for a relaxed celebration. We have also found that many of Tauck's hotels have exceptional dining options and many with wine pairings. Just a suggestion. Have a wonderful tour.
It will be our 55th anniversary on the day in Lake Lugano...Have recommendations from Concierge, but will wait to see what the TD says
What a beautiful place to be on your anniversary. Happy Anniversary - enjoy your trip.
We just got off this tour a week ago - it was among the most memorable of our travels. Our TD, Birgit, has become our favorite Tauck TD (to-date). She was exceptionally well-organized, thorough, and possessed a comprehensive knowledge of both the places we visited and the history (et al.) of the nation. Our bus driver Erich was phenomenal. We were very fortunate to have a very good group of folks on this tour, also (i.e., not even one Late Linda or Lance holding up everyone's day or Crabby Kendra or Ken too-frequently looking at everything "half-full").
There is nothing negative to say about this tour from our experience - even the local guides were outstanding. I will say this only as a means of "managing expectations" . . . Switzerland may be famous for its chocolate & mountain cheese, but don't expect "wow" cuisine - nothing at all bad about the food, just to say that food isn't the highlight of a tour in Switzerland.
If you come in early to Lausanne, consider going to the Olympic Museum - Lausanne is the Olympic HQ of the World. To share a little anecdote from our trip, we transferred from a hotel in Puidoux (Lavaux wine region abt 20 min from Lausanne) to Lausanne Palace the night prior to a free day which would conclude with our tour's Welcome Dinner. At breakfast on that free day, we ate near a lovely couple with two small children roughly the ages of two of our grands, so we struck up a conversation. When we mentioned we're from Austin, the wife mentioned that she'd trained at University of Texas, and the more we discussed other locales we'd visited or lived, we learned they've lived or visited there also on business. When asked what their business was, they said Athletics . . . being in the Olympic Capital of the World, that reply registered but we didn't press. My wife asked the wife of the couple (who trained at UT and made the rounds of several US universities) what she did - she replied "I was a swimmer." Later, at the Olympic museum, following a time line of the modern Olympics on which were pictures of each historic President of the International Olympic Committee, we came to the latest individual, recently inaugurated June 2025. It was Kirsty Coventry . . . the woman we'd met at breakfast! She is originally from Zimbabwe making her the first African, as well as the first woman and the first Olympic competitor to serve as IOC President. Ya never know who you'll meet on a Tauck tour!!
I scheduled this trip for next June. My concern is with the altitude effects on the days we travel to the Matterhorn and the Jungfraujoch. I've been to Switzerland before but not at the highest elevations. I discussed this with Tauck and the highest elevation of any hotel is approximately 6,000 feet so you experience the highest elevation during the day, not at night. Did anyone have any altitude issues and have any comments/recommendations?
Agree with Gatr7377's recommendation of The Olympic Museum in Lausanne (TOM). We enjoyed a scenic lunch at the TOM, on the patio overlooking Lake Geneva. Lausanne was my fav stop on this tour --- liked the hotel the best as well.
Our TD from over 3 years ago was our least favorite ever, but I have a strong feeling he's no longer working for Tauck (among other things, he sent a post-tour email to tour participants, asking for $$$ for a video he scraped together). Sounds like we would've had a much more positive experience with Birgit. Have fun and enjoy!
On a different trip in which Jungfraujoch was included, neither I nor my spouse were affected by the altitude. There are over-the-counter remedies and homeopathic alternatives (ginger). Discuss with your pharmacist and/or physician if you are concerned.
We didn't have any altitude problems and I didn't see anyone on our tour that had problems. I think the highest point is the Jungfraujoch and you're not there a really long time.
For chitraveler, we live at 7,000 so in general didn't have any issues with altitude. Living here when we have visitors we recommend drinking lots of water. Getting dehydrated at altitude can be an issue usually causing sinus headaches.
To get to Jungfraujoch the last travel segment is on a train mostly inside a tunnel. During that section I felt a bit like it was hard to get my breath but most likely a psychological reaction not a physical one. Was fine at the top.
If you have specific health concerns you're better off talking to your own doctor who knows your health better than anyone here.
Chitraveler we did this tour a few weeks after I had heart ablation surgery in 2019. I live on the Gulf Coast - almost at sea level but had no problems with altitude in Switzerland. It was a wonderful trip.
Everyone is different. It doesn't necessarily depend on your fitness level or medical history. Some people don’t find out until they get to altitude, it’s as if it is genetic. My husband is affected, he’s fit. Our son runs ten miles without problems but he is affected too. I was fine last time, we were at high altitude.
British is absolutely correct. We are all different. I can only express my own experience. For anyone who has concerns about altitude it might be best to talk with your doctor and take some medication, just in case.
Also from my own experience, and echoed by many other posts, this was a fabulous trip.
After his experience, my husband saw our family Dr. He won’t prescribe meds unless you are going over 10,000 feet, he was affected below that.
Most people recommended staying very well hydrated and avoiding alcohol as a starting point. We are traveling to Quito next year prior to a Galapagos tour, so we will see what happens. My husband will see another dr. Since our family one retired.
I agree with staying hydrated and avoiding alcohol—same for flying. I think those with respiratory issues should definitely confer with their physicians.
1035 - edited for clarity.
Thank you all for your comments/recommendations.
We just got back a few weeks ago. On Jungfrau our TD and the local guides emphasized to tell them immediately if you felt any symptoms. I am in good not great physical condition and spoke to my doctor about it. I "felt" the altitude and noticed it particularly when walking up some inclines. No distress or concern, just felt it. There was an additional observation point that a few of us decided to stay back. My wife took the hike down to the next funicular stop and I chose to ride, There were about eight out of 20 that hiked down. There were no other stops during the entire tour that I "felt" the altitude. The advice by others is spot-on particularly with hydration. This was a wonderful trip, ENJOY!!