Aboutjudith nappo Expertise I've been living in and travelling in Switzerland for over 20 years. If there is anything I personally don't know about, I have a collection of resources to help get the answers, ie for trekking or outdoor activities.
Experience personal travel in luxury hotels and restaurants and shopping
ski resorts and city destinations
off the beaten path destinations
connection to other infos
Publications Private magazines: Badrutt's Palace Hotel, Park Hyatt Hotel
Expert: judith nappo Date: 7/10/2008 Subject: SWISS TOUR
Question QUESTION: I am planning a trip some time next year to Switzerland with my wife and another couple. We will be arriving at Zurich from Newark NJ ,USA. From Zurich we will take a train to interlaken.We plan to stay there 3 nights and are thinking to visit Mt. Titlis, Jungfronoch( spelling?). From there we want to go to Zermatt for 2 nights. After that we want to proceed to Venice & Rome. The question I have is what kind of Rail passes you suggest so that they are utilized to maximum. I was thinking about swiss saverpass for a 4 day period and pay the fare from Zermatt to Visp and then buy Rail europe pass for Visp to Venice and venice to Roma Termini. Also I need suggestion regarding Hotels (decent ones) or bed and breakfast places that are comparable. Any suggestion will be welcomed with thanks.
ANSWER: Hello! Sounds like a wonderful plan!
What time of the year will you be travelling?
I will find out the info re rail passes. I'm not really "up" on them so will need to investigate.
Can you give me a hint on your hotel budget please. My repetoire is kind of high-end, but Switzerland is full of great small hotel choices and b&b of course too.
I'm putting together a trip to Venice and Rome for someone else so will get back with you asap on the hotel suggestions for those locations too.
Will be back with you after the weekend on everything, based on your answers...
Have a great day. Judith
PS where are you in NJ?? I used to live in Ft.Lee many years ago...and the whole rest of my italian relatives are down the shore...
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QUESTION: We are in North Brunswick. Used to live in North Bergen before ( very close to Ft. Lee ). We are planning to go in the month of July '09. I had visited Switzerland a couple of years back and had been to Lucerne, Interlaken, Montreux and Geneva. We went to Mt. Pilatus, Junjfraunoch top(ice palace) etc. This time another couple wants to go with us. So we will be repeating a portion of our trip. Last time we stayed at Hotel Abassador in Lucerne, Metropole in Interlaken, Eau De Eden Palace?? in montreux( on lake Geneva)and Movenpick in Geneva. The budget is about $200/day. I realise the things may have gone up and still there is a year left. We are bouncing the ideas. We have been to Venice( stayed at Savoia & Jolanda),Florence(hotel Brunleschi sp??) and Rome (Radisson SAS..near Rail Termini)
Answer Hi, it's me again
Just thought to pass this on - the www.MySwitzerland.com site offers lots of help and interesting tips and is run by the Swiss Gov Tourism Board.
Re travelling from Zermatt to Venice, found a couple of suggestions for à la carte travel.
1) go Zermatt to Brig 1 hr 15 min travel -DO NOT STOP at Visp it is better to catch the train in Brig. Brig to Milano Centrale 2 hr 10 min travel. Milano Centrale Venezia-S Lucia 3 hrs travel.
2) from Zermatt to Venice via Stresa. schedules for trains from Zermatt to Stresa at sbb.ch/en. ie leave Zermatt at 8:30A and be in Stresa about 11:30-11:45 including an hour wait at Brig.
HOWEVER, it may be easier to change itinerary to first do Italy from Zurich. Then Interlaken and Zermatt from ZH again and back to fly out of ZH. SBB Travel has also packages including the train travel from Zurich- Venice-Rome-Zurich, the hotel accomodation in Venice and Rome, the Venice and Rome pass for roaming inside Venice and Rome. Zurich-Rome Cisalpino train, switch in Bologna to Venice early in the morning by 5 am, in Venice by 08.32 a.m. Hotel Santa Chiarra,centrally located. Venice-Rome Eurostar ca. 5 hours journey.
Or check this out at http://www.venice-stmoritz.com/en/tour/overview/index.html:
In combination with the railway "classic", the Glacier Express, it is now possible to visit Venice, St. Moritz and Zermatt with the Matterhorn in a mere 2 to 3 days - all on one and the same journey. The route is destined to become a "must" for all culture and history buffs, leading as it does to a unique cluster of world-famous UNESCO World Cultural Heritage properties. Travelers will pass by no less than 7 of them - Venice, Padova, Vicenza, Verona, Müstair, the Albula/Bernina railway route and the Aletsch Glacier. Plus the Swiss National Park in the Engadin - the only one in Switzerland, and the oldest one in Europe.
I write for the Passport Newsletter (www.passportnewsletter.com) which is an excellent source of first-hand hotel and restaurant and travel recommendations for the luxury traveller and checked their hotel recommendations.
Rome: www.villalaetitia.com (owned by the Fendi Sisters), http://borromeo.hotelinroma.com (smaller traditional property), www.exedra.boscolohotels.com (beautiful place with special prices for advanced bookings)
Well, hope this all helps you guys plan a wonderful trip!
If you need anything else pls let me know
All the best - Judith
Hi again!
Wow as they say the world is small. I went to NB High but that was a looong time ago.
Thanks for the infos you provided.
Jungfraujoch is accessed from Interlaken and as you know is wonderful. you may know this, but Titlis is in Engelberg and takes twice as long to get there from Interlaken as it does to get to it from Lucerne.
The Metropole Interlaken room rates are quoted over CHF 330
Another suggestion might be the authentic Hotel Swiss Chalet is owned and run by the Family Klopfer. This very pretty Chalet Hotel offers great views to the famous Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains and a warm welcome of their friendly staff. Rooms around CHF 220 incl breakfast and tax.
Maybe you'd like to check out this hotel (B/B) in Zermatt - it looks very sweet and is reasonable and there are some Summer packages including Peak Passes you can inquire about...http://www.hotel-allalin.ch/english/gesamt_e.htm
Regarding the train travel in Switzerland, have you checked this site? http://www.magicswitzerland.com/train_travel.htm
they seem to be specialists in this area. they may even have a good solution for the Venice/Rome leg, esp. if you are flying out of ZH on the way home...
If they are not of any help, please don't hesitate to get back to me again...
Will be back again with hotel recs for Venice and Rome...
