[Rudz]

Hey guys going down to Switzerland on a short trip (4 days) in March, I've seen some fab pics on the forum from people having been there recently, could I please ask for some advise

- should I hire a car or get a Swiss pass, I've heard both sides, trains are hassle free but cars are convenient, If I did hire a car, I'd probably still have to pay for the trains to get up to Jungfraujoch, the scenic alpine train routes etc?

- is Lucern a good place to set Base? I am mainly interested in the scenery of the Alps

- with the above in mind are there any
mist see places you would recommend, I've got the usuals like jungfraujoch, titlis etc

- I want to do the furka pass, has anyone been?

- any other travel tips? I am travelling on a budget any help I could get would be greatly appreciated

- oh and how is the weather like in March?

[gangzoom]

The Switerzerland alps is officially my favourite destination anywhere in the world!!…and it’s so close to the UK.

Things aren’t cheap, but no more expensive than London. It's also relatively quite even in tourist season its a relaxed place. The train service looked pretty good, there were railway tracks everywhere, even in the middle of a mountain!! But a car is by far the quickest way to travel.

The Klaussen pass is also suppose to be amazing, I’m going to see if we can do that this summer. You could easily fly into Zurich, hire a car, drive down lake Zurich, take the Kalussen, than susten pass, past interlken, and up to Bern, than train it back to Zurich. Pick and choose where to stop/sleep over along the way, any where on that route will be amazing.

The Grimsel, Furka, Susten, and Via Alpsu/Oberalp pass are with-in a 1hr hour drive from each other. If you base your self out of Meiringen you can do a 100km loop taking in Grimsel, Furka, Susten.

Regarding the glaciers, the ones in Newzeland were more impressive (but thats a 24hr flight away), and if you haven’t been on a glacier trek before its worth doing. As far as I’m aware all the glaciers around the world are shrinking, so who knows in 10-15 years there might be much to see, so its worth doing before it goes.



http://www.interlaken.ch/en/activiti...nterlaken.html

Mount Titlis is worth a visit, easy to get to from Zurich, very touristy/cheesy but good, just note you may get altitude sickness, both me and the wife had some after been up there for 2hrs.



The Grimesel funicular is worth a visit, again all in the region, one of the steepest railways in the world. Go on a cloudy day, and you will know what God eye view looks like

http://www.grimselwelt.ch/grimsel-ex...mer-funicular/



But the star attractions are the roads and the mountains...











Infact by typing this I think I’ve just planned our summer holiday this year

BUT as you can see from the photos, these are twisty roads on the side of mountains with limited crash protection, so ALL the Alpine passes are closed off in the winter, and looking at most websites the passes don't open till late May to early JUNE!! So if your going in March, than your only way round will be by train, even than, I'm not sure which route will be running....Weather on Furka pass is currently -3 to -7, so even if you got there some how, not sure how much you could actually see

[mob17]

Nice post gangzoom.

I went to the grimsel past was so nice. Those pics brings back memories!

[Rudz]

Hey gangzoom just the information I was looking for

😕😕I am gutted that the high mountain passes are closed in winter, no point renting out a car now * I am not even sure if the panoramic train journeys run this time of the year, wrong time to be visiting it appears, back to the drawing board

Great pics tho mate, what lovely roads, was the twisty bits in the Furka pass? I will have to go back in the summer, did u find it difficult with the RHD? I can't imagine being stuck behind a tractor on a country road not knowing what's ahead...

[doughboy]

Great post gangzoom, brings back memories. I lived / worked in CH for 6 months a few years back, near Baden. Most beautiful country in the world IMO.

There's a Swiss drive map in Evo mag this month. Again he says leave it till late June.

Did a motorbike trip in late May, and even then a lot of passes were shut.

[zltm089]

amazing pics!!!

[gangzoom]

We've been lucky enough to go to some amazing places in the world, but Switzerland is by far the most beautifully place we've visited. I cannot believe it's not better known for its tourism. When you cross the channel for the first 1-2 hour of driving there's GB cars everywhere, but by the time you hit the Swiss boarder nothing. Infact I only saw one other GB plated car in the whole time we were in Switzerland.



Your get use to driving on the otherside with-in 30 min or so. Traffic on the Swiss alps are light, there's decent M ways around/through the mountains so all the lorries etc go those routes, there's also no farms so no tractors . The drive through the alps actually saved the 335 from been possibly px, just prior to the trip there was a few mechanical issues, and I was quite ready to traded it in for something more reliable....but the 335 performed so amazingly well on the trip I now don't think I'll ever sell it

The most disappointing pass was actually Stelveo. Made far too famous by TopGear. A poorly surface road with this things like this coming down it...


and crazies like this going up in I think roller blades....


But Stelveo is in Italy, so doesn't count...Switzerland, the most beautiful place in world? It gets my vote

This is photo was taken at about 1300m, roughly the same height as the peak of Ben Nevis.

[AlanQS]

If the passes are closed, Grindelvald is a good place to go as is Interlaken. We based ourselves in Spiez which was good for the passes as well, being a few miles down Lake Thun from Interlaken. Some nice wee hotels in the area.

IIRC along from Grindelvald are a huge set of caves which are quite amazing and, allegedly there are some runways cut into the sides of a mountain for Swiss defence. If true, I'd like to see how the 'planes launch.

[Rudz]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

If the passes are closed, Grindelvald is a good place to go as is Interlaken. We based ourselves in Spiez which was good for the passes as well, being a few miles down Lake Thun from Interlaken. Some nice wee hotels in the area.

IIRC along from Grindelvald are a huge set of caves which are quite amazing and, allegedly there are some runways cut into the sides of a mountain for Swiss defence. If true, I'd like to see how the 'planes launch.

Have decided to take the trains, shame really, will have to go back for a road trip in the summer for sure, I would love to drive my 335i on those passes but am worried about driving the other side of the road, never done it before, so will probably rent a car from Zurich

So after hours on the Internet my plan is

DAY 1 - Take the Bernina Express from Chur, it is apparently the best of the panoramic trains in Switzerland, offering stunning landscapes and vista's, then stay over at Luzerne

DAY 2 - From Luzerne do a trip of Mt. Titlis, do the boat ride on Lake Luzerne, see the old town and head to Interlaken

DAY 3 - go to Jungfraujoch, apparently the best mountain top to go to in Switzerland, seen pics looks amazing

DAY 4 - check out of hotel at Interlaken, possibly hire a car (****any advice on car rentals, being quoted £225 for a days rental of an automatic mini car, this is for picking it up at interlaken and dropping it off at Zurich airport 😕😕😕) then drive out to Trummellbach, Rhine falls etc and then fly back to Gatwick

Let me know what u think guys

Amazing suggestions so far, thanks a lot for taking time 😊😊😊à °ÂŸÂ˜ÂŠÃ°ÂŸÂ˜ÂŠ

[gangzoom]

Glad your going by train, we want to do that too!!

As regards to driving there really are no problems with having RHD. The actual passes are very light on traffic, and we got from Calais to Bern in 7 hrs.

Never have driven in Europe before either, the 335 was built for these kind of road trips. If your get the opportunity to go in the summer I would 100% recommend taking the 335 .

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

I cannot believe it's not better known for its tourism. When you cross the channel for the first 1-2 hour of driving there's GB cars everywhere, but by the time you hit the Swiss boarder nothing. Infact I only saw one other GB plated car in the whole time we were in Switzerland.

Shhhh. don't tell everyone or it will end up like Clacton-on-the-Med in France.

Alpine Europe is an amazing place, forget beaches and all that crap get out into the hills and countryside, thankfully most brits do go to the beach which means less of em in the hills.

My folks went by train last year, loved it. On those panoramic-glass-roof trains, awesome!

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Shhhh. don't tell everyone or it will end up like Clacton-on-the-Med in France.

Alpine Europe is an amazing place, forget beaches and all that crap get out into the hills and countryside, thankfully most brits do go to the beach which means less of em in the hills.

My folks went by train last year, loved it. On those panoramic-glass-roof trains, awesome!

LoL I know what you mean, the locals clearly know their fast BMWs, I had more than a few locals come up and give me the thumbs up on the car...My wife had no idea what that was all about

The only GB plated car we across in 4-5 days of driving in the Alps was this...We came across it a few times on a some the passes, sounded sublime

[jazz5000]

Sorry to bump a old thread

Going to the Geneva Motor show next week and wondered if there was anything close by thats worth a look?

Will only have one day free to go touring.

[mjn77]

Jura Mountains ain't far, neither is the Great St. Bernard pass. I did a day drive round Lake Geneva, which was awesome.

[DriverLDN]

Originally Posted by jazz5000

Sorry to bump a old thread

Going to the Geneva Motor show next week and wondered if there was anything close by thats worth a look?

Will only have one day free to go touring.

Snap, we're off to the Geneva Motorshow too next Saturday, can't wait!

[mjn77]

Take plenty of Swiss Francs!

Here is last year's price list.....

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by jazz5000

Sorry to bump a old thread

Going to the Geneva Motor show next week and wondered if there was anything close by thats worth a look?

Will only have one day free to go touring.

I think most if not all the Alpine pass are closed over the winter, and don't reopen till the summer. The Motor show should be good though.

[mjn77]

You can use this website to see what mountain passes are open;

http://www.adac.de/reise_freizeit/ve...FAATysTAGAL__#

[BOBE90]

Originally Posted by Rudz

Have decided to take the trains, shame really, will have to go back for a road trip in the summer for sure, I would love to drive my 335i on those passes but am worried about driving the other side of the road, never done it before, so will probably rent a car from Zurich

So after hours on the Internet my plan is

DAY 1 - Take the Bernina Express from Chur, it is apparently the best of the panoramic trains in Switzerland, offering stunning landscapes and vista's, then stay over at Luzerne

DAY 2 - From Luzerne do a trip of Mt. Titlis, do the boat ride on Lake Luzerne, see the old town and head to Interlaken

DAY 3 - go to Jungfraujoch, apparently the best mountain top to go to in Switzerland, seen pics looks amazing

DAY 4 - check out of hotel at Interlaken, possibly hire a car (****any advice on car rentals, being quoted £225 for a days rental of an automatic mini car, this is for picking it up at interlaken and dropping it off at Zurich airport 😕😕😕) then drive out to Trummellbach, Rhine falls etc and then fly back to Gatwick

Let me know what u think guys

Amazing suggestions so far, thanks a lot for taking time 😊😊😊à °ÂŸÂ˜ÂŠÃ°ÂŸÂ˜ÂŠ

Me and wife were there a few years back, we bought swiss passes here before travelling.Saved a fortune on train,boat and chairlift fares including 50% off the fantastic Jungfruejoch train.Would love to go back.

[jazz5000]

Thanks for the info

Will be going by plane so will either rent a car out there or use the local bus's etc

[Craig242]

Originally Posted by jazz5000

Thanks for the info

Will be going by plane so will either rent a car out there or use the local bus's etc

Does anyone know any good websites for renting a decent car to drive round the passes?

I plan to fly to Zurich then rent something like a 4 series convertible or similar for 2 days.