Switzerland

Date of visit: Oct 13 2007
Major Places visited: Basel,Jungfro, Geneva, Lausanne,and Zurich
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/paresh.redkar/Switzerland


Visiting Switzerland has always been my dream destination and I just full filled it this month. Lufthansa has a offer called Peace offer where if you fly certain distace you can avail a free round trip to certain countries in Europe, by paying only the airport taxes. I had flown to Canada on business and naturally I took up this as an opportunity to visit my dream destination. I am not sure which all countries you can visit, but try finding the Peace Offer from Lufthansa. To get to the country you will obviously need a visa which is very easy to get and you will get in 2 days. Give your passport, duly filled form, one picture of yourself, itinerary, a proof of employment or invitation letter from your friend or whoever and a credit card photocopy. You can either fly Zurich or Geneva or Basel. I flew to Basel. Basel is in France and the airport has exits to France Germany and Switzerland. You need not get any other visa

if you are traveling to Switzerland. Once in Switzerland it is better to get a traveling pass from the railway/bus station. The cost is 244 Swiss Francs and with that you can travel all over Switzerland via bus/train. This pass is valid for 3 days only and you can decide the dates of your travel. I visited Zurich on the day I landed. Switzerland is not a cosmopolitan country and all the cities are not really cities, I would call them towns compared to what you have seen in Toronto and New York. The tallest building is I think 10 -15 floors. Small compared to Arista. Zurich is a small city, with lots of shops. I reached in the evening and roamed the streets. There is a nice cobbled street where you will find lots of restaurants servings a huge variety of food. We tried Fondue and Wine. I would suggest you taste it, but make sure you ask the waiter not to put alcohol in it. It’s very bitter with the brandy and cheery wine that they put in it. Next day we visited Jungfrau. This is a snow capped mountain and the highest peak you can reach in Europe. Its very beautiful and a must visit place. You will need to take an extra train pass to reach this place. The cost was 79 francs for me, just because I had the other pass. Otherwise it’s double. Once there, you can see the beautiful scenery as the train passes by the mountains. The train will stop at two spots before reaching the top. These are site seeing spots. Once on the top, there is a huge building which houses restaurants, lookout points, souvenir shops, and ice palace. You can walk on the ice and go for a trek on the ice there. Our next day stop was Grindelwald. Nice small town overlooking the Alps. Next day stop was Geneva to see the UN and Red Cross. After that came the Olympic capital town, Lausanne. Check out the Olympic museum there. The town is very nice also. You can walk along the banks of Lake Geneva. Nice place Switzerland… try and go there once in lifetime. It’s expensive to eat, stay and travel in Switzerland. I would say will require at least 500 Swiss francs. Plan well and go and you will enjoy your stay there.