Trip to Switzerland from London

The three of us heard so much of Swiss land - the sophisticated Swiss watches, Swiss chocolates and the majestic scenery of the Swiss alps and mountains. We wanted to see as much as possible with lowest cost without compromising too much of comforts. This is a summary of a 5-day trip to Switzerland in early January 2014 which included Geneva (6th-8th) and Zurich (8th-11th). The cost and activities may differ when travelling in different season of the year. 

Getting ready

Accommodation: 
Ibis Hotel at Geneva, 2 nights: CHF 340
Ibis Hotel at Zurich, 3 nights: CHF 360

Transportation:

Return flight tickets: £78/person (Easy Jet promotion, Gatwick Airport)

Public transportation in Geneva: Free for tourists! The free travel cards were provided by the hotel upon checkin.  You must be a hotel guest to be eligible for this card. Alternatively, a 1-day Geneva City pass for trams and train is CHF 9.

Train from Geneva to Zurich: CHF 82/person 

Public transportation in Zurich:  Zurich is bigger than Geneva and more to see. A single tram trip is CHF4.20. As we planned to hop on and off the trams several times a day, the 1-day city travel pass card for CHF 8.40 was more reasonable. Other options for the travel pass is The Zurich Card (CHF 24) valid within 24-hour  for trams, boats and train to the airport, 10% discounts at selected retails including souvenir shops, free entry for museums and train to Uetliberg hill top. 

Train from Zurich to Flumserberg (return day visit): CHF 52/person

Pocket money: 

Get some Suisse Franc (CHF) before reaching the airport. We got good exchange rate at  Bayswater (£1=CHF1.46). Rates offered at other places were Leicester Square (£1=1.41), St. Pancreas Station (£1=1.31) and the Gatwick Airport (£1=1.30). Some friends recommended money changers at Edgeware Road for better offers. We brought CHF300/person mainly to enjoy local food and to purchase attraction tickets (btw, a decent meal cost at least CHF10). We also brought £100 cash and activated credit cards in case of emergencies.

Luggage:

Easy Jet means only ONE hand luggage, and do take note that handbag/ rug sack is already considered as 1 bag. So, pack wisely.

The trip!

1) Day 1 (6/1/14): London to Geneva

We arrived at Geneva Airport at 1030am. The official language is French. The 2 hours flight from Gatwick was smooth and the weather was good. As we flew above Switzerland,  the mountain peaks covered in snow glittered under the sunshine. It was like 'Wow MasyaAllah..Beautiful!'

Where? Owh Grand du' Pre??

From Geneva Airport to the city center (Cornavin) was an easy 10minutes train. The train tickets were free from the ticket machine at the arrival hall and valid for 80 minutes inclusive of trams and buses in the city. So, we took the opportunity within this hour for the tram from the Cornavin station to Ibis hotel. We then learned that the hotel was just 5mins walking from the station. Anyway, the bags would have made it a tough walk up the hill. Then, after a quick check-in, the rest of day was spent exploring Geneva city by foot.

We purposely didn't use the public transport because the city was small and the weather was nice. We visited the The Old City and enjoyed Swiss Chocolates and drinks at the local cafes. The city was still in the mood of new year sale season so SOLDES..SOLDES everywhere!  Here are some of the photos.

The shopping street

One of the local cafes

Hot chocolate…yummy..MUST try!

Swiss chocolates! They are happy to inform
(when asked) the ones containing alcohol

One of the lanes in the Old City

Geneva at night

It was a pleasant walk around the city. Big clocks are almost at every corner of the city. The ones in the show cases were also wow..very sophisticatedly designed and expensive! We visited a few Swatch retails, they definetely  have more trendy designs than the ones in Oxford Street but price tags after conversion seems to be cheaper in London (Ooops!).

Day 2 (7/1/14): Mountain Blanc!

View from the peak

Mount Blanc is the highest mountain in the European union and the cable car to the peak is the highest vertical ascending cable car in the world! A must see they say and now we are echoeing the same 'A MUST SEE!' The view is so breathtaking and beautiful SubhanAllah. 

Mount Blanc is located in Chamonix, a small city in France at the border of Switzerland.  The cable car station to Mount Blanc is in Aiguille de Midi, Chamonix. The easiest and  fastest way to get there is approximately 1.5 hours journey by bus/coach.  We explored all possible options for the cheapest package. These are the standard options for the day trip package from Geneva to Mount Blanc:  

a) CHF 156/person: Return bus to Chamonix (CHF88) + Cable Car (CHF68). One of the best deal but during our visit, this package was only available in the weekends.

b) CHF 176/person: Return bus with tour guide to Chamonix (CHF111) + Cable Car (CHF68).  This package was offered daily, but it was abit expensive and the reviews from Trip Advisor was not satisfying.

So we worked out cheaper options and found out 2 other affordable choices. These options were available from the arrival hall at the airport using the airport transits to Aiguille de Midi and self purchase for the cable car ticket:

a) CHF 163/person: Airport transit coach to Chamonix (CHF95) + Cable car (CHF68). The coach took us straight to Aiguille de Midi cable car station.  We took this option because they offered a more frequent and flexible trip timetable. We departed at 1130 and booked return trip at 1800.

b) CHF 123/person: Airport transit coach to Chamonix (CHF55) + Cable car (CHF68). This was the cheapest option but the offered trip timetable was less flexible.

Scenery by the road side: Switzerland-France border

At Aiguille de Midi 

View from inside the cable car

1st stop

Final stop of the cable car. There is a lift to the peak

The peak

Some useful tips:

• Bring along your passport because you'll be crossing France border.
• Once you reach Chamonix, the currency is in Euro as it is part of France. Self-purchase of the cable care tickets is in Euro. 
• Have proper breakfast because you'll need the extra energy to cope with the excitement, the low temperature and higher altutitude level.  I personally felt dizzy and nauseated up there.
• Proper warm clothings. The cable car will stop at the the peak of 15671 ft above land, temperature of -5C and windy (this may be different in other seasons).
• Paracetamol and hot balm might be handy (just incase)
• Bring some own food like sandwhiches, snacks and drinks. However, there's a cafe and restaurant at the peak. We had a cup of hot chocolate each and shared a bowl of vege soup which cost a total of €18.
• Never pay cash to the coach/bus driver. All payments should only be made at the official counter for airport transit service.

Our day trip to Chamonix-Mount Blanc was a superb experience, and worth of every penny spent! We end the day with hot delicious meal at a Moroccan restaurant beside Ibis Hotel.

Day 3 (8/1/14) : Zurich!

Zurich is a 2 hour trip by train from Geneva Cornavin Station. We purchased the open train ticket and hopped on the non-stop journey straight to Zurich HB.  

Zurich

In Zurich the spoken language is German. Our best recommendation is to drop by the Tourist Information Centre (inside Zurich HB train station) for maps, list of attractions and discounts offers for tourists. The officers at the centre speak good English, friendly and very helpful!

We checked in Ibis Hotel at Techno park (pronounced as Tekhno Pak in German). The rest of the day was spent touring the city, understanding the tram routes, window shopping and  brisk walking by the river until sunset. The scenery was even more beautiful towards the evening...the night lights made the city looked like a fairy-tale city.

The river in the city!

A view of the Geneva Lake from the train to Zurich.

The view when the train passed Geneva Lake was

awesome! There is a 5 hours panoramic train 

that goes along the lake and pass by 

Montreaux, the country side.

As usual, maps and maps again

Along the Od City lanes

The Old City lanes

Zurich during sun set

We covered the city using the 1-day pass (CHF 8.40) and had dinner at a kebab shop near the hotel for CHF 10. Then we did some food shopping at the local grocery store 'COOP'. We have plenty of Maggi instant noodles and 3 in 1 Milo drinks :P

Day 4 (9/1/14): Day trip to Flumserberg from Zurich

Flumserberg is a 2hr train from Zurich city. It is a mountain area outside Zurich city, famous for winter sports e.g. ski, snow boarding and skating to name a few. From Zurich HB station, we exchanged at Ziegelbrucke to Unterterzen. Unterterzen is a few stops before Flums. It has the cable car station to the mountains. There are also buses to the top available at other stops, but we did not explore this option.

From Zurich HB to Ziegelbrucke

From Ziegelbrucke to Unterterzen

A view at Walensee Resort

When we exited the Unterterzen train station, we found ourselves surrounded by beautiful mountains and a big lake. WoW!! This is also part of Resort Walensee - a ski resort that also offers facilities to rent/sell ski equipments.

Excited faces

The cost for renting the ski equipments, ski instructor, the cable car to the skiing ground and the ski pass to the skiing area would add up to approximately CHF 100+/ person. That was about the balance we had for another day at Zurich LoL! So, skiing was out of the picture. Plus we were not confident enough to ski down from 2000m 'OMG'! However,  we manage to figure out other fun stuff to do - return trip cable car to Mountain Maschgenkamm at 2020m and experienced hot coffee surrounded by the scenic white mountain tops and skiers! Then, from there we rode back to Chruz and experience the 20 mins return lift. The lift was so much fun because it was like an open air chair up the mountain, Best Giler! All that for less than CHF 60.  

Flumserberg lower ground from the cable car

Maschgenkamm Mountain, 2020m

Steadyyy..careful, don't roll over. 10sec selfie

Hot coffee and chocolate cake on the mountain top
taste like extra caffeine and endorphin

The lift!!

One leg missing...hahaha!

We came down to the lower land feeling exhausted but very satisfied. A solid 4 hours well spent indeed!! At the Zurich HB station, before heading back to the hotel, we dropped by the Tourist Centre to purchase the Zurich Card (CHF 24) -  24hr travel ticket for the next day. As previously mentioned, this travel pass once activated is valid for 24hrs and covers all public transport within Zurich City including the boat, the train to the Uetliberg Hill, the airport, free pass to museums and 10% discounts at the souvenir shops and selected eateries. 

Day 5 (10/1/14): Uetliberg Hill, Museum and Local Food

A rainy day but we still wanted to make full use of the Zurich Card and maximise the last day here. We activated our Zurich Card at approximately 10am (this can be done by stamping the card at the ticket machines available at any tram stations, and valid for 24hrs). Despite of the non-stop rain, we visited the Uetliberg Hill, the National Swiss Museum, tasted local food, hunt for affordable souvenirs and Swiss Chocolates :)

Checking for weather forecast by the hour, what else
are free, where else to visit?? 

Train to Uetliberg Hill, 824m - the highest top of
Zurich city

What the eyes captured in the 10 mins walk to
the top of the hill

A view from the tower at Uetliberg

The Swiss Alps

Switzerland National Museum

Lunch at a local cafe

Enjoying Movenpick Ice-cream.
"This is soo good, never mind the camera"

Hmmm Yummm :)

Korek..Korek
Counting to the last Franc

Yippieee!!

In conclusion, Switzerland is so worth visiting. It is a beautiful country that I wished my eyes can capture pictures. How amazing Allah created this world, how magnificent the mountains are and how beautiful are Allah's creation SubhnaAllah. A good start for a new year! I hope more trips will follow soon, InsyaAllah ;)

Day 6 (11/1/14): Back to London

Okayyy that was a fun trip! Back to the thesis, assignments, publication articles and Yawwnnnnn all the etc that matters. Thanks for reading. I hope this entry would give some ideas for your trip to Switzerland!