Switzerland 2019

People see Switzerland as a bucket list destination. It is a once in a lifetime experience. In the summer I agree with the masses, but how about in the winter? Yes it can be! We went to Switzerland during Christmas time from December 21-24. Rain was projected and it did rain, lots of rain. But that didn't damper the mood. The amount this country has to offer is infinite. Its beauty is endless, but you already knew that. I believe you have to go to Switzerland multiple times to experience its beauty. By multiple times, one time for fall, one time for winter, and one time for summer.

All of that sugar comes at a price. Switzerland is very expensive, break your wallet expensive.

December 21-24, 2019

We stayed in Zürich during our time in Switzerland at the Novel Hotel at Glattpark. We are Novel Hotel veterans. Quick rant though, the Novel Hotel at Glattpark in Switzerland does not have the greatest hotel rooms. It is not cleaned very well, customer service can be spotty at times (good overall), and there's not a great atmosphere feel, more like a business atmosphere. But it has wifi and comfortable beds. There is a fitness gym with water (this is important in Europe since there is a lack of water fountains here). Zürich come to find out had water fountains.

The way Zürich is set up, the airport is about 30-40 minutes from city center. We stayed in the middle between the train station and airport. There is a rail system, a tram that goes between the airport and city center. Switzerland has a reputation of having a great public transportation system. After experiencing it, the public transportation is amazing! It is in such great harmony. You don't wait long for a ride, it is easy to purchase tickets, and the transportation monitors are simple to read.

Zürich was our homebase. I chose Zürich because the hotels are cheaper, about 1/2 the price of the resort town of Interlaken. I figured this would compensate the high prices of the resort hotels of Interlaken. To a certain extent it did. The hardest decision for me was whether to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass. The cost was 232 CHF (Swiss Franks) per person for 3 days. Initially, I thought Jared and Malia were free, but I did not comprehend the description of the child rate on their website. In Germany, children travel for free. After reading the description of the Swiss Travel pass it read 6-16 so I thought Malia was covered. But it meant 6 years up to 16 years. Since Malia turned 16 a few days ago and is now 16 years and 2 days old, we had to pay the adult rate. That added another 232 CHF, which was okay since it was my mistake for not knowing. In hindsight, the Swiss Travel Pass only works if you take the cable cars up to the top of the mountain because those are the priciest modes of transportation. The cable prices are expensive and the Swiss Travel Pass offers a reduced price or in the case of the Schilthorn and Rigi, free. The problem was that the Schilthorn and Rigi were both closed due to bad weather. After crunching the numbers, I think it evened out. I didn't lose money nor did we save money.

Total cost of our trip $2145 for 4 days and 3 nights included everything hotel, transportation, food, & fun.