Mother-Daughter Trip to Switzerland (Plus Swiss Travel Tips!)

Kim and her daughter Mia just got back from a mother-daughter trip to Switzerland. They celebrated her high school graduation with a grad trip and since Mia loves mountains and she was already going to be in France with a school trip, Switzerland was her top choice!

They visited Geneva, Zermatt and the Jungfrau Region because they really wanted to focus on the mountains. Altogether they spent eight nights in Switzerland and they moved around a lot. The itinerary included:

• 1 night in Geneva
• 2 nights in Zermatt to see the Matterhorn
• 2 nights in Grindelwald
• 2 nights in Wengen
• 2 nights in Lucerne

If you are going to Switzerland and you really want to spend time in the mountains, skip Geneva and Lucerne and focus more on the smaller towns, not the cities. Their favorite town was Zermatt for hiking and also wine tasting.

Grindelwald was the other favorite because of the hotel and the view of Eiger.

Some of the activities included:

• Visit the old town in the cities (e.g. Geneva)
• Hiking (which are harder than you might expect even on trails described as easy, use Google Maps to see elevation, buy or bring hiking poles if you can and are checking a bag)
• Cable cars (which are pricey)
• Matterhorn Glacier (you can also ski even in the summer)
• Alpine slides / mountain coaster / ziplines

The train is a great way to get around the country and if you use a Swiss Rail Pass you also get transportation on some of the cable cars (but not all). It makes it very easy because you don’t need to worry about buying tickets. First class will give you more seating options and it is less crowded so it is quieter. It is hard to use the trains if you have large luggage as some of the trains are more for locals/commuters. Try to pack light if you can or use a luggage forwarding service.

It is better to stay longer in each destination as you spend a lot of time transiting up and down the mountains via train/cable car. Basing yourself in Murren or other smaller towns ends up with a lot of time waiting for transportation. It makes more sense to stay in Grindelwald, Interlaken, or Lauterbrunnen.

When planning a trip, be sure to plan at least six to nine months in advance if you want to stay in town and at the better hotels. Also, when considering different hotels, the hospitality is wonderful but look closely at the amenities that are offered. Most don’t have air conditioning but it wasn’t needed in the mountains. Some hotels have screens on the windows but not all and there are a lot of flies and some mosquitoes.

Keep in mind that shops close early (6-7 pm) and that busses also stop running by 7:00 pm in small towns. Hotels and meals are very expensive in Switzerland, especially now that the dollar is weak against the CHF and Euro. Main entrees are 30-50 CHF per person, salads 12-19 CHF, and beer was cheap but wine was expensive. To save money, you can buy wine or beer at the grocery store to enjoy before you go out. Drink sizes are also very small.

The food is a lot of fondue, cheese, pasta, raclette, and chocolate. Other regions might have more regional specialties. Otherwise there are a lot of burgers and international cuisine. If you do have allergies, there are a lot of peanuts and other nuts being served as a snack or included in dishes.

Credit cards can be used almost everywhere. In all the tourist areas, everyone spoke English. They were less accommodating in the city or non-tourist establishment.

Be sure to pack and wear sunscreen. It is hard to find places to refill a water bottle so you may want to carry your own snacks and drinks.