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Sam28 St Moritz Switzerland kosher Grand Hotel Kempinski
Yehudaa - 18-hour Zurich stopover


Kosher food list 2022

Zurich
HOTELS
-The Park Hyatt is fantastic and a 10 minute walk to shul.
Tram stop: Stockerstrasse

RESTAURANTS

Meat:

Florentin - Located inside he JCC https://florentin.rest/
Tram stop: Bahnhof Enge

Grill Cave

Food truck. Check website for opening hours. Burgers, sandwiches, hot dogs etc.
https://www.thegrillcave.co/


Milk/Parve:

Babi's Bagels (Bederstrasse corner Klopstockstrasse 8002 Zürich) Tram Stop "Waffenplatzstrasse"

Bakery:
Ma'Adan Bakery
Manessestrasse/Schimmelstrasse
Has delicious pastries and also sells sandwiches, salads, and some sushi.

Butcher:
Metzgerei Kol Tuv

Can preorder for pickup.
Can also deliver throughout Switzerland by post.
See website for details.

https://www.koltuv.ch/en

Shabbos Takeout:
Oneg Shabbos.

Can usually ship throughout Switzerland (through the post, obviously packaging may be difficult and items can leak).

They come up every Friday in season to Davos and can purchase in the shul. Usually at Schiaweg.

Email is Oinegshabbes@gmail.com.

ATTRACTIONS
-Walk around the lake area
-Bahnhofstrasse window shopping
-Take a train to Lucerne and buy the golden ticket, included a boat ride on Lake Lucerne, cogwheel train and tram. Then take bus back to Lucerne
-When you arrive in Lucerne you can go to the tourist office to see a live view from Mount Pilatus (Or you can check online). If it's cloudy skip the cogwheel train and just take a nice boatride and explore the town, ancient bridges, and walk on top of the old city fortress walls.




Options in the Alps

Arosa: Metropol Hotel - quaint little old hotel. Not very fancy - it's like honeymooning in your grandmother's house (HT: Mrs. Moishebatchy). The food is very basic, but delicious. Mikva on premises. If skiing is your thing, the have an agreement with one of the ski places (Härtner) not to charge Metropol customers for ski rentals over Shabbos.


Need a meal on shabbes, please PM me (Chuchem). I live 15 minute walk from the hyatt, close to chabad. Zürich has no eiruv!

Major Attractions
“Please edit the wiki to add more attractions”

Central Switzerland
-Lucerne, Pilatus Offers: Cogwheel, Gondolas, Alpine Sliding, Mini Zip-line and fun area
-Titlis Offers: Gondolas, Snow Tubing, Trutti Bikes, Ice Museum, Row Boating
-Brunni Offers: Gondolas, Alpine Sliding, Stroll in Lake(!)

Jungfrau Region
-Jungfrau/jungfraujoch Click here for the Kosher hotel in Wengen / 360-degree panorama of Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe
-Grindelwald Offers: Gondolas, mega Zip-line, Trutti Bikes

Eastern Switzerland
-St. Moritz
Davos / Klosters
Arosa Click here for the Kosher Levins hotel

Southern Switzerland
-Zermatt - "Matterhorn"
-Saas-Fee Offers: Gondolas, Alpine Sliding, Mega Zip-line, Trotti Bikes, (Saas-Grund has Monster Trotteres) and on top of "Allalin" you can go Snow Tubing and Skiing even in the summer!
-Crans Montana You can email the Kosher hotel in Crans Montana Hotelmk@gmail.com  or call them at 0032485640498 or 003233011600


HalbTax Pass

A HalbTax pass (or Half Fare card) is a card designated for tourists and not for Swiss residents (officially...). The card gives you half price on all public transportation like buses, trains, trams, boats and also on "most" cable cars (attractions). There are basically 4 kinds.

1) An annual pass, the price is currently 175 francs. If i remember correctly it has a photo ID of the recipient, so double check before sharing it.
Click here for the annual pass

2) A 30 day pass, the price is currently 120 francs, it does not have a photo ID on it.
Click here or here for the 30 day pass

3) - Recommended for frequent traveling Swiss Travel Pass - you prepay a set amount per day and get unlimited for that day (plus "optional" for a fee, for 1 month including the days you chose, it is a HalbTax, even on the prepaid free days, it's only free for all transportation, on cable cars you only get half off). The price per day depends on how many days you prepay, for example if you prepay 8 days, the price per day will be about 53 francs, if you prepay 3 days the price per day will be about 73 francs. If you are 25 y/o or younger, you can get the Youth Pass which is cheaper - If you prepay 8 days  the price per day will be about 40 francs a day, if you prepay 3 days the price per day will be about 62 francs.
Click here (or here) for the prepaid pass

The card comes with a few days “you could chose your dates later”, officially when you want to use a certain day for the free day you should fill in on the pass that date, and when the first conductor comes he punches that day, but technically you can leave the date blank until the conductor comes, that way you have a chance if no conductor asks you for your card (happens quite often) you can save it for the next day :)

4) Swiss Transfer Ticket" This card costs 141 francs and is valid for 2 trips from and to the boarder or airport, for example you are traveling from the airport to Arosa and are not planning to go anywhere else or take any other transportation, with this card you will effectively pay 71 francs per way. This card is only valid for trips to and from the airport or boarder and no (long) stops allowed. Technically if you will travel one more day, the Swiss travel pass mentioned above will probably be cheaper.

Make sure to order your pass a few weeks before leaving, it takes about 1-3 weeks for the pass to arrive. But you can always buy it in the Airport, though you might have to wait in line and also if you want to buy the Youth pass (for 25 y/o or younger) they might ask you for proof...

There is also a family pass if you travel with a large family, I am not familiar with that.


Fast Baggage
There is a service via SBB, They deliver your luggage for you!! For example you are traveling from ZRH to Arosa, you don't want to be busy Shlepping around your luggage, You can check in your luggage in the airport and they (SBB) will deliver it to the train station in Arosa. This service is available "from and to" most train stations in Switzerland. You can ask about the Fast Baggage by any train station or read here or here

You can even buy a tag that you put on the luggage before checking in your luggage in any airport (i.e. JFK) and Rail Europe will take your luggage from the airplane in Switzerland and deliver it either to your hotel or to the train station in the city you're going to.  Read about Flight Luggage Here




PS. When doing research and getting to a website in German, just add /en (after .ch) to translate to English.
And Hey, Don't forget to write a TR ;)

Sample Itinerary for 9 hour stopover on Swiss flight from TLV to U.S. that lands at 810 and takes off around 5
Copied from @cholent:
Here it is: landed in zrh, crazy line for entering country but moved pretty quickly, about half an hour. Picked up sim in the airport. Rented car through Priceline from europecar. Drove to Titlis, stunning scenery along drive. Missed a turnoff because I couldn't get Waze to talk and I was trying to do some stuff online while we were driving, added half an hour to get there, but the stunning scenery made it worthwhile. Got there, parked, you pay at the entrance if you're going to park for more than an hour. Paid, took the cable car. Got off at there halfway station by mistake, gorgeous lake. Went back on and back up to the top. It was somewhat cloudy which was a pity. Suspension bridge was fun but no view because of the clouds. Took the ice flyer to the other peak, then went sledding down the hill, lots of fun. No tubing because there wasn't enough snow. We didn't have enough time for the ice cave because of the extra time driving there and we weren't sure where it was anyway. Made some new Israeli friends and took the cable car down with them. Got back to the airport, returning the car took less than five minutes, getting through the airport took a little longer so we didn't have time for showers at the lounge. It was amazing all around, I would definitely recommend

« Last edited by yelped on June 28, 2024, 06:43:20 PM »

Author Topic: Switzerland Master Thread  (Read 788231 times)

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3040 on: February 01, 2025, 03:00:05 PM »
Does anyone know any information about a Kosher Hotel stay for SHABBOS during the watches and wonders fair in April 2025. Specifically. April 4-5.

I am looking for a hotel with Minyomin, Friday night meals etc during the week of the show. Please advise on hotel names or organizations I can contact to acquire.

You can send a mail to Cresta Hotel in Davos or Levin in Arosa asking if they're open that week.
Or you can rent an appartment in Zürich, with kosher kitchen, next to Schul and order food for the Shabbos meals.

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3041 on: February 01, 2025, 08:54:25 PM »
Lots of hotels close in the Alps during the off season.
Does off season mean the alps are not nearly as nice? I would potentially reschedule my trip if thats the case.. 

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3042 on: February 02, 2025, 08:40:05 AM »
You can send a mail to Cresta Hotel in Davos or Levin in Arosa asking if they're open that week.
Or you can rent an appartment in Zürich, with kosher kitchen, next to Schul and order food for the Shabbos meals.
Cresta hotel is Kosher again? My understanding is that since Covid they were no longer Kosher. As first it was rented for a Yeshiva, then they didn't cater Kosher.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2025, 08:43:39 AM by VacationLover »

Offline sillypainter

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3043 on: February 02, 2025, 09:34:58 AM »
Cresta hotel is Kosher again? My understanding is that since Covid they were no longer Kosher. As first it was rented for a Yeshiva, then they didn't cater Kosher.

Yes, fully kosher. Was just there right before the WEF. Creata sun it is. The other Cresta is not kosher.

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3044 on: February 02, 2025, 01:10:44 PM »
Cresta hotel is Kosher again? My understanding is that since Covid they were no longer Kosher. As first it was rented for a Yeshiva, then they didn't cater Kosher.

https://www.gokosher.com/en/h99669  Hotel Cresta Sun Davos
This Schabbos R.Shimon Spitzer was guest and speaker at the hotel. With guests from usa,
Vienna, London.

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3045 on: February 02, 2025, 07:24:00 PM »
Wiki has a link for a service that will pick up my luggage in the airport and deliver to my hotel. Link not working. Anyone have any info or experience with such a thing? Would be a game changer!!

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3046 on: February 02, 2025, 07:46:44 PM »
Wiki has a link for a service that will pick up my luggage in the airport and deliver to my hotel. Link not working. Anyone have any info or experience with such a thing? Would be a game changer!!
Used it many times.

Here is a quick Google search
https://www.google.com/search?q=swiss+sbb+ship+luggage+from+airport+to+home&oq=swiss+sbb+ship+luggage+from+airport+to+home

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3047 on: February 02, 2025, 08:06:53 PM »
Used it many times.

Here is a quick Google search
https://www.google.com/search?q=swiss+sbb+ship+luggage+from+airport+to+home&oq=swiss+sbb+ship+luggage+from+airport+to+home
Thanks! Seems like the quickest they can get it to me is the next day even though I'm landing at 815 am. Makes sense?

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3048 on: February 03, 2025, 12:10:49 AM »
Looking to go to Switzerland, landing Monday morning staying till Wednesday night, and then spend Shabbos in Venice. Two questions, 1 where in Switzerland would I best utilize my time? Seems like most people I speak to stayed in Davos but open to anywhere. Going to be bringing food so don't need to work around that. And 2, I would want to drive to Venice, leaving Wednesday night and spend the night in a hotel on Lake Como, would it make sense to rent a car one-way rental or would it make more sense to get a car service?

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3049 on: February 03, 2025, 03:53:33 AM »
Looking to go to Switzerland, landing Monday morning staying till Wednesday night, and then spend Shabbos in Venice. Two questions, 1 where in Switzerland would I best utilize my time? Seems like most people I speak to stayed in Davos but open to anywhere. Going to be bringing food so don't need to work around that. And 2, I would want to drive to Venice, leaving Wednesday night and spend the night in a hotel on Lake Como, would it make sense to rent a car one-way rental or would it make more sense to get a car service?

 If you're bringing your own food, I would suggest St. Moritz. Check the weather before going.

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3050 on: February 03, 2025, 09:32:31 AM »
If you're bringing your own food, I would suggest St. Moritz. Check the weather before going.
Thanks! How about transportation? Would I be able to find a car service to take me to Venice with a stop overnight by Lake Como? (or 2 separate drivers, one for each leg) Or do I need to take a one-way car rental?

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3051 on: February 03, 2025, 12:17:20 PM »
Thanks! How about transportation? Would I be able to find a car service to take me to Venice with a stop overnight by Lake Como? (or 2 separate drivers, one for each leg) Or do I need to take a one-way car rental?
Train service may be your best option. Just make sure the schedule works with your time. A car service will likely be very costly.

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3052 on: February 03, 2025, 02:01:48 PM »
If you're bringing your own food, I would suggest St. Moritz. Check the weather before going.
How does St. Moritz compare to Davos? Hotels in Davos seem to be a lot cheaper...
« Last Edit: February 03, 2025, 02:39:08 PM by Sam1297 »

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3053 on: February 03, 2025, 04:24:19 PM »
How does St. Moritz compare to Davos? Hotels in Davos seem to be a lot cheaper...

That's like comparing apples to oranges.
True Davos is a lot cheaper.
If you have nice weather, the views in St. Moritz are stunning, takes your breath away

Online Sam1297

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3054 on: February 07, 2025, 02:24:30 PM »
Are the cable cars up the mountain open all year round in the Davos/St. Moritz area? Looking to go in April and seeing conflicting reports online...

Offline yelped

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3055 on: February 08, 2025, 09:43:16 PM »
Are the cable cars up the mountain open all year round in the Davos/St. Moritz area? Looking to go in April and seeing conflicting reports online...
Depends which mountains. April maybe open already but usually would be May. You can check on their websites.

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3056 on: February 09, 2025, 10:26:39 AM »
Are the cable cars up the mountain open all year round in the Davos/St. Moritz area? Looking to go in April and seeing conflicting reports online...
Pretty sure some of them are year round
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3057 on: February 09, 2025, 02:10:47 PM »
Are the cable cars up the mountain open all year round in the Davos/St. Moritz area? Looking to go in April and seeing conflicting reports online...

St. Moritz:  https://www.mountains.ch/de/anlagen/
Davos:       https://www.davos.ch/entdecken/berge-in-davos-klosters/betriebszeiten-bergbahnen

Offline iluv2travel

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3058 on: February 16, 2025, 12:52:28 PM »
Depends which mountains. April maybe open already but usually would be May. You can check on their websites.

In early April there are still ski lifts and cable cars open in Davos and many other ski resorts for skiing. They then choose for a short while and reopen a few weeks later for the summer season.

Offline Ekay

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #3059 on: Today at 01:19:54 PM »
How much time do I need for the golden round trip (Lucerne >alpnachstad>pilatus >Kriens>lucerne) from ZRH.