Trip planning London / Switzerland /Crans Montana
It’s my first trip report so please don’t judge, I know it’s a bit too long .
I want to go to Hawaii for a long time but could not find the flight that I was looking for to open up. So we decide it to go to London and then to Switzerland for 1 week
2 weeks before our trip I started to look for 2 tickets business class NYC TO LON could not find anything only with a stop we were supposed to leave on FEB 21st arriving to London on the 22nd.
The reason we went to London is because we had a bar mitzvah on Monday night so we figured we will make a quick visit to my parents who live there.
So on motze shabbos my only option to find business class was with Lufthansa miles. I found 2 ticked JFK to LHR with a stop for 2 hours in FRA
Then I booked ticket with Avois from BA from London to GVA for 4000 points per way.
COST OF TICKETS
52k Lufthansa x 2 and $455 in taxes
Then I found with AA miles for my way back on MARCH 01 ZRH - NYC with a stop in London for 50k AA each.
London to GVA 8k Avios and $60.00 for 2
DAY OF TRAVLING
So we drove to JFK 3 hours before the flight the lines were fast. We had some time to kill so we went to the lounge. It was nice in there, we had a drink and it was time to board. The flight went fast, but I don’t like Lufthansa business, it won’t be my first choice. We had a quick stop over for about 2 hours. I took a shower, davened and it was time to board again.
Our plane out of JFK to FRA
Lufthansa lounge JFK
Some more pictures of our plane
Place for the feet I think its narrow .
We arrived in LHR about 11:00 am, I was out of the airport about 11:45. We took the underground from the airport to Manor house station. The way takes about 60 min, then u take a 253 bus for 5 more minutes and I was by my mother house .
Day 1
In London I took a nap for a while and then got ready for the bar mitzvah .
Day 2 London
Did nothing in London just spent time with family and got some food for my trip to Switzerland the next day.
Day 3 Feb 24
Woke up at 8 in the morning, ordered a taxi to take us to the airport. Taxi came 9:30. We made a stop by the bakery, bought some fresh sandwich and drinks and off to the airport. The way to the airport took 55 minutes so we got there about 11.
Taxi costs £42.
Our flight was leaving 1:55. We got to kill some time in the airport till it was time to board. The flight was almost empty and we got there under 2 hours. Once in the airport I was out in about 10 minutes.
Some picture of the BA flight from LHR to GVA
As per dansdeals I went to buy a sim card in the airport. You have to go to the post office in the airport. They don’t take credit cards only the Swiss money, so I went back to change money and bought the sim.
I stayed in Crans Montana the kosher hotel called Mirabeau Hotel
So I went to the place in the airport to buy a train ticket. I bought the one for 7 days as I was told it comes out the cheapest and it costed me 363 CHF.
Once I got the ticket I went down stairs to take the train to Sierre/Siders. The way took almost 2 hours then you change trains for 1 more hour and got out by Crans. Then you walk for 6 min and take the funicular. (I’ll show a picture so u should know what it looks like.) It goes straight up about 9k feet, it takes 20 minutes. From there I was about a 3 minute walk to my hotel.
Picture of train in the airport and the way to my hotel in Crans.
This is how the train ticket looks
Train ride
Funicular
Inside look
Finally we arrive to our hotel in Crans Montana. It’s called Mirabeau hotel and its kosher. It was really nice there, the food was amazing the service was great too. The hotel wasn’t that full when we arrived so they let us look at all style rooms they had and to choose which one we wanted. The reason we went there was because we were looking for a place with food, and the other option we had was Levin. That wasn’t our price range and got alot of bad reviews. So we chose Mirabeau.
We arrived about 7:30pm, checked in and got served a delicious hot meal!
Here are some pictures of the hotel and the room. It looks old but it was fresh clean and smelled good. It’s not the typical Hilton but it was very nice.
Lobby
24 hours coffee room with cake
Dining room
First night supper
We ate a good supper and we went for a nice walk. Called it an early night the first night.
Day 2 in Switzerland
We woke up at 7 in the morning and it was so cloudy that u could not see 20 ft in front of u. Here is a picture of the first morning. We had a beautiful view from our room but could not see it at all.
Breakfast first day
A choice of cereal
First thing in the morning there was a minyan in the hotel at 7: 15 we finished 8. It was fast
since most people go skiing in the morning they were rushing. They give breakfast till 10:30 each morning. The breakfast was good the pictures above are not the best, but the service is excellent.
Since I looked on the forecast and saw that the next few days won’t be nice, weather, they said heavy clouds no sun only Friday and Saturday. We decided we have to check out Zermatt even if it’s not so clear and sunny.
The way from Crans till Zermatt takes 2 hours and 30 min. The view was beautiful even with all the clouds. It could have been much nicer but I am not in charge of the weather.
Once we got there outside the train station you cross the street and you can buy tickets to go up one of the mountains.
I chose to buy ticket for the highest one it’s called the Matterhorn. The way up to the top takes almost 1 hour. Even with the weather we had the view was amazing! The train to the top makes a few stops where skiers get a chance to get off and start skiing. When almost on the top you change chair lift to one with no seats for about 7 min and it takes you to the top.
On top of the mountain they have The Glacier Tunnel where everything in there is made out of ice. I’ll show you pictures. You are over 13k feet above the ground so you get lightheaded and it can get hard the breath. BH we had a nice experience there.
Way to Zermatt
We walked 3 minutes to the funicular to go down, it take about 15 minutes. Once you’re down you walk about 5 minutes to the trains to Zermatt.
View on the way it was very cloudy
Once u get to Zermatt there are no cars only this kind of taxis. I bought a ticket to go up the mountain, took a taxi to the chair lift. It’s about 2 miles, some walk.
See how bad the weather was what a shame
People skiing all over if u look good
Almost on top of the mountain
On the top of the mountain they have something called the Matterhorn Glacier ice cave. There’s lots of stuff made out of ice. You go in like a tunnel and walk steps on ice and see many ice sculptures. You have to walk very very slowly and not rush hardly talk because it’s very hard to breath up there. It’s a very nice place to visit.
Some picture of the ice cave.
This is the walkway
That night we came home very exhausted, we had a great warm meal, took a nice walk and called it a night!
3RD day in Switzerland was Friday
We woke up early again about 7, the weather was much nicer we had some kind of view. I daven and went down to breakfast. Since it was Friday we stayed local.
In Crans there are 3 big mountains to ski and enjoy the view. We chose to go up on one of them. We took the bus outside our hotel. All the buses there are no charge. The ride on the bus was 5 minutes then we walked for 3 more minutes and went up with the chair lift. We enjoyed watching the nice view, we watched the skiing up there for almost 2 hours and came back down.
Weather when we woke up from the window of my room it got even better later.
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On the way up the glass of the cable car window is scratch so not such good pictures
Enjoying the view
Once we came down it was about 2 o’clock and Shabbos was 6 pm. We wanted to go sledging so we walked about 20 min till the park. Once we got there it was about 15 more min to walk in the snow. We spent there about an hour and were told we can take the bus home. We waited about an hour for the bus but it did not come. We tried getting a taxi, but there was no taxi in the area. It was getting really late so we started walking up a hill for about 20 minutes till we found a store and I asked him if they will call me a cab. That person didn’t know any English but he finally understood and called a car. After waiting over 15 minutes for the car we saw the bus coming, so we took the bus and finally got home about half hour later.
This is how we walked to the sledding.
We finally made it back to the hotel went a block away to buy some drinks for Shabbos, took a shower and it was time to daven.
This was out table for Shabbos
View from our room when Shabbos began
Overall Shabbos was very nice and relaxing. The food was fantastic. The hotel wasn’t full that week, about 20 families. That part I liked.
On motze Shabbos they gave a big Melave Malka, the food again was excellent.
Choice of fresh bread pizza
So my original ticket I bought with AA miles 50k was with a stop in London. On motze shabbos I checked the flight again and saw that 2 direct tickets from ZRH to JFK in business class opened up so I called them up and made the change. It was booked for March 1 in the morning.
Sunday Day 6
Sunday morning it was so cloudy and foggy, I couldn’t see anything in front of my eyes. So we decided not to rush to go out. We took the bus to one of the mountains. We walked for a long time in the clouds and came back to the hotel, napped, rested some more, ate some more, it was a boring day but I couldn’t change the weather.
Some pictures of Day 6
Clouds again
U can’t even see the mountain
Supper Sunday night
So Monday, our last day in Crans, we hoped for a better weather but we woke up and saw it got much worse. We did not do anything that day, decided to leave early to Zurich and sleep over in the airport hotel .
So we left about 12:30. The way took about 3 hours. The train ride was nice. We booked a hotel by the airport since our flight was at 10 am. Once we checked in to our hotel we took the train to Zurich, the jewish area. We went to eat by olive garden. It was very hard to find and then they don’t let you in so easily. They have a guard that asks lots of questions, they ask to see the passports. I took a picture outside of the restaurant and the guard told us to erase it. The food was great, small portions.
Picture of morning weather
Our walk in the clouds
Our way to Zurich
Nice empty train
In front of the Olive garden restaurant
Inside
On March 1 we woke up 7:30am, took the hotel shuttle to the airport. Our flight was AA065 leaving 10:35. We had some time to spend in the lounge, nothing special, will show pictures.
No line to check in
Our plane for the day
This is the lounge AA use for business class
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When I got onto the flight I was disappointed. It was an old AA flight with no entertainment system. I was like shocked for the first 5 minutes till they came over and told us once in the air they will give out tablets. They did but mine wasn’t working properly they kept on changing it. Their service sucked. The seats were old and uncomfortable. The food didn’t look so bad but I didn’t taste it.
Our plane, food on the plane and the tablet
Place for the leg was good
No videos only tablets
First meal
Tablets they gave out
Lie flat bad
Second meal
Arriving back home
Overall it was a very nice vacation. I hope my TR help out some people. It’s only my first so be cool.
