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Dan
Yungerman
chucksterace
VacationLover Part 1
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Chapshnell
Tzadik Nistar
@Yehuda - 1 day trip
sam28
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

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 yyzzrh on October 20, 2022, 01:16:48 PM »

Author Topic: Switzerland Master Thread  (Read 604261 times)

Offline Saulius

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1960 on: June 06, 2018, 01:55:35 AM »
i understand that, but before i try to track down any contacts i have, im trying to figure out if it makes sense for me or not.
do you have to buy separately fro kids?
theres nothing in english so i cant find the info myself

Children under 6 travel free, and for 6-15 you can get them a junior card:
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/junior-travelcard-children-co-travelcard.html

Die Einzel-Tageskarte Gemeinde kann auch von gemeinsam reisenden Kindern oder für Hunde benützt werden. Zwei Kinder, ein Kind und ein Hund oder zwei Hunde gelten als eine Person (Kinder bis 5 Jahre = gratis; Kinder 6 - 15 Jahre = 1/2).

Meaning with a Tageskarte, a child 6-15 count or a dog is counted as a half a person, so a Tageskarte can cover two children, a child, and a dog, or two dogs.

Offline ganizzy

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1961 on: June 07, 2018, 02:26:04 PM »
there is another pass that wasn't mentioned here.
https://www.myswissalps.com/tellpass
this is a pass specific for the Lucerene area. can chose different amount of days. 2 day is ch 180 per person. kids are 30 each.

Rigi, Titlis, Pilatus, Lake lucerne, stanserhorn - are all free with this pass

Offline ganizzy

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1962 on: June 12, 2018, 11:47:32 PM »
in the t and c of my car rental in zrh. it say i need a international drivers license. this is with europcar.
anyone heard of this?

Offline Saulius

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1963 on: June 13, 2018, 03:50:40 AM »
in the t and c of my car rental in zrh. it say i need a international drivers license. this is with europcar.
anyone heard of this?

I checked the Europcar website:
https://www.europcar.com/terms-and-conditions/specific-terms-per-country?countrySelector=Switzerland#

Driving licence:
Held for at least one year. Licences issued outside Switzerland must be clearly identifiable as a driving licence, otherwise an International Driving Licence will be required. Important: The International Driving Licence without National Driving Licence is not accepted. A Passport/ID must also be provided.

On the Swiss gov't website: https://www.ch.ch/en/international-driving-licence/  (first listing on google when I searched "international drivers license Switzerland"

"Driving in Switzerland on a foreign driving licence
People from abroad may drive in Switzerland for private purposes for up to a year as long as they are old enough to drive in Switzerland (e.g. 18 years old to drive a passenger car) and hold a valid national driving licence. If the permitted vehicle categories are not listed in the Roman alphabet on the foreign licence, an international licence is required."

Offline ganizzy

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1964 on: June 17, 2018, 01:47:33 AM »
New ticket type in Switzerland. Saver day pass which lets you travel all over Switzerland,boats etc. works like the Swiss pass just single days instead of 3 day min. Price is 52 chf. start purchase time from 30 days up to 2 days before travel time. Subject to availability so buy as soon as possible.
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/tickets-for-switzerland/1-day-travelpass/saver-day-pass.html

anyone know specific details on this?
Apparently, for regular trains this will work on its own, however this wont give you all the discounts on the mountain trips (cable cars, lifts...) that the regular travel pass will give. for that you need to have the half pass as well.

Stoos, Rigi, Brunni and some others are free with the travel pass, does anyone know if they are free with the one day saver pass without the half fare card?
thanks

Offline Abey

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1965 on: June 17, 2018, 02:24:11 AM »
anyone know specific details on this?
Apparently, for regular trains this will work on its own, however this wont give you all the discounts on the mountain trips (cable cars, lifts...) that the regular travel pass will give. for that you need to have the half pass as well.

Stoos, Rigi, Brunni and some others are free with the travel pass, does anyone know if they are free with the one day saver pass without the half fare card?
thanks
According to the research I did at that time: no


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Offline expertvl

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1966 on: June 22, 2018, 02:40:49 PM »
What's the best sim card in Switzerland?

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1967 on: June 22, 2018, 03:17:15 PM »
Lycamobile was great for me a few months ago. Bought it at the airport for 15 franc. 3gb LTE data and 500/minutes and text, calls to US for 20 cents a minute, came with 5 franc included.
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Switzerland
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/switzerland.html

http://www.lycamobile.ch/en/
http://lebara.ch/
What's the best sim card in Switzerland?

Offline dealfinder11

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1968 on: June 25, 2018, 02:20:31 PM »
ok so just Read thru 132 pages of information in anticipation of my upcoming trip to St Moritz in August. So much great and useful information as well as delightful entertainment in the form of debate over Celsius vs Fahrenheit and more.
I had a few questions:

1. what is the story with beer in Switzerland? in USA all non flavored beers that are not made in a plant that also makes flavored beers are kosher. Is this also true over there? Are there any beers known to be ok or problematic?
2. a friend of mine recommended the Margunz scooters. Has anyone done those?
3. I am going to be staying at the Kempinski. will I need to bring/buy converters to use American plugs for outlets?

thank you very much!

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1969 on: June 25, 2018, 05:35:03 PM »
 I was thinking of taking the Bernina Express, scenic route train, from Zurich to Chur then on to Tirano, Italy, and then train down to Milan Italy. Long day, but supposedly worthwhile. Any experience or thoughts on this?    Is kosher food ever served on Swiss trains?

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1970 on: June 26, 2018, 12:07:32 PM »
ok so just Read thru 132 pages of information in anticipation of my upcoming trip to St Moritz in August. So much great and useful information as well as delightful entertainment in the form of debate over Celsius vs Fahrenheit and more.
I had a few questions:

1. what is the story with beer in Switzerland? in USA all non flavored beers that are not made in a plant that also makes flavored beers are kosher. Is this also true over there? Are there any beers known to be ok or problematic?
2. a friend of mine recommended the Margunz scooters. Has anyone done those?
3. I am going to be staying at the Kempinski. will I need to bring/buy converters to use American plugs for outlets?

thank you very much!
3) Yes in all of Europe [besides UK] you will need an EU  adapter. If you have a 110V you will also need a converter to 220V

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1971 on: June 26, 2018, 12:10:50 PM »
anyone know specific details on this?
Apparently, for regular trains this will work on its own, however this wont give you all the discounts on the mountain trips (cable cars, lifts...) that the regular travel pass will give. for that you need to have the half pass as well.

Stoos, Rigi, Brunni and some others are free with the travel pass, does anyone know if they are free with the one day saver pass without the half fare card?
thanks
correct. This is only a free travel pass not a halbtax like the other travel pass

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1972 on: June 26, 2018, 12:12:37 PM »
in the t and c of my car rental in zrh. it say i need a international drivers license. this is with europcar.
anyone heard of this?
Yes. Basically thats for some countries. If, however, you have USA license you do NOT need an international license

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1973 on: June 26, 2018, 12:19:30 PM »
Hi there all,
I made a United Rewards ticket to Zurich for a few days on the way to Israel. It stops in GVA. After some research we decided to stay in a place in Villars which is much closer to GVA than ZRH. I can't just skip the leg due to my luggage. Any way I can get around the change fee from United? Any other ideas for that matter?     ???
You probably meant to say it stops in ZRH. Its just 3-4 hours from Villars by train.. and if you are joining TourPlus. Enjoy! You will have a good stay.

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1974 on: June 26, 2018, 12:23:03 PM »
Can anyone suggest (from your experience) a good place to stay for shabbos in the swiss alps? I know there are a few options, kosher hotels in Davos, Arosa etc. Just trying to see what the best option would be...
Depends on budjet, crowed ETC.  TourPlus, Galitzky, are good. Levin, MK are cheaper and older. Kempinski is expensive - just to name a few

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1975 on: June 26, 2018, 12:36:03 PM »
Depends on budjet, crowed ETC.  TourPlus, Galitzky, are good. Levin, MK are cheaper and older. Kempinski is expensive - just to name a few
There's a new full year Hotel in Davos except the one Levin has.

Offline dealfinder11

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1976 on: June 26, 2018, 01:29:41 PM »
3) Yes in all of Europe [besides UK] you will need an EU  adapter. If you have a 110V you will also need a converter to 220V

gotcha. thanx. know anything about the beer? can't seem to find any info on it anywhere

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1977 on: June 26, 2018, 02:08:02 PM »
gotcha. thanx. know anything about the beer? can't seem to find any info on it anywhere
No idea... you can check the Kosher list. Try here http://www.koscher.ch/5038.html and click through

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1978 on: June 26, 2018, 02:28:02 PM »
No idea... you can check the Kosher list. Try here http://www.koscher.ch/5038.html and click through
The original source is here: http://www.irgz.ch/index.html

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