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Dan
Yungerman
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VacationLover Part 1
VacationLover Part 2
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 604417 times)

Offline YudiG

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #240 on: August 29, 2011, 08:06:06 PM »
I'd go straight to Lucerne.

How long a journey? Would it be tight?

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #241 on: August 29, 2011, 08:17:22 PM »
How long a journey? Would it be tight?
I don't remember exactly so hopefully Chuchem will chime in, but maybe like an hour each way.  Definitely plenty of time to go there and either go up Pilatus (if it's a clear day) or go on a boat on the stunning lake and to walk on the town's ancient bridges and old fortified walls.
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Offline YudiG

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #242 on: August 29, 2011, 08:29:28 PM »
I don't remember exactly so hopefully Chuchem will chime in, but maybe like an hour each way.  Definitely plenty of time to go there and either go up Pilatus (if it's a clear day) or go on a boat on the stunning lake and to walk on the town's ancient bridges and old fortified walls.

Sounds awesome! Hopefully we'll get some more info from the Swiss master....how is the PP lounge?

Offline BrooklynCPA

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #243 on: August 30, 2011, 11:30:21 AM »
This is what the concierge at the PH responed to me last month when I asked him what to do in Lucerne:

"Thank you very much for choosing Park Hyatt Zürich for your upcoming stay in Switzerland! It is definitely a nice trip to visit Lucerne and go up to the Pilatus. ( you just enter Luzern Bahnhof to your GPS) Once you arrive to Lucerne, you can park your car at the parking by the railway station. After that I would recommend you to do the Golden Roundtrip. In front of the railway station you can buy the ticket for this trip. (at the piers of the boats). It includes the boat drive to Alpnachstad, from there you take the world's steepest cogwheel railway up to the mountain. After that on the other side you can descent with the cable car to Kriens. From this small city there are buses to Lucerne (5 minutes bus drive). The whole trip takes appr. 3-5 hours depending on how much time you spend up on Mt. Pilatus. I would visit Lucerne after this trip. (Lion Monument, Chapel-Bridge, CHurches, Musegg wall and its Towers) For more information on the Golden Roundtrip please visit www.pilatus.ch/en"

Hope this helps. The weather was horrible when we were there and there was no view from Pliatus so we just did the boat ride. If you have nice weather is should be perfect for a 12 hour stopover.

Offline Ergel

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #244 on: August 30, 2011, 12:19:59 PM »
My wife and I just went on the golden roundtrip. It was really an excellent day out. We luckily had some nice weather on the top (actually there was a huge cloud engulfing half the mountain, but only the side away from the lake and the beautiful views (and it was pretty cool to walk into a cloud)). However, beware that it is very expensice-94 CHF (107 if you want to go first class on the boat, which for us was worth it, the top of the boat was empty and we were therefore able to get a table in the shade to eat lunch at). However, you can determine on the boat if you want to do this and just pay for the upgrade on the boat.
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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #245 on: August 30, 2011, 12:21:31 PM »
We had no problem going coach on the boat.
The info center in the train station can also show you 360 views from on top of Pilatus to decide if it's worth spending the $$$ to go up there.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Ergel

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #246 on: August 30, 2011, 12:23:12 PM »
You did your travelling in May, correct? It may be more packed during the summer
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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #247 on: August 31, 2011, 03:11:16 AM »
School starts tomorrow, so the big crowd should be gone.

However the local yeshiva starts today if you are looking for a minyan.

Offline YudiG

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #248 on: September 01, 2011, 02:39:50 PM »
Well we got bumped off our Swiss Air flight and were put up in the Renaissance Zurich Airport Hotel. Thanks to my Marriott card from Chase which gives me automatic silver status, we got upgraded to a suite.

Other then fruit, food was obviously an issue although they seemed apologetic and wanted to help. For the future, is there any restaurant open late in town? How far is it from ZRH?

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #249 on: September 01, 2011, 04:51:49 PM »
Baranas Grill is open until 10:00. I think its about 1/2 hour from the airport but Chuchem would know better.

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #250 on: September 01, 2011, 05:04:00 PM »
Baranas Grill is open until 10:00. I think its about 1/2 hour from the airport but Chuchem would know better.

+1

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #251 on: September 01, 2011, 06:47:46 PM »
From the airport take the train till Zuerich HB (7 mins).

From there I'd take the tram 14 or 9 to get to yiddelach.

Offline YudiG

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #252 on: September 02, 2011, 02:17:03 AM »
How much would a cab cost?

How long would the train take/cost?

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #253 on: September 02, 2011, 02:49:16 AM »
Not sure, but train is much cheaper and faster.

Public transportation is the best I've seen anywhere in Zurich.

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #254 on: September 02, 2011, 03:14:15 AM »
Not sure, but train is much cheaper and faster.

Public transportation is the best I've seen anywhere in Zurich.
+1.
Inexpensive, efficient, clean, and fun!
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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #255 on: September 02, 2011, 03:28:05 AM »
If you buy a day pass, you can also use the boat on the lake. (You might have to stop at some point on the lake, depending till which zone you bought).

On the other side of the lake, you can visit Rapperswil, a very cute zoo for kids.

Offline YudiG

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #256 on: September 04, 2011, 01:42:19 PM »
anyone know what the cost of the train from zrh to lucerne is R/T?

are there lockers in the airport to store carry on baggage?

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #257 on: September 04, 2011, 02:23:53 PM »
I did it over a year ago so i might be rough on my numbers... iirc it was $100 for 2 RT tickets

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #258 on: September 04, 2011, 02:41:48 PM »
Hi

Brussel is not a nice city. Nothing really to see. If you pass through Europe Switzerland will be your better choice. My kids sleep at night on the plane, if yours do as well they should be fine the next day in a stroller. You probably will have it easier then connecting right away, as they will be up all day and sleep again on your 11 PM flight to TLV
Trains are very easy to get around and the Pilatus will a stroller will be fine. Kids are free, your ticket to Lucerne incl. going up the Pilatus will be about 100 USD p.p roundtrip. Lucerne is a nice city, so if your kids are "quetsch" or the weather is not great, you can take a boatride on the lake or just stroll around. Decide that day, but try to aim for Pilatus
 On the way back you can stop in Zuerich for supper in the kosher restaurant. Nothing special, but its nice to have a good meal after traveling.
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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #259 on: September 04, 2011, 03:22:25 PM »


Right on! Perhaps chuchem can chime in...how does one access the train from ZRH? Any particular restaurant to stop at on the way back?