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Dan
Yungerman
chucksterace
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 604244 times)

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1000 on: July 28, 2015, 12:09:48 AM »
Is the area near the area safe?
That area is not so safe. However, the other area near the area is safe  ::)

ETA: I will help you  :), you probably meant to ask near the airport.

I don't know of any hotel within 1 mile. If there is, it is probably not a street mile but an air mile which might be a 4 mile walk (with luggage and all) . There probably is a shuttle or tram/bus to the hotel. I would NOT walk
« Last Edit: July 28, 2015, 12:28:01 AM by VacationLover »

Offline The Thinker

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1001 on: July 28, 2015, 01:04:07 AM »
Thanks! Corrected that  :) Found a few on priceline. I'm not booking with any points.. If I want to get going as soon as I land, would my best choice be to check in my luggage at the airport for holding and pick it up late at night? Or I read something about the train station being able to hold my luggage?

Offline LuxJeru

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1002 on: July 28, 2015, 06:55:59 AM »
Looking for a recommendation of a nice place to eat breakfast, not to far from airport.

Thanks!

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1003 on: July 29, 2015, 11:52:14 AM »
Do I stand a chance of being upgraded at levin's to a better room in a non-busy season?

Offline hr555

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1004 on: July 29, 2015, 03:58:51 PM »
Do I stand a chance of being upgraded at levin's to a better room in a non-busy season?

They did for me 2 years ago

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1005 on: July 31, 2015, 12:52:17 PM »
Anyone used citi prestige 4th free night for levin's?

Offline ar

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1006 on: August 02, 2015, 01:18:56 PM »
I'm being in Geneva airport area for 12 hours. Any attractions in the area? Any kosher restaurants?

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1007 on: August 02, 2015, 03:52:51 PM »
I'm being in Geneva airport area for 12 hours. Any attractions in the area? Any kosher restaurants?
Only local attractions, maybe a boat ride on lake geneva. No alp attractions in the area

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1008 on: August 04, 2015, 09:31:59 PM »
A bridge in the metropol/levin hotel collapsed, 3 people were taken by helicopter to the hospital.

Offline bznt

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1009 on: August 05, 2015, 12:51:54 PM »
Any update on the people hurt ? My friend was there and he left on Monday and he is concerned

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1010 on: August 05, 2015, 03:43:06 PM »
Any update on the people hurt ? My friend was there and he left on Monday and he is concerned
i am here. Everything is okay now. 4 ppl were air lifted last night

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1011 on: August 05, 2015, 04:02:21 PM »
i am here. Everything is okay now. 4 ppl were air lifted last night
So I shouldn't worry booking for next week?

Offline Chapshnell

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1012 on: August 05, 2015, 07:13:39 PM »
i am here. Everything is okay now. 4 ppl were air lifted last night

Happy to hear all is OK. I didnt know you ended up by Levin?! I thought you were going elsewhere.

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1013 on: August 06, 2015, 02:18:45 AM »
Happy to hear all is OK. I didnt know you ended up by Levin?! I thought you were going elsewhere.
I am not staying there but went yesterday to check it out...

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1014 on: August 07, 2015, 03:38:28 AM »
What am I doing during a 10 hour overnight stopover in GVA? (With wife and infant)

Offline LoLo

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1015 on: August 08, 2015, 10:46:00 PM »
Any lounge with shower in GVA?

Offline Tzadik Nistar

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1016 on: August 18, 2015, 10:12:47 PM »
Wengen, Switzerland
We traveled with 3 little kids so basically whatever we did was doable with small children and a stroller.

There is a option of checking in luggage in your departing airport and having the rail crew pick it up and send it directly to wengen, for us traveling with kids it was a must, I can't imagine how we would’ve managed without it as we had to take 4 trains with short connection times to arrive in wengen

Wengen is a beautiful, quaint, car free village laid upon a shelf on the mountain in the Jungfrau region, on the bottom in the valley is lauterbrunnen and from there you take cable cars or trains up to towns and stops on the mountains, wengen is not accessible by car, the only way to get there is by using the beautiful scenic train from lauterbrunnen,

See the map below to understand a bit the region



We arrived Tuesday night, Wednesday morning when we got up we were greeted by the beautiful view from our balcony


View from balcony


Wengen train station

Wednesday
We took a gondola from Wengen up to Mannlichen, it was a beautiful clear day (not worth doing if cloudy, you could go into the information center next to the gondola to check the live cam) up in Mannlichen the view is breathtaking and there is lots of cows with bells roaming around, the kids loved it, also they have a very nice playground for kids with lots of interesting stuff.


Gondola to Manillchen


Cows in Manillchen


View of wengen from Mannlichen

From Mannlichen we took the trail down to kleine scheidegg, in switzerland all trails are clearly marked with the time it takes to do the trail, if it’s a easy trail or not, if the trail is panoramic etc.
the trail from Mannlichen down to Kleine Scheidegg is a easy and beautiful walk with views of the snow capped mountains and the villages in the valley, the trail is 3 miles and the posted time is 1 ½ hr. but as we were walking slowly it took us around 2 ½ hr.




Views on the trail

Arriving in Kleine Scheidegg you could take trains up to Jungfraujoch (top of europe), we didn't do it as it’s not advised to take up babies and the price of 170 CHF PP wasn't appealing either so we took the train down back to Wengen.


Lake near Kleine Scheidegg

Thursday
We took the trains to Interlaken from there we took a boat ride on the Brienzersee lake until the last stop in the village of Brienz (it's a 1 ½ hour trip) the color of the lake and the mountains as the backdrop are majestic words just don’t do justice, in brienz we lounged around at the lake a bit and then returned by train.





Friday
we decided to do Schilthorn it’s just 500 meter lower than Jungfraujoch, it’s cheaper and quicker to get to and there are people that claim that the view is nicer because you are the opposite side of all the big mountains so you have a full view of them all, but unlike Jungfraujoch there is no snow in Schilthorn  and no activities on top, just a viewing platform and a 360 view restaurant.

Going up we took a bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg, you could walk it very nice walk in the valley with lots of waterfalls coming down from the mountains mid way you could stop at the trummelbach falls it’s waterfalls and caves inside the mountain it’s supposed to be beautiful but we couldn't do it as kids under the age of 3 are not allowed as they claim that the noise is too loud.

From stechelberg you take 4 gondolas to get you a top of schilthorn (no need to walk just change from one gondola to the other on the same platform) as you start going up higher and higher it gets cooler the views atop are breathtaking


View from Gondola


Skydiving





View from Schilthorn

On the way down we took a different route. We took one gondola down to birg, they have a nice skywalk there, it’s a platform with a glass floor sticking out of the mountain.
Then we continued with another gondola to murren (it's a similar village to wengen just the opposite side of the mountain) we walked thru the town, it's a nice town worth a visit, then we continued with a train and a gondola back to Lauterbrunnen


Birg Skywalk

Sunday
We started to do the Latubrunned to Stechelberg walk but it started raining midway so we headed back.


Waterfalls Lauterbrunnen

Once the rain stopped, the kids were tired of trains already, so we  took a trail starting in Wengen. Wow did I find out that I was mistaken in thinking that we need to take train trips every day. The trail was beautiful with gorgeous views, waterfalls in middle of the woods, flowers, roosters, cows, quaint huts and the trail ended at a beautiful lookout with benches. After a break and lunch we took the same trail back.




Wengen

Monday
We just stayed in wengen, plenty trails to do there we took a trail with beautiful views of the Lauterbrunnen valley


View from wengen of the lauterbrunnen valley

Tuesday
We were heading to stay at a airport hotel for our Wednesday morning flight.
We took the golden express line from Interlaken Ost to Lucerne (the way to ZRH with golden express takes around an hour longer but really worth it) the train ride takes around 2 hours with beautiful views of the alps and multiple lakes. The train has huge windows for viewing (reflecting when trying to take images).

In Lucerne we walked around the old city, structures and bridges, the kids enjoyed feeding the ducks on the lake, it’s worth a visit if you are in the area or have a long stopover in zrh.




View from Golden Express train


The express train from lucerne to zrh takes one hour from there we checked into our hotel and then the flight home on Wednesday morning.

I have received a guide book from someone on tripadvisor for hikes and trips, written on a wengen base, if you are interested in it PM me


Offline Joe4007

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1017 on: August 18, 2015, 10:54:52 PM »
Beautiful pics!

Thanks for sharing.

Offline sam28

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1018 on: August 18, 2015, 11:17:19 PM »
    wow amazing TR breath taking pictures  . how much did it cost u the trip ? where did u stay ?

Offline Tzadik Nistar

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #1019 on: August 19, 2015, 07:50:36 AM »
    wow amazing TR breath taking pictures  . how much did it cost u the trip ? where did u stay ?
Prefer not to say where I stayed as I wasn't happy.
Switzerland is pretty expensive from trains to food on the alps.
No nice hotel there all are old 2-3* hotels, you could rent nice apartments for  $100-$150 a night, that with pom meals is my preference if I return