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Dan
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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 604385 times)

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2100 on: December 26, 2018, 05:30:22 AM »
Sorry. Made a mistake.
The view is scenic as you drive along the Vierwaldstättersee in Luzern. On a sunny day, it's Beautiful.
But I would stay in Zürich, it's also Beautiful.

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2101 on: December 26, 2018, 07:48:28 AM »
Changed my mind, I'm thinking of renting a car, driving to jewish Zurich to get food, then driving to lucerne. Is it easy to find parking near the kosher restaurants on a sunday? and is the drive to Lucerne scenic? TIA
I had a slightly longer stopover once (7am to 11pm) and I took the train into Zurich for shacharis, picked up some danishes or something at Koscher City (it's a grocery store with some bakery stuff, but it was right next to where I davened and I didn't want to spend time finding food elsewhere),  took a train to Lucerne, then a bus to Pilatus. Went up Pilatus (really nice views from the peak), went back down into Lucerne and walked around a bit (nice lake),  took a train back to Zurich, 'rented' a free bike (not sure if they still have that), biked around a bit to see zurich, and then went back to the airport cuz I was totally exhausted from walking/biking all day. Would recommend Pilatus and Lucerne, I can't say I really enjoyed Zurich, although that could be because I was exhausted by the time I got back to Zurich.

Offline davidrotts63

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2102 on: December 26, 2018, 08:19:56 AM »
Wanted to go to GVA for a day or 2 (out of TLV) next week, but the hotels are all booked out, any nice recommendations along those lines?
(Quit) pulling out the flowers, and watering the weeds. -Peter Lynch

Offline yelped

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2103 on: December 26, 2018, 02:30:30 PM »
Ritz and luxury collection are available.

Offline nescafe

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2104 on: December 26, 2018, 08:08:53 PM »
Changed my mind, I'm thinking of renting a car, driving to jewish Zurich to get food, then driving to lucerne. Is it easy to find parking near the kosher restaurants on a sunday?
Parking can be tough around those places

Offline yelped

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2105 on: December 26, 2018, 09:33:57 PM »
Anywhere in an European city it is difficult to find parking.

Offline ReadsTheT&C

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2106 on: December 30, 2018, 11:28:42 PM »
Does anyone have information on the Schnupper Halbtax? It looks like a deeply discounted promotional price for the Half Fare Card. I read through forums on myswissalps that the coupon is advertised in newspapers, magazines, etc. in Switzerland but as I'm visiting from the USA it will be difficult to find. Here is an (expired) example: http://www.20min.ch/promotionen/sbb/newsnet/TA-Schnupp.pdf

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2107 on: December 31, 2018, 05:07:54 AM »
Does anyone have information on the Schnupper Halbtax? It looks like a deeply discounted promotional price for the Half Fare Card. I read through forums on myswissalps that the coupon is advertised in newspapers, magazines, etc. in Switzerland but as I'm visiting from the USA it will be difficult to find. Here is an (expired) example: http://www.20min.ch/promotionen/sbb/newsnet/TA-Schnupp.pdf

When available its advertised.  Then they're quickly gone.

Offline ReadsTheT&C

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2108 on: December 31, 2018, 11:06:47 AM »
When available its advertised.  Then they're quickly gone.
Do you know if I need the physical advert or just the code will suffice?

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2109 on: December 31, 2018, 11:45:27 AM »

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2110 on: January 01, 2019, 11:30:50 AM »
Do you know if I need the physical advert or just the code will suffice?

You can also find cheaper train tickets on:   https://www.sbb.ch/de/kaufen/pages/offerte/offerten.xhtml
Then click on:  Option hinfahrt     
Then on:         Sparbillet

These cheaper tickets can only be bought online or SmartphoneApp

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2111 on: January 01, 2019, 12:36:28 PM »
Does anyone know of a reliable babysitter in Davos (who would babysit in our hotel room), or a non-jew who I can pay to push my stroller between the Hilton Garden Inn and the Cresta Hotel for meals? (No eiruv)

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2112 on: January 02, 2019, 11:57:18 AM »
Why don't you phone the Cresta hotel and ask them if they have a Babysitter ?

Offline 8948ts@gmail.com

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2113 on: January 08, 2019, 02:54:42 PM »
What would be the best itinerary in Switzerland (I was never there and don't know anything about Switzerland) dates from 4.9.19-4.17.18?

I have SPG points which I can use if possible.

I need to have daily minyanim.

Offline sruliL

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2114 on: January 13, 2019, 11:10:44 PM »
Any recommendations for a good bus tour in Zurich? I have a longer layover this week.
Life's not about doing things good, its about doing good things.

Offline MosheP

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2115 on: January 16, 2019, 10:01:46 AM »
Which hotels in Switzerland are Kosher during the winter?

Offline kosherjid

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2116 on: January 16, 2019, 02:41:57 PM »
Arosa and Davos

Offline moish

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2117 on: January 16, 2019, 04:14:29 PM »
I believe the Kempinski in St Moritz, but might only be for specific days

Offline Ell Eee

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2118 on: January 18, 2019, 08:25:08 AM »
Hi
I might be posting this question on the wrong thread,
Does anyone have any experience with a bus company in Switzerland or in Europe,
I need  to take a group from Zurich to Antwerp through Frankfurt for 2 days
If anyone can please direct me to the right thread please

Offline elihak7

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Re: Switzerland Master Thread
« Reply #2119 on: January 20, 2019, 03:29:54 PM »
Hi, how would i know what times there are trains from the airport? wanna book tickets accordingly.
TIA