Tour 168 - Switzerland tours, holidays, travel, vacation, sightseeing, skiing, hiking, shopping, packages, tailor-made.

10 Days / 9 Nights Swiss Winter

Highlights

Discover:
Zürich or Schaffhausen, Stein am Rhein, Heinzenberg, Lenzerheide, Bellinzona, Ascona, Chur, St Moritz or Engadin villages, Valchava, Appenzell, Feldkirch (Austria), Vaduz (Liechtenstein).
Attractions:
- lunch at a restaurant that was once an arsenal
- Christmas market (for tours in December)
- prettiest small town in Switzerland
- authentic & traditional Swiss town
- skiing (optional)
- snowboarding (optional)
- tobogganing (optional)
- snow-shoeing (optional)
- ice-skating in the open air on a natural ice field or in the woods by a river (optional)
- horse carriage ride through villages in the picturesque countryside passing by frozen lakes (optional)
- oldest city in Switzerland
- lunch in knights' or hunters' room at a 600-year-old castle
- 6th smallest country in the world
- Top of Switzerland to see the highest ice-packed mountains of the Eastern Alps + glacier or layers after layers of mountains of the Swiss Alps (optional)
- various outdoor & indoor mountain spring mineral thermal pools (optional)
- panorama train ride on the Bernina Express (optional).
- 'balcony of Italy' for a view of the highest and lowest points in Switzerland plus splendid view of the southern Swiss Alps and its lake districts below
- factory outlet shopping with 160 factory stores including designer labels
- queen of the north-eastern Swiss Alps for a gorgeous view of 5 countries (optional)

Day 1

Arrival and pick up at Zürich airport / Zürich main train station / hotel in Zürich. Proceed to a charming medieval town in the northern part of Switzerland, also known as 'the prettiest small town in Switzerland' situated at the River Rhine. Next, go to Zürich. After lunch, walk along elegant Bahnhofstrasse - a shopping stretch - and visit a very pretty chocolate-cum-confectionery shop and a very well-known chocolate boutique-cum-café. After that, walk through narrow lanes in the Old Town area where the largest clockface in Europe awaits you just around the corner. Then take a walk up one of the twin towers of the Grossmünster and have a bird's-eye view of the city of Zürich (optional).
A scenic drive along the Lake of Zürich, Lake Walen and the majestic Churfirsten mountain range to the Holiday Corner of Switzerland. Welcome to the land of 150 valleys, 615 alpine lakes and 937 mountain peaks. Pass the Heidi World, THE Pinot Noir region of Switzerland and the oldest city in Switzerland. Continue to drive through Graubünden, the most diversified and largest but the least densely populated canton of Switzerland, known for her widely untouched landscapes and home to three of the four cultures of Switzerland.
Drive into the valley of castles & ruins before checking into your hotel embedded at the foot of an inner alpine valley, also known as the ‘Orchard of Graubünden'. Here, in the geographic heart of the Alps, is the crossroads of the high and ancient alpine passes. Complimentary welcome drink during dinner.
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(Note: If you have been to Zürich, it might be replaceable with Rhine Falls (largest waterfall in Europe) and Schaffhausen where you discover the rare beauty and cultural diversity of this charming town with its delightful countryside, situated along the River Rhine next to Germany. The houses of the Old Town are richly decorated with 171 oriels and valuable murals. Narrow streets invite the visitor to stroll and shop, and if the weather is warm enough, the streets of the car-free town centers are transformed into pocket-size Parisian boulevards. These historical treasures date back to the Middle Ages.)

Day 2

Visit a ski destination in Graubünden where families go skiing. Try skiing and/or snowboarding (optional). Toboggan on super path with panoramic views. Then wear snowshoes and take a 45-min walk in snow amidst breath-taking landscapes. Graubünden, the largest and most diversified canton of Switzerland is also called "the holiday corner of Switzerland" where many Swiss from other region like to go for their holidays due to a wide range of activities available in panoramic and unspoilt landscapes.

OR

Visit Lucerne in the heart of Switzerland. See the Chapel Bridge or walk along the Musegg Wall to have a bird's eye view of this picturesque city. Swiss cultural show (optional). Collect your free souvenirs. Visit Mt Titlis if the weather permits (optional).

Day 3

Either 1) visit a lookout point known as 'the balcony of Italy' for a splendid view of the southern Swiss Alps including the massive Monte Rosa range where the highest mountain in Switzerland, Dufourspitze, is, villages in the mountains and cities or towns by the lakes below or 2) go to a very large centre with 160 factory outlet stores which includes international designer labels. And/or try your luck at a casino with 150 slot machines in the next building.

Day 4

Bellinzona - capital of the Italian-speaking canton Ticino in the southern part of Switzerland, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its city walls and 3 famous castles enclosing a picturesque vineyard. Explore the city or visit the medieval castle(s). Experience the Saturday morning market and feel a different ambiance. Next, visit a beautiful lakeside town situated at the foot of the southern Swiss Alps.

Visit a winter & summer sports resort where ex-British prime minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, took her twins to learn skiing. Here, you have various optional tours to choose from: (1) Horse carriage ride through the villages in this picturesque countryside, passing by lakes that freeze in winter (2) cable-car/chairlift ride up to one of the mountains of the largest and highest canton of Switzerland, Graubünden, for a stunning 360° panoramic view of the south-eastern Swiss Alps or a view of 1000 summits (3) rodel tobogganing on the world's longest toboggan run on rails at 3.1 km long. Decide your own speed!

Day 5

Chur – situated at the crossroads of the River Rhine which is one of the longest rivers in Europe, this capital of canton Graubünden and oldest city of Switzerland was where traders and merchants flocked. Interesting shops: crystal shop, household products shop with a wide range of interesting knives, and gourmet shops offering specialties from the region like pear bread, air dried meat, honey, cheese, beverages etc are available here. If you are interested in alpine nature (e.g. alpine animals, alpine forests, alpine rocks, etc), the Nature Museum is worth a visit. Next, go across the nearby border to Austria to the city of Feldkirch. Then hop across another close-by border to Liechtenstein and visit the capital city of Vaduz. A good range of cuckoo clocks is available here.

OR

If weather permits, we do an optional tour: a panorama train ride on the Bernina Express which got inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 7 July 2008 for being a masterpiece of engineering amidst panoramic landscapes and cultural diversity. Enjoy riding the most famous train in the Alps on board the Rhaetian Railway panorama coach whose north alpine route is a 145-km stretch that cuts through Graubünden, boasting the most beautiful railway routes in the world. During the trip over the Bernina pass, the train reaches an altitude of 2.253 m (7.390 ft) and masters gradients of 70%. The Bernina Express runs without cogwheels, on the highest long-distance railway transversal in the Alps over up to more then 200-metre long and 90-metre high bridges, through winding tunnels, past raging mountain torrents, glaciers and a rich array of alpine flowers to southerly Valposchiavo, over the spiralling viaduct at Brusio and on to Tirano in Italy.

Note: If the weather is not suitable for train ride today, you still have the opportunity to do it another day.

Day 6

Today we visit the eastern part of Switzerland, St. Moritz, a renowned winter sports destination in the Upper Engadin Valley where the wealthy go to enjoy their riches and where the Alpine Ski World Championship 2003 as well as the Winter Olympics 1928 & 1948 were hosted.Take a walk through the town. Optional: a visit to one of the mountains in the eastern Swiss Alps for a very impressive 360° view of the Alps including a close view of the Bernina range, the highest mountain range in the Eastern Alps. On a clear day, depending on the sun's rays, 7 or 8 layers of mountain ranges can be seen from here! Graubünden has the most number of mountain peaks in the Alps exceeding 3000 m, making it the highest region in the Alps and earning it the name 'the roof of Europe'.

Day 7

Go to the easternmost village of Switzerland to see a 1200-year-old UNESCO World Heritage church from the Carolingian era. Then go to the German-speaking part of Italy on the Reschen Pass to see the church tower which sticks out of a lake. Next, enter into Switzerland again and go to the only duty-free oasis in Switzerland. Next, take dips in various outdoor & indoor mountain mineral spring thermal pools (optional) or take a walk in a quaint village in the Lower Engadin Valley where people go to see typical Engadiner sgraffito-painted houses with huge doors and sunken in funnel-like windows.

Day 8

Visit Davos, the highest city in Europe if the pass is open.This is where 2000 of the world's most elite people (politicians, business leaders, celebraties etc) go to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) every winter. Otherwise, go over the Julier Pass and drive back to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours.

Day 9

Appenzell: visit this lovely canton known not only for her beautiful countryside landscapes but also for her specialties like cheese, milk, sausages, beer etc. Tjhe town is yours to admire - typical Appenzeller houses that are beautifully painted. (Optional: A gondola ride to the queen of the north-eastern Swiss Alps, for a spectacular view of the Alps in 5 countries or a breath-taking vista of a sea of clouds over the valleys. Or visit another nice nearby mountain. All depending on weather conditions.)

Day 10

Hotel check-out. Scenic ride to Zürich airport / Zürich main train station / hotel in Zürich. Please do NOT schedule your flight to depart Zürich airport before 10:45 am.

Note

1) As we would very much want our travellers to get the most out of our tours, the sequence and/or parts of the content of the above itinerary are subject to changes depending on weather conditions, forthcoming special events and unforeseen circumstances.

2) Some tours are included as optional tours because travellers MUST have the choice not to choose them in case of bad weather. In Switzerland, views from the summit of mountains are not always visible. Sometimes there is ZERO visibility due to low or heavy clouds. If the optionals are included in the tour price, then the mountain visit is a must-do even when the weather is not suitable for a mountain visit. This would be unfair to the unaware traveller and it would be a wasted trip. We always check the weather one day before and advise our travellers if the scheduled mountain visit would be good or not. Otherwise, we either shuffle the itinerary and do the mountain visit another day when the weather is good (as per forecast) or advise them not to do it at all when the next days are not suitable for mountain visits. For other optional tours like skiing,snowboarding, snowshoeing, horse-carriage rides, thermal pools, etc, some travellers might not want to do them for some reason or some may have done them before.

3) It might be possible to change the above itinerary to an all-Switzerland holiday. Please write to us at switzerlandtours @ hotmail.com.

4) If you have been to a few of the above-mentioned places but would like to visit other not-to-be-missed places or experience some interesting activities, we might be able to do some alteration. Do write to to us.

What's included:

Transfer to and fro Zürich airport / Zürich main train station / hotel in Zürich.
(Transfer to Zürich on last day not included for budget tours. Top-up applies.)
9 nights hotel accommodation in countryside town and quaint villages.
9 Swiss buffet breakfasts. (Not included for budget tours)
9 Swiss dinners. (Not included for budget tours)
1 driver-guide.
1 tour guide.
1 touring vehicle.