Pauline
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August 27 - October 1, 2003: 5 weeks in Switzerland and Italy. The first 2.5 weeks in Switzerland is published here. The Italy part of the trip will be in the Italy Trip Reports forum.
This trip report was originally published on my blog, which has closed. Moved to Slow Europe in 2022.
Leave Albuquerque Wednesday August 27, arrive in Zurich Thursday August 28. First class upgrades are booked!
Two Nights in Zurich
Thursday August 28 - Saturday August 30: 2 nights in Zurich at Hotel Claridge Tiefenau.
We stayed here the last trip and liked it. We like to spend two nights in the city we fly to. This allows us to take a taxi from the airport straight to the hotel and not have to drive while jetlagged. It gives us a "soft landing" in Europe, so we don't have to hit the ground running.
Car Rental Pickup
Saturday August 31 - Pickup rental car (will book through AutoEurope).
Two Nights in Konstanz, Germany
Saturday August 31 - Monday, September 1: 2 nights in Konstanz at Seehotel Siber, visiting friends from Germany who will meet us there.
I found this hotel by doing an Internet search. It is a small hotel in a villa on a street that goes along Lake Konstanz. It is expensive, but looked like a lovely hotel. We have not been to Konstanz before and thought it would be nice to spend two nights so we could visit our friends and see a bit of the town.
Two Weeks in Gstaad
Monday September 1 - Monday September 15, chalet apartment in Sanaan.
We are booked for Sunday, August 31 - Sunday, September 14, because it was not available on the Saturday. So we were able to add in the night in Konstanz - but now we have made that two nights, so will lose our first night here. But, I wrote to the agency and they changed our Gstaad booking to be Monday to Monday! (It is unusual that the booking was not Saturday to Saturday.)
We booked an apartment through a local agency, Sicking Immobilien. We got a list of local agencies from the Gstaad Tourist Office. You can also book online from the tourist office web site. We were in the middle of doing that when the booking part of their website went down and it never went up again (I told them about it and they said there was no problem) - so we booked with an agency. All the tourist office will give you is the list of what is available (they faxed this to me); they will not give you advice on which place might be better. They do rate them and give good descriptions - but you are on your own deciding. I tried booking with an American agency first, just to give them a try, but it took them two weeks to send me just one listing with poor photos and very little description. Also the place was twice the price of everything I saw on the tourist office site. I did find this same listing with a local agency, and it was almost the same price. It didn't seem worth it (and from the better photos the local agency sent, I could see the balcony looked right onto the tennis courts of the sports center).
We have a 2bed/2bath ground floor apartment in a chalet in Sanaan, the town next to Gstaad. From maporama, it looks like a quiet location outside the main part of town, near the hiking trails. The agency sent good photos. The furniture looks nice but not fussy. There are wood floors (except in the bedroom). It is a modern chalet with one family above.
On to Italy
After this we move on to Liguria, Tuscany and Rome.
This trip report was originally published on my blog, which has closed. Moved to Slow Europe in 2022.
Trip Plan
Flight: Delta Airlines - Albuquerque - Atlanta - ZurichLeave Albuquerque Wednesday August 27, arrive in Zurich Thursday August 28. First class upgrades are booked!
Two Nights in Zurich
Thursday August 28 - Saturday August 30: 2 nights in Zurich at Hotel Claridge Tiefenau.
We stayed here the last trip and liked it. We like to spend two nights in the city we fly to. This allows us to take a taxi from the airport straight to the hotel and not have to drive while jetlagged. It gives us a "soft landing" in Europe, so we don't have to hit the ground running.
Car Rental Pickup
Saturday August 31 - Pickup rental car (will book through AutoEurope).
Two Nights in Konstanz, Germany
Saturday August 31 - Monday, September 1: 2 nights in Konstanz at Seehotel Siber, visiting friends from Germany who will meet us there.
I found this hotel by doing an Internet search. It is a small hotel in a villa on a street that goes along Lake Konstanz. It is expensive, but looked like a lovely hotel. We have not been to Konstanz before and thought it would be nice to spend two nights so we could visit our friends and see a bit of the town.
Two Weeks in Gstaad
Monday September 1 - Monday September 15, chalet apartment in Sanaan.
We are booked for Sunday, August 31 - Sunday, September 14, because it was not available on the Saturday. So we were able to add in the night in Konstanz - but now we have made that two nights, so will lose our first night here. But, I wrote to the agency and they changed our Gstaad booking to be Monday to Monday! (It is unusual that the booking was not Saturday to Saturday.)
We booked an apartment through a local agency, Sicking Immobilien. We got a list of local agencies from the Gstaad Tourist Office. You can also book online from the tourist office web site. We were in the middle of doing that when the booking part of their website went down and it never went up again (I told them about it and they said there was no problem) - so we booked with an agency. All the tourist office will give you is the list of what is available (they faxed this to me); they will not give you advice on which place might be better. They do rate them and give good descriptions - but you are on your own deciding. I tried booking with an American agency first, just to give them a try, but it took them two weeks to send me just one listing with poor photos and very little description. Also the place was twice the price of everything I saw on the tourist office site. I did find this same listing with a local agency, and it was almost the same price. It didn't seem worth it (and from the better photos the local agency sent, I could see the balcony looked right onto the tennis courts of the sports center).
We have a 2bed/2bath ground floor apartment in a chalet in Sanaan, the town next to Gstaad. From maporama, it looks like a quiet location outside the main part of town, near the hiking trails. The agency sent good photos. The furniture looks nice but not fussy. There are wood floors (except in the bedroom). It is a modern chalet with one family above.
On to Italy
After this we move on to Liguria, Tuscany and Rome.