Tomorrow We Begin Our 2-Week Vacation in Switzerland

Switzerland is definitely the place to be as a new “heat dome” blankets Europe. Here’s a graphic for Thursday, when we arrive in Zurich and take the train to Lucerne:

Switzerland is Rita’s “ancestral homeland” — her mother was born there, then emigrated to Sacramento and married Rita’s father. It is where Rita and her siblings were born. Her brother Franz has passed, but Lynn will be joining us for her and Rita’s first visit to Switzerland since they were teenagers. You can expect me to post pictures and videos that include Lynn and Rita together in addition to some beautiful pictures and videos of Switzerland — hopefully without wildfires or wildfire smoke.

I have never been to Switzerland, except for dropping into Geneva on a road trip through France 30 or 40 years ago.

I ordered Rick Steves’ book on Switzerland as well as Fodor’s guide, so I’ve been reading up on the country. We also watched Rick Steves’ Switzerland PBS videos on YouTube. As you may know, Switzerland is not in the EU. Instead of the Euro, their currency is the Swiss franc, which is worth about the same. Also, this may surprise you as it did me: they don’t have the same electric plugs as Europe. Copilot explains it this way:

Switzerland uses its own Type J plug, so while a slim two‑pin Europlug chargers worked fine, anything with a grounded European plug needs an adapter.

Although English is spoken widely, 65% of Switzerland is German speaking, with the southeast area (around Geneva) being French. There’s a small Italian-speaking area across the border from Italy. Rita’s mother spoke “Swiss Deutsch” (Swiss German), and Rita has retained some expressions which she still uses on occasion. Cute!

We won’t be buying any Swiss francs, although I may use my ATM card to get some francs for tipping and other times that don’t involve a credit card purchase. (That’s recommended over using exchange counters, with the caveat that you should only use ATMs that are connected to brick-and-mortar banks. Tourist ATMs charge big fees.) On our world cruise and Mediterranean cruise, we never obtained any local currency in any country we visited. It simply wasn’t necessary. Credit cards are accepted universally for even the smallest purchase (thank you, COVID), including from street vendors. And US dollars are universally welcome for tips.

We couldn’t find a cruise that included Switzerland, so we’re flying the Friendly Skies.

Lynn lives in Kalispell, Montana, and we’ll connect at O’Hare for the United non-stop flight to Zurich Wednesday afternoon. Lynn will return after a week, but Rita and I are staying until the 26th.

For about $1,800 total, I purchased an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for Lynn plus a 15-day pass for Rita and me. That’s about $80 per day per person, but it covers a lot. The convenience alone is worth a lot. I asked Copilot to describe what it covers and got this nice summary:

The Swiss Travel Pass is one of the most generous national passes ever used. It gives unlimited travel on Switzerland’s trains, buses, and boats, plus access to the country’s famous panoramic routes like the Glacier Express and Bernina Express (you just pay separately for seat reservations). Local transit (buses, trams and boats) in more than 90 cities is included, which makes getting around places like Lucerne, Zurich, and Geneva effortless. The pass also covers free entry to over 500 museums, and even some mountain excursions—Rigi, Stanserhorn, and Stoos are fully included, while most of the big alpine cable cars and cogwheel trains offer discounts of 25 to 50 percent. For travelers who like to mix city wandering with lake cruises and a couple of scenic peaks, the Swiss Travel Pass quietly removes the friction and lets you enjoy Switzerland the way it’s meant to be experienced: seamlessly, beautifully, and without ever standing in a ticket line.

When we lived in our detached single-family Golden home, I would have hesitated to announce our absence for security reasons. One of the great things about living in a 4th floor apartment in a secure building is that we can “lock and leave” with peace of mind.