Swiss/Germany in 5 days.Help!

Really not possible I would concentrate on two cites as 2 days Zurich, 2 days München (that's only 4 hours away) and then a day in the mountains close to one of these cities. You won't get any idea of the place if you just rush through. There are a lot of American and Japanese tourists arriving at Zurich airport asking: from where can I see the Matterhorn? Gosh, even if we are a small country, that is at least a daytrip, if you go up very early in the morning and come back late in the evening...

If you are in München, you can go for a trip to Neuschwanstein or the like (don't miss the concentration camp in Dachau, even though Germans will tell you, that is pathetic and there are better places to visit - it IS impressive!), it's a suburb. The Deutsches Museum is also interesting - if you are interested in technology a MUST!

If Zurich you have to take a boat tour on the lake and have a nice panoramic view from the Uetliberg. As a day trip I would recommend Rigi or Pilatus with a visit to Luzern (where these mountains are): if it is clear weather you see as far as Black Forest and Luzern is anyway THE Swiss tourist trap, which no asian visitor has to miss, and I must confess that it IS beautiful

Dont spend more than a day in a city.

1 day Zuerich.
1 day swiss alps
1 day Bodensee (Fridrichshafen, boattour on the lake etc)
1 day munich
1 day Castle Neuschwanstein + bavarian countryside
1 arrive and frankfurt and depart

alternative:

1 day Zuerich
1 day swiss alps
1 day munich ---- fly to berlin (45 min)
1 day berlin ----- fly to hamburg (30 min)
1 day hamburg ---- fly to frankfurt (50 min)
fly home

well you need at least one day at zürich,

you might want to make Lucerne and one mountain in the same day you can either go:
Train to art-goldau, train to Mt. Rigi, then after enjoying the view take train to viznau, or the aerial railway to weggis, from there with the boat to Lucerne, and do some sightseeng in Lucerene (seeing Kapeler-Bridge and Lion Memorial).

The other trip is to pilatus, take the train from Zürich to Lucerne, ship or rail to Alpnachstad, train to Mt.Pilatus and then aerial rail to krienz, bus from krienz to Lucerne, and the train back to Zürich.

You can of course to both tours in the other direction aswell.

If you want to see glacier you can go to Mt Titlis (3 hours from Zürich) or the Jungfraujoch (4 and a half hours from Zürich, but way bigger glacier)

I would rater do a boat trip on lake Zürich or lake lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) then Lake Constance (Bodensee) but its just my opinion.

What you want to see in the cities depends on what you like, art, technics, gardens and parks, churches?

earthJoker said:

Starting point is airport Zürich, no need to go from Stuttgart

Why Aargau? I don't really think that's the nicest part of Switzerland (sorry Küsel)

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Aargau... it's because it's closest to Germany. If you want to visit within 5 days... you surely should not visit both Northern Germany and French Switzerland

And my experience in Aargau area proved Aargau is actually a great place to visit--- very beautiful landscape are everywhere around this region--- Aargau is at rugged piedmont of Swiss Alps... and most small hills, have impressive views like those typical "Swiss images". Forest cover are dense, with typical oaks-dominant forests like many temperate region around the world--- but that's exactly one of (Not the most) my favourite kind of vegetation. Undulating tracts... Well wooded hills... nice cultivated valleys... all around Aargau. That makes Aargau, in my opinion, the most "Bavarian" canton in Switzerland. Baden has a famous hot spring, and a casino. And Baden--- is very close to Zurich --- the largest city in Northeastern Switzerland. I never visited Southern Aargau.

Towns that worth a visit in Aargau: Aarau, Rheinfelden, Brugg, Baden, Laufenburg, Buchs, Lenzburg, Wettingen, Spreitenbach, Effingen, Frick... This could make a 3/4 days trip in Aargau. Do visit the Northeastern part of this canton... it's Bavarian, it's European! But some of the roads are pretty dangerous, winding and quite rugged (By Central Canadian Standard). On the other hand, roads are generally paved nicely compared to Manitoba or Minnesota.

Alps region, Matterhorn is for sure impressive... but it's too touristic in my opinion. Consider Arosa or Sankt Moritz... it looks better, and more suitable for skiing.

Xäntårx said:

Aargau... it's because it's closest to Germany. If you want to visit within 5 days... you surely should not visit both Northern Germany and French Switzerland

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Basel, Aargau, Zürich, Schaffausen, Thurgau and St.Gallen all share a border to Germany, so there is no "closest" they are all next to it

And my experience in Aargau area proved Aargau is actually a great place to visit--- very beautiful landscape are everywhere around this region--- Aargau is at rugged piedmont of Swiss Alps... and most small hills, have impressive views like those typical "Swiss images". Forest cover are dense, with typical oaks-dominant forests like many temperate region around the world--- but that's exactly one of (Not the most) my favourite kind of vegetation. Undulating tracts... Well wooded hills... nice cultivated valleys... all around Aargau. That makes Aargau, in my opinion, the most "Bavarian" canton in Switzerland. Baden has a famous hot spring, and a casino. And Baden--- is very close to Zurich --- the largest city in Northeastern Switzerland. I never visited Southern Aargau.

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Baden is nice, beautifull old town, but so is Rapperswil, and you can combine a trip to Rapperswil with a trip on the Lake Zürich.

^^ Rapperswil

And after visiting Rapperswil you can make a short trip to the Zürcher Oberland (Zurichs Highlands)

The Tösstal is also a typical swiss landscape.

Towns that worth a visit in Aargau: Aarau, Rheinfelden, Brugg, Baden, Laufenburg, Buchs, Lenzburg, Wettingen, Spreitenbach, Effingen, Frick... This could make a 3/4 days trip in Aargau. Do visit the Northeastern part of this canton... it's Bavarian, it's European! But some of the roads are pretty dangerous, winding and quite rugged (By Central Canadian Standard). On the other hand, roads are generally paved nicely compared to Manitoba or Minnesota.

Alps region, Matterhorn is for sure impressive... but it's too touristic in my opinion. Consider Arosa or Sankt Moritz... it looks better, and more suitable for skiing.

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You can't ski in July in Arosa or St.Moritz.

I think you can ski in Zermatt or Saas Fee in summer, and maybe on some other glaciers.

My suggestion is a trip by train:

Day 1: Zurich

Day 2: Innsbruck in Austria, a very beautiful city. You could take the scenic railway Stubaitalbahn to Fulpmes and back, a 3-hours trip through nice valleys and mountains.

Day 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a visit of the Partnach Klamm (gorge) and a train trip up the Zugspitze (Germany's tallest mountain)

Day 4: Munich and maybe Neuschwanstein

Day 5: Heidelberg (visit the castle) and Frankfurt (skyscrapers and historic buildings side by side)

Alternatively skip day 2 or 3 and spend one more day in Munich and vicinity.

If you want a tourist guide in Zurich and area, I offer the help (did it many times for foreign visitors at our university)

Anyway - I was grown up in Aargau and work in Wohlen at the moment. Okay, I think it is for sure a beautiful area and is famous for it's hilly landscape, castles and old towns. Nevertheless I recommend earthJoker's boat trip to Rapperswil. You will be impressed how Zurich is streching around the lake and Rapperswil has a beautiful old town and a bit of a Ticino athmosphere on the lakeshore. For sure more recommended than Baden or Aarau. If Aargau, then Bremgarten, reachable by suburban train or car within 40min/30min resp. from the center.


But if you see already the old town of Zurich and Rapperswil then you got an idea of NE Swiss old towns. Bern is a Zähringer city and therefore totally different in structure (1 hour from Zurich). Apart from the UNESCO protected center there is not that much to do unfortunatly (it's a typical government/administration city) - okay, the Paul Klee Zentrum by Renzo Piano is a MUST for all architecture and art fans


And as mentioned before: forget Matterhorn or Jungfraujoch - faaaaaaaar too touristic and increadably expensive as well as far away. Try Titlis, Pilatus or Rigi instead - also for the view.

To travel further on: if you can pass Austria (I don't know your visum situation): take a train ride from Zurich to Salzburg - it's considered (and true!) on of the most beautiful cities in the continent. It is anyway Mozart's year now, so there will be a lot of festivals and exhibitions there at the moment.

From there it's close to München - I wrote already about that one.

There are a million things to see in between those places and only 5 days???!!!

Anyway, most of the advice above is good. One point, don't stay any time in Frankfurt. With only 5 days to experience two countries, Frankfurt will be wasting that time. Any of the other cities or towns mentioned above are far better choices.

If travelling by train, please ensure you book a seat. This is done seperate to the actual tickets. When you buy a ticket, you have a booked "journey" on the train, but no seat is issued. If the train is busy, you may have to stand up the whole time, not pleasant. So, reserve the seats as well. It costs something like €2.50 extra per seat, and ensures you have somewhere to sit for your journey.

If you reserve a seat, and find someone else sitting there (quite common, as those that don't reserve just try to sit anywhere), politely move them away - don't be shy.

The German Rail's (DB) website is http://bahn.de (then click on "Internat. Guests"). You can book tickets, discounts and reservations there. It's cheaper when you book a couple of days in advance and it's also cheaper when more people are travelling together. There are also separate rail passes available for every federal state of Germany (e.g. Bavaria) and I think also for Germany as a whole. They also offer last-minute discounts and discounts for night trains and special discounts. So actually it's a jungle of discounts which is so hard to comprehend that even DB's clerks at the counters are completely inable to tell you which discount will be the cheapest for you. You can also hop onto any long-distance train and pay on board with cash or credit card but that's the most expensive option.