A request for guidance to visit France and Switzerland

Dear All,
Salaam,
I am planning for a family trip (2 adult and 2 kids of age 9 and 6) to Norway, Sweden, Paris and Switzerland from London from September 14. The arrangements for Norway and Sweden has been made. But traveling to Paris, Switzerland (or any other country) and then to London is not being finalized due to insufficient information. I will be obliged if some friend can provide guidance/tips for travelling and stay in these countries.
Hussain Kaisrani

London - UK

kaisrani@gmail.com

Shahzad replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 01:01 AM PST Hi, I've been to all these countries. The best way would be to finish your norway, sweden journey and then go to italy instead of france. and from italy go to switzerland.

Reincarnated replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 01:11 AM PST Hussain sb Best would be to travel by train. If you had booked earlier then Easy Jet (www.easyjet.com) would be a economical way too. But its rather late for that. Stick to the trains. Get the ticket from station. Scenic trains in French and Swiss Alps are damn expensive and that means spending lots of cash to get to places like Chemonix (base of mont black) or Zermit (base of meterhorn). It costs about 70 Euros for single train ticket from Geneva to Chemonix. Geneva to Interlaken city is about 60 Euros one way. Getting a Euro rail pass for three countries would also be a good idea. That would be even economical. Booking.com is a good web site to look for decent but economical hotels. Although another much cheaper alternative way (albeit an unusual one) would to buy a family tent for about a 100 Euros. And camp at your destination. All cities in Swiss and France have a camping site accessable from train/buss station. Costs about 20 Euros per night to pitch ur tent and all camping sites have clean washrooms and showers. Some of them (like ABC site in INterlaken city) even have anti-rooms with TV and refrigrators also. When I was backpacking through Europe, I did this (was with friends) and saw a lot of families doing the same which included many Indian families also. Its a much cheaper alternate to hotels. Of course this is not suitable for all types of families and temperaments. Booking.com would be the other alternative to find a hotel. Have fun in Alps! ;)

shahid khan replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 11:51 AM PST MR HUSSAIN AOA PLEASE FOLLOW MY ADVISE AS ITS FUNNY TO TRAVEL TO ITALY FROM NORWAY AS MR SHAHZAD INDICATED.THE BEST OPTION CONTACT "THOMSON HOLIDAYS"AND GET HOLIDAYS PACKAGE WITH HALF/FULL BOARD.WHICH OFCOURSE MUCH CHEAPER THAN EXPECTATION.THAT IS THE ONLY OPTION AVAILABLE FOR U.FURTHER MORE ITS UPTO U

Fahad replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 04:01 PM PST Dear Hussain sb, Sir make sure that your question is precise. If you want to go to Paris you have four good options, first is Ryan air, the cheapest one, the second best option is through rail eurostar and the third is euroline bus and fourth is covoiturage mean you can share car with some one.On internet you can find covoiturage.com. In most of the europe étap hotel is best option as the rent start from 30 euros for a couple and if you want to book youth hostel hihostel.com is another best option and you can find a separate room around 40 to 50 euros. Formula one is another nice option but the disadvantage it is alway away from the city. The other option is bed and breakfast hotel is also nice one. From paris you can go to switzerland, in interlaken Bonigen is a nice place to stay. But I will recommend you the eurorail pass and make an advance booking from uk because this is cheap one. you can get discount while visting tourist place in switzeland on this pass. you can search eurorail pass. you question does not show what sort of information do you want. Presently I am living in France and I have visited almost all the europe for my doctorate reseach. you can share any other query. Wish you best of luck and in french Bon voyage. Monseiur damme. Merci

Advise replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 04:09 PM PST It is very easy to travel from Paris to any where in Switzerland. At times, last minute plane tickets can be cheaper than train but it may not suit your schedule. Therefore, i advise to buy train journey. Swiss train company offer various type of tickets incl. day ticket for all Switzerland and also cheap holiday packages. Use SBB.ch and you can buy complete package from Paris to Switzerland and back to UK. BTW.. I live in Bahria Lahore and i believe you also live in Bahria!

Hussain Kaisrani replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 06:37 PM PST Dear Brothers, thanks for your guidance though I am still under process of planning so my questions are not very clear. I have understood the process of travelling from London to Norway. It was very cheap to travel with Ryan Air so I have finalized my booking. I can do the same from Norway to Paris. I am stuck here. How to manage booking of cheap hotels as it is not a good idea to spend much money for spending only nights. @Fahad, I will be needing further guidance from you. I will be obliged if you can email me your email / phone contact on KAISRANI@GMAIL.COM @Advise, Yes! I am a resident of Safari Villas, Bahria Town Lahore but I am in London nowadays. Thanks for your guidance.

Fahad replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 08:32 PM PST @hussain e mail sent to you sir. Kind regard

Shahzad replied on Thursday, September 1, 2011 10:51 PM PST Try hostelworld.com for cheap hotels and hostels. ryan air is the cheapest available option but keep in your mind that ryanair usually operates at the airports that are far away from cities.

Salman replied on Friday, September 2, 2011 02:49 AM PST Try www.kayak.co.uk for price comparison

Atif replied on Saturday, September 3, 2011 01:57 AM PST I visited Italy, Switzerland, and France last year. Landed in Rome and then took trains to all cities of Italy, to Zurich, and from Zurich to Paris. The trains were excellent. As far hotels are concerned, I used www.booking.com to book hotels in all cities across Italy, Zurich, and Paris...bargain details and no issues.

jjk replied on Saturday, September 3, 2011 03:44 AM PST I don't know how long you will be in Europe, but you have a VERY busy agenda. Sounds exhausting. I prefer to stay in only 1 or 2 places and see them in depth.