We are a family of three- me, my husband Piyush and our 2019 born Boss Baby Divit. We live in Bangalore, India. I and Piyush are working professionals, and our son is a Kindergartner. We love to travel and explore places.
This year in October 2024 we travelled to our dream destinations- France and Switzerland.
Our Story on how we decided these destinations-
We juggled a lot between places to travel. We are Asians, and have explored a few other Asian International destinations before this. Our son is 5+ years old now, not too young for travel, but not too grown up as well :) We are vegetarians and picky eaters too! You may also want to read another post called Zero Preservative Food Packing for Europe trip as a Vegetarian Parent.
We decided two months before our travel, that we WANT to travel :) This was too less time, of course. Because Europe travel needs a lot of planning.
1. Schengen Visa (will soon post details on Schengen Visa process)
2. Booking flights
3. Booking places to stay
4. Currency & Forex
5. Packing list
6. Luggage & food items to carry
7. Weather friendly attire
8. Electronics and accessories like universal travel adapter, tripod for those lovely pictures, power bank etc.
9. Detailed itinerary
10. Understanding local travel modes, pricing, precautions etc.
In this post I will detail out some of this, primarily focusing on itinerary. Firstly, we are those people who prefer to plan our own travel without any agent, except for visa (if required).
When we decided on Europe, we were unsure of which countries to travel to. We also had to consider that our 5-year-old remains entertained, loves the travel, is fed properly, stays healthy and doesn't get tired or bored.
We decided to land in Paris for a few reasons-
1. Because its PARISSSSS.
2. It has Disneyland.
3. It is one of the cheapest destinations to fly to from India.
From Paris, we travelled to Switzerland by train. Fast forward to our actual journey. Here's our custom itinerary-
Day 1 - Land in Paris.
We had an overnight journey from Bangalore to Paris via Abu Dhabi. The immigration at Paris took about 2 hours, unexpectedly. That's when I learnt some fun facts about different cultures - children in all cultures can become monstrous any moment, they need gadgets to grow up, they can throw tantrums and be hungry any time. They get bored every 5 minutes, and their luggage is heavier than that of adults. Parents of all cultures control their emotions and final end up shouting at the kids.
So, after all the circus, we reached our BnB, checked-in, ate some food, freshened up (it should have been the other way round), got ready for our adventure of Day 1. We went to the nearest metro station, bought our Navigo passes for local commute. We visited a few friends, and then went for seeing the Eiffel Tower's night lights. The lights are on for 5 minutes every hour, post 7 PM.
And an important tip, you will need much of your Google Translate app in France, if you do not know French, which is the case with most of my readers for sure.
Day 2- Disneyland's Day 1
Commute - We took a train to Disneyland, and reached Disneyland Paris.... oh.. does it sound nice and cool? Well, we took the right train but reached the wrong place, happens with all the tourists at least once during their trip. We wasted an hour figuring out how to reach!
Tickets -We had booked the tickets about 45 days in advance. People say that booking upto 6 months in advance is advisable to get competitive prices. I looked around on many apps and Disneyland website itself. I found good discounts on Klook. We book "2 days, 2 Parks, Dated tickets" They had options for 1 day, 3 days, 5 days, and multiple customizations. Most Indians visit Disneyland only for a day, which is too less as per our experience. You must visit both the parks and give 1 day to each park unless you have less time overall.
We visited Disneyland Park on day 1 and Walt Disney studios on Day 2. Use the park maps and plan your day, because even the whole day is less for visiting the whole park.
Day 3- Disneyland's Day 2
We visited Walt Disney Studios this day, and had absolute fun.
Day 4 - Paris City
2-3 hours -We strolled around the streets of Montmartre and visited Sacre Coeur. We also bought a ticket to climb up the Sacre Coeur and see the whole Paris city from the top. Climbing was tough for our little one, since the stairs are from the medieval times.
2 hours - Seine River Cruise - I won't call it a must visit, but its good if you wish to see the city by water route. The river isn't clean enough, but the overall experience was fine. Book the tickets in advance or just reach the place and see if online discounts are better than offline prices.
1 hour - Stroll around the Seine River and Eiffel tower area. Walk on the Pont Alexandre bridge and experience French architecture.
2 hours- Palais Garnier - This is a magnificent Palace from hundreds of years ago. We loved visiting this place and knowing about the French history. The locality is also wonderful and picturesque.
Day 5 - Paris City
2-3 hours - I had booked an online ticket with an agent for visiting Eiffel Tower. So we reached our meeting point at 9 AM (best time to have less crowd). We went to the Eiffel tower, 1st floor, 2nd floor and top floor. The host guided us about the history and escorted us (kind of VIP entry because of the booking). The 2nd floor is good for pictures and city view. The top floor has a different vibe! So by now you have seen the city by road, train, water and the height of Eiffel and Sacre Coeur.
2-3 hours - Louvre Museum (Monalisa painting) - The museum is big, consider choosing how much you want to cover.
While walking around this area, we had seen the Arc De Triomphe from outside. We didn't want to go in because of lack of time, and because going up would ask for more energy from our child to climb the stairs. We had anyway seen the city from top of Eiffel tower and other places.
2-3 hours - Versailles Palace - Another wonderful piece of French architecture. This is a must visit, less crowded but little far from the city. We spent a lot of time confused with modes of transport here.
Day 6- Travel to Switzerland
We booked our train from Paris to Basel on the train called TGV Lyria. We did not have a Eurail pass because we did not need one. So we paid for this ticket online. This was a 4 hour journey, very comfortable. The train had a restaurant on its first floor. On reaching Basel, we activated our Swiss travel pass. We then travelled to Engelberg (our place of stay) via Lucerne on train.
We checked in to our Serviced apartment in Engelberg with lovely views of Mount Titlis. We cooked, ate, relaxed, watched the mountain, and called it a day!
Day 7 - Mount Titlis and Lucerne
Mount Titlis was at walking distance from our apartment. So, after breakfast, we started for the place. We went to the destination, and compared online and offline prices, and booked our tickets online :) This place had snow, we experienced snowfall too. Kajol and Shahrukh's caricature from DDLJ was attracting crowds for pictures. The cable car commute was one of its kind. There are multiple activities to do here. Every moment of the experience was wonderful. We comfortably visited the place but still were back down the mountain by around 2 PM. Then we quickly hopped to our apartment, cooked maggi and tea, and moved to Lucerne.
By 4 PM, we reached Lucerne, visited the old town, Lucerne Lake cruise (must visit), Chapel Bridge, Lion monument and back to Engelberg by 8:00 PM.
Day 8 - Rhine falls and Oberhofen Castle
At an hour's distance from Lucerne by train is Rhine falls. This is a waterfall of the Rhine River which separates Germany and Switzerland. It is the largest waterfall in Switzerland. We spent our whole day here. The stroll, boating, chai samosa at an Indian joint were all so pleasant. On the other side of the falls, is the Oberhofen castle. It was the first fairy tale castle we ever visited, 5 stars to this one. There is an Alpine playground at the end of the castle, our kid loved being there.
Day 9- Interlaken - Brienz, Harder Kulm, Yash Chopra statue
We checked out from our stay at Engelberg and travelled to Interlaken. We took the Lucerne-Interlaken express, which is a panoramic train. Our Air BNB was located in a peaceful town called Brienz, by the Brienz lake. We made an early check-in around 1 PM, strolled around the village to appreciate the beautiful village. And took the next bus plus train to Interlaken. We visited Harder Kulm. It is a mountain in Interlaken, you reach here by a Funicular (our first experience). On top are the beautiful views of the mountains and lakes. The reason why it is famous, is you get the views of Brienz lake and Thun lake on each side of the viewpoint. "Inter-laken" is named so because it lies between these two lakes. There is another Alpine playground and a cafe to eat.
On coming down the mountain, we strolled around Interlaken and visited the Yash Chopra Statue, had dinner at an Indian restaurant and back to Brienz.
Day 10 - Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen
Lauterbrunnen is one of the most dreamy villages in the world. It is the house of numerous waterfalls. We travelled from Brienz to Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen by train and bus. All of this had amazing scenic views all over. Half of the day was rainy, so we decided to visit sheltered area first. So we went to Trummelbach falls first and then Staubbach falls. We strolled around the beautiful Lauterbrunnen and savored some delicious local pizza and coffee. After this we took trains and cable cars to Murren and Wengen villages - again breathtakingly beautiful!
Day 11 - Grindelwald, Grindelwald First
Grindelwald is another fascinating beautiful village for a leisurely stroll. Next to it is Grindelwald First where you reach by cable car. You can enjoy First Cliff walk, hiking, ziplining, trottibike. You can even plan a hike to Bachalpsee Lake. It also has alpine playgrounds for children. You can sip your coffee and grab a bite of pizza at the cafe up the mountain, while enjoying the views of the wonderful Jungfrau region. Grindelwald First is for adventure and non-adventure lovers both. If you are a K-drama lover, Crash Landing on You, was shot here, they also have a photo prop here.
Day 12 - Jungfraujoh - Top of Europe & Thun Lake Cruise
This is yet another amazing day trip, and is one of the most popular mountains in Jungfrau region. A lot of Bollywood movies, K-drama and many others have been shot here. This was the most expensive day trip in Switzerland for us, but it was worth it. Just that, you need to keep checking the weather app and webcam (link available online), a night before and see what kind of forecast there for this mountain is. You can plan accordingly, whether you book online or offline, check weather first. Now this place is also accessible by a large cable car, people were seen hiking too, but I would leave that for my 10th Switzerland trip! They have many attractions within the mountain, even a train track on top of the mountain which takes you finally on the mountain. You can alternatively go to other mountains like Schilthorn, Schynige Platte, Kleine Scheidegg, Mannlichen etc.
The temperature on the mountain was too cold for us, we even experienced snowfall. We finally got to see much needed sunlight and warmth on travelling back to Interlaken, grabbing a cup of coffee by the lake and experienced Lake Cruise on the beautiful Lake Thun. This was unplanned, but we really love such unplanned add-ons to our itinerary.
Day 13- Zurich - Lindt Home of Chocolates and Lake Zurich
We checked out of our Air BnB and took a train to Zurich which was our last destination of the best trip ever. After an early check-in to our hotel, near the airport, we went to visit Lindt Home of Chocolates. We had booked the slots online in Bangalore itself. This was 2 weeks before our trip. It is advisable to book tickets well in advance. It took some time for us to understand the means of transport, and fast paced movements in the largest city of Switzerland. The tram rides were a distinct experience, and made us nervous for a while :) We made it to our destination in time, and were in a wonderful world of chocolates, you can enter the building and buy chocolates, visit their cafe with exquisite chocolate menu until your slot begins. Their scanners won't scan your ticket and open the doors until your slot has started, not even a minute before. So we entered the museum at 3:30 PM, and I must say its a must must visit. I can write an entirely different blog post to tell how me, my husband and our kid enjoyed being there.
It had been evening time till we left from there, and we had just that day to visit whatever we could. We decided to relax on the shores of Lake Zurich. It was calm and soothing, and seeing the falls colors, taking pictures on the lakeside was an experience in itself.
Day 14- Checkout and travel to Bangalore
We checked out, took a tram ride to the airport, left for Bangalore with colourful memories of the first ever Europe trip.
Tips from actual experience:
1. Travel Insurance - While booking tickets, make sure to take travel insurance. This will be needed for visa, and of course, you think you will not need to use the insurance, but god forbid, if you need any medical assistance in a foreign land, it will dig a hole in your pocket. Ensure to add your Date of Birth, name and all other details correctly in the insurance document. It can be bought by the same app where you book your tickets from. All of the insurance are as good and as bad as they can be!
2. Excursion tickets - If you are sure you want to visit a certain place, book the tickets in advance. Europe has unpredictable weather, be prepared for that. If there is an option of refundable tickets, consider availing it.
3. Carry oregano and chilli flakes if you are planning to try local cuisines like Pizzas. Their food is bland for Indians.
4. Booking a place to stay- Use Google maps to see how much you need to walk from metro station or any other public transport. Of course, cabs are available, but most of the tourists prefer using public transport in Europe for cost saving and experiencing the beautiful landscape.
5. Invest in very comfortable shoes, because you need to walk a lot when in Europe. If you are travelling with a kid, prepare them in advance for walking. I used to make my son walk at least 10000 steps each day for more than a month before our travel, lured him with lollipops for the same. Europe is not pram-friendly in general, you will end up carrying the pram on cobbled stone streets or in the trains.
6. Install the local weather apps. We were amazed to see that in Europe the rains and sun are so punctual, that they follow whatever timings are shown in the weather apps! Check the weather app a night before and plan the next day accordingly. Some of the mountains in Switzerland also have webcams installed, you can search for them online, and see whether the views are clear or visiting on another day is better.
7. Use free restrooms at the restaurants where you eat, or in the trains (wherever available). Paying 1 Euro for using a public toilet in France, and 1.5 Francs in Switzerland is painful.
8. Staying in Air BNB or serviced apartments saves some money on food, because you can cook one or two meals for yourself.