Our flight from Boston to Geneva was with Aer Lingus. Fourteen hours before the trip, we received a text that our flight had been canceled. Airlines are under strict regulations in Europe, so they rebooked us for the next day with the option of a full refund. We opted for the refund and booked a flight with Swiss for the same day, though this required a change in our itinerary. Initially, it was Boston-Geneva-Paris-Boston. This time, we decided to spend all eight days in Switzerland. The cancellation threw our morning off, but it led to a good outcome.
The new plan was a flight from Boston to Zurich, then a short layover before flying to Geneva. The Swiss are highly efficient, so even with an hour layover, there's no need to panic.
Geneva airport is sizable but very well-designed. The airport has its own train station (the SBB office looks like a bank). We went there and spoke with a representative. She took the time to listen to us, made a list of places we wanted to visit, and suggested we buy the Swiss Travel Pass Flex. We ended up buying the Half Fare Card because we didn't have a fixed itinerary and I was not sure if was worth the money for us. Looking back it would have been a better choice for us.
Lesson number one: Write down all the places you want to visit in a list before you go. Don’t forget to pick up a train system map and a Swiss Travel Pass map—they are the best visual planners.
We took the train from Geneva to Lausanne, which has a large enough station, and then took a taxi to our friend's home. The house sits on a hill, like most of Switzerland, overlooking Lake Geneva. It's a beautiful home with a yard facing Lake Geneva and a few mountains. We stayed outside as much as we could. Travel cost - From Geneva Airport to Lausanne Gare - 14.50 CHF per person with half fare Swiss card ( Paid CHF 120 for a month card)
Wah ! Maza aa gaya !
ReplyDelete