[Idyllchat] Re: Switzerland

[st.gretener at bluewin.ch]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to IdyllChat! I believe that you are already quite exited 
to travel to Switzerland next summer.

My name is Stefan, I'm a native Swiss, living in Olten 
(Switzerland). I'm with SBB (Switzerland's main railroad company) for 
already more than 10 years. I started as a passenger agent at smaller 
railroad stations (it was the time when I came in touch with Idyll 
Tours), now I'm railroad traffic controller. 

I guess I have some answers on your questions:

Switzerland's network of public transportation is said to be 
world's best. Between about 7am to about 8pm you have at least one 
point to point connection per hour. And you can reach nearly every 
town or point of interest by public transportation. Depending on your 
connection, you have to change trains on a station on the way. The 
departure times are every hour at the same minute, so you don't need 
to take a timetable in your pocket, theoretically. The connections 
between trains, busses and other means of public transportation are 
well-timed, so you should generally not wait more than 10 minutes. Of 
course there are some exceptions in timetables, especially before 
7am, after 8pm and on Saturdays and Sundays.
You can check timetables online at: http://fahrplan.sbb.
ch/bin/query.exe/en

The use of public transportation is easy, and after a few days you 
will feel like at home. Because of the high number of trains and 
busses, you should always check, if you are getting on the right 
train/bus. At bigger stations, the direction of the train and the 
next stops are indicated on platform displays. On busses, the 
direction is always indicated on the front. Same on local trains, 
some fast trains have displays next to every door.
If you feel unsafe, whether you are in the right train or not, ask 
train staff or other passengers. Train staff speaks English in 
general. Switzerland has four official languages, so we first learn 
an other official language in school. But most Swiss speak at least a 
little English. It may helps, when you can show a printout of your 
timetable or when you have a sheet of paper and a pen with you to 
write down your destination.

There are a lot of things and places that are worth to visit when 
you are in Switzerland, many of them would also be interesting for 
your grandparents. Tell me, what you are specially interested in, and 
I can give you some advice.

Greetings from Switzerland,
Stefan