[Idyllchat] Re: Switzerland

[Elaine Nordstrom]

Stefan and other chatters,
As a teacher of 14 year olds it really warms my heart to read your responses 
to Andrew.  It is such a wonderful age and from all I hear Switzerland will 
be a great place for him to practice some independent travel skills.  When 
traveling, I am always struck by the numbers of European teenagers who are 
traveling alone and by their confidence and comfort around strangers.  His 
enthusiam reminded me of why I love students that age and your encouraging 
responses reminded me of why I love Untourists.
Elaine
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <st.gretener at bluewin.ch>
To: <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>; <jagora at bellsouth.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 10:57 AM
Subject: [Idyllchat] Re: Switzerland


> 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
>
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