Europe — Switzerland, France & Italy travel guide

Travel to Europe — Switzerland, France & Italy between Apr – Sep. Those are the months the weather, the crowds and the airfare line up — outside them you trade one of the three.

Currency

Euro and Swiss Franc (EUR / CHF)

Language

German, French and Italian; English works in every hotel and station.

Time zone

CET (UTC+1), CEST in summer — 3½ to 4½ hours behind India

Plug type

Type C / F, Type J in Switzerland, 230V — carry a universal adapter

Flight time from India

9 hrs

Flying from

Mumbai · Delhi · Ahmedabad

• 

  Jungfraujoch, the Top of Europe

  Two and a half hours of cogwheel railway from Interlaken, the last seven kilometres inside a tunnel bored through the Eiger, ending at 3,454 metres with an ice palace and a glacier plateau. It is expensive and weather-dependent — check the summit webcam the night before and swap the day if the cloud is down.

• 

  Paris in two days: the tower, the river, the Louvre

  Book the Eiffel Tower summit lift weeks ahead or accept the second floor. The one-hour Bateaux Mouches at dusk is the cheapest good hour in Paris. At the Louvre, pick three rooms and leave; trying to see it all is how people end a day exhausted having looked at nothing.

• 

  Venice: vaporetto 1, and Murano at the furnace

  Take the number 1 waterbus down the Grand Canal instead of a gondola, sit at the open stern, and you get forty minutes of palace facades for the price of a bus ticket. Murano glass is worth buying at a working furnace with a certificate — the pieces sold near San Marco are mostly imported.

• Rome: the Colosseum and the Vatican, on separate days

  Both need timed tickets bought online and both take half a day properly. The Vatican Museums are three hours before you even reach the Sistine Chapel — go on the first entry or on a Friday evening opening. St Peter dome climb is 551 steps and worth every one of them.

• Lucerne, Mount Titlis and the lake steamer

  Titlis has the rotating cable car and a glacier cave, and is the easier alternative when Jungfrau is closed. In Lucerne itself, the Chapel Bridge and a lake steamer to Weggis cost very little and are covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, which also covers the boats and most museums.

• Disneyland Paris, if the children are the reason you came

  Forty minutes on the RER A from central Paris, and a full day rather than a half. Two parks share the entrance — the main park is the one worth the ticket for under-tens. Book the date-specific ticket; the flexible one costs more and still needs a reservation in peak weeks.

• Italy is the easy countryVegetarian

  Pizza margherita, pasta al pomodoro, risotto ai funghi, caprese — a vegetarian eats extremely well in Italy. Two things to check: dried pasta is egg-free but fresh pasta usually is not, and traditional Parmigiano is made with animal rennet, so ask for a vegetarian hard cheese if that matters.

• France is the hard oneVegetarian

  Butter, cream and meat stock run through French cooking, and a salad often arrives with lardons. Reliable vegetarian ground: a plain crêpe or a galette with cheese and mushroom, ratatouille, onion soup made without beef stock, and the boulangerie counter. Croissants are butter, not lard, and are safe.

• Switzerland: rösti, fondue and the mountain lunchVegetarian

  Rösti is grated potato fried in butter and is vegetarian by default. Cheese fondue usually contains kirsch and occasionally a meat stock cube, so ask. Swiss mountain restaurants are extremely expensive — a packed lunch from a Coop or Migros supermarket is what experienced travellers do.

• Gelato, macarons and hot chocolateVegetarian

  Real gelato is stored in covered steel tins, not piled into coloured mountains — that is the tourist tell. Fruit sorbets are dairy-free. Macarons are egg white and almond, so vegetarian but not vegan, and gelatin can appear in the fillings.

• Indian food, and how Gujarati groups actually eatJain friendly

  Interlaken, Paris La Chapelle, Milan and Rome all have Indian restaurants, but they are expensive and inconsistent. The honest answer for a Jain or strict vegetarian group is the arrangement the trade already uses: an Indian cook travelling with the coach and cooking at the hotel, which we can build into the package. Say so at the time of booking, not at the airport.

Set a meal preference — vegetarian, Jain or halal — when you book and we brief every hotel and restaurant on your itinerary.

• Swiss watches and Victorinox knives — knives go in checked baggage, never in the cabin
• Lindt, Läderach and Sprüngli chocolate; buy at a Coop rather than at the airport
• Paris: perfume and cosmetics at Galeries Lafayette, with the tourist discount card from the welcome desk
• Murano glass from a certified furnace on the island, with the shipping arranged there
• Florence leather at the San Lorenzo market, and paper marbling from the old binderies
• Claim the VAT refund at the last EU airport before you fly home — allow an extra hour and keep goods unused

Switzerland runs on the Swiss Travel Pass, which covers trains, boats, city trams and most museums and gives a discount on the mountain railways — for a four-day Swiss leg it usually pays for itself. Between countries, the TGV and Frecciarossa are faster than flying once you count airport time, but seats are reserved and cheap fares vanish early. Inside cities, Paris Navigo, Rome ATAC and the Venice vaporetto day pass are the sensible buys. One practical warning: European trains have no porters and platform changes are announced late, so pack what each traveller can lift alone.

• Pickpocketing is not a risk here, it is a near-certainty if you are careless. The hotspots are specific: Paris Metro line 1 and Gare du Nord, Rome Termini and the number 64 bus to the Vatican, and the Venice vaporetto at San Marco. Cross-body bag, zipped, worn in front, and nothing in a back pocket.
• The distraction teams work in pairs — a friendship bracelet tied on your wrist outside Sacré-Coeur, a clipboard petition at the Colosseum, a dropped ring on the pavement. The moment someone touches you or hands you something, put a hand on your bag.
• Travel insurance covering EUR 30,000 of medical care is a legal condition of the Schengen visa, not an upsell, and the policy must cover every night of the trip. Buy it before the appointment, because the consulate checks it.
• The EU Entry/Exit System registers fingerprints and a facial image at the first Schengen border crossing. Queues at Zurich, Paris and Rome have been long while it beds in — allow two hours on a first entry and be careful with tight onward connections.
• Mountain excursions are weather-dependent and the tickets are timed. Jungfraujoch, Titlis and Schilthorn all close for wind and cloud, and a closed summit is refunded but not rescheduled — keep a spare day in the Swiss leg.
• In Italy a coperto or service charge is added per person, and sitting at a table in a piazza costs more than standing at the bar. Tap water is safe everywhere on this circuit, including from the public fountains in Rome.

Per person, per day, on the ground — meals, local transport and entry tickets. Flights and hotels sit in the package price, not here.