Planning a private family trip to Switzerland from India

Who plans it

TripsGala plans private family trips to Switzerland, including from India, and arranges the whole journey: flights, accommodation, private transport, local guides, the activities in the plan and entry fees for the sites in it. It begins with the Soul Compass, a free six-minute set of questions about your mood, needs and travel style, and you can name Switzerland outright or leave the shape of it open. Within 48 hours a curator sends a Living Proposal, your personal day-by-day itinerary. It stays open to changes for eight days, then it locks.

Getting there and entry rules

Zurich is the usual gateway, about 8 to 9.5 hours nonstop from Delhi or Mumbai. Geneva is the other common arrival point, and it suits a route that begins beside Lake Geneva and ends further east. Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa for Switzerland, applied for in advance at a visa application centre with an appointment reserved ahead of the date. Entry rules change, so confirm them before you commit to dates. The currency is the Swiss franc, and cards are accepted almost everywhere, including on most trains.

When to go, and for how long

Two seasons suit families. June to September brings green valleys, lake steamers, cable cars running full time and walking routes gentle enough for grandparents and small children. Late December to March brings snow, sledge runs and ski schools that take beginners. A sensible length is 8 to 12 nights. Ten nights allows three bases without packing every second morning, which matters more than anything else when you are moving with three generations and a mountain of cases.

Where to base yourselves

Most family routes use two or three of these:

• Lucerne, on the lakefront, with its covered wooden bridge and Mount Pilatus and the Rigi within an easy ride.
• Interlaken and the Jungfrau region, for Grindelwald, Wengen, the waterfalls of Lauterbrunnen and the railway up to Jungfraujoch at 3,454 metres.
• Zermatt, a car-free village under the Matterhorn, reached by a final train leg from Täsch.
• Montreux and the Lake Geneva shore, for vineyard terraces and Chillon Castle.
• St Moritz and the Engadine, a high valley of clear light and long views.
• Zurich or Geneva, for a first or final stop close to the airport.

How the days are joined together

The rail network does most of the work, and for many households the journeys become the memory rather than the stops. The Glacier Express between Zermatt and St Moritz takes most of a day at walking pace across viaducts and passes. The Bernina line climbs past glaciers and drops into Italy. We arrange those seats, the transfers where trains do not reach the door, local guides who speak English, and entry to the sites written into the plan. Where something sits outside that, the itinerary says so in plain words.

Start with the Soul Compass, six minutes of free questions about your mood, needs and travel style.