Swiss Self-Guided Tour: Prologue | Is It Really This Expensive? From Unexpected Flight Cancellation to 12 Days of Dream Fulfillment

Switzerland is almost on the wish list in the heart of everyone who loves to travel. Everyone's impression of it is very consistent—— Very beautiful, but also very expensive. And I always thought this would be a trip that would take "a long wait before departure." Until last year, when I saw a group tour itinerary on Facebook. The beginning of a "semi-free trip" This Swiss trip was actually not completely planned by myself. The package I saw at that time was: 👉 110,000 including airfare, accommodation, transportation and admission fees For me, this format is just the balance point between: Group tour (too restrictive) Fully independent travel (too time-consuming) The group leader first plans out the overall framework: Hotel bookings Swiss Travel Pass GoldenPass and Glacier Express reservations And I, building on that foundation, work out the detailed daily itinerary. Since I'm departing from Vietnam, I didn't buy the airfare as part of the group, After deducting the group airfare cost of 26,600 NTD—— 👉 What I actually paid: NT$83,400 This Switzerland trip was also officially confirmed at the end of last year. A variable before departure: flight cancelled, cost surged by NT$30,000 I originally thought things would go smoothly from there, but I didn't expect the real test to come later. In March, I had just returned to Vietnam from the Middle East. The group organizer even specifically asked whether my Etihad Airways flight would be affected. At the time, I was actually quite optimistic—— I felt the situation wouldn't drag on for that long. I even compared: The original flight ticket: 27,000 Switched to Cathay Pacific: already went up to 45,000 So I decided to wait and see for a while. But things didn't go so smoothly. 👉 10 days before departure, the flight was restored for a while 👉 I thought I could finally set off with peace of mind Then on the night of 3/25, I received a notice: Originally departing the morning of 4/2 Changed to depart the night of 4/4 Won't arrive in Switzerland until 4/5 👉 A full 2 days late For a trip whose itinerary was already set, this basically threw everything into chaos. After contacting customer service, there was still no alternative offered, so in the end I had no choice but to grit my teeth: 👉 Cancel the original ticket and purchase a new flight (57,000) 👉 Costs increased by about 30,000 right before departure

It wasn't until right before takeoff that I truly felt at ease. In the end, I switched to flying with: Vietnam Airlines Swiss International Air Lines And arrived safely in Switzerland on the night of 4/2. But honestly, all the changes along the way left me a bit shaken. I didn't even start booking my first night's accommodation in Switzerland until the morning I arrived at the transfer point.

Switzerland in April is more breathtaking than imagined Fortunately, all the troubles were left behind before we set off. After entering Switzerland, everything started to go very smoothly. April is right when the seasons are changing, and I was very fortunate to—— see Jungfrau and also see Matterhorn and almost every day had beautiful weather. Except for the first day climbing First Mountain, when there was some fog in the morning, the following days could really be called "clouds parting to reveal the sun." 👉 Every day was postcard-quality scenery This also made this trip, which has been the most expensive so far, absolutely worthwhile.

The key to itinerary planning: save time for "places affected by weather" The most successful part of this trip, I think, was the organizer's planning strategy. Traveling in Switzerland isn't really about visiting lots of attractions, it's about concentrating your time on "the places most dependent on weather." This time the core goals were very clear: The Jungfrau region The Matterhorn So the schedule was arranged as: Grindelwald: 3 days Zermatt: 2 days 👉 This greatly reduces the risk of "coming all this way and not being able to see it" Looking back afterward, this arrangement was extremely crucial.

12-Day Itinerary Overview Here's a rough outline of this trip: Day1: Depart from Taiwan Day2: Arrive in Switzerland → Zurich → Lucerne → Golden Train → Interlaken → Grindelwald Day3–5: Grindelwald (First Mountain, Jungfrau) Day6: Grindelwald → Zermatt Day7–8: Zermatt (Gornergrat) Day9: Zermatt → Glacier Express → Zurich (Bonus: Liechtenstein) Day10: Zurich Day11: Return flight Day12: Arrival in Taiwan Is Switzerland really that expensive? A full breakdown of our actual costs Finally, let's talk about the expenses everyone cares about the most. Fixed costs Tour fee (accommodation + transportation + admission tickets): 83,400 👉 Based on my own research, this could actually be brought down to around 60,000 Local expenses Actual spending: about 26,000 But this includes: Meals at restaurants for all three meals Bars Buying red wine, white wine, and rosé every day If we subtract these "indulgence-type expenses": 👉 Basic expenses: about NT$16,000 Flights Originally: NT$27,000 Actual: NT$57,000 (due to flight changes) Summary 👉 With proper control: about NT$100,000 is enough to complete a self-guided trip to Switzerland Actually, it's not as far out of reach as you might imagine. What will this series cover? Next, I'll organize this trip into a series of articles, including: The complete guide to independent travel in Switzerland Detailed guides for each region (Grindelwald, Zermatt, etc.) Daily records of the actual itinerary If you're also planning a trip to Switzerland, this series should help you avoid quite a few detours.