Bonjour, hallo! My family just returned from our 2+ week trip to France and Switzerland. The six of us (my family of five plus my niece) flew business-class both ways (on miles, of course). We stayed in Paris for 4 nights and then moved on to Switzerland.
While we are all glad to be back home, the trip itself was pretty epic. Here are some of our impressions and takeaways:
- We didn’t have any major mishaps on this trip. Sure, we fumbled a bit, getting on wrong trains and walking in the wrong direction, but thankfully we didn’t experience any big issues.
- Flying in business class was “super dope”, according to my family. It certainly spoiled us on those long flights.
- Paris is cleaner and quieter than NYC. The pace of the city felt less frantic and less stressful.
- We last visited Paris 18 years ago. Unfortunately, changes due to security have made places less accessible. For example, when we visited the Eiffel Tower on our honeymoon, there were not glass walls around the base and it was just open to the park below. Areas inside Sacre Coeur are also less accessible now than during our previous trip.
- All of us preferred our time in Switzerland over our time in Paris. It was unanimous! Paris was nice, but Switzerland was amazing! Of course, we’re comparing a large city to small mountain towns.
- Switzerland is unbelievably clean, beautiful and QUIET. We first stayed in the car-free village of Wengen, so there was no car noise or pollution. Even the trains are quiet. The loudest sound was the ringing of cowbells from the cows on the mountains.
- My picky-eater teenage son declared that his favorite thing about the trip was the FOOD. I am shocked at how much he enjoyed the food in both France and Switzerland.
- Switzerland has replaced New Zealand as our favorite country to visit. It’s really stunning and easier to get around than New Zealand.
- I’m so glad we packed light. We had a lot of train changes, and I can’t imagine doing those with more/bigger bags.
- We are thankful for the cooler weather we experienced the entire trip (70s in Paris, 40s-70s in Switzerland). Now that we’re back in Texas, we’re dealing with 100+ degree temperatures.
Overall, I’m thankful that we had the opportunity to take this trip together. I missed Europe!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging with more details and reviews. Until then, hit me up in the comments with any questions.
It’s good to be back!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Did you use points for accommodations in Switzerland?
@Marta We rented an airbnb in Wengen, but I did use points (anniversary cert) for one night at Crowne Plaza Geneva https://milesforfamily.com/2022/07/26/review-crowne-plaza-geneva-ihg-free-night-certificate/ as well as Hyatt points for Hyatt Place Zurich Airport the Circle.
Did you happen to notice wheelchair accessibility in Switzerland?
@Michelle I didn’t notice it in too many places. It seemed like stairs were everywhere.
Switzerland looks wonderful! Looking forward to reading more
@Elena It was wonderful!
Welcome back! Look forward to your Switzerland posts. Had original plans to go there, but husband requested Iceland. Maybe someday..,
Thanks, Leana! I know you’d love Switzerland, but Iceland looks very pretty as well.
Looking forward to your report! Our family is looking at a Barcelona/Switzerland combo. Switzerland will likely be in or near Interlaken.
That’s our hope anyway. Right now flights (points or cash) are crazy high or awful routings as they release each date for next summer. Biz class is out of the question.
@projectx that sounds like a great trip! I hope you can get the routing to work out.
@projectx– Chase currently has a 30% bonus when transferring UR points to BA Avios. Hope that might be useful.
@Chris I’m still hoping to find some flights to make this transfer bonus worthwhile to me. My time is running out.
I helps a bit, but they are still crazy high. Plus, since we only travel during peak dates finding saver space is extremely difficult. I’m looking at June 2023, so perhaps as the calendar continues to be released some of those dates will calm down a bit.