Davos, Switzerland in Winter or Summer
There is nothing not to like about Switzerland except the high prices. Switzerland has always been pricey and probably always will be pricey, but there are ways of working around it and it is definitely worth a little brain-work. I can't think of country in Europe that makes it easier for novices or pros to get around. From the moment you land in Zurich's Kloten Airport, on trains and every little town...people speak English, make announcements in English and go out of their way to help us linguistically challenged people.
Zurich Airport has a new terminal, E, which connects to customs and baggage claim via a spanking-new people mover train. Standing on the train, Swiss scenes painted on the walls rolled by, Swiss music with alpenhorns played in the background complete with mooing cows, and clanking cow bells. Even jet-lagged, everyone in the train car started laughing.
A quick show of your passport and through Swiss Customs where each baggage carousel had two illuminated signs. One telling how many minutes it would be before your baggage appeared (it kept counting down the minutes and seconds) and the other giving information about every train and its destination whisking through the Zurich Airport during the next hour.
Free baggage carts, follow the pictograph signs to the Bahnhof (train station), line up in front of the SBB windows (Swiss Trains) to have your pass validated if you have one or buy a ticket. All personnel speak English, are helpful and will print our train schedules for you including train times, what track it leaves from, what track it arrives on, if there are any connections, total duration of time, etc. It would be impossible to make it any easier.
Winter is over...the ski slopes are deserted and half-melted but think about Davos as a destination for Winter, 2008 or this Summer. Details to follow....
