Switzerland Food & Chocolate Tour Package

That one is a museum-and-castle trip built for children - a bear park, a medieval castle, Europe's largest transport museum - and it visits the Lindt Home of Chocolate as one stop among many. This one is for adults who travel to eat. The only thing the two share is Lindt, and even there the experience differs: this package includes the forty-minute make-your-own-bar workshop, which that one does not. This route is also two nights shorter, has no castle or museum day, and is the only package we sell with meals in it beyond breakfast.

No, and we would rather say it here than let you discover it on Day 1. What is included is a self-guided route through the old town with tasting vouchers - you walk it yourselves at your own pace. A proper guided culinary walk in Zurich is priced per group rather than per person, about CHF 380 for up to fifteen people plus a surcharge for English, which for two travellers works out at roughly twenty-six thousand rupees each. It is on the add-on list at its real cost, and it makes sense if you are a larger party. For two, the self-guided version gets you the same counters without the guide fee.

Because they are not the same thing. Lindt at Kilchberg is a corporation with a purpose-built visitor centre, a nine-metre fountain and a bean-to-bar exhibition - it is the scale of Swiss chocolate. Aeschbach at Root is a family chocolatier where you are standing much closer to the actual work. You make a bar at each, by different methods: at Lindt you fill a mould in a class; at Aeschbach you work with the flow. If you only want one, tell us, and we will take Aeschbach out and the price drops by about four thousand rupees.

Yes, and this is the route we actively recommend from November to March. Lindt, the Appenzeller dairy and Aeschbach are all indoors and open year-round; the Bern arcades are covered, and a fondue in a cellar tastes better in February than in July. The dairy closes only on 25 December. Winter also means the lowest hotel rates of the year in both cities. The one thing that changes is the markets, which thin out in the coldest months - we tell you what your dates will actually get.

Because we hold our best rates in Zurich, Lucerne and Interlaken, and passing that on matters more here than at a third hotel. Bern sits exactly on the line between Zurich and Lucerne, so you get a two-hour stopover with the market, the arcades and lunch in it on the day you move - which is what you came to Bern for - without paying for a night and a check-in. Your bags go in a station locker for the two hours. If you specifically want to sleep in Bern, say so, and we will quote it, but it adds a night and a transfer.

It is the one long day of the trip and it is a fair question. What you get is a working dairy where a wheel is made and turned behind glass, the maturity tasting in the shop, and a village with painted house fronts that most Switzerland itineraries never reach. The herb brine recipe is genuinely secret. If the travel time puts you off, tell us at enquiry and we will replace it with a Lucerne day plus the Transport Museum, which brings the price down by about two thousand rupees - but you will have a chocolate trip with no cheese in it.

Mostly, with one honest caveat. Swiss restaurant kitchens handle vegetarian well; the chocolate and the cheese dairy are fine, and rosti and alpine macaroni are vegetarian staples. The caveat is that the cheese and wine tasting is dairy by definition - if you avoid dairy, that one inclusion will not work, and we will substitute something else at the same cost. Jain requirements need advance notice, not on-the-day arrangements. Tell us at enquiry, not at the restaurant.

Yes. Switzerland is in the Schengen area, so Indian passport holders need a Schengen visa before travelling. We help with the documentation, the hotel confirmations, the itinerary letter and the appointment, but the visa fee and the VFS Global service charges are not included in the package price, and the decision is the consulate's alone. Appointment waiting times vary throughout the year, so apply early and reconfirm the current requirements for your travel dates rather than relying on this page.

No. This is a land package. International and domestic flights are quoted separately, so you can use your own airline, miles or a cheaper routing if you have one. The price on this page covers the five nights, the rail card and every ticket on the itinerary, both chocolate makers with their workshops, the dairy, the Zurich trail, the three extra meals, the tourist tax and GST - everything from arriving at Zurich Airport to leaving from it.