Paris and Switzerland Romantic Discovery Tour Package

No. Both are in the Schengen area, so one visa covers the whole trip. The technical part is which consulate you apply to: the rule is the country where you spend the most nights, and if the nights are equal, it is your country of first entry. This itinerary is three nights in each, so with a Paris arrival, the application goes to France. Getting that wrong is one of the most common reasons a first application is rejected. We prepare the documentation, the hotel confirmations and the itinerary letter, but the visa fee and the VFS Global charges are not included in the package price, and the decision is the consulate's alone. Apply early and reconfirm the current requirements for your dates rather than relying on this page.

Because it is faster door-to-door, cheaper, and far less tiring. A direct TGV Lyria takes a little over three hours from the centre of Paris to Basel, and Lucerne is an hour on from there. A flight looks shorter on paper but adds two airport transfers, bag drop, security and a boarding wait, and usually eats most of the day. The train also has no baggage limit worth worrying about, and the seats are reserved and issued with your documents. The only reason to fly this leg is if you are extending the trip to somewhere a train does not reach.

For a first visit on a two-country trip, yes - it gives you two full sightseeing days plus an arrival evening, which covers the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the Louvre, Notre-Dame and Montmartre without rushing. It is not enough for Versailles and Disneyland as well; those are full days and each one replaces something. If you want either, tell us at enquiry and we will either add a Paris night or show you what comes out. What three nights does buy you is not packing in the middle of your Paris stay, which two nights always forces.

It is built for couples, and the pacing is the reason: three nights in each city rather than two, one travel day rather than three, and evenings left free rather than programmed. What it is not is a luxury honeymoon: these are central 3-star hotels, the sightseeing is self-guided, and there is no private car or tour manager. If you want the 4-star version, a lake-view room in Lucerne, a Seine dinner cruise or private transfers, all of those are quoted as upgrades. Honeymoon touches at the hotels are requested rather than confirmed, and we say so plainly rather than letting you expect them.

Being straight with you: neither can be insured against, and no operator refunds for weather. The Eiffel Summit closes in high winds, and when it does, the second level stays open, and the tower adjusts your ticket at the entrance. Mt Titlis runs in most conditions, but the Cliff Walk closes in wind, and a clouded-in summit is simply a clouded-in summit. What we do is build the trip so you have room - your Titlis ticket is for the day rather than a time, so a grey morning can become a clear afternoon, and the two Paris days can be swapped between themselves. Go up early on both: mornings clear far more often than afternoons.

Paris is easy on both counts. It has a large Indian and Sri Lankan quarter around La Chapelle and Indian restaurants across the city, and French menus always carry vegetarian options, even if the waiter needs it spelt out. Lucerne is thinner - there are one or two Indian restaurants, and Swiss kitchens handle vegetarian well with rosti, alpine macaroni, soups and salads, but you will not find the choice you get in Paris. Jain requirements need advance notice rather than being arranged on the day. Tell us at enquiry, and we will tell you honestly what each evening will look like.

Paris is the demanding part, not Switzerland. The Louvre alone is a few kilometres of gallery floor, Montmartre is a hill, and the metro has stairs at a lot of stations with no lift. Lucerne is flat, and Mt Titlis is reached sitting down with level platforms at the top. If parents or older travellers are coming, tell us at enquiry: we take the Montmartre funicular rather than the steps, use the Carrousel entrance at the Louvre, and can add a private car for the Paris days. Nothing in the package requires a hike.

Comfortable walking shoes before anything else - Paris is walked, not driven. For Mt Titlis you need a proper jacket, gloves and a cap in every month of the year: there is snow on the summit year round and the glacier cave sits below freezing, which catches people out in July. Paris itself needs a light layer even in summer because evenings cool down by the river. Carry a small umbrella; both cities get rain at short notice. You do not need hiking boots or technical gear for anything in this package.

April to June and September to October work well because they are good in both countries at the same time, which is the constraint on a two-country trip. July and August give you the longest days but also the biggest crowds at the Eiffel Tower and the highest hotel rates in both cities. Winter is the cheapest by a clear margin, and Paris is at its best in December, but Swiss daylight is short, and the Lucerne wall towers are closed. The one window we avoid is the late autumn maintenance break on Mt. Titlis.

Both, and they are not interchangeable. France uses the euro and Switzerland the Swiss franc, and although Swiss shops will take euros, they do it at a rate that costs you. Cards work almost everywhere in both countries, including on the metro and for train tickets, so a travel card plus a small amount of cash in each currency is the practical answer. Keep some coins in Paris for the public toilets and in Lucerne for lockers. Your city tourist tax is already included in the package, so you don't pay it at either hotel.

No - the properties shown are examples of the 3-star category and the central areas we book in, not a held booking. Your actual hotel is named in your quotation before you pay anything. Paris is the more variable of the two: rates swing a long way between a February Tuesday and a June weekend, and the room you get for a given category is smaller than the Indian equivalent. If the property we want is unavailable, we move you to a similar-tier alternative in the same area and tell you in advance rather than on arrival.

Yes, and this route extends more easily than most. Paris connects by direct train to Brussels, Amsterdam and London, and from Lucerne you are a few hours from Interlaken, Zermatt or Italy. The common additions are a second Swiss summit, a Versailles day, or two or three nights somewhere else entirely on the way home. Anything that changes the exit airport changes the flight booking too, so tell us at enquiry rather than after, and we will quote the whole reshaped trip rather than bolting days on.

Your Indian number will roam in both countries, but the packs are expensive, and Switzerland is often charged separately from the EU, which surprises people. The cheaper answer is an eSIM bought before you fly that covers Europe, including Switzerland - check that Switzerland is listed, because plenty of "Europe" plans leave it out. Hotel wifi is reliable in both cities, free wifi is common in Paris cafes, and Swiss trains carry wifi on the main routes. You will want data for maps and for the Titlis webcam on the morning of Day 6.