We finally crossed this bucket list destination off our list and it certainly did not disappoint! On my birthday, we set off on the first leg of our trip from Houston to Switzerland. We stayed one night in Amsterdam as an extended layover. We knew we wanted to keep this part of the trip short and sweet and we were glad we planned it like that.
This will forever be my favorite kind of view! My whole crew heading off to explore a new place just makes my heart so happy! 😍We arrived in Amsterdam and headed straight to our hotel! We stayed at The Monet Garden Hotel and loved it! We were only here for one night and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here! The staff were all so kind, warm, and helpful! They brought out coffee for us and kid treat boxes to keep the kids entertained while we waited for our room to be ready. It really is the little things! 🥹After we were all checked in and rested for a bit, we set out to explore. We ended up visiting Amsterdam the same time a parade was happening and the crowds were….interesting 🙃LOL here we are trying our best to distract the girls and Ava persevering! There were so many people swarming the streets, we sadly didn’t get a chance to visit any of the touristy places we had on our list. We called it an early night and headed home to bed so we could catch our early AM flight. But we did manage to stop and grab a STROOPWAFEL, of course! 😆The next morning, we were at the Amsterdam airport bright and early to board our flight to our much anticipated destination! A short hour and a half later, we landed in Zurich and took a train straight to Lucerne (only 45 min away). The Zurich airport was connected to the train station, making this transition so seamless! For this trip, we only packed 4 carryons and 4 backpacks. This allowed for one of us to push the stroller and the rest of the crew grabbed the carryons. We took so many trains with our luggage and so we knew it was important pack light!
Side bar: When we landed in the Zurich Airport, we downloaded the SBB mobile app and visit the public train information office (located in the Zurich airport, just follow the signs!) The representatives were so friendly and helpful. We purchased half-fare travel cards for Jacob and I. With the purchase of these travel cards, the kids travelled for FREE! The half fare travel passes typically pay for themselves after the first few train rides.
NEXT STOP: LUCERNE!!!! This was one of my favorite cities and I am so excited to share!
The Curious Georges 