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Hello everyone,
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who contributes to this forum which helped me a lot in planning my next trip to Switzerland.
My wife and I will spend 5 days in the Bernese Oberland region, more specifically in the Reichenbach im Kandertal village.
We will arrive from Luxembourg by car on 25/12 and depart to Zurich on 31/12.
Not considering the arrival/departure dates, this is how our itinerary looks so far:
26/12 – Zermatt, Gornergrat
27/12 – Glacier Express from Brig to Chur and return on regular trains (my wife badly wants to do this)
28/12 – Lauterbrunen, Murren, Schilthorn
29/12 – Grindewald, Jungfraujoch
30/12 – still not sure what to do
So, here are my questions:
- I feel like our itinerary is focused only on mountains, any suggestions to change something? And what to do on the 30/12?
- How full will the attractions be at this time of year? Should I expect waiting queues?
- I’m still deciding which pass to buy and comparing prices between the 4 days Swiss Travel Pass and the Half fare card. Considering the attractions I’ve mentioned, would it be worth looking at any other?
- Since we will be with our own car, if we take the Swiss Travel Pass, do you think I should leave my car parked at our village and go everywhere by train? I was thinking of maybe driving to each city and parking, and from there doing everything without the car using the travel pass. I’ve read the topic comparing car x train, but I’m still undecided as I imagine it would save time going by car.
Any other considerations you have would be of great help.
Thank you again for your help.
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Hi RafaelC,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
If you want to avoid paying expensive point-to-point tickets for your mountain excursions, I suggest getting the Swiss Half Fare Card. You can purchase the Swiss Half Fare Card online here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard
However, I would also like to suggest that you consider taking the train instead of driving for the entire duration of your trip. Some pros and cons to consider here: http://www.myswissalps.com/carversustrain
If you decide to travel by train, the Swiss Travel Pass may be the best option. In addition to free travel on public transport and discounted travel on cable cars and mountain railways, this pass also covers your trip on the Glacier Express. You just need to pay a surcharge for the seat reservation. The Glacier Express from Brig to Chur takes about 4 hours and another 5 hours to travel back by regular trains from Chur to Brig if you need to pick up your car. So this needs careful planning if you want to avoid too many switchbacks.
By the way there is currently a promotion on the Swiss Travel Pass. Find more info here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/promotions
To answer the rest of your your questions:
– In addition to mountain destinations, you might also be interested in exploring Swiss cities and towns. Please have a look here for some ideas of what you can see and do in winter: http://www.myswissalps.com/winter
– Since you are visiting during the winter and Christmas holidays, there might be queues for the mountain railway and cable cars in Zermatt, Grindelwald and Schilthorn. But I’m sure you won’t have to wait too long.
Hope this gets you started.
Regards,
Anna
May I suggest you don’t try and cram in too much. Your plan so far looks a bit non-stop.
I know Reichenbach/Kandertal very well (I was there only a few weeks ago) – see my pictures of the railway around Reichenbach taken last month
26/12 – Zermatt, Gornergrat RISK OF Poor weather on a one day visit
27/12 – Glacier Express from Brig to Chur and return on regular trains (my wife badly wants to do this)
28/12 – Lauterbrunen, Murren, Schilthorn Recommended
29/12 – Grindewald, Jungfraujoch Recommend drop Jungfraujoch (rather over-developed nowadays), and possibly Grindelwald as well (View of Jungfrau. Eiger etc excellent from Murren on a clear day
30/12 – still not sure what to do City (eg Bern) or castles around Lake Thun
So, here are my questions:
I feel like our itinerary is focused only on mountains, any suggestions to change something? And what to do on the 30/12? see my comment
How full will the attractions be at this time of year? Should I expect waiting queues? Any lifts directly associated with ski-ing may be busy, but usually only at the ‘rush hour’ times of day (morning, lunchtime uphill; lunchtime, afternoon downhill)
Since we will be with our own car, if we take the Swiss Travel Pass, do you think I should leave my car parked at our village and go everywhere by train? I was thinking of maybe driving to each city and parking, and from there doing everything without the car using the travel pass.
Leave you car at your accomodation. Reichenbach is served by trains every hour (even more frequent at some times of day), and the journey to key junction stations such as Spiez, Interlaken or Brig is 1 hour or less
Hi Anna,
Thank you for your inputs.
On the Glacier Express day, I was thinking of leaving the car at my accommodation and going by regular train from Reichenbach to Brig first. and then after the Glacier Express route from Brig to Chur I would travel from Chur to Reichenbach by regular trains. I’ve searched on SBB homepage and it says it would take me around 3h to 4h, do you think it takes more than that?
Thank you again and have a nice week!
Hi 1960man,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
Do you think I should also drop Zermatt/Gornergrat because of the risk of poor weather for a one day visit? I don’t have a fixed schedule (apart from the Glacier Express, where I’ve reserved the seats), so I could switch days depending on the weather. Do you know a good weather source I could look up before going?
We were already thinking about dropping Jungfraujoch (find it a bit expensive), but I think we’ll still do Grindelwald, at least the village and maybe Grindelwald First, do you have another suggestion for the day?
Thank you again and have a nice week!
Sorry, I forgot to reply directly to you in my last comment.
Hi RafaelC,
Based on the SBB timetable, the journey from Chur to Reichenbach would take about 3 hr 15 min. It will be a long day for you to complete this round trip in one day, but if you are fine with that then there is no problem 🙂
For useful tips about checking the weather, have a look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather/forecast
Regards,
Anna
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