Itinerary and swiss pass help for a month visit

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    10 May 2015 at 23:42:08 #807201

    My husband and I are planning a hiking trip to Switzerland. We are older and plan on doing day hikes, at the most 5 hours/day. We have a month to explore the country and need suggestions for itinerary and in deciding what rail pass to purchase. Here are the areas we would like to explore:

    City of Zurich: 2 days

    Lucerne area (can we include Appenzell with this area?): 5-7 days

    St. Moritz area: 4-5 days

    Berner Oberland (Grindelwald, Murren…): 7 days

    Zermatt area: 3-4 days

    Lausanne area 3-4 days

    City of Geneva: 2 days

    Is this itinerary possible using only public transportation and if so, which pass would work best? Is the order outlined above the most efficient?

    Thank you for your time!

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15483 posts
    11 May 2015 at 6:29:34 #842959

    Hello rhynehart,

    Your plans are perfectly doable with public transport. It’s better than renting a car as there are car free areas on your list and you would not want to have a car in the cities anyway.

    There are two passes to consider:

    I would go to the Berner Oberland after Zermatt. That way you can enjoy the Glacier Express ride to travel from St. Moritz to Zermatt.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    12 May 2015 at 1:40:48 #842960

    Thank you for the quick reply. I will look into your suggestion of taking the Glacier Express all the way to St. Moritz. I was thinking of doing just the section to Brig then heading north.

    I guess I need to figure out whether to do the combo or just the half fare pass. It seems as though the combo would be worthwhile, even though it’s so expensive, since we will be utilizing lifts and trains for daily hikes.

    Any suggestions on accessing Appenzell? Can we do a day trip there from Lucerne?

    Thanks again!

    Arno
    Moderator
    15483 posts
    12 May 2015 at 4:44:31 #842961

    Hi rhynehart,

    Appenzell takes 3 hours of traveling (one-way) to reach from Lucerne (see the timetable). There’s a lot to see and do much closer to Lucerne, but of course it’s doable if you really want to.

  • The thread ‘Itinerary and swiss pass help for a month visit’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10980 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.