[Removed user]

13 May 2014 at 9:45:26 #806358

Hi,

I am travelling to Switzerland with my parents and my husband in July-August 2014. We are planning a 5-6 day trip. I wanted to cover a city, a village, a peak and special train ride during this trip. However I am quite confused in picking places.

I have already booked the tickets from Paris to Basel for 31 st July

I came up with the following two itineraries but its turning out to be extremely expensive. Is there a group / family pass that I could purchase to reduce the expenditure on travel or shall i wait for the supersaver tickets?

Also, would glacier express be worth it during summers?

Or could you help me plan a different itinerary altogether

31 JulyBasel to Interlaken -58 CHF/ PP (2 hours)
Interlaken – Wengen – 28 Euro (46 minutes)
stay in wengen / Grindlewald
1 AugustGo to Jungfrao / near by peaks or aroundStay in Grindlewald
2 AugustGrindlewald – Brig – 54 CHF (2 hrs)take glacier express to ChurChur to Lucerne – 46 CHFstay in lucerne
3 August Go to Mt TitlisSee around
4 August Lucerne to Zurich ZUrich to Paris
________________________________________

31 JulyBasel – Lucerne / Zurich 32 CHF (1 hour)
Stay in lucerne
1 AugustGo to Mt Titlis or sight seeing in LucerneStay in Lucerne
2 August Lucerne to Andermatt – 36 CHF
Lucerne to CHur – 46 CHF Take Glacier express CHUR – BRIG (110 CHF)Brig – Interlaken — 44 CHF (1:41)Stay in Village Wnegn / Grindlewald
3 August Go to Jungfrao Or Sight seeing around (135 CHF)Stay in Village
4 th August Interlaken – Gstaad/ Montreux- 30 CHF (2:35)Take evening train from Geneva to Paris
__________________________________________

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

[Annika]

14 May 2014 at 9:31:56 #839930

Hi kB2swiss,

Thanks for sharing your plans here. If you want to keep things affordable there are two options I would say:

1. Get a 4-day Swiss Saver Pass for 4 people (this includes a 10% discount on the pass because you’re a group) and a Swiss Peak Pass. The Peak Pass allows you to visit several peaks at a very low cost. The only disadvantage is that you have to pick from the covered peaks, not the ones you have in mind. The Swiss Saver Pass includes trains, boats, city transport and even museums for free (and the Rigi mountain trip too). So you can really do a lot in 4 days if you can plan to limit traveling on the first or last day of your stay.
2. Get a Swiss Half Fare Card, stay in one town and do day trips from there. Lucerne would be a good base with plenty of options for 5 days. The advantage of this plan is that you can pick your daily activities based on the weather.

Check the links to the passes for more information. Also, the pages below may be of help:

• How to pick the best pass
• How to plan
• Sample itineraries
• Budget hotels

[Removed user]

14 May 2014 at 9:52:50 #839931

Thanks Annika!

We are thinking of spending two days in the Interlaken region and will stay either in Wengen or Grindlwald. We might skip Jungfrao and do Schlithorn instead.

1) I am still unsure about the exit point and confused if we should include Glacier express (in summers). Our whole plan of going to Zermatt / CHur is for the glacier express.

2) Montreux would be a part of the plan only if we decide to exit from Geneva. I have been to Geneva and didn’t quite like it

This is my parents first trip to Europe and they are quite found of mountains and scenery. I want them to get a taste of switzerland through this trip.

[Arno]

14 May 2014 at 17:45:28 #839932

Hello kB2swiss,

The Glacier Express is worth it in Summer too, although there won’t be snow in that season. See the Glacier Express page for a detailed overview of what to expect. It’s a long trip though, and thus not the best fit for a budget trip. With the Swiss Pass, the trip is free, but you still need a seat reservation, which I think currently is CHF 33 per person.

I hope this helps to decide!

Kind regards,

Arno

[Removed user]

15 May 2014 at 18:24:34 #839933

So this is what we have decided

31 july – Paris to Basel – Interlaken – Wengen

Stay in Wengen

1 August – Go to Schlithorn, Murren , Grindlewalld etc

Stay in Wengen

2 August – Wengen to Brig , Take the glacier express to Chur – Lucerne

Stay in Lucerne

3 August – Roam around in Lucerne

Stay in Lucerne

4 August – Lucerne to Basel – Paris

We are thinking of taking the Swiss Pass for all 4 of us. I am a student at the moment in Paris and have an international student card (ISIC). Would I be entitled to any discounts in Switzerland?

Also which would be more scenic in glacier express Brig to Chur or CHur to Brig

[Arno]

16 May 2014 at 7:15:57 #839934

Hi kB2swiss,

You can best check the ISIC discounts at their website. As far as I know there are no huge savings with such a card. There are museum discounts, but with a Swiss Pass, many are free anyway. And the budget hotels Annika linked to can be booked by anyone.

There is a cheaper variant of the Swiss Pass: Swiss Youth Pass for anyone under 26. No student card required. See here for details: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisspass/price

The direction of traveling does not make a difference for the scenery. What matters is the covered legs. See the Glacier Express page I linked to in my previous post. There’s a detailed overview of what to expect.

By the way, on August 3, don’t stay in town if the weather is good. Make a boat trip, or travel to the Rigi and enjoy the view. It’s all included in the pass so you might as well enjoy those benefits.