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We are planning to stay in Switzerland for four days, coming from Strasbourg. This is our plan so far:
Plan A
Oct 2, 2010 (Sat) – Morning train from Strasbourg to Interlaken, explore Bernese Oberland, stay at Interlaken
Oct 3, 2010 (Sun) – Lake Thun cruise to Thun, stay at Interlaken
Oct 4, 2010 (Mon) – Explore Bernese Oberland, stay at Interlaken
Oct 5, 2010 (Tue) – Train to Montreux, see Chillion castle, stay at Montreux
Oct 6, 2010 (Wed) – Train to Geneva, flight to BarcelonaPlan B
Oct 2, 2010 (Sat) – Morning train from Strasbourg to Interlaken, explore Bernese Oberland, stay at Interlaken
Oct 3, 2010 (Sun) – Lake Thun cruise to Thun, see one of the lakeside castles, stay at Interlaken
Oct 4, 2010 (Mon) – Explore Bernese Oberland, stay at Interlaken
Oct 5, 2010 (Tue) – Explore Bernese Oberland, stay at Interlaken
Oct 6, 2010 (Wed) – Train to Geneva, flight to BarcelonaMy questions:
1) Which Plan should we choose? My bf is into castles so we are trying to figure out whether Chillion castle is worth a stopover on our way to Geneva. However, we are worried that 3 days at Interlaken wouldn’t be enough time to see the Alps.
2) Given the above itinerary, is it worth it to purchase a swiss pass over point-to-point tickets? if so, which swiss pass should we choose?
3) Since we are staying for such a short period of time, we would like to see the most scenic parts of switzerland only. We are not hikers and would much rather enjoy the scenery through a combination of train and cable rides and easy hikes. Are there any recommended itineraries/routes for people like us?
4) Is staying at Interlaken a good choice if we want to see the Alps at a leisurely pace? I only chose it due to ease of travel. Should we stay at Wengen or Lauterbrunnen instead since the alps would be right outside the hotel?Thanks in advance for your help!
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Hello snowee812! First of all: whether you’ll end up with plan A or plan B, both are beautiful trips! As for your questions:
1) It’s hard to say which plan you should choose and it depends on what’s most important for you: being in the alps or visiting the Chillon castle (which is considered to be a very pretty castle). As I said, both options seem great to me. My personal preference would be to spend as much time in the alps as possible, but that’s a very personal decision. I’m not sure when your flight to Barcelona from Geneva on October 6 will leave. If it’s (late) in the afternoon, you may even be able to combine your trip from Interlaken to Geneva with a visit to the Chillon castle, thus combining a 3 day stay in the Bernese Oberland with the castle visit. Depending on the train connections, the trip from Interlaken to Geneva takes 3h to 3h30, which means that there could be time left to get to Montreux on the way, if you leave really early. From Montreux, you can get on board of a ship that takes you to the castle in about half an hour. You can plan your trips using the timetable.
2) Yes, a Swiss rail pass is most probably worth your money, as you’ll be travelling each day. Which pass is most economical depends on your exact travel plans though, which especially goes for the days in which you want to explore the Bernese Oberland. If you know what trips you want to make those days, you can start and make some calculations to find out which option is best. Based on the plans you describe, I’d say that a Swiss Half Fare Card may come in handy. The prices of the trips you’re sure of (Strasbourg – Interlaken Ost, boat trip lake Thun, Interlaken Ost – Geneva Airport) amount to CHF 217.00 (per person and in 2nd class). This means that with a Swiss Half Fare Card, which costs CHF 99.00 and offers a 50% reduction, the total costs will be CHF 207.50. The Swiss Half Fare Card will also offer 50% discount on most trips you plan to make in the Bernese Oberland. As for other options: a Swiss Card would in all be slightly more expensive. And as the Swiss Saver Pass is concerned: I’m not sure if you’ll be making enough long journeys to make this a cost effective option. Again, this depends on what you’ll be doing. The Swiss Saver Pass offers ease of use though, as you don’t have to buy separate tickets for trains, buses and boats. The Swiss Half Fare Card does require you to purchase discounted tickets for each trip.
3) The beautiful Swiss landscape can be explored perfectly by train and cable car. You don’t have to hike to arrive at splendid locations. The boat trip on lake Thun will offer nice views (in clear weather of course). Lots of day trips which can be made from Interlaken are listed here. For example, consider a ride up to Kleine Scheidegg via Lauterbrunnen/Wengen, maybe even up to the Jungfraujoch, and back again via Grindelwald. In Grindelwald, cable cars for Männlichen and First leave. So you can easily reach several stunning viewing points in only a few days. Cog trains leave from Wilderswil (to Schynige Platte) and Brienz (to the Brienzer Rothorn). For the ride back to Geneva, you may pick the route crossing Zweisimmen and Gstaad, which is part of the impressive Golden Pass route. The standard route, via Bern, is faster but less scenic. If you won’t be combining the trip to Geneva with a visit to Chillon Castle, and if you have enough time on this day, the Golden Pass route will definitely be worth the extra travel time.
4) Interlaken is a convenient base for exploring the Bernese Oberland. It requires only a short train trip to get into the alps and it offers great connections to all directions. And as it’s in between lake Thun and lake Brienz, boat cruises can be easily made. If you plan to concentrate on the Jungfrau region (the area stretching from Mürren to Grindelwald, south of Interlaken), towns such as Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Grindelwald are very nice as well. They’re situated less centrally, but are right in the heart of the mountains and offer a perfect base for mountain train and cable car trips. So again, you should try and decide for yourself what’s most important.
I hope this helps a bit!
Thank you so much for your help Arno! Your answers have really helped us start our plan for our trip in Switzerland. After much discussion and research, we have prepared the following itinerary. Of course, the plan is just a rough estimate. Of course we won’t follow it minute by minute. We just want to see if it is possible to see all the things we’re interested in.
Oct 2, 2010 – Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen valley
• Colmar to Interlaken (8:23 to 11:28am)
• Drop luggage, go up Harder Kulm, have lunch (11:30pm-2pm)
• Train to Lauterbrunnen (2pm-2:20pm)
• Find hotel, Check-in, unpack (2:20-3:30)
• Walk around Lauterbrunnen valley, explore Staubach and Trummelbach waterfalls (3:30 to 6:30pm)
• Dinner at Hotel Oberland (6:30pm to 8pm)Oct 3, 2010 – Jungfraujoch
• Train to Wengen (7:39-7:53)
• Lift to Mannlichen, buy picnic (8-9am)
• Walk to Kleine Scheidegg, picnic lunch (9-11am)
• Train to Jungfraujoch (11-12pm)
• Stay at Jungfraujoch (12pm to 3pm)
• Train to Grindlewald (3 to 4:30pm)
• Walk around Grindlewald, Grindlewald dinner – C & M Café (4:30pm to 8:00pm)
• Train back to Lauterbrunnen (8-9pm) – is there another way?Oct 4, 2010 – Lake Thun
• Train to Interlaken West (8:30-8:50 am)
• Boat to Spiez (9:15-10:40 am) – should we get 1st class?
• Walk around town, lunch at Spiez, visit Castle Spiez, walk to train station (10:40am to 2pm)
• Train to Erlenbach im Simmental (2:09pm to 2:24), walk to gondola station (15 mins)
• Get off at mid station Chindi (15 mins), Hinterstockensee hiking trail (45 mins) – (3:15 to 4:15)
• Gondola up to Stockhorn, viewpoint (4:15 to 5:15)
• Gondola back down to Erlenbach (5:30), walk to train station (5:50), train back to Interlaken (6:06 to 6:45)
• Walk around Interlaken, buy souvenirs (6:45 to 7:30)
• Dinner at Restaurant Laterne (Interlaken) (7:30 – 9pm)
• Train back to Lauterbrunnen (9 – 9:20pm)Oct 5, 2010 – Schilthorn
• Funicular (standseilbahn) up to Grütschalp (8:15 am-8:30am)
• Narrow gauge train to Mürren (8:30am-9:30 am) or walk?
• Take cable car up to Schilthorn (9:30am-10:30am?)
• Stay at Schilthorn for lunch and view (10:30am-2:00pm)
• Cable car back down to Murren (2:00pm to 3:00pm?)
• Funicular up to Allmendhubel (3:00pm to 3:30pm)
• North face walk to Gimmelwald (3:30pm to 5:30pm)
• Dinner at Pension Gimmelwald (6pm -8pm)
• Take lift down to Stechelberg station (8pm-8:30pm)
• Bus to Lauterbrunnen (8:30pm to 9pm)Oct 6, 2010 – Chillon Castle
• Train to Montreux (via Zweisimmen Goldenpass) (8:33am-12:13am)
• Drop luggage, buy lunch, take bus 1 or boat to Chillon Castle (12:13-1pm)
• Explore Castle Chillon (1pm-3:45pm)
• Bus back to train station, pick up luggage (3:45-4pm)
• Train to Geneva (4:19pm to 5:24pm)
• Flight Geneva to Barcelona (6:50pm to 8:15pm)We have the following questions:
1) Is the above plan feasible or too ambitious? is there anything we should take away or add?
2) Given the above plan, should we still get the half-fare card?
3) We’re not too sure about the cable car and gondola times..the above is just an estimate. Where can we find the schedules so we can find out the times for the last one down?
4) Is it worth the cost and time to go to Jungfraujoch when we are already going to Schilthorn? Are the views very different?
5) When should we buy the tickets? (i’m especially concerned about the goldenpass ticket from Interlaken to Montreux)
6) Should we pack winter clothes for our trip in October? Given the above itinerary, do you think we need to buy hiking clothes for this trip?Again, thank you in advance for your help! I’m so glad i found this forum!
Hi snowee812. It’s nice that you’ve been able to make up your itinerary. As for your questions:
1) Most things you’ve planned can be done, but it’s ambitious indeed. I understand that you want to see as much of the Alps as possible, but it’s wonderful as well to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views, for which your scheme doesn’t leave much room. You’ve included a few hikes and your time estimates on these are pretty much right, but you always have to keep in mind that hikes may take longer than the official signs indicate. Bad or changing weather, wonderful views and many other factors may cause delay. My advice would be to plan at least twice the official time for hikes, just to be safe and to be able to take some breaks along the way. It’s hard to say whether you should skip things you’re obviously interested in. Small elements which could be skipped to save some time are the Trümmelbach falls, the Harder Kulm in Interlaken, the hike at Chrindi or even the entire ride up the Stockhorn, and the Allmendhubel visit. This absolutely doesn’t mean that these aren’t interesting, because they definitely are! If you don’t mind having quite a full travel scheme, just give it a try. As you don’t have to reserve seats for most trips, your itinerary is flexible and can be changed on the spot.
2) Yes, I still think the Swiss Half Fare Card is your best choice. Most trips are fairly short and don’t justify the purchase of the more expensive Swiss Saver Pass.
3) Here are the timetables you’re looking for:
- Harder Kulm;
- Männlichen;
- Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch;
- Stockhorn;
- Grütschalp/Mürren;
- Schilthorn.
4) Yes, the views at Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn are different. At the Jungfraujoch you’ll be literally in and in between the Alps, overlooking the huge Aletsch glacier. The Schilthorn lets you watch at the Alps from a distance and has more of a roundabout view. Both are beautiful, but you could take a look at the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn websites to make your own comparison. It the two are too much alike for you, you could consider to pick only one out of the two.
5) You can arrange for your tickets at the spot at railway stations and cable car valley stations. The same goes for the ride to Montreux, unless you want to make this trip in a special Golden Pass Panoramic train. This train requires seat reservations and it may be wise to arrange for this further ahead, for example as soon as you arrive in Interlaken or even online in advance.
6) Yes, even though you won’t be making very challenging alpine hikes, you should take along warm and water proof gear. It’s impossible to predict what the weather will be like in October, but it could be cold and you may even come across some snowfields already. So make sure you have reliable hiking boots and always take along an extra sweater and rain coat when taking a hike. Further tips can be found on the hiking page.
As for some questions concerning your itinerary:
- from Grindelwald, you can reach Lauterbrunnen either via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, or via Zweilütschinen, which is lot cheaper;
- in high season it can be recommended to get 1st class tickets for a boat trip on lake Thun, but I don’t think boats will be that crowded in October. In that case, 2nd class is comfortable enough.
Have fun preparing for your Swiss trip!
Hi snowee812:
You have put much work into planning your itinerary! As Annika says, it is quite ambitiious but do-able. Once you embark on your adventure you may find you want to slow things down a bit but that’s up to your personal preferene.I do have a comment about your Jungfraujoch day. As weather is always a factor and the clouds tend to come in during the afternoon, I recommend you go straight up to the Jungfraujoch first thing after breakfast and spend your time up there in the morning. Then, take the train back down to Kleine Scheidegg and have lunch there. My favorite spot is the outdoor restaurant by the train tracks. The food there is VERY good and you will have lovely views to enjoy.
Then after lunch, you can either take the 2.8 mile hike up (slightly uphill) to Mannlichen if you feel like walking then take gondola down to Wengen. Or, if you don’t feel like walking, simply take the train from KS down to Wengen. Spend some time looking around this lovely car-less village with a stunning view of Lauterbrunnen valley and the peaks and have dinner there. Hotel Schoenegg restaurant is the best, other good choices include Pizzeria da Sina (pizzas, pastas, grilled items), Hotel Berghaus (local fish), or Hotel Baeren.
Should you decide to keep with your original plan, be aware that:
1. There are no “picnic supplies” as such at Mannlichen. You can order take away (carry out) from the restaurant there but I don’t think that’s what you had in mind. Also, the food there is not very good, certainly nothing on the order of the excellent food at Kleine Scheidegg.
2. Grindelwald is a quite touristy town, full of cars and T-shirt shops. I would pick Wengen over Grindelwald for a visit and dinner.Oh, and another thought: the gondola up to Schilthorn doesn’t take an hour, it’s only about 20 minutes. You probably don’t need more than one hour up top — that’s one full revolution of the restaurant. The food there is not very good. Suggest instead you plan your schedule to go up in the morning (for same reason as Jungfraujoch) then have lunch at Hotel Alpenruh in Murren (right next to the gondola station) afterwards.
[quote]Annika said: Hi snowee812. It’s nice that you’ve been able to make up your itinerary. As for your questions:
1) Most things you’ve planned can be done, but it’s ambitious indeed. I understand that you want to see as much of the Alps as possible, but it’s wonderful as well to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views, for which your scheme doesn’t leave much room. You’ve included a few hikes and your time estimates on these are pretty much right, but you always have to keep in mind that hikes may take longer than the official signs indicate. Bad or changing weather, wonderful views and many other factors may cause delay. My advice would be to plan at least twice the official time for hikes, just to be safe and to be able to take some breaks along the way. It’s hard to say whether you should skip things you’re obviously interested in. Small elements which could be skipped to save some time are the Trümmelbach falls, the Harder Kulm in Interlaken, the hike at Chrindi or even the entire ride up the Stockhorn, and the Allmendhubel visit. This absolutely doesn’t mean that these aren’t interesting, because they definitely are! If you don’t mind having quite a full travel scheme, just give it a try. As you don’t have to reserve seats for most trips, your itinerary is flexible and can be changed on the spot.
2) Yes, I still think the Swiss Half Fare Card is your best choice. Most trips are fairly short and don’t justify the purchase of the more expensive Swiss Saver Pass.
3) Here are the timetables you’re looking for:
- Harder Kulm;
- Männlichen;
- Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch;
- Stockhorn;
- Grütschalp/Mürren;
- Schilthorn.
4) Yes, the views at Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn are different. At the Jungfraujoch you’ll be literally in and in between the Alps, overlooking the huge Aletsch glacier. The Schilthorn lets you watch at the Alps from a distance and has more of a roundabout view. Both are beautiful, but you could take a look at the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn websites to make your own comparison. It the two are too much alike for you, you could consider to pick only one out of the two.
5) You can arrange for your tickets at the spot at railway stations and cable car valley stations. The same goes for the ride to Montreux, unless you want to make this trip in a special Golden Pass Panoramic train. This train requires seat reservations and it may be wise to arrange for this further ahead, for example as soon as you arrive in Interlaken or even online in advance.
6) Yes, even though you won’t be making very challenging alpine hikes, you should take along warm and water proof gear. It’s impossible to predict what the weather will be like in October, but it could be cold and you may even come across some snowfields already. So make sure you have reliable hiking boots and always take along an extra sweater and rain coat when taking a hike. Further tips can be found on the hiking page.
As for some questions concerning your itinerary:
- from Grindelwald, you can reach Lauterbrunnen either via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, or via Zweilütschinen, which is lot cheaper;
- in high season it can be recommended to get 1st class tickets for a boat trip on lake Thun, but I don’t think boats will be that crowded in October. In that case, 2nd class is comfortable enough.
Have fun preparing for your Swiss trip![/quote]
Hello snowee812,
In fact I have nothing ot add to the, in my view, perfect answers Annika and Kim posted.
Nevertheless, I would like to let you know that, in my opinion, your itinerary (good preparation!) has a high “density” (do you know what I mean?). Sometimes quality of experience may be more important than quantity of experience?
Following your itinerary is possible, but some of your plans may be worth taking a bit more time.Have a wonderful stay there!
Hi snowee812,
The first time I read your plans I thought: “That’s what you might call a bit much… ;-)”, but I completely understand that you want to see and do as much as you can. I completely agree with Annika, Kim and Wandermann (in random order). It’s all do-able, but it’s much. It’s much, but it’s all do-able. My compliments for all the searching you already did!! I know this part of Switzerland pretty well and I really know every stap you want to take.
I don’t know exactly what you mean by picnic supplies, but I know it’s possible to buy things like bread rolls, sandwiches and drinks at Männlichen to take. If that is what you mean, you will find no problems.I wish you a very pleasant trip and given the plans you are going to see one of the most beautiful parts of my favourite country: the Bernese Oberland.
Enjoy your trip :-)!
Olga
Hi everyone,
Thank you so much for all your help! We kind of knew the first itinerary was too ambitious since it was based on Rick Steve’s recommendations and we often find them too rushed for our tastes. At the time, we didn’t know what to take away or which sights were worth staying longer for.
We have changed our itinerary as follows (please critique!):Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}Oct 2, 2010 – Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen valley
– Colmar toInterlaken (11:15 to 2pm) – faster andmore direct train than the one at 8 am
– Train to Lauterbrunnen (2pm-2:20pm)
– Find hotel HotelStaubbach, Check-in, unpack (2:20-3:30)
– Walk around Lauterbrunnen valley, explore Staubbach waterfall (andTrummelbach if have time) (3:30 to 7pm)
– Dinner at Hotel Oberland – Fondue & Rosti (7pm to 9pm)Oct 3, 2010 (Sunday) – Jungfraujoch
– Train to Jungfraujoch (8:04 to 9:52am)
– Train back to Kleine Scheidegg (12:30to 1:20pm)
– Lunch at Kleine Scheidegg restaurant (1:30pm to 2:30pm)
– Hike up to Mannlichen (2:30-4:45pm)
– Gondola down to Wengen – last one at 5pm (4:45 –5pm)
– Walk around Wengen (5pm to 6:45pm)
– Dinner at Wengen – Hotel Berghaus forviews and fish (6:45pm to 8:45pm)
– Train to Lauterbrunnen (9:08-9:25) – every hour
Oct 4, 2010 (Monday) – Lake Thun
[u]Option A: Spiez & Harder Kulm[/u]
– Train to Interlaken West (8:30-8:50 am)
– Boat to Spiez (9:15-10:40 am)
– Walk around town, lunch at Spiez, visit Castle Spiez, walk totrain station (10:40am to4:30pm)
– Train to Interlaken (4:33pm to 4:57)
– Go up Harder Kulm (4:55pm to 5:05pm)
– Go down Harder Kulm (6:10pm-6:20pm)
– Walk around Interlaken 6;20-9pm
– Dinner at Restaurant Laterne (Interlaken) (7 – 9pm)
– Train back to Lauterbrunnen (9 – 9:20pm)
[u]Option B: Spiez and Stockhorn[/u]
– Train to Interlaken West (8:30-8:50 am)
– Boat to Spiez (9:15-10:40 am)
– Walk around town, lunch at Spiez, visit Castle Spiez, walk totrain station (10:40am to 2pm)
– Train to Erlenbach im Simmental (2:09pm to 2:24), walk to gondolastation (15 mins)
– Get off at mid station Chindi (15 mins), Hinterstockensee hikingtrail (45 mins) – (3:15 to 4:15)
– Gondola up to Stockhorn, viewpoint (4:15 to 5:15) – last downhill5:25pm
– Gondola back down to Erlenbach (5:30), walk to train station(5:50), train back to Interlaken (6:06 to 6:45)
[u]Option C: Spiez and Thun[/u]
– Train to Interlaken West (8:30-8:50 am)
– Boat to Spiez (9:15-10:40 am)
– Walk around town, lunch at Spiez, visit Castle Spiez, walk totrain station (10:40am to 2:54pm)
– Train to Thun (2:54pm to 3:05)
– Walk to Thun castle (3:05pm to 3:20pm)
– Visit Thun Castle (3:20-5pm) – 5pm close
– Walk around Thun, Dinner at Thun (5pm to 9:25pm)
– Train to Lauterbrunnen (9:25pm-10:21)Any lunch recommendations for Spiez and dinner recs for Thun?
Oct 5, 2010 (Tuesday) – Schilthorn
– Cable car up to Grutschalp (8:31 to 8:37am)
– Train up to Murren (8:37 to 8:51am) Will we make this train?
– Take cable car up to Schilthorn (9:00am-9:20am) – if weather isgood
OR
– Bus to Stechelberg
– Cable car up to Schilthorn (8:25-8:55am) – every :25, :55
– should we take the cablecar all the way up instead?– Schilthorn (9:30am-11:00pm)
– Cable car back down to Murren (11:03pm to 11:20pm) – every :03,:33
– Lunch at Murren – Hotel Alpenruh (11:20 to 12:30pm)
– Walk around Murren(12:30pm to 2:30pm)
– Funicular up to Allmendhubel (2:30pm to 3:00pm)
– North face walk to Gimmelwald, (3:00pm to 7pm)
– Dinner at Pension Gimmelwald (7pm -8:45pm)
– Take lift down to Stechelberg station (9pm-9:05pm) – every hour(SBB)
– Bus to Lauterbrunnen (9:12pm to 9:25pm)
Oct 6, 2010 – Chillon Castle
– Train to Montreux (via Zweisimmen Goldenpass) (8:33am-12:13am)
– Drop luggage, buy lunch, take bus 1 or boat to Chillon Castle(12:13-1pm)
– Explore Castle Chillon (1pm-3:45pm)
– Bus back to train station, pick up luggage (3:45-4:15pm)
– Train to Geneva (4:19pm to 5:24pm)– FlightGeneva to Barcelona (6:50pm to 8:15pm)
We booked a room at Hotel Staubbach facing the waterfalls, but are nowa bit concerned with the noise level. According to tripadvisor reviews,the hotel has very nice views and good access to transport systems inOB. However, light sleepers may be disturbed by church bells, cowbells, pub music across the street and/or noisy neighbours due to thinwalls. In your opinion, is it worth the hassle of staying in Wengen or Murren instead of Lauterbrunnen? We want a quiet mountain experience but it seems like Lauterbrunnen is much more convenient in accessing the lake and both sides of the valley. Also, we have yet to find a hotel (with our budget of around $200 swiss francs per night) with views comparable to Hotel Staubbach ($150 Swiss francs per night). Would Wengen and Murren be good places to stay during the off-season (Oct)?
Again, thank you so much for all your help. We can’t wait to go to Switzerland!
Hi snowee! I’ll try to give some comments and answer your questions:
- October 3 – I’d say this is a fine scheme, but please be careful with the planning of your hike to Männlichen as you may get there shortly before the last cable car leaves. In bad or instable weather, it may be best to skip the hike;
- October 4 – my preference would be option B, as you can combine a castle visit, a boat trip and a beautiful viewing point all in one day. The Harder Kulm from Interlaken is nice, but definitely less impressive. You could opt for option C as an alternative for bad weather – getting up to the Stockhorn in the cloud isn’t that pretty after all and a city visit to Thun is a nice alternative. There are several restaurants along the small marina of Spiez for a lunch;
- October 5 – it would be nice if you’d get up to Mürren by taking the cable car up to Grütschalp and then taking the train to Mürren. You’ll get to do the bus ride from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen at the end of the day, so this would be a nice variation and the short train trip between Grütschalp and Mürren is pretty scenic. I’m not familiar with the north face walk to Gimmelwald, but please to make sure to start early enough and get back before the sun starts setting. You shouldn’t be hiking when dusk sets in!
Lauterbrunnen is indeed located more centrally than Wengen and Mürren. If you’re heading for Interlaken and the lakes, Wengen takes an additional 17 minutes (compared to Lauterbrunnen) and Mürren 24 minutes. Wengen and Mürren are a bit more touristy than Lauterbrunnen, so it’s very hard to guarantee that you’ll have no noise whatsoever in any of these places. This will also depend on the hotel, so it’s a good idea to consider guest reviews in your decision. As it’s October when you get there, and high season is over, I don’t expect pub noise and other tourists’ noise to be that much of a problem. Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Mürren are all wonderful places to stay. The Lauterbrunnen valley and the Staubbach fall are stunning, but so are the views from Mürren and Wengen. Again, the views will also depend on your hotel and hotel room. You could take a look at the offer of Hotel.Info in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Mürren and see if there’s anything that appeals to you. Reviews can be found here as well.
Thanks Annika for all your thoughtful replies! Your advice has really helped us plan our switzerland trip!
hi there – I see a major problem with your itinerary – you need to change your day for the Spiez castle visit with one of the others because castle is closed on mondays. We have found that nearly all castles and museums in Switzerland are closed on mondays! In fact we have taken to travelling to and from Switzerland on mondays for that reason – now we only have one monday in our fortnight stay! Other travellers to Switzerland please note this fact and avoid disappointment!! maggie
[quote]maggiehorswell said: We have found that nearly all castles and museums in Switzerland are closed on mondays! Other travellers to Switzerland please note this fact and avoid disappointment!! maggie[/quote]
Hello Maggie,
Thank you for your valuable reply!
Hi Maggie! Thanks for the warning! i just checked the opening times for the Spiez castle. According to the interlaken website, the castle is open on Monday starting 2pm? If that’s the case, i can change by schedule a bit so its opened when we arrive to Spiez.
http://www.interlaken.ch/erlebnisse/sommer/kultur/schloss-spiez.html?L=3
Hi snowee812. The same opening times are mentioned at the website of Schloss Spiez itself, so I guess it shouldn’t be a problem if you plan the castle visit for the afternoon. Of course you could also switch the programmes from October 3 and 4.
Thank you so much Maggie, for pointing this out!
Hi Annika,
I just checked the weather for the interlaken area from Oct 2 to 6 and it seems like it will rain every single day during our stay. In your opinion, should i change my plans completely, such as staying at Spiez, Thun or interlaken instead? Right now i have 2 days booked at Murren and 2 days at Lauterbrunnen. Thanks again for your help!Hello snowee812,
When it rains in Mürren and Lauterbrunnen, it will probably also rain in Spiez, Thun and Interlaken, although you never know. May I ask why you are considering this other option? Is it because you think there’s more to see and do in “larger” cities? If so, I can try to give you some options. If not, then I really don’t know. This is not much of an answer, but I’m trying to help and I know the Bernese Oberland during all kinds of wheather.
Where did you check the weather forecast?
By the way, I just checked this link and although I know it’s not very reliable, it doesn’t seem so bad at all. But that’s up to you, of course.
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