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Hi.
Me and my wife will be traveling to Switzerland in July with Kids aged 2, 11 and 13 and need help in planning itinerary. We will be arriving at BASEL afternoon of 7th July from Paris via train and will have to travel back to Paris from BASEL on the afternoon of 13th July so have 6 days and 6 nights with following draft itinerary.
Day 1: Arrive at Basel SBB late afternoon 5.30pm, Take train to Lucerne. Stay at Hotel, Evening walk in the area
Day 2: Lake Lucerne Cruise, Lion Monument, Glacier Garden with mirror maze
Day 3: Either a day trip to Zurich – will see if we can get on double-decker train with family car – (any suggestions for day trip kids-friendly activities in Zurich?)
or
Mount Pilatus (golden Round Trip)
Come back to Lucerne in the evening – stay at hotel.
Day 4: Leave for Wengen via the Brünig Pass for scenic rail route, Arrive at Wengen. Walk around the village.
Question here is what time should we leave for Wengen? I am thinking if we leave early morning, we get to Wengen by mid-day so we may be able to do a little more and cover some of the activities from day 5 and 6 in day 4 instead of just walking around the village on day of arrival. Or we can leave Lucerne late and try to fit in both options of day 3 between day 2-4. I have 3 kids (13, 11, 2) so suggest if it will be too much. I am personally leaning towards Zurich option to cover some variety.
Day 5: Go to Lauterbrunnen. Take cable car to Grutschalp. Take train Grutschalp to Winteregg (walk around) to Murren (walk thru town) cable car up to Schilthorn and back, down to Gimmelwald via cable car (playground, self service cheese shop), then to Stechelberg, bus to Trummelbach, see falls, bus to Lauterbrunnen, train to Wengen.
Day 6: Train from Wengen to Interlaken. From there do a cruise on Lake Brienz and get down at Brienz. Take bus to Ballenberg museum. Train from Brienz back to Wengen.
(I am quite open to make ANY changes to day 6 plan)
Day 7: Check out from Wengen, get back to Basel SBB and catch a train back to Paris at early afternoon.In the above itinerary, what pass should I go for Berner Oberland pass / Swiss Half Fare Card / Swiss Travel Pass (with free Swiss Family Card) (Family of 5, 2 adults and 3 kids 13, 11 and 2)
Also any suggestions for the hotels/Air BnB for Lucerne and Wengen?
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Hi Arslandar, and welcome to MySwissAlps!
>> July with Kids aged 2, 11 and 13 … Day 3: Either a day trip to Zurich – will see if we can get on double-decker train with family car
The routes on which the trains with the family coach run are listed here:
http://www.tickipark.ch/en/er lebe-ticki-park/familienwagen/
>> any suggestions for day trip kids-friendly activities in Zurich?
There’s the zoo:
http://www.zoo.ch/en/zoobesuc h/travel
If you are going to the zoo, there is an interesting way of returning to central Zürich that you might enjoy.
It is called “Seilbahn Rigiblick” and is an automatic single-cabin funicular (no driver) that travels between the top of the Zürichberg (a hill overlooking Zürich) and a small plaza at the bottom. From there you can catch a tram back to Zürich Hauptbahnhof (main station).
Here are directions to follow this route to return from the Zoo. All transport is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass:
- At the Zoo bus stop, catch the #39 bus (travelling in the direction “Letzistrasse”). Alight at the stop called “Rigiblick”. From the Zoo to Rigiblick will take about 5 minutes (5 stops). This bus runs 7 days a week every 30 minutes (at 9 minutes and 40 minutes past the hour) from early till late.
- Catch the Seilbahn Rigiblick (funicular) all the way down to the last stop. The funicular leaves every 6 minutes from the top station, travels 4 stops, and takes about 7 minutes.
- Before you catch the funicular, you can enjoy panoramic views over Zürich, the Zürichsee (Lake Zürich) and the mountains in the distance from a little park (with seating) adjacent to the funicular.
- From the bottom station of the funicular, walk straight ahead through the small square to the tram stop, from where you can catch the #10 tram (direction “Zürich, Bahnhofplatz”) back to Zürich Hauptbahnhof. This trip will take about 10 minutes (6 stops).
>> bus to Trummelbach, see falls
Children under 4 years of age can’t be taken to the Trümmelbach Falls unfortunately. Please see information on the following page by hovering your mouse over the symbol of a woman with a pram, which will bring up the following message:
Due to increased saftey risk, it is not permitted to take babies or children under 4 years of age to the Trümmelbach waterfalls. Please understand that parents may be asked about their child’s age and entry may be refused if necessary. This also applies to infants in pushchairs and slings.
truemmelbachfaelle.ch/ e/information_anreise. html
>> what pass should I go for
If you want an easy and convenient solution, I would probably go for the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for each adult, and order a free Swiss Family Card so that your children can travel for free. If you want to be certain about the most economical solution, you need to formulate a detailed itinerary, cost out each train, bus, boat and cable car trip, and do the sums.
There is information and a spreadsheet here to help you:
http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
>> Also any suggestions for the hotels/Air BnB for Lucerne and Wengen?
This page might help:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ac commodation
Alpenrose
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