[Anonymous]

9 April 2022 at 18:00:05 #826820

Taking my elderly, frail mother to Switzerland for 3 nights/4 days at the end of June. She cannot walk far and tires easily, but she likes boats, trains, gardens, cows, waterfalls and mountain scenery and I think this short vacation is doable. We’ll likely be traveling using the 3-day Interrail pass (although once I do the sums the Swiss Travel Pass may work out cheaper) and are on a fairly low budget. This is the itinerary I have so far:

SUNDAY – land at Geneva airport at 10:25 and catch the 11:19 train to Montreux. Arrive at 12:41, leave luggage in a station locker, wander around the town and promenade and eat a sandwich by the lake. Travel to Chillon castle at around 15:30 by boat, bus or rail (depends on which pass). Back to Montreux in time for the 17:50 panoramic Golden Pass train(s) to Interlaken. Arrive to Interlaken at 21:34, staying at a hotel close to the station.

MONDAY – after breakfast, we’ll gently amble through Interlaken, soaking up the Japanese and English gardens (Q: what else to see?). Mum will snooze back at the hotel, while I go to Lidl to buy food supplies. We’ll board the 14:07 Lötschberg paddle steamer to cruise Lake Brienz. I don’t think we’ll stop off anywhere, so should arrive in Brienz at 15.20. Wander around, admire the wood carvings, and I’ll take her out onto the lake in a pedalo. At around 6pm, we’ll catch the train back to Interlaken Ost, collect our bags, and then it’s 20 minutes by rail to Lauterbrunnen, staying at Valley Hostel. where we will eat dinner and enjoy the sunset.

TUESDAY – relax in Lauterbrunnen. Early afternoon we’ll ascend to Grütschalp via cable car and walk the mountain view trail as far as Winteregg, followed by the mountain railway to Mürren (unless Mum feels up to walking more). Explore the village, drink a hot chocolate, and ride the cable car to Gimmelwald (or a 40 minute gently downhill hike, if she has the energy). Enjoy a beer at Mountain Hostel Gimmelwald, where we will spend the night – or possibly return to Lauterbrunnen via Stechelberg.

WEDNESDAY – need to be at Geneva airport by 19:00 and I’m unsure what to do with our day. Thinking we could visit Schilthorn late morning – mum will enjoy the feeling of being in the heavens (Q: snowcapped in late June?) and the Bond kitsch might be fun.We should be back in Interlaken by 1pm or so, which leaves us 5-6 hours. Possibilities include: lake cruise on Lake Thun, followed by the IC6 & IC1 from Thun via Bern (or IC6 & IR90 from Spiez via Visp, which I imagine is more scenic). Q: perhaps there’s other activities and/or route you can suggest?

Thank you!

(after dropping Mum off at the airport, I’ll be catching the 19:24 train to Sierre/Siders for hiking in Cranz-Montana or the 19:53 to Zermatt for Matterhorn, followed by the weekend in Zurich and the Transalpin to Vienna.)

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[Anna]

Reply 1 of 3 • 9 April 2022 at 19:14:03 #940329

Hi guernica,

Welcome to the forum, thanks for joining MySwissAlps.

This is a well researched and well-planned itinerary. I’m sure your mother will appreciate the effort you put into organising it.

On your final day in Lauterbrunnen, the excursion to Schilthorn in the morning is a good idea. I think you might just be able to see a bit of snow at the summit. If you plan to go on a boat trip from Interlaken to Thun in the afternoon,be sure to check the timing (you can use the SBB timetable). I think the boat leaves Interlaken at 2pm and takes about 2 hours to reach Thun. So I would plan this carefully and allocate enough time for the roughly 3-hour train journey from Interlaken to Geneva. As an alternative, maybe you can take an early train to Geneva so you can explore the city quickly before going to the airport.

Here are a few links containing sightseeing suggestions to add to your itinerary:

• Interlaken: http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/activities
• Murren: http://www.myswissalps.com/murren/activities
• Lauterbrunnen: http://www.myswissalps.com/lauterbrunnen/activities
• Geneva: http://www.myswissalps.com/geneva/activities

Regards,

Anna

[User]

Reply 2 of 3 • 10 April 2022 at 15:57:53 #940330

Thanks for your help. I’ll examine the schedules to see if a final boat journey is viable, but I suspect we won’t have enough time.

I have a couple more questions, specifically about train and cable car travel, so will create a new post in the ‘Switzerland Rail’ forum.

Thank you again.

[Annika]

Reply 3 of 3 • 10 April 2022 at 17:18:23 #940331

We’ll be happy to help you out with your new questions guernica! Thanks for posting them in the appropriate forum.