MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Zurich, Lucerne, Jungfrau region in June with 2 kids
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Hi, We are a family of 4 ( myself, my husband, 3.5 year old toddler and a 8 month old baby traveling to Switzerland from June 22 – June 29.
I have planned a high level itinerary for us:
22 : Day 1 : Land in Zurich in the morning, hotel checkin – boat ride and Dinner.
23: Day2: Walk the streets of old town and Bahnhofstrasse, Next either Swiss museum or Zoo, Leave to Lucerne and checkin hotel in Lucerne
24:Day 3: Mount Pilatus, chapel bridge , lake Lucerne boat ride , back to hotel
25: Day 4: Mount Titlis, Lion monument, stay in Interlaken
26: Day 5: Intelaken: Aare George trail. (30 minutes from Interlaken) , Lake brienz or lake Thun – boat cruise , Grindelwald: gandola ride. Stay in Grindelwald.
27: Day 6: Jungfrouch, explore more Grindelwald , stay in Grindelwald.
28: Day 7 : Explore Lauterbrunen village and falls. Head back to Zurich in the evening .
29: Day 8: Return flight.
We are not doing Zermatt as it’s far and we need to head back to Zurich for our flight the next day.
Have few questions :
- Is this itinerary doable with 2 kids?
- Which travel pass should we take based on our itinerary here ? ( Researched on Swiss Travel pass and Half fare card, STP did say it cover everything but few posts say they don’t cover some of the mountains).
- What are the must go train rides in Switzerland, please let me know if I am missing any important ones in the above itinerary.
Thanks in advance !
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Hello
greetings!
I am so happy to see that your visiting amazing Switzerland,I wish a lovely trip to all of you .
Coming to your question ,here are few of my humble suggestions
A)With kids of that age ,try and avoid too much of packing and unpacking ,so you can reduce no of base
B)You must do Zoo at Zurich with kids around and also add Lindt chocolate factory tour ,your elder one would love it the most ,can skip boat cruise at Zurich as well as at Lucerne if time crunch ,instead at Lucerne add Mt Rigi and visit to a lovely village Vitznau
C)Post lucerne,you can come and stay at Interlaken (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/interlaken/) and do Lauterbrunnen (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/lauterbrunnen/ ) and one of the car free village either Wengen (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/wengen/) or Murren (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/murren/) ,If not going for a cliff walk or adventure activities,then if time constraints you can skip Grindelwald
I would strongly recommend a boat ride from interlaken to Brienz and from Brienz train station take bus no 151 to Ballenberg open air museum,it’s a very good family activity ,very kids centric
D)If you can extend your trip then I would add 2-3 nights in Montreux (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/montreux/) and do Glacier 3000 ,chocolate train with Gruyere cheese factory visit and fly off Geneva
Or else as mentioned above is what I feel you can do it comfortably
Have a great trip
Cheers 🥂
I am no doctor and I read the following elsewhere on another forum- I think you need to have a discussion with your pediatrician, and possibly get the advice of more than one. Just double check that this is a real thing before making plans in high altitudes:
”Pediatricians in Switzerland tell us not to take children under 24 months any higher than 2000m. Reason has something to do with the way babies make red blood corpuscles and you depend on those for oxygenating the blood. Do not take your baby any higher than 2000m. Both Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn are way over that. First is marginally over it.”
Again, I only read this elsewhere while doing my own research on Swiss itineraries. Check with your pediatrician. If he/she says it’s okay, I would check with another as well as I’ve read some pediatricians are not aware of the dangers (especially in home countries that don’t have high elevations).
Hi RamGrama,
Thanks for sharing your itinerary. I think this is doable with 2 kids. However to be on the safe side, I would not travel to Jungfraujoch with an infant as there may be risk of altitude sickness. Please check with your doctor before your trip.
Based on your plans, I would recommend getting a a 6 or 8-day Swiss Travel Pass. Children under 6 travel for free so you won’t need any railpass for the kids. The Swiss Travel Pass provides unlimited travelling on Swiss public transport (trains, trams, boats and most buses) and up to 50% discount on mountain transportation (cable cars, gondolas, funiculars and cogwheel trains). It’s convenient as you won’t have to purchase ticket for each trip. You can find more details here: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/
Hope this helps.
regards,
Anna
All suggestions noted. Thank you so much for the responses. This is really helpful.
Hi RamGrama,
Alternatives to Pilatus and Titlis, that are lower than 2,000 metres in altitude are the Rigi (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/rigi/) , the Stanserhorn(https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/stanserhorn/) , Bürgenstock (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/burgenstock/) and Klewenalp. All are in the Luzern area and offer incredible views that won’t disappoint.
In the Jungfrau Region (https://www.myswissalps.com/region/jungfrau-region/), Allmendhubel (above Mürren) and Harder Kulm (above Interlaken) are under 2,000 metres in altitude.
Kleine Scheidegg is at 2,061 metres altitude. A round trip by train Grindelwald-Kleine Scheidegg-Wengen-Lauterbrunnen-Zweilütschinen-Grindelwald offers superb views. Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen are good places to break the journey for walking around.
I think the car-free villages of Wengen and Mürren are much better villages for walking around than Grindelwald, and they have magnificent views too.
I hope this helps!
Alpenrose
Hi RamGrama,
Whilst in Zurich, you could visit Uetliberg – on a clear day you can enjoy some fine views. More on Zurich in the attached link:
There are many scenic train rides in Switzerland. You can read all about them here:
If you wanted to enjoy either, I’d work with what fits in with your itinerary. For example the first section of the GoldenPass route from Lucerne to Interlaken. More details below:
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you so much for all the suggestions. Very grateful.
I am checking with our pediatrician regarding the high altitudes for Jungfrau, Pilatus and Titlis. Will skip if doctor says No and do the lower altitude mountains as suggested above.
We will take Swiss Travel Pass as many of you recommended this. Thank you.
I have another question that I need your help with : We are carrying 4 checkin baggages on our journey(since we are visiting India before Swizerland) and planning to keep 3 of them in the Storage locker in airport and take just one checkin for our 8 day trip plus we will have a double stroller with us .
When moving from one place to another, does all the train stations have storage where we can keep our checkin bag for a day ? We will be checking out from the hotels and planning to keep the luggage in train stations and pick it up before we checkin the next one.
Is there any other option for the luggages like hotels can keep them for the day or something ?
Can you please let me know ?
Thanks in advance!
Hi RamGrama,
Most hotels will store your luggage if you arrive too early to check in, or store it for a few hours after check out, but to be sure, you should check with your particular hotels.
Many SBB stations have luggage lockers or left luggage. You can find information about the stations that interest you here:
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travel-information/stations/find-station.html
Where a station has luggage lockers, you need to scroll down to the heading “Equipment and mobility at the station” to find details of locker sizes and charges.
Lockers are accessible 24/7, but if you use the left luggage instead, take note of the opening hours to make sure you retrieve your luggage before they close.
Hope this helps!
Alpenrose
Hi RamGrama,
The SBB also provides luggage transfer services. You can find further details here: https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/public-transport/luggage/
Regards,
Anna
Thank you again for the quick responses. I will check out the luggage services links provided.
Based on the suggestion above, looks like we can reach Kleine Scheidegg area with kids (3.5 year old and 8 month old). So we were thinking, me and my husband can take turns to see Jungfrau top. Looks like it takes 40 mins to reach to the top by train. While we take turns, are there any play areas to keep kids entertained near Kleine Scheidegg station?
Hi RamGrama,
I’m not sure that idea is really feasible.
The fastest trip with the barest minimum of seeing the views would be more like this:
- Train Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch: 40 mins
- Find your way to the Plateau: 10 mins
- Enjoy the views from the Plateau: 20 mins
- Find your way to the Sphinx: 10 mins
- Enjoy the views from the Sphinx: 15 mins
- Find your way back to the Jungfraujoch station: 10 mins
- Wait for a train: up to 30 minutes if you’ve just missed one
- Train Jungfraujoch to Kleine Scheidegg: 40 mins
That’s around 3 hours for each person, including only 35 minutes enjoying the views. Consider what this trip will cost you for 35 minutes of enjoying the views! Most people would spend at least 2 hours minimum on the Jungfraujoch.
That will mean your children will have to spend about 6 hours at Kleine Scheidegg, and I am not aware of any playgrounds there.
Hope this helps you to reconsider your plans!
Alpenrose
Hi RamGrama,
At the end of the day, it’s your decision but I agree with Alpenrose. As much as a visit to Jungfraujoch is desirable, it would be a shame to rush your visit there and not be able to enjoy all at a leisurely pace.
As for playgrounds at Kleine Scheidegg, I don’t recall there being any there but I do know there is one at Männlichen (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/mannlichen/)
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you for the responses. Yeah, taking turns won’t work then. We will visit again and see Jungfrau 🙂
Hi Ramgrama,
Here are a couple of additional ideas for enjoying some mountain transport to places below 2,000 m altitude that offer magnificent views, combined with a playground:
Bort (above Grindelwald)
You take the “First” gondola and get off at the first stop, called Bort. There is a restaurant and playground there.
https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/grindelwaldfirst/bort-alpine-playground/
Allmendhubel (above Mürren)
Take the funicular from Mürren to the top, where there is a restaurant and playground.
https://muerren.swiss/en/map/detail/allmendhubel-4afbeaa1-005f-4e3e-9df4-fae6d8b05bb9.html
https://schilthorn.ch/26/en/Adventure_playground_Flower_Park
Hope this helps with your planning for the Jungfrau Region!
Alpenrose
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