Swiss trip with elderly parents: recommendations?
Jyoti is planning a special trip to Switzerland with her parents to celebrate her father's 80th birthday, focusing on accessible travel due to their age. She’s looking for advice on itineraries and transportation, particularly by rail, to make the trip enjoyable and manageable for them.
- Consider booking the Swiss Travel Pass for easy access to many trains and boats throughout Switzerland.
- Base yourselves in Lucerne for easy access to popular sites like Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Titlis.
- Travel light to make rail journeys more comfortable, especially for elderly travelers.
- Look into renting an apartment for more flexibility with meals, which can ease planning and costs.
AI-generated summary-
Hi all!
my name is Jyoti and I will be traveling with my parents to celebrate my dads 80th! Switzerland has been on his bucket list for a long time and I hope to make this trip a magical experience for him.
I was looking at the sample itineraries and wondered if you might have any input or advice about where to go/how to get there given their age. Both go my parents are independently mobile but given their age, I think stamina might be a concern.
I was thinking of booking the rail itinerary example posted on this website as rail seems like such a great way to travel in Switzerland. The “shopping list” seems like an easy enough way to arrange a little bit of the sites.
Thank you so much 😊
-
Hello Jyoti,
Welcome to MySwissAlps! Thank you for sharing your plans and how amazing to celebrate your father’s 80th here! Very, very exciting.
By rail is for sure, the best way to travel with them and you will all witness some stunning scenery!
Happy to hear you found our sample itineraries on the website 🙂
Perhaps you could share some of your/their interests. You mentioned your father has always wanted to visit Switzerland. Was there anything in particular he wanted to visit? How long and when will you be here, that way, you could plan to base yourselves in one region before moving onto another region?
Look forward to hearing back from you.
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Jyoti
I am from Pune India. I travelled in May 2017 with parents when my father was 72 years at that time. Both my parents were physically fit and I could walk
http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/trip-report-switzerland-may-2017
Please see my trip report where I shared my tips and sample itinerary. Since we are vegetarian, we stayed in Apartment and cooked our breakfast and dinner
If you have any specific queries
Cheers
Chetan
Hi Shroffchetan,
Thanks so much for your input. I am sure Jyoti (and others) will benefit very much from your experiences here. 🙂
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Hi Yolanda,
thank you for your warm welcome and the thoughtful questions-
min regards to what Dad has wanted to see- he is a civil engineer by training and is excited to see such marvels as the Top of Europe, cogwheel cars and of course the extensive rail network, particularly Glacier Express. As some of you may know, many Bollywood movies have been filmed in Switzerland- my moms family was in the movie industry and is excited for the scenery and possible trip to some local spots like Mt Titlis or Jungfraujoch where iconic movies were filmed.
thank you so much for any advice you give. I appreciate you
Hi Chetan,
thank you! I loved the you tube video and shared your link with my parents. My husband and I have been in Pune a few times and love the city- such a warm and welcoming place to live!
I hadn’t thought about getting an apartment – I will give that some thought. Initially I was imagining lugging all of our luggage around the rail networks and taxi- it sounds like some of those trips might have been very long days to and from interlaken. I wonder if you have any hindsight advice on that- Would you do that again?
Your itinerary was great! Included all of the “must see” activities- thanks 🙏 were your parents ok on the Twain’s, comfortable with the long rides, access to bathrooms etc?
warmly,
jyoti
Since your father is a civil engineer and enjoys railroads he should enjoy the engineering involved in the train track tunneled through the mountains at the Jungfraujoch. We went many years ago in the winter, and while many folks complain about the current expense, crowds, and heavy marketing for it, it is an impressive ride from an engineering & construction standpoint. I’m glad we did it years ago before it got so expensive and have not done it since. But our favorite mountaintop train ride is the cogwheel train at Pilatus. That is equally impressive in a completely different way due to the steep incline involved and the wonderful scenery on the route. You know when the seats are installed in the cars at an angle you’re in for a memorable ride. And it is. We’ve done it 3 times over the years.
The Swiss rail system is easy to use, and presents no issues traveling with luggage. However, I’d recommend packing light. Its lots easier to manage one moderate suitcase then one (or more) big suitcases.
Enjoy your trip and the planning for it!
Many thanks CabinJon, as always for your contributions. Very helpful.
Thank you JyotiNY for sharing your father’s background, now we can guide you a little more 🙂 (My mother loves Bollywood by the way!) If you could let me know, when and how long your trip in total, to Switzerland will be and also, where will you arrive/depart from?
We should also take into consideration things like the journey to Switzerland and jet-lag. It’s probably best that not too much, is planned the first few days? Perhaps a relaxing scenic train journey to start with, like the Glacier Express: https://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress
Mt.Pilatus and Mt.Titlis are all in the Lucerne area, so perhaps staying in Lucerne would be a nice spot to base yourselves for these mountain visits. You can also enjoy a boat trip on Lake Lucerne: https://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne
The funicular at Stoos, is the steepest one in the world, so perhaps a visit here would be nice for your father? It’s certainly impressive. Stoos itself is very quiet but a charming spot.
In regards to possibly renting an apartment during your stay, here is a useful link: https://www.myswissalps.com/rentals
The Swiss rail system is very easy to navigate around. Per CabinJon, if you are traveling daily by rail, best to try and keep luggage light if possible. https://www.myswissalps.com/train/practical
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Yolanda
(Details on Jungfraujoch can be found here: https://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch)
Hi cabinjon,
Pilatus looks INCREDIBLE. The cogwheel experience sounds awesome and you’re right- my dad will love that! Sounds like you would recommend Pilatus over Jungfraujoch- it seems you would be in the majority as reviewers note Jungfraujoch as overhyped and expensive.
Thanks for taking the time to answer , I appreciate it
Hi Yolanda!
thank you for explaining that both of those mountains are near Lucerne- I will check the link you sent for a rental. Your suggestions have me thinking about perhaps staying in interlacken for a few days and Lucerne for a few days. Is that a good plan? Can you help me figure out what sites are reachable (perhaps with a time range) from those cities?
thanks again 😊
best, Jyoti
Jyoti,
I would definitely recommend Pilatus over Jungfraujoch. We’ll ride it again next time we go back, it is that impressive, at least to me. It seems like you’re going up at a 45 degree angle, although it is less than that, but you would be hard pressed to get out of the train and even stand on the slope it goes up. The infrastructure at the top is very nice too. Hotel(s), gift shop, interior bar & snacks, big outdoor plaza overlooking an arm of the lake, with outdoor dining & table service.
We also like going up to Kleine Scheidegg, just not taking the train that goes through the mountain to the “Top of Europe.” We’ve enjoyed several outdoor lunches at the KS train station, looking directly at the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. It is impressive too, just in a different way.
If you decide to stay in Luzern, perhaps a boat ride on the lake would interest you. It is relaxing, scenic, and if you happen to get on the old paddlewheel boat, the exposed propulsion mechanism might also interest your father. Yhat certainly gets people’s attention when they see it in operation.
Hi cabinjon,
I will look into the lake ride as well- I think those are included in the rail pass, correct? Are bookings required?
thanks so much for all of your time today!
warmly, Jyoti
The lake boats are included in the STP, and like all the regular, i.e., vast majority of trains, as simply walk on walk off, no reservations. There are multiple boats but only one paddlewheel boat. The docks are right next to the main train station in Luzern.
Hi Jyoti
I wanted my parents to visit Europe but not in a bus tour so I researched almost for 6 months and planned my trip. Believe me it was the best decision to visit Switzerland instead of rest of Europe
Public transport in Switzerland is mind boggling. You can reach any place. We stayed in Interlaken for 7 days and travelled to all places. But days will be very long. Based on my experience there should be 4 bases : Interlaken, Lucerne, Montreux and Lugano. I did not like the idea of changing bases very frequently. In Switzerland train journeys are attractions in itself if you are travelling in Bernese Oberland. Also trains are very convenient and my parents really enjoyed train experience
In my blog post I have put nearby attractions from base cities
Apartment was a good option since we could cook our meals. Further we are tea lovers and we could enjoy Masala tea as many times we wanted in cold weather
Hope this answers your questions
Cheers Chetan
- The thread ‘Swiss trip with elderly parents: recommendations?’ is closed to new replies.
