14-day Swiss trip end May: itinerary + base suggestions, scenic rides
A traveler named Coco is planning a 14-day trip to Switzerland starting from Zurich on May 20. She and her husband want to enjoy the Alps, experience small villages, and partake in day hikes, while also considering snow restrictions in May. They seek advice on itinerary structure and recommended bases for exploring various towns like Lucerne, Zermatt, and others, including the use of the Swiss Travel Pass for travel and excursions.
- Limit your bases to three places such as Chur, Interlaken or Spiez, and Montreux for easier travel and exploration.
- Use the Swiss Travel Pass for free access to certain train routes and discounts at chocolate factories and mountain excursions.
- Consider visiting castles like Château de Gruyères and Château de Chillon, checking for their opening dates.
- Remember to secure seat reservations for the Bernina Express as it is popular and sells out quickly.
- Explore day hikes and local attractions while being mindful of transportation times from your base.
AI-generated summary-
Hello, My husband and I arrive in Zurich May 20 for 14 full days (not counting arrival date and departure date). We want to focus on experiencing the beauty of the Alps and small villages. We are interested in day hiking and seeing as much of Switzerland as we can realizing that there will be snow that May limit many of the areas.
I would appreciate your experience on how many bases we could have without running ourselves ragged and in what order our destinations should be. We arrive in Zurich early morning, so, we could explore Zurich in the morning and then head out to our first base. Some of the areas that interest us are Lucerne, Zermatt, Lugano, Wengen or Murren, the Bernese Oberland area, Graubunden, Lauterbrunnen, Montreux, and we want to for sure visit Falera for historical family reasons. Since May might limit some of these areas, suggestions are very welcome.
We are also interested in possibly fitting in the Bernina Express or another panoramic train experience. We are planning to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass.
And we are hoping to fit in a chocolate visit or two along with visiting a castle.
I realize this is a huge wish list! Thank you in advance for sharing your suggestions, and I will continue reviewing past posts on your amazing site.
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Hello Coco!
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
Your second paragraph does indeed include ‘a huge wish list’. You list most of the key tourist points in Switzerland, plus a village I had never heard of.
I have just consulted the Swiss electronic timetable and typed in a ‘pretend’ journey from Zurich to Falera. It is telling me to leave Zurich at 08 38 on a fast Intercity train reaching Chur at 09 52. I would then take the escalator up to the bus station which is on top of the train station. I would catch the 09 58 number 81 bus to Falera, arriving at Falera center at 11 02. If I missed the 08 38, there is another departure at 09 38 and so on throughout the day.
https://www.myswissalps.com/travel/public-transport/timetable/
Wow! Welcome to the country with the best public transport in the world!
I would suggest you limit yourself to three bases. Chur (the capital of Graubunden), Interlaken OR SPIEZ for the Bernese Oberland. Montreux for western Switzerland.
Chur I thought of Chur BEFORE I had located Falera!. You would cover the Bernina Express route on a day trip from Chur – takes about nine hours there and-back. You would cover Lugano by taking the 171 bus to Bellinzona. Lugano (and Locarno) are short train rides from Bellinzona.
Interlaken (or Spiez) I pick these places as they are both very important transport hubs and so day trips are easy. As centres for exploring the WHOLE of the Bernese Oberland, villages such as Wengen and Murren are NOT a good idea. Zermatt can be reached from Interlaken in two-and-quarter hours, changing at Spiez and Visp. Lucerne takes less than two hours from Interlaken. Bern (good option for a rainy day) is less than an hour away.
https://www.myswissalps.com/town/interlaken/
Montreux is on a very busy main line railway. The fast trains going westwards to Lausanne and Geneva are now FOUR times an hour! It has a famous castle (Chillon). To visit a Chocolate Factory you take the spectacular MOB train to Montboven. Change there to a local train bound for Bulle via Gruyere. At Bulle you change again for BROC, the location of a chocolate factory which gives free admission to holders of the Swiss Travel Pass! (The factory at Zurich does not.) The UNESCO world heritage vineyards are not far from Montreux.
https://www.myswissalps.com/town/montreux/
https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/
Wow! Bearing in mind that Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Murren can be easily reached from Interlaken or (Spiez), I have covered the whole of your wish list – and a bit more!
Best wishes with your detailed planning.
Roger
Hi Coco,
In addition to Roger’s suggestion for getting to and/or from Falera from Chur or Zürich, here is another idea.
The route I am suggesting involves:
- Train to Chur (if you are starting from Zürich)
- Train Chur to Ilanz (along the Glacier Express route on a regional train)
- Bus from Ilanz station to Laax, where you change to the bus for Falera
(I have attached a screenshot with the details.)
The bus trip from Ilanz to Laax is very scenic. Here is an account of it that I wrote some years ago:
https://www.myswissalps.com/community/thread/5-days-starting-from-geneva-planning/#post-864539
I have attached some photos taken on that trip.
The sursilvan idiom of the romontsch language is still going strong in that area. Do you know whether your ancestors spoke romontsch? It’s a language that continues to fascinate me!
If you like the idea of going via Ilanz, I suggest you take this route on your outbound trip, and the other route on your return trip.
There are a couple of restaurants in Falera. These links might come in handy to find out whether they will be open during your visit:
I hope this is of interest!
Alpenrose
Here is the timetable screenshot I referred to above.
Attachments:
Hi Coco,
Depending on how your itinerary develops, here are some castles to consider:
Château de Gruyères: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/gruyeres-castle/
Château de Chillon: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/chillon-castle/
Castello di Montebello and other Bellinzona castles: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/castello-di-montebello-museo-archeologico/
Thun Castle: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/thun-castle/
Schloss Oberhofen: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/oberhofen-castle-living-museum-and-park/
Stockalper Castle: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-au/experiences/stockalper-castle-emblem-of-upper-valais/
You’ll need to check opening dates. Hope this helps!
Alpenrose
I appreciate your suggestions, thank you so much. Regarding staying in Wengen or Murren, is your suggestion of not staying in either location because it is more difficult to explore all of Bernese Overland? Would it be unwise (due to snow) to stay in Wengen or Murren in May? Thank you again.
Hello Coco
Do not get me wrong. Wengen and Murren are nice places to stay in. There will not be a lot of snow. But as I said in my earlier reply
Interlaken (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/interlaken/) (or Spiez) I pick these places as they are both very important transport hubs and so day trips are easy. As centres for exploring the WHOLE of the Bernese Oberland (https://www.myswissalps.com/region/bernese-oberland/), villages such as Wengen and Murren are not a good idea.
Look at a map. To get to/from Wengen (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/wengen/) or Murren (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/murren/) you have to go via Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen. Compared to Interlaken, that means (at least) two more changes of train and about 45 minutes journey time. For example Wengen to Zermatt will take three hours travelling and FOUR changes of train. I would say that villages are lovely to visit. But if you stay in them overnight, that increases your overall travel time. (Remember too the luggage problem whenever you change train.)
As an aside, all Alpenrose’s suggestions are BRILLIANT. And like her, I was wondering whether you might have ancestors who spoke Rheto-Romansch!
Best wishes
Roger
Such wonderful information. I am looking forward to looking into all your suggestions. Thank you.
Yes, in answer to the question about Romansh, I believe my ancestors spoke it and hoping to find some relatives that still do!
These suggestions get me so excited for our trip! Thank you.
Hello again Coco,
You might enjoy these short videos from RTR (Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha, broadcasting in romontsch) which feature footage of Falera.
The first one is about Parc la Mutta in Falera (3 mins 42)
The second one is about a choir festival in Falera (47 seconds)
There’s also some footage from SRF (Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, broadcasting in Swiss German) about the wider region Flims / Laax / Falera (almost 6 mins)
Hope these are of interest!
There’s also a village map of Falera here:
https://www.falera.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ortsplan-Falera-Juni-2021.pdf
The bus stop “Falera, center”, where you will get off the bus, is shown by a yellow bus next to the green number 7. Ignore the bus stops marked by a red bus – those stops are only served in winter.
Falera will probably be pretty quiet in May, as the ski season finishes in mid-April, and the hiking season probably doesn’t get underway until the second half of June.
I previously gave you links to a couple of restaurants in Falera, so you can check whether or not they are open during your visit. There’s also a small village supermarket (Volg), shown as aqua number 10 on the map. You can check its opening hours here:
https://www.volg.ch/standorte-oeffnungszeiten/detail/volg-falera/
You could probably put together a picnic lunch from Volg if need be!
I hope you have a lovely day out in Falera!
Alpenrose
Hi Coco,
You have some lovely choices on your wish list. Roger and Alpenrose’s replies are very helpful indeed. Thanks too, Alpenrose for including your photos.
I’d continue to research, visiting in May is doable, it may require a little extra planning. I say this if you were planning on visiting some mountains – some of the mountain transportation could still be on a maintenance break or if you were planning on some hiking, some trails could still be closed from the winter season.
If you do plan on a ride on the Bernina Express, once your plans start to be finalised. I would suggest you purchase your obligatory seat reservations. It’s a popular journey and the seat reservations can sell out. You can read more about the Bernina Express in the link below:
For other scenic rides suggestions in Switzerland and chocolate visits, do take a look in the attached links below:
- https://www.myswissalps.com/activities/trips/train/
- https://www.myswissalps.com/activities/culinary/chocolate/
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Oh, these suggestions are so appreciated. It’s all I want to do is click on all the links and research away! Thank you.
Most definitely will check out the information you provided. I purchased a map and everything makes much more sense now. Feel free to keep the suggestions coming. I’m taking it all in!
Hello again,
I have spent some time exploring the suggested options, and I have a few additional questions.
I am leaning towards spending our first night in Luzern since we may be tired from our long flight and not quite up to tracking down relatives in Falera day one or two! Also I would like to acclimate before spending our day in Falera, so what would you suggest regarding the following:
Day 1: flight arrives Zurich early morning, train to Luzern -leisure day in Luzern
Day 2: Enjoy Luzern – maybe Mount Pilatus early. Late afternoon, head to Chur for Bernina Express the following day. We wouldn’t make the first BExpress train if we are not already in Chur, right?
Day 3: Earlier Bernina Express – I do not think we want to spend the additional time on the bus through Italy, so will do the return trip to Chur. Spend the night in Chur in order to explore Falera the following day. Or other suggestion?
Day 4: Falera – would like to travel to another location after our day in Falera so we are not staying in Chur another night.
The rest of our travel, I want to be able to explore the Ticino region (Bellinzona and Lugano) for a few days and the Bernese Oberland area. Interlaken was suggested as a base for this area, however, we wondered what your thoughts on Lauterbrunnen. Just hoping for an area not as touristy as Interlaken but as was suggested, Interlaken is choice for other day trips. And I would still like to fit in Zermatt and Montreux if time permits.
The order of travel days can be adjusted if a different route makes more sense.
I appreciate your expertise. Thank you.
CoCo
Hello again Coco and everyone.
This is proving to be a wonderfully entertaining and informative thread. Thank you Coco for starting it!
Days one and two. These are fine. (You are right about the Bernina Express.)
Day three Going to Tirano and back is certainly not too long. Adding in the bus to Lugano ON THIS DAY would be too long.
Day four Park your luggage in a locker at Chur station. Make your pilgrimage to Falera and back. In the late afternoon get the 171 bus from Chur to Bellinzona. The 171 is roughly hourly – takes just over two hours.
Alternative for days three and four Go to Falera on day three. If you want to add in another hair-raising bus ride, take the bus from Chur to Tschiertschen and back
On Day four take the Bernina Express train from Chur to Tirano. Take the Bernina Express bus from Tirano to Lugano, the largest town in Ticino canton.
Ticino canton to Berner Oberland. Take the Centovalli railway (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/centovalli-railway/
) from Locarno to Domodossola. From Domodossola take the RE1 train leaving at either 13 58 or 15 58 bound for BERN. These RE1s take the scenic route via Kandersteg. Do NOT take a Eurocity train. Those trains go through the Lotschberg Base Tunnel.The ride to SPIEZ takes one hour and forty-six minutes. Get off at Spiez and make that lovely little historic town your base for the Berner Oberland. It is a major railway junction, and is therefore an excellent base for day excursions. Zermatt (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/zermatt/) and Montreux (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/montreux/) can be easily reached from Spiez. (Lauterbrunnen (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/lauterbrunnen/) is very touristy and not a good centre for day excursions outside the Berner Oberland.)
Best wishes
Roger
Good day,
Thank you for these great suggestions to consider.
I appreciate your advice on Spiez as well and knowing that Lauterbrunnen is very touristy.
I am continuing to research this amazing site with so much information.
Happy Holidays,
CoCo
And, one additional thought: we still are interested in spending a few nights in Wengen to get the feel of being in the mountains. We want to spend a few days just being in the area and taking a few hikes knowing we can easily go back to our hotel throughout the day if needed. Is late May an unwise choice in Wengen,and does the Swiss Travel Pass cover travel from Wengen to other areas? Other things I should be aware of?
Thank you.
CoCo
Hello again
Wengen (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/wengen/) is an absolutely wonderful village, and (over the years) I have had a lot of friends who have stayed there and rave about its beauties, and wonder why I have never stayed there! (I have visited it many times.)
For me Wengen has one major drawback. There is only one convenient way of getting to/from the rest of Switzerland. That is to take the train down to Lauterbrunnen, and then another train to Interlaken Ost. That takes about 40 minutes. The Swiss Travel Pass (https://www.myswissalps.com/travel-ticket/swiss-travel-pass/) gives FREE travel on this routing.
The only other way out is to go up to Mannlichen (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/mannlichen/) in the cable car and then down in another cable car to Grindelwald (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/grindelwald/). These lines are open for the summer season on May 24th. The STP gives 50% discount.
To go up on the train to Kleine Scheidegg, and then down to Grindelwald. On these lines the STP gives only a 25% discount.
In summer Wengen is a wonderful hiking centre. (In winter it is huge for skiing.) But, as a centre for excursions using your STP…..
In all seriousness, I thought you would want to stay in Falera (or neighbouring Laax or Flims). As we know from one of Alpenrose’s replies, the Falera/Laax area is served by two bus routes. One going to Chur and the other in the opposite direction to Ilanz. STP valid on both. Wengen is at 1275 metres above sea level. Falera is only slightly lower, 1220 metres above sea level.
Very kind regards
Roger
Hello Roger,
I considered staying in Falera, but, when I looked for lodging accommodations, I wasn’t having much success. I will do a little more research on it.
Wengen vs. Spiez or Interlaken due to travel makes a lot of sense.
I will have to put my research on hold for a few days due to the holiday, and I’m excited to make some decisions so I can reserve our lodging. Thank you again.
CoCo
Hello again Coco,
>>> I considered staying in Falera, but, when I looked for lodging accommodations, I wasn’t having much success. I will do a little more research on it.
As I mentioned earlier, May is off-season in Falera. It seems there is only one hotel, which closes on 31 March 2025 after the winter season and does not open for the summer season until 14 June 2025.
All the other accommodation in Falera seems to be apartments. My guess is that these cater mainly to the winter-sport and long-stay hiker markets, and that when they are open there would be a minimum number of nights stay required. I would not expect them to be open in May.
This is probably the best site to look for accommodation in Falera:
https://shop.flimslaax.com/FlimsLaax/ukv/result?tt=cieee455107rpbboc1gpmpnuha
>>> Wengen vs. Spiez or Interlaken due to travel makes a lot of sense.
I have a different opinion about that 🙂
In my opinion, travel times are only one factor of many to consider in choosing a base. The importance attributed to the various factors will differ from one person to the next.
In any case, it takes only 42 minutes each way to travel between Wengen and Interlaken Ost. Not only that, but this is one of the most beautiful rail journeys you will ever take, and I find it a great pleasure each and every time. Definitely not an inconvenience.
I think it would be a real shame to miss out on the experience of staying in Wengen, even though it will be low season. The later in May the better though – for example the hotel I stay at in Wengen closes on 24 March 2025 after the winter season, and does not reopen until 25 May 2025. There are always some hotels and restaurants open during the off-season though. And of course the panoramic views are there all year (except when the fog rolls in, which can happen at any time of the year)!
Wengen is built on a sloping terrace above the Lauterbrunnen Valley, so in some cases, getting between your hotel and the station can mean walking up and down hills, some a bit on the steep side. If that is likely to be an issue for you, come back to the forum before booking so you can get advice on the location of your chosen hotel. Many hotels offer a pick-up/drop-off service on your arrival and departure days.
As far as walking goes, both villages of Wengen and Mürren have many sealed paths for walking and taking in the views, and the Lauterbrunnen Valley walk from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg would also be lovely. The path from Grütschalp to Mürren ( https://www.myswissalps.com/blog/hike-grutschalp-murren/) might be a bit muddy in a few places due to snow melt or rain, but with suitable footwear, I would not rule it out completely in May. You could also walk half way (to Winteregg) and get the train for the rest of the way.
The following mountain transport / attractions will be operating in May:
Grindelwald side
- Eiger Express cableway from Grindelwald Terminal to Eigergletscher
- Gondola from Grindelwald to First
- Mountain bus from Grindelwald to Bussalp (reopens 17 May 2025)
- Train from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg (reopens 17 May)
- Gondola from Grindelwald to Männlichen (reopens 24 May 2025)
Wengen side
- Train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg
- Cable car from Wengen to Männlichen (reopens 24 May 2025)
Mürren side
- Cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp and train from Grütschalp to Mürren (reopens 3 May 2025)
- Funicular from Mürren to Allmendhubel (reopens 29 May 2025)
- Cableway (new) Stechelberg-Mürren-Birg-Schilthorn
- Cableway (existing) Stechelberg-Gimmelwald-Mürren
- Trümmelbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen Valley
The new cable car from Stechelberg direct to Mürren, which opens on 15 March 2025, is apparently the steepest cable car in the world!
The existing cableway from Stechelberg to Mürren via Gimmelwald will continue operating as well.
Kleine Scheidegg & Eigergletscher
- Train from Kleine Scheidegg via Eigergletscher to the Jungfraujoch
Thunersee and Brienzersee
- Boats on the Thunersee (Lake Thun (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-lake-thun/ )) and the Brienzersee (Lake Brienz (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-lake-brienz/ )) will be on the summer timetable, with maximum service frequency, from 17 May 2025.
There will be a lot for you to do in Wengen and neighbouring villages, even in May! If you are only in the area for a few days, I would concentrate on enjoying the magnificent beauty of the Jungfrau Region (https://www.myswissalps.com/region/jungfrau-region/), and maybe do a boat trip. Personally, I would not be heading further afield for a short first visit, unless the weather is unsuitable for mountain visits and village walks.
Hope this helps with your planning! And Merry Christmas, by the way 🙂
Alpenrose
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