Switzerland in 9 nights/10 days in August
A traveler named RH is planning a trip to Switzerland with their mom and teenage son in August. They are looking for advice on their 8-day itinerary that includes stops in Lucerne, Interlaken, Lugano, and Zurich, and want to know if they missed any key attractions or activities.
- Consider purchasing an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for convenience and potential savings on excursions.
- You can easily combine visits to Lauterbrunnen and Wengen on the same day.
- If you're flexible, prioritize Jungfraujoch on one day and Schilthorn on another for a more relaxed experience.
- Taking the train from Lucerne to Lugano is a shorter journey than from Interlaken to Lugano, so adjust your itinerary accordingly.
AI-generated summary-
Hi everyone,
I will be travelling with my mom and teenage son to Switzerland in Aug. Below is our itinerary thus far and seek all great advise if its doable or did I miss out on any good places to visit :
LUZERN (3 nights)
Aug 2 train from Salzburg to Luzern. Arrived around 1800 yish. Staying 3 nites in Luzern
Free and easy
Aug 3 Walk about old town, chappel , bridge, lion monument.
Visit Roots (Choc Factory) – Aeschbach Choloctier. Train 15 mins.
Aug 4 Purchase Golden Round trip Tour to Mt Pilatus.
OPTIONAL Mt Rigi and Bern (Day Trip). Boat from Lucern to Mt Rigi (early morning) then to Bern
Bern – Old town/Fountains of Bern/ZYTGLOGGE
INTERLARKEN (3 nights)
Aug 5 Train to stay 3 nites Interlarken – (1 ½ hrs ) Explore activities in the city . Paragliding
Aug 6 Tour to Junfraujoch if weather permits.
Travel via train from Interlarken OST to Jungfrough (2hrs 17min). 2 train stops. Mount Shilthon (if time permits)
Aug 7 Day trip to Wengen via train from Interlarken. Thinking of LAUTERBRUNNEN. Not sure if timing permits .
OPTIONAL – Day trip to Grindelwald. Visit First Cliff walk, Schynige Platte. Sport activities – First Flyer, Mountain Cart
LUGANO (2 nights)
Aug 8 Train either from Interlarken to Lugano. However, travel from Luzern will be a shorter journey via train to Lugano.
Boat trip to Lake Lugano
Mont Bre or Mount San Salvatore
Aug 9 Foxtown ( a little bit of shopping before heading home)
ZURICH (1 night)
Aug 10 Train to Zurich . visit the city
Aug 11 Home. Late afternoon flight.
Thank you all in advance.
Kind regards
RH
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Hi RH, good to see you’ve managed to create an itinerary! Yes, it looks fine to me. Of course you will miss out on certain spots, but that’s just the way it is with an 8 day tour. It’s wise that you’ve planned some back-up activities. Being flexible is an important aspect of traveling, especially as (mountain) trips are weather dependent.
Did you look into rail passes already? I’d think an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass, starting from either August 3 or 4, would work well: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass. If this is what you pick, then it might be good to know that Rigi (http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi) and Stanserhorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/st anserhorn) would be for free, so you might prefer one of those mountains over Pilatus (http://www.myswissalps.com/pi latus). Here’s how to calculate which option works best for your plans: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
On August 7 you can easily combine Lauterbrunnen and Wengen. They’re close to one another. Did you use the timetable to plan your trips: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable? If weather is good on both August 6 and 7, I’d do Jungfraujoch (http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch) one day and Schilthorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthorn) the other, visiting towns such as Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren and Grindelwald on your way up or down. That seems to make more sense than doing both mountains in one day, which is doable but maybe a bit full.
Yes, a train ride Interlaken (not Interlarken :-))-Lugano takes longer than Lucerne-Lugano. If that’s imortant to you, you could swap your days in Lucerne and Interlaken. You could either use the Gotthard Panorama Express route (http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress) via Lucerne or a route via Brig and Domodossola, using the Centovalli line (http://www.myswissalps.com/ce ntovalli) towards Locarno. This is definitely scenic as well.
Your sightseeing plan looks good
Interlaken to Lugano will be a lot of journey. In fact you can stay in Lucerne and do a day trip to Lugano since you wish to do a few activities
Alternatively you can start from Interlaken-Lucerne-Lugano-Zurich. No of days can be same
Hi Annika
Thank you so much for your advice. It took many online research and reading from this awesome forum to have a better comprehension on how to travel in your beautiful country being a first timer !
We have actually purchased Half Fare card and Swiss Family card (since my son is only 15 yrs) base on the itinerary that we planned.
We will heed your advice for Aug 6/7 provided weather permits to visit the above places which you mentioned.
As for the train to Lugano, we opt from Lucerne-Lugano instead of the Panorama Express as the journey is shorter and we wish to do few activities there…
Thank you again for your guidance !
Hi Shroffchetan,
Thank you so much for the comment ! It took a long time planning ! As mentioned above, we will take the train from Lucerne to Lugano and stay there before heading home to Zurich !
Thank you..
Great RH, it seems that you’re all set then!
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