[Anonymous]

22 June 2019 at 8:03:09 #822408

Hi…I will be traveling for the first time to Switzerland during September / October 2019. I want to cover Swiss popular mountains one first day and on the second day I want to cover the villages and chocolate /biscuit factory visits. Can I get some best itinerary to plan my travel? Also would like to know if there snowfall during October month. Is it good to have Swiss travel Pass for my travel? Can I get some help /tips for my travel?

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[rockoyster]

Reply 1 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 8:46:47 #915816

Hi Manjunath and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

Where are you arriving in Switzerland and where are you departing from. When you say you have two days does that mean two full days or are you arriving on day one and departing on day two. Or do you have 2 full days to see some sights?

[User]

Reply 2 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 11:50:19 #915817

Hi…. Thank you for the reply….. I will be departing from stuttgart on one of the weekend Friday afternoon. Take a flight/bus to Zurich…i will be reaching Zurich on Friday evening…. So I will have Saturday and Sunday full day in Switzerland… I am planning to leave by early morning flight from Zurich to Stuttgart…. This is my plan for two full days…. I am interested to utilize 2 or 2.5 days completely in Switzerland…. Can you please let me know how to proceed on this.

[Annika]

Reply 3 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 14:36:55 #915818

Hi Manjunath,

You simply won’t be able to see and do it all in just two days. But you’ll certainly get to enjoy some nice scenery and towns if you plan wisely. If you arrive in Zurich, I advise you focus on Zurich and nearby Lucerne. I’ll add some links below, allowing you to find about these towns and the many (scenic) activities you can choose from:

• myswissalps.com/zurich
• myswissalps.com/lucern e

Find the activities you’re interested in and use the timetable to plan your trips in detail: myswissalps.com/timeta ble. Many other planning tips can be found at myswissalps.com/plantr ip/doityourself/compos eitinerary.

For a 2 day trip you’ll need to find out whether regular tickets are cheaper than using a rail pass: myswissalps.com/train/ ticketspasses/practica l/chooserailpass. I’d compare regular full-fare prices to the Swiss Half Fare Card (myswissalps.com/swissh alffarecard) and Saver Day Passes (myswissalps.com/saverd aypass) options if I were you.

May I recommend a train trip from and to Stuttgart, rather than flights? You’ll hardly save time flying due to check-in procedures, and short distance flights are much more harmful to the environment than train rides. There are direct trains between Zurich and Stuttgart and the ride takes less than 3 hours. The timetable I mentioned will display the options, and this page may be of interest too: myswissalps.com/traint ickets/germany.

[User]

Reply 4 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 16:15:00 #915819

Hi Annika,

Thank you very much for the reply.

Yeah I know that we cannot cover the most of the places in just two days. I will definitely look on the links which you have shared.

I also did few Math on the train ticket expenses from point to point and compared with Swiss Pass. If I add up the travelling cost all together, I would be spending more than the Swiss Travel Pass (Since Two people are traveling). So, I thought to buy Swiss Travel Pass and cover the beautiful valleys and mountains to maximum extent.

I want to cover top attractions in Swiss such as Jungfraujoch, Glacier 3000, Kambly Factory Visit, Chocolate Factory Visit, Stay in Grindelwald or Gimmewald or Lauterbrunnen or Zermatt…etc …or to take scenic train and cover the above mentioned places. Can I get some itinerary so that I can plan better for my travel.

[User]

Reply 5 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 17:55:18 #915820

Hi Manjunath –

In addition to the questions that Rockoyster asked there is a concern about seasonal issues. Tourist services and weather both deteriorate at high altitudes as October progresses. They start up again , full swing, for the ski season….late December or January.

When are you traveling?

<<“Can I get some itinerary so that I can plan better for my travel.”>>

And, if you propose an itinerary, based on doing some work with the links that Annika provided, we can offer comments about it.

You may find a map useful. There are many good ones. I like this one for travel in Switzerland:

map.search.ch/

Zoom in and play with the menus. Lots of useful information.

Slowpoke

[User]

Reply 6 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 20:56:17 #915821

Hi Slowpoke,

Thank you very much for the reply.

Ok. Sure, I will definitely share my itinerary. I don’t know whether this will be jam packed itinerary or not. Kindly, suggest me if I need to do some changes in the plan.

Travel Month : September (Last Week) or October (1st or 2nd Week). (I would also like to know which month is better to visit depending on weather conditions without any constraints)

Departure day and City : Friday afternoon from Stuttgart

Arrival day and City : Friday evening to Zurich

Mode of travel : Bus or Train

Pass: With Swiss Travel Pass for 3 or 4 days (for 2 people)

After reaching Zurich, I have different options :

1. Stay overnight in Zurich and next day (Saturday morning) proceed for Jungfraujoch or Glacier 3000 (Any one). (I don’t know how much time will take to visit either of these places. If I can cover both the places in 1 day, it would be fine…..kindly suggest). While coming back I can have overnight stay in Gstaad or Les Diablerets or Jungfrau region. Next day (Sunday Morning) I can proceed to explore other towns such as Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen or Gimmewald and also visit biscuit/chocolate factory during the journey and stay in one of these villages/towns or the same day (late evening) I can come to Zurich and take flight / train to Stuttgart or next day (Monday) early morning take flight or bus to Stuttgart.

2. I can take train from Zurich on Friday Evening to Zermatt and explore Zermatt in the evening, stay in Zermatt overnight. Next day (Saturday Morning) take scenic train Glacier express from Zermatt to St. Moritz and explore the journey. Overnight stay in St. Moritz. Next day (Sunday Morning) I can take train from St. Moritz to Biscuit / Chocolate factory visits. Overnight stay nearby places or the same day (late evening) I can come to Zurich and take flight / train to Stuttgart or next day (Monday) early morning take flight or bus to Stuttgart.

3. I can take train from Zurich on Friday Evening to Lucerne. Explore Lucern on Friday Evening with overnight stay. Next day (Saturday morning) take Golden Pass Scenic Train route and explore the intermediate places during the journey till Montreux. Overnight stay in Montreux.Next day (Sunday Morning) I can take train from Montreux to Biscuit / Chocolate factory visits. Overnight stay nearby places or the same day (late evening) I can come to Zurich and take flight / train to Stuttgart or next day (Monday) early morning take flight or bus to Stuttgart.

4. I can stay in Zurich and take day excursions to mountains , Valleys or Towns and visit to biscuit / chocolate factories etc and come back to the same place.

The above mentioned itineraries are just roughly sketched / assumption. I am interested to know whether we can cover any one of the itinerary with Swiss travel Pass. Is it too jam packed itinerary ? can I get some suggestions on this.

[pvonk]

Reply 7 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 21:18:27 #915822

For #2, “ can take train from Zurich on Friday Evening…”

i usually think of evening as beginning at 6 pm. If that’s your take, since Zurich to Zermatt is about 3 and a quarter hours, that gets you to Zermatt past 9 pm. Is this calculation what you came up with?

“and explore Zermatt in the evening”. I think you need to leave Zurich mid afternoon to have time in Zermatt in the evening. But I’ve never done this particular trip, so I’ll leave it to those more experienced to verify whether I’ve got the timing right.

i think Zurich to Luzern is reasonable. Extending your vacation beyond that over 2 days becomes more rushed.

[rockoyster]

Reply 8 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 21:33:31 #915823

I’d suggest late September.

Most of your plans are too ambitious. Use the timetable on the SBB website (bit.ly/2HH1U7B) or the highly-recommended SBB Mobile app (bit.ly/2ICIUHi) to plan your travel, find fares* and buy tickets if required. If you are not familiar with using the timetable it will pay to first read the instructions on this page – http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable. That way you will get to understand just how ambitious/impractical your plans are.

Personally I would get a direct train from Stuttgart to Zurich and then continue straight on to Luzern and have that as you base for 3 nights. Swapping bases will just use up more valuable time.

There are many things to do from a Luzern Base. See http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne/activities.

[User]

Reply 9 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 21:41:09 #915824

HiManjunath –

<<“Travel Month : September (Last Week) or October (1st or 2nd Week). (I

would also like to know which month is better to visit depending on

weather conditions without any constraints)”>>

In the high Alps, by mid October, snow would not be unusual, but is not common or likely to be heavy.

I have had glorious days at Männlichen ( above Wengen) at about 2200 meters in the last week of September. There is no precision in a prediction, but, in general, the earlier time would be safer, even though even late October can be very nice.

Lots of information here and in the links on that page:

http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland/nature

At lower elevations, no issues with those dates.

Comments about itineraries:

#1 and #2 are probably not possible. After you get to Zermatt on arrival night, it will be quite late for any exploration, for example.

The chocolate factory (Maison Cailler) in Broc takes a while …hours … to get to. From even nearby Montreux it is 1 hour and 44 minutes to station Broc-Fabrique.

If you simply take your proposals and make them specific by using a map, such as:

map.search.ch/?poi=zug&z=2

( I turned on the railway stations)

and the timetable (linked previously by Annika) ,

You’ll be able to determine fastest travel times between your proposed destinations.

For example, Zurich Airport to Zermatt –

3 hours and 28 minutes or 3 hours and 33 minutes.

#3 is possible, especially since you have changed your departure time to Monday.

And #4 is, of course….but travel times will constrain your specific choices of destinations. Pick a place and check the timetable.

Luzern might be a better base point, to give a variety of choices, but also, you could consider Interlaken (as a base, not for sightseeing in that town itself).

Slowpoke

[User]

Reply 10 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 21:52:44 #915825

Hi Pvonk,

Yes, that is the calculation I came up with from Zurich to Zermatt. Also doing some research, I am also feeling that Zurich to Lucern is reasonable one. I am doing bit research on this to find the optimized plan.

[User]

Reply 11 of 11 • 22 June 2019 at 22:01:31 #915826

Hi Rockoyster,

Thank you very much for your feedback. I really appreciate your views.

Yeah, as I mentioned that the itineraries are just assumption and require fine tuning. Obviously, the plans look ambitious / impractical since I am not sure about the place and timings. That’s the reason I am taking help from you guys (Experts). Finally at the end I need one optimized plan to have so that my travel to Swiss would me memorable one.

Yes, due to weather conditions, I cannot take risk during October. I am also thinking to plan in September.

Zurich to Lucern travel is more reasonable based on the findings and would like to keep as base.

I will definitely look to the other links which you shared.

Thank you.