1-month driving/train itinerary across Switzerland
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Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has helped me with planning for our Switzerland trip. Originally we were planning to visit for about 3 weeks in late May/early June of this year but unfortunately had to cancel due to the COVID-19 situation.
We are still planning on taking this trip when Australia eventually opens its borders and we can start travelling again. We were hoping for next year but his now looks like it is highly unlikely but whenever, we are definitely still going to go!
I have played around a fair bit with the itinerary and would like some feedback before I shelf the planning until we know what year we can come. I want to have our itinerary finalised so I am ready to start booking as soon as Australia reopens its borders.
The itinerary has grown to be longer – it is now about a month.
Sorry in advance for the long post.
Some background:
We (my husband and I) are in our mid 60’s and getting older the longer we have to wait! We are reasonably fit but are not lovers of strenuous exercise, e.g. we like walking rather than hiking. We enjoy seeing the major tourist stuff as well as the out of the way places and meeting the locals. We like to take our time to see things but can usually pack a fair bit into a day.
We will be self-driving and doing the Glacier and Bernina Express. I have fully investigated the train versus driving options and have decided that the train is the option that best suits us. We will purchase the half fare card.
This will be part of a longer trip to Europe. We plan to leave Australia in April and will be in Switzerland mid May to mid June.
We will be driving from Strasbourg in France and our first stop in Switzerland will be Basel.
So our itinerary is as follows (I haven’t listed all the activities we are planning for each place because the post would have been just too long):
Basel – 2 nights
When we leave Basel, we will stop at St- Ursanne and La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Neuchatel – 2 nights
Sites/towns that we may visit after Neuchatel include, Creux du Van, Motiers and the Asphalt mines in Travers.
Lausanne – 4 nights. The plan is to spend one full day in Lausanne, on in Montreux (Rochers de Naye, Chillon, Queen experience) and one day in Geneva.
On the day we leave Lausanne we will visit Gruyeres – Chateau de Gruyeres and La Maison du Gruyere and Broc – Maison Callier Chocolate factory. If time we will also call in to Fribourg
Bern – 2 nights
On leaving Bern we will stop at Interlaken and cruise to Lake Thun and catch the train back to Interlaken.
Grindelwald – 3 nights. I am seriously considering changing this to Wengen and would appreciate any feedback on which is the better place to stay. We plan to go to Jungfraujoch on one day and Schilthorn on the other (weather permitting).
On the day we leave Grindelwald we plan to stop at Brienz, Kambly experience and the Affoltern im Emmental Dairy Show. I am a little concerned that we will not be able to fit all this into one day so am considering whether we should do an overnight stay in Brienz (even though I hate one nighters).
Lucerne – 4 nights – the rough plan is one day to go to Pilatus and Rigi, one day to Titlus and maybe Stransherhorn and one day to do a walking tour of Lucerne and visit the chocolate museum and just have a look around Lucerne.
After leaving Lucerne we plan to stop in Brunnen, Einsiedeln and Walensee.
Chur – 1 night. We will leave the car here catch the train to St Moritz.
St Moritz – 2 nights
Bernina Express to Lugano
Lugano – 3 nights
Catch the train to Zermatt (maybe the Centovalli Express although this is something I do need to research this a bit more)
Zermatt – 2 nights
Glacier Express to Chur
Chur – 1 night – pick up the car
After leaving Chur make stops at Sardona Tectonic Arena and Mainefeld – Heidiland. If time maybe also visit Liechenstein.
Appenzell – 2 nights
On leaving St Appenzell visit St Gallen, Stein am Rhein, Schaffhausen and Rheinfall.
Zurich – 2 nights
On the day we leave Zurich we will visit Hallwyl Castle before heading to the airport to fly home (unsure of exactly where we will fly out of but it will most probably be Frankfurt).
I started the planning based on the Grand Tour of Switzerland but it has changed a fair bit from this. I would really appreciate any input, in particular if there is a better order to do things in. Also, please let me know if there are any other highlights (and I know this varies from person to person) that should be added. Thanks in advance for your ideas.
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