10 days September itinerary: Geneva to Zurich?

  • Goofyernurse
    Participant
    2 posts
    1 April 2023 at 19:11:50 #829471

    Hello, my husband and I will be making our first visit to Switzerland from September 10th thru the 20th. We are flying in from Barcelona and I’m not sure if we should start our trip in Geneva or Zurich. We will be flying home from Zurich back to the US on the 20th.

    Our first thought is to fly into Geneva and spend a couple of nights in the city. We would then take the train to Zermatt to spend a couple of night there exploring. After Zermatt, train to Bernese Oberland region where we will have 3 nights here. We are not sure where to stay here for our 3 nights. We are hoping to visit Schilthorn and dine at Piz Gloria, will also want to see the Top of Europe, Lauterbrunnen and maybe a few hikes around the area. After leaving here, we will head to Lucerne for a couple of nights before heading to Zurich on the 19th and fly out early on the 20th. I’m wondering if Geneva is worth starting at or should we start/end in Zurich. We will be staying at name brand hotels (Hilton, Holiday Inn), where available using points, but would love some great places to stay in Zermatt and Bernese region. Also, we haven’t even thought about which swiss pass to buy yet, nor which trains to book. Thank you all for the help

  • Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    2 April 2023 at 7:44:47 #952882

    Hi Goofyernurse, thanks for joining MySwissAlps!

    Wonderful that you get to explore Switzerland for 10 days. Your itinerary Geneva-Zermatt-Jungfrau region-Lucerne-Zurich makes sense. It will be a nice way to see various parts of Switzerland.

    Geneva is a vibrant city and definitely worth your time. So is Lake Geneva. Please find our tips at https://www.myswissalps.com/geneva and https://www.myswissalps.com/lakegeneva. Whether you should spend just one day there or several days, depends on your main interests. If you want to focus on the mountains, I’d stick to one day in Geneva and then travel on to Zermatt.

    Once you have an itinerary, you can choose the rail pass that fits is best. Looking at your current plans I’d say a Swiss Travel Pass is most convenient, as you’ll explore several Swiss areas and you’ll make quite some train transfers: https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass. You may benefit from the upcoming promotion, getting you a 10-day pass for the price of an 8-day one: https://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/the-swiss-travel-pass-spring-2023-promotion.

    Further tips:

    Swiss_Sights
    Participant
    100 posts
    2 April 2023 at 10:20:35 #952883

    Hi Goofyernurse,

    That sounds like a very nice (perfect) trip through Switzerland! Interlaken is a good starting point for excursions to the Jungfrau and the Lauterbrunnen Valley. But if you want to be closer to the mountains, the villages of Grindelwald or Wengen are more suitable.

    In Zermatt, I can recommend the Hotel Cristiania. It’s a very nice hotel with a big pool and not far from the centre and the cable cars. In Zermatt, I can recommend the trip up the Gornergrat and the Kleine Matterhorn (beware: due to the altitude of 3500 metres above sea level, the air is very thin) and the visit to the Gorner Gorge.

    Have a great trip!

    Marin

    Yolanda
    Moderator
    2220 posts
    2 April 2023 at 13:52:04 #952884

    Thank you for the recommendations. Much appreciated.

    Goofyernurse
    Participant
    2 posts
    2 April 2023 at 15:49:45 #952885

    Thank you so much!! I had no clue about the bonus days for the Swiss pass so that will really help out. After reading some of the articles, we decided to stay in Grindelwald at the Hotel Fiescherblick. We figured this would be our splurge hotel for the trip. As for Geneva, we won’t arrive until later afternoon, so I figured we would still have the one full day to explore before heading out to Zermatt from there

    Yolanda
    Moderator
    2220 posts
    2 April 2023 at 16:50:45 #952886

    All sounds great. Enjoy the ‘splurge’ 🙂

  • The thread ‘10 days September itinerary: Geneva to Zurich?’ is closed to new replies.

About MySwissAlps

We’re passionate tourists and locals. We share tips about how to plan a trip to Switzerland. MySwissAlps was founded in 2002.

Get a free account for a worry-free trip

  • Join our 10730 members and ask us questions in the forum
  • Access to member-only promotions
  • Detailed maps and weather forecasts

Planning your first Switzerland adventure?

Get a jump-start with Annika’s 20-minute e-mail course, “Switzerland for beginners”. Subscribe to our newsletter to unlock the course.