3-4 days in Switzerland + Skydiving

Hello everyone,

Three of us are arriving Zurich on 23 Oct at 12:55PM and have a return flight from Geneva at 8:20AM on Oct 27.

We would like to visit -

1) Rhine Falls

2) Zurich

3) Lucerne

4) Titlis

5) Interlaken

6) Jungfraujoch

7) Zermatt

8) Lausanne

9) Lake Geneva

10) CERN Building

Apart fom that, one or two scenic beauty trains like -

1) Glacier Express Zermatt-Brig-Chur-St. Moritz, 2) Bernina-Express St. Moritz-Tirano, 3) Golden Pass Montreux-Gstaad-Spiez-Interlaken-Lucerne

For Interlaken, this is the route we plan to take -Interlaken OST - Lauterbunnen - Mount Jungfrauch - Grindelwald -Interlaken OST. We also plan to skydive, though we don't know which option would be better - www.skydiveinterlaken. ch

We know this is an extremely vague and hectic plan as of now, and we're actually running late on time, hence we really need your help guys. It's my birthday and I want this trip to be the most memorable one.Could you please suggest us on what exactly could we do to accommodate at least Interlaken, Jungfraujoch, Titlis, CERN building, skydiving, and Lucerne in our trip?Please help us organize a bit.

Since we want to skydive and it's already going to be tad expensive, we'd like to save as much as possible on accommodation. At what places shall we make the bookings? (Interlaken 1 day, Zurich another, Geneva 3rd?) Any suggestions on the Rail passes? Do we really have to purchase the Swiss Rail Pass which costs around 250 euros or could we do well with a Zurich Pass and Geneva Pass, later a flight from Zurich to Geneva, and purchasing separate ticket for the Scenic train?

Please help us, we would really really be grateful to all of you if you could give some suggestions and make our trip a bit more organized.

Thanks a lot in anticipation.

Hi Rashish, and welcome to MySwissAlps!

First of all, sorry for the late reply! Let's take a look at your plans. I'm afraid they're too ambitious for a 4 day stay. You will manage to include some of the most important destinations, but definitely not all. An itinerary could look like this:

• after your arrival in Zurich, visit the Rhine Falls. In the evening, travel to Lucerne;
• visit the Titlis or a mountain top closer to Lucerne, like Pilatus or Rigi, on the 2nd day and move over to the Interlaken region;
• on day 3, make the trip to the Jungfraujoch and in the afternoon travel towards Geneva using the Golden Pass route via Zweisimmen and Montreux;
• on day 4, visit CERN and explore Geneva.

Accommodation tips can be found on our Lucerne, Interlaken and Geneva pages. You can also check our pages on budget hotels and money saving tips.

A rail pass will definitely help you save money. You'll be traveling a lot, and a 4 day Swiss Travel Pass will be the most comfortable option. If you travel to Rigi instead of Titlis, that trip will be fully covered too. Details can be found at myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass, purchase options are listed at myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/price. You've indicated that you're from Spain. In that case, your cheapest option would be to buy through www.acprail.com. If you're interested, try to order as soon as possible, as shipping takes some time. If ACP doesn't seem to be able to ship your pass in time, you can order through www.swissrailways.com. Prices there are equal to a local purchase, but this reseller allows you to print your pass at home and start using it right away as soon as you arrive in Switzerland.

A Swiss Half Fare Card (myswissalps.com/swissh alffarecard) is an alternative, but this pass requires you to buy tickets for all trips. You can compare passes and calculate which one suits your finalized itinerary with the tips and tools at myswissalps.com/train/ ticketspasses/practica l/chooserailpass.

I'm not sure if you'll manage to include sky diving in the schedule proposed above, but you can check with the companies listed at Interlaken Tourism and try to figure out how much time will be involved.

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome Annika, your insights were really helpful an quite informative for first time travelers. Wish we knew about this forum before. It's awesome!!

Since we already knew it's going to be exhausting, we made a more realistic attempt to prepare the itinerary.

Already purchased the Swiss Rail Pass from acprail on 15 Oct as express delivery. Thanks for the confirmation.

About skydiving, we confirmed and it would take a max half a day (3 hours actually, but we take 6 to be on the safer side).

This is what our itinerary looks like at the moment-

23 Oct - Landing at 1 pm, Zurich to Rhine Falls, then Lucerne (I believe 45 mins in the train, which would be covered under the Swiss Pass). We would have loved to go to Mt. Titlis the same day but we realize that we won't have too much time so we might just explore the Rhine Falls or straightaway go and explore Lucerne that day.24 Oct - Lucerne to Interlaken, Interlaken to Jungfraujoch - (Lucerne to Interlaken free, Interlaken to Grindelwald or Lauterbrennen free, but thereafter a fee upto Jungfrau, need to check how much exactly). If we see in the moning that the weather is bad at Jungfraujoch (it might rain that day), then excursion to Mt. Pilatus or Ragi.

25 Oct - Skydiving if weather permits, (We'll be free max by 2 pm) later Interlaken to Engelberg from where a train to Mt Titlis, or alternatively a route from Lausanne to Montreux in Golden pass train (all free), or the free stretch through rail pass covered by Glacier express. (Please suggest if we could make this any better)26 – Interlaken to Geneva throgh Golden Pass, visiting Geneva lake, UN headquarters, etc. CERN tickets are not available.We still need to book the hotels/hostels. Our proposed stay is-

23 - Lucerne24 - Interlaken25- Interlaken26- Geneva

Do you find the proposed stay commensurate with our travel plans?

Please correct us if you feel any of the above details are absurd or could be better. We still don't know much about the routes and any kind of suggestions would be most welcome.

As soon as you confirm the plan, we'll book the hotels.

Thanks a lot once again.

Annika, One more query, I presume we'll be able to travel to Geneva airport on 27 for our flight at 8:20 through our Swiss Rail Pass (valid for 23, 24, 25, 26 Oct), since it should be valid till 5AM on 27 Oct (read it somewhere). Am I right?

Hi Rashish,

Good to hear you've already ordered your Swiss Travel Pass. It's indeed a very comfortable option for your itinerary. I've read through your new proposal and here are some comments:

• if a visit to the Titlis is important to you, it's much easier to do this from Lucerne than from Interlaken. That's why I suggested a one night stay in Lucerne, to make this trip easier for you. If it's not a top priority, I think you can indeed spend two nights in Interlaken. But in that case, do focus on trips closer to Interlaken. The timetable allows you to find traveling times for all trips;
• if you plan to get to the Jungfraujoch on October 24, I suggest you travel to Interlaken in the afternoon/evening of October 23 and skip the overnight stay in Lucerne. That will allow you to get to the Jungfraujoch earlier on October 24, which might be preferable in case weather is only good in the (early) morning;
• Pilatus or Rigi aren't great alternatives for the Jungfraujoch if weather is bad. These too are mountain tops that require clear skies in order to enjoy the views. Moreover, both are quite far off from Interlaken. A boat trip over one of the lakes or a visit to Thun and/or Bern is a better alternative. You may also enjoy a visit to the Ballenberg Open Air Museum (open until October 31) if weather isn't that good;
• the Glacier Express is too far off for your plans; the Golden Pass mentioned before certainly makes sense.

Yes, the Swiss Travel Pass will be valid up to 5 am on October 27 (please see myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/howtouse). But that would mean you'd have to complete your trip to Geneva Airport before 5 am. You'll probably be traveling later than that, but that's still no problem. Many hotels offer a Geneva Transport Card to their guests, providing free urban transportation including the train to the airport: myswissalps.com/geneva /travel. You may also choose a Geneva Airport hotel: myswissalps.com/geneva airporthotels. Many of them offer a free shuttle service to the airport.

Annika, thanks a lot once again for your valuable insights.

Probably this would be our last query, and we w

This is going to be our final itinerary-

23 Oct - Zurich to Rhine Falls, Rhine falls to Lucerne in the evening.

Night STAY : LUCERNE Booked***24 Oct - Lucerne to Mt. Titlis, Pilatus, or Rigi. Later in the evening, from there, to Interlaken.

Night STAY : INTERLAKEN Booked***25 Oct - Interlaken to Jungfraujoch - (Lucerne to Interlaken free, Interlaken to Grindelwald or Lauterbrennen free, then upto Jungfrau in the cable car). If I see in the morning that the weather is bad at Jungfraujoch, then excursion to Bern or Thun.

Night STAY : INTERLAKEN Booked***26 – Interlaken to Geneva (boarding Golden Pass from Interlaken, reaching Montreux and from there to Geneva, (presuming we'll be in Geneva by 3 pm to the max), visiting Geneva lake, UN headquarters, etc.

Night STAY : GENEVA Booked***

Queries-

1. Does this itinerary sound okay?Shall we remove something or include something else depending upon the time duration available?
2. Do we need to get the Golden Pass reservation for 2 days? I think so - (Lucerne to Interlaken on 24, and Interlaken to Montreux on 26) Any other reservations we might need in advance (Upto Jungfrau, in advance?)?
3. Any suggestions for improvement? Are we missing on some better route which could be more beautiful? We really wish to see the real Swiss beauty.

I would have loved to include the Glacier Express but as pointed out by you and seen in the map, it's coming too far away from where we would be staying.

As per your suggestion we have already booked the hostel in Geneva which provides a free transport card for the day.

Thank you very much.

Hi Rashish!

Your itinerary looks fine now. You may need a back-up plan in case of bad weather on October 24, like a boat trip over Lake Lucerne or a visit to the Museum of Transport. Seat reservations are not necessary for your trips in Switzerland, not even for the Golden Pass. You can book seats if you want though; please see myswissalps.com/golden pass/tickets for more information.

Please note that there's no cable car to the Jungfraujoch (myswissalps.com/jungfr aujoch/gettingthere).

I hope that you're all set now and that you'll have a beautiful stay in Switzerland! You're welcome to post a trip report once your back.