3 days in Switzerland, is this possible???

Hello,I really need your help! I have been doing some extensive research on what I can do in Switzerland in 3 days but I still cannot make up my mind. I will arrive on 31-Mar-15 and leave for Venice on the 03-Apr-15. We would like to visit Geneva, Bern/Basel, Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich, my fiance and I will be travelling together.

We Arrive at Geneva Airport (9am), spend a couple hours around, go to lake Geneva. Take the golden pass line from Montreux to Lucerne. Is the entire golden pass line scenic or is there a specific section? Should I spend the night in Geneva and then take the golden pass line the next day? What do you recommend?? I want to stop off in Interlaken, what is the best thing to do there? Is Lucerne a good base for all the places we would like to visit? Initially I was thinking to move around and spend the night as we move for example: Bern one night, Interlaken 1 Night, Lucerne 1 night. But the more I research, I get more confused!! The time is limited

I have decided that the swiss pass would be a good option for us. The 3 day pass, if we start it on the 31 Mar, it will expire on the 03 Apr, right? Now, would our swiss pass be valid from Lucerne to Venice until the swiss border obviously? How do I get my ticket from the swiss border to continue on to Venice?

Any recommendations will greatly help. Looking forward to your response.

Hi Lee,

Welcome to our website! Three days is not much, I don't think you should try to plan too much in this limited time frame. My recommendation: go straight from Geneva to Interlaken (or a nearby village such as Grindelwald) via the Golden Pass line. Note that Interlaken is not a town to go sightseeing. It's a base to do day trips into the Jungfrau region. Stay one or two days, then go to Lucerne via the remainder of the Golden Pass line. The links explain about the details, what to do, and also about hotel suggestions. I would forget about Geneva, Basel and Zurich.

A 3-day Swiss Travel Pass starting on March 31 will be valid on March 31, April 1 and April 2. The pass indeed includes the trains from Lucerne to the border (Chiasso). You need a ticket from Chiasso to Venice.

Be sure to get the pass online as that's cheaper. You can order along the ticket to Venice. Don't wait until you're in Lucerne to get that ticket; trains may be fully booked. Unlike trains in Switzerland, most trains to Italy do need seat reservations. You reside in Spain, so you can get the pass and the ticket from the website below. Don't wait too long. These are not e-tickets, they will be shipped.

• acprail.com/rail-passes/swiss-pass
• acprail.com/train-tickets

Have a wonderful trip!

Arno,

Thank you soo much for your repsonse. I will definitely take your recommendations into my plan. However, I was trying to get the Chiasso to Venice route fare but the site you provided for some reason cannot provide the information. Do you have another site I can check?

Thank you again!

Hi Lee,

I tried as well and noticed the same issue. That's weird. What you can do instead is getting a seat reservation from the station where you board the train to Milan. From Lucerne, that's usually Arth-Goldau. You can book a seat reservation from Arth-Goldau to Milan through acprail.com/train-reservations. In addition you need a ticket Chiasso - Milan, but if you already have a seat reservation you can get that in Switzerland.

Alternatively, you can look for a ticket and reservation for Chiasso to Milan on trenitalia.com. Be careful to order an actual ticket or printable ticket, and not a ticket to be collected in Italy.

Arno,

Thank you! Just to let you know, we are planning to stay 1 night in Interlaken and 2 nights in Lucerne. You still recommend getting the Swiss Travel Pass right? Our Swiss Travel pass will expire on the 2nd April so on the 3rd April we will buy full fare train tickets from Lucerne to Venice. Thats why I ask.

One other thing, do you recommend Hotels or B&B?

Hi Lee,

You can simply buy a 4-day Swiss Travel Pass so that it includes the last day as well. That's cheaper than full fare tickets. It covers the trip to Milan up to Chiasso, as stated above.

Hotels versus B&B's is a real personal decision. I like hotels better, but many people like B&B's. Both are fine for short stays. Recommended hotels can be found on myswissalps.com/lucerne/hotels and myswissalps.com/interlaken/hotels.

Good Day Arno,

A quick one for you! I made a booking on the SBB website for our Lucerne-Venice trip, however, my credit card has already been charged but I havent received any confirmation number or email or ticket reference #! Have you heard of cases like these already? What do you suggest I do? I sent a query online using the SBB form, but I must wait 24 hrs for a response. I am hoping that I receive a confirmation email before the end of today.

Thank you!

Hi Lee,

Yes, I've heard of credit card issues before on the SBB site. Most issues were regarding cards not being accepted. I'm sure they fix it if something actually went wrong, but I can't help you with this. What did you pay for these tickets if you don't mind me asking?

I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I'm sure you will get your money back. If it doesn't work out with the tickets through SBB you can simply get a 4-day pass instead of a 3-day pass through the link I gave you previously. That's only € 33 p.p. more, and then you're covered for the Swiss leg of the trip to Venice. The Italian leg starts at € 18 p.p. Plus, you can still use the Swiss Travel Pass in the morning in/around Lucerne, should you choose to do some morning sightseeing.

Anyway, enjoy your stay and your trip!