MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Zurich, Luzern & Thun – Must Do things?
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Hello,
We are a couple travelling in mid sept. Below is our itenary.
day 1 arrive at zurich late in the evening ..
day 2 spend that day in Zurich
day 3 leave for Lucerne
day 4 Stay in lucerne
day 5 leave for Thun
day 6 in Thun
day 7 leave for paris
Please suggest the must do things day wise. We are thinking of golden pass train,mount pilatus , rigi and titlis. Any other good suggestion..Day trips from Town of Thun ..Places? Also do we need reservation for golden pass if we have swiss travel pass with . Help would be much appreciated.
Thanks a Ton in advance . 🙂
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Hello Swatiraj..
Me and my wife are also leaving in mid sept to Switzerland but our plan is a bit different than yours..Still you can let me know if you need any detail plan in our common places of stay..
My plan is Day 1) Reach Zurich early morning and move to Lucerne
Day 2) Lucerne , Mt Rigi/ Pilatus
Day 3) Cover Mt Rigi/Pilatus and move to Interlaken at 4 PM..and move to Wengen
Day 4) Wengen
Day 5) Wengen
Day 6) Wengen
Day 7) Leave for Paris via Golden Pass route..Evening tour Paris
Day 8) Paris and leave for India late evening..
Regards,
Sam
Hi swatiraj,
We have a list of suggested activities for both towns, click here: Zurich, Thun and Lucerne.
I think you have the main attractions in the Lucerne area: Mt. Titlis, Mt. Rigi and Mt. Pilatus – although with only 2 nights there you will be busy to try and see all three mountains. I might cut one out and spend more time in Lucerne.
For Thun certainly the castle, Mt. Niesen, a boat cruise and maybe St. Beatus caves are nearby highlights.
I’m not sure about must-dos in Zurich honestly. I would go straight to Lucerne instead.Lucas
Hi Swatiraj-
Although Zürich is my favorite city in Switzerland…for cultural reasons and also a few friends in the area, I share the opinion of the moderators of this forum. Skip Zürich. Go immediately to Luzern. There is more for the first time visitor. That can give up to another full day in/near Luzern.
Please ignore that advice if you have specific things that you have chosen to do in Zürich.
Trains taking an hour or a bit more ( those requiring changes at Zürich main station) leave the airport as late as 2343. The last train with no change at Zürich leaves at 2047 and takes 1 hour and 2 minutes.
In the morning, the first train leaves the airport at 0500 with several trains per hour. Those all go through Zürich main station, so you could pick them up there. The first train with no change at Zurich leaves at 0743.
If you stay in Zürich, there are frequent trains to Luzern…at least 2 per hour on the faster routes to Luzern.
Thun –
Thun is a nice place. The lake is beautiful, and has some interesting things on the shores. However, most people who go to that part of Switzerland continue to the Jungfrau region, staying at any of several places closer to the Jungfrau. The scenery is more spectacular, you get up to high altitudes and magnificent panoramas ( if the weather is clear) . You might want to consider that instead of Thun.
The whole region:
http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland
The Jungfrau region in particular:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion
You might look at Wengen, Mürren, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and, optionally Interlaken. Interlaken is good for rail connections but the glorious scenery is near the others I have mentioned. This forum has pages for those villages under the tab on the home page labelled “Where to Go.”
Slowpoke
Thank you all the lovely people for taking the time out and replying ! Appreciate a lot ..
As you all suggested .. I cut one night in Zurich .. We will be reaching Zurich from Venice late night .. We will stay that night in Zurich and then leave for Lucerne the next morning..So we have now 3 days in Lucerne .. 🙂
We will be buying swiss travel pass..Some Questions ..
1. Does the golden Pass train require reservations ?
2 Is Thun a good base to nearby places to visit? if not .. please suggest some other places.. not Interalken.. 🙂
Any other suggestions are appreciated.. Thanks a ton again guys .. 🙂
No, reservations are not required for the Golden Pass route. You may wish to reserve between Zweisimmen and Montreux however as it can get busy and these are the panoramic trains for the route.
Thun is fine I think but use the timetable to see trip times to the towns and attractions you want to visit and decide if it works for you. Two other nice options are Lauterbrunnen and Wengen.
Lucas
Thank you Lucas..
Can we do a trip Jungfraujoch from Thun.. How much will it cost with a swiss travel pass.
Also is it worth of we are also planning to Visit Titlis..
Yes you can. It will take close to 3 hours from Thun to Jungfraujoch – be sure to use the timetable to check on your date/time of preferred travel.
On the Swiss Travel Pass page for validity here, you will see that the Swiss Travel Pass covers the whole route until Wengen or Grindelwald.
On the Jungfrau ticket page here, there is a PDF price list for you to see the price options. You are looking at either 183 or 190CHF (round-trip) depending on the town you start at. You can then take 25% off that price with your Swiss Travel Pass.Lucas
<<“As you all suggested .. I cut one night in Zurich .. We will be reaching Zurich from Venice late night .. We will stay that night in Zurich and then leave for Lucerne the next morning..So we have now 3 days in Lucerne .. :)”>>
Hi swatiraj –
Earlier, I had assumed that you were flying into Zürich airport.
If so, that plan makes good sense, depending on how late you arrive.
However, if you are coming by train, trains from Venice seem to pass through Milano Centrale. If that is the route you are taking, travel time to Luzern is essentially the same as travel time to Zürich.
All those trains, whether they go to Luzern or Zürich, pass through and stop at Arth-Goldau in Switzerland.
You can see that in the timetable:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
At Arth-Goldau, every other train from Milano Centrale goes to Luzern. The ones in between go to Zürich. So, if you are on the train that goes to Luzern and want to go to Zürich, you get off at Arth-Goldau, walk across the platform, and get on the waiting train that goes to Zürich. If you are on the train that goes to Zürich, stay on it.
If you wish to go to Luzern instead, just use the opposite procedure. Going directly to Luzern could save some transfer time in the morning. Of course, you might wish to take a short stroll before going on to Luzern, but with limited time, that might not be a good idea.
Picking up an extra day does not mean that you must spend it in Luzern. You might also spend it in the Bernese Oberland…..near the Jungfrau or at Thun, whatever you prefer.
Each of the mountains discussed has its own personality. Checking the links provided earlier in the thread can help you decide between them. The Jungfraujoch is the most impressive and the most expensive.
Slowpoke
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