5 Days in Switzerland – Zurich and Interlaken

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  • Removed user
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    14 August 2017 at 23:44:23 #812965

    Hi All,

    I have booked tickets and accomodation for trip to swiss with my family and my friends.(4 adults 3 kids). 1 night zurich and 4 nights interlaken accommodation booked.

    We are reaching zurich by 22nd August night and leaving back from Geneva by 27th evening.

    I have a rough high level plan , but need guidance in shaping it.Especially for 23 and 27.

    22nd night: reach zurich , check in hotel and rest.

    23rd : 2 options – Rhine falls and off to interlaken OR zurich to Luzern , free time for any activities and then golden pass to interlaken OST. <suggestions requested>

    24 Aug:Mt Titlis excursion + check out engelberg town < is this fully packed ?>

    25th Aug:Hike around lake thun and Spiez.activities around interlaken.

    visit Brienz or Hasli Valley

    26th Aug: Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen cable car to Murren, walk through the beautiful village and visit Schilthorn(for the wonderful views optional) then return down to Stechelberg ,

    visit to the Trummelbach falls and walk along the lovely Lauterbrunnen valley

    27th: Flight only at 7:10 from Geneva., So either go around bern OR train to Montreux , spent time there and by 3 pm start to geneva airport. <nothing planned , suggestions requested>

    I am confused on which rail pass to take?Option considered: please suggest

    Swiss travel 4 day flexi pass with 26 not to use.

    Swiss travel half pass

    Regional pass bernese -Oberland – 6 days – need to pay extra for travel from Saanen to montreux (50%) and montreux to geneva. also zurich to Luzern.

    swiss 8 day pass.(Last option)

    please also suggest if itinerary can be made better.

    Apologies as its a big post, appreciate your help.

    Cheers,

    Aswin

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    Removed user
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    15 August 2017 at 17:11:45 #868364

    Hi Aswin and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    Your itinerary looks quite good. Here are a few suggestions:

    1. Aug 23 – skip the RheinFalls and check out Luzern and take a part of the Golden Pass route to Interlaken
    2. August 24: you are staying in Interlaken the night this night? If that is the case this is an easy day trip to Mt. Titlis.
    3. August 27: you can do the rest of the Golden Pass route, from Interlaken to Zweisimmen and on to Montreux, it is a great trip.
    4. As for rail passes, all that you mention can work for you. You will have in Switzerland traveling for 7 days (train, bus, cable car, maybe a boat trip?) so the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass could be a good option for you. The only way to know is to plan out all your trips while you are here and compare the prices of the various passes and point to point tickets. We have a web page to help you here: how to choose the best rail pass.
    5. Also, I would lean to staying in Lucerne your first night and skip Zurich – more things to see and do in the area.

    Lucas

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    15 August 2017 at 17:23:20 #868365

    Hi lucas,

    Really appreciate your response and i do quite follow you posts on topic which did enlighten me about rail passes.

    Regarding 22nd Aug day of arruval, we arrive at zurich by 21:10 and might take max of 30 mins for immigration n baggage collection.

    Will it be too late for me to go to luzern via train considering i am new to the place ??

    I did choose interlaken as main base as its easy to get around the area.

    One more question, id taking the wifi travelling hotspot a good deal compares to going on roaming ??

    Really appreciate your time n response.

    Cheers,

    Aswin

    Removed user
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    15 August 2017 at 17:42:56 #868366

    Hi Aswin,

    Ooh, that is late to take off to Luzern. You can do it that late but you may not want to. 🙂 Use the Swiss railways timetable here to plan it out and see if you like the idea.

    Yes, the traveler’s WiFi is great and a much better option that roaming. Read more about it here – very convenient product.

    Lucas

    Removed user
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    15 August 2017 at 19:47:05 #868367

    Hi Lucas,

    You are right it’s bit late and there are trains @22:13 from Zurich airport, but takes 1 hr 12 mins. would be difficult with kids to travel at night in a new country.

    If i were to start early to Luzern on 23rd from Zurich, will i be able to store all my luggage in luzern railway station locker?Do you have an idea on how much it might cost for lockers?

    I could do a day outing in luzern city including boat trip etc. As Mt titlis is in Plan can I skip Mt Rigi/Mt Pilatus??which one is better?

    Aswin

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    16 August 2017 at 1:50:57 #868368

    H Aswin-

    <<“If i were to start early to Luzern on 23rd from Zurich, will i be able

    to store all my luggage in luzern railway station locker?Do you have an

    idea on how much it might cost for lockers?”>>

    Check this thread-

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/lockers-at-luzern-station#fU4E66DW9mqS6v 8AAFcRTQ

    Slowpoke

    Removed user
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    16 August 2017 at 9:12:36 #868369

    Hi Slowpoke ,

    Appreciate your response. I went to the thread and its helpful with all information i require.

    1 quick question , on 25th or DAY 4 , can I cover interlaken thun river to Speiz and also Bern city ?

    or is it too hectic. Need to know this so that i can decide better if i really need a 8 day swiss pass. else i can just have a 4 days swiss flexi pass .

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    16 August 2017 at 9:44:27 #868370

    Hi aswin86

    <<“1 quick question , on 25th or DAY 4 , can I cover interlaken thun river to Speiz and also Bern city ?”>>

    Not sure what you mean- here is what you originally wrote:

    <<“5th Aug:Hike around lake thun and Spiez.activities around interlaken.

    visit Brienz or Hasli Valley”>>

    Lake Thun has a circumference of roughly 30 km. There are trails or roads around the whole lake. The distance from Interlaken to Spiez is about 10 km.

    Check this map to get a sense of locations and distances. Zoom out to see Bern, to the north; zoom in to se train lines:

    map.search.ch/?pos=639168,172704&z=8

    I don’t know what you mean when you say “cover” for a city. It is even less clear when you say cover….”river to Spiez.”

    With the timetable that Lucas linked you to you can easily find the time to take the train from Interlaken to Spiez (please watch the spelling) to Thun to Bern.

    The time for a train from Interlaken to Bern is a bit under one hour, approximately twice per hour.

    To understand what there is to see in Interlaken, Thun, Bern, Spiez, look here:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/in terlaken

    ( although this describes more than just the city). Harder Kulm is convenient and nice:

    http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/harder-kulm/

    http://www.myswissalps.com/be rn

    http://www.myswissalps.com/th un

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/spiez.html

    also, in case you are still considering it, Brienz:

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/brienz.html

    Slowpoke

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