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My husband & I will be traveling to Switzerland for 5 days in mid April 2019 to celebrate our anniversary. We will be traveling by train from Frankfurt airport (we live in California) and have booked a lovely home in Gersau on lake Lucerne. I’m feeling a little lost on day trips to plan as we want to get the most our of our time but not be overwhelmed & unable to really enjoy. We intended to do basically 1 excursion each day and have heard from friends who’ve traveled there that the transportation system is excellent so no car rental is needed.
My thoughts are 1 day for the city of Lucerne, 1 day for things that we can travel to & explore around the lake on the ferry and then 3 days up in the air.
We discussed going to Jungfraujoch or Grindelwald or/and Montreux but can’t figure out if it’s easy enough to take the train and experience on our own or a guided tour is worth the cost.
We’ve also discussed the Golden Pass train for a day which seems simply magical. Is this something to do in a day though or would we need to find accommodations somewhere other than Gersau to properly enjoy?
At the end of our 5 days we will be taking a train to Munich and I’m not certain of any scenic value to that portion but it is a note. I greatly appreciate any advise those experience can give. We’re simply empty nesters in our mid 40’s ready to enjoy some quality time together with our newfound love of exploring the world and we begin with Switzerland and Germany!
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It’s easy enough to use the Swiss transport system and see things for yourself (using local guidebooks, leaflets, internet). You don’t really need a guided tour.
I have travelled the ‘GoldenPass’ many times and it is very nice, but I’m not sure it is ‘magical’ as such – at least no more so than other Swiss alpine train rides.
At Gersau you are restricted to boat and bus direct from the village. You would connect into trains at other places.
Attached is a picture (looking along the lake in the Gersau direction) from my wife and I’s hotel room at nearby Weggis this past summer
A good day trip would be Gersau – Fluelen – Erstfeld – Andermatt – Oberalp Pass and back
Worth buying this book for ideas:
http://www.bradtguides.com/sw itzerland-without-a-car-3325.html
Attachments:Hi hestesh and welcome to MySwissAlps!
To help you plan your trips from Gersau to wherever you decide to go each day you can use the Swiss railways timetable: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
The timetable always gives you the most direct/quickest routing. If you want to find boat schedules (as it isn’t the fastest connection, you need to force the timetable to give you it). So for example, search Gersau to Lucerne and hit search (you get a bus and train connection). Now hit advanced search and de-select all forms of transport except ship and hit search again.
For ideas on what to do around Lucerne look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ce ntralswitzerland/activ ities
and for details on what to do around Switzerland, in general, look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/wh eretogo
If you’d like to read more about the Golden Pass route look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass
Mid-April is a bit of an awkward time in Switzerland (ski season just ended and hiking season doesn’t start until mid June). You may find smaller villages to be fairly quiet but depending on what you want to do April can still be a fine time for travel. http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit
Do you have any special likes or dislikes?
Slowpoke.
I’ve ordered the book 1960man recommended & look forward to its arrival. I have the lonely planet book for Switzerland but haven’t found it to user friendly with details specific to not having a car. With the links provided by Lucas & the recomended reading I anticipate this giving me more confidence in HOW we travel. We’ve decided to add a little more time to Switzerland. Day 1 will be quite long of 11hrs on a plane & then 6hrs on a train with jet lag so I’ve booked us 2 nights in the city of Lucerne. My hope is we can explore the city on day 2 then with a bit more leisure. On day 3 we’ll head to Gersau where we’ll be based for day 4,5 and head via train to Munich day 6. We have no definitive like or dislike & tend to enjoy exploring senic & local culture when we’re out of the US. We’re not adventure seekers so the typical things of skiing, hang gliding etc don’t appeal to is. We’re much more likely to be found taking a senic route, wandering on foot through town or enjoying music & food.
more advice is very welcome and appreciated! We’re getting so excited to take this trip & don’t want to miss a great opportunity.
Hi hestesh –
In this note you’ll find that I adopt the German spelling for Luzern, since that is what you’ll see in the area.
I don’t use the German name for the lake – der Vierwaldstättersee – because it is cumbersome.
<<“I have the lonely planet book for Switzerland but haven’t found it to user friendly with details specific to not having a car. “>
Switzerland by Public Transport, by Anthony Lambert. 6th Edition, October 2017.
ISBN: 978 1 78477 046 45.
Lucas mentioned the timetable –
http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
It is a critical resource for travel by public transport.
That page has some necessary explanatory material, and the leads you to the actual SBB (Swiss Rail) website.
The direct link to the website, useful after you have absorbed the tips and tricks, is:
The other important resource is a good map. There are several.
[Note – For your purposes, you probably don’t need a topographic map with altitudes, but if you are hiking, one can be useful. This is the most powerful and detailed:
For your use, Google maps is OK, but I find this one much clearer for public transport and use it routinely for trip planning.:
Zoom in to zoom level 32 ( in the URL for the page at the top), and click on the star in the small menu.
That gives you “Points of Interest.”
Click on “Traffic,” and turn off all but trains, trams/buses and mountain transport.. (Boats are included under buses/trams Weird.).
You’ll see the train stations, and at zoom level 32 and higher, the train lines pop up. Useful for understanding how things are connected.
Mouse over an icon for a station, and the exact official name appears. That is useful for bus, boat, city transport stops when you want to use the exact bus stop ( etc.) in the timetable.
Right click on an icon, and a near term abbreviated timetable appears.
I have focused it on Lake Lucerne:
map.search.ch/?pos=686879,205040&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,zug
There are two bus stops and a ship landing in Gersau, so you can see which one is closest to the place you are renting.
You can enter the address of your place in the search function of the map.
April can be quite rainy, but there are always exceptions.
Follow the links here:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland
and, more specifically:
http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit
The western shore of Lake Lucerne, particularly at Weggis (not far from Gersau) will get whatever late afternoon sun there is and tends to be a bit warmer than the rest of the area.
However, for day trips from the rail hub at Luzern, it is a bit remote, requiring more than an hour to get to Luzern by public transport. On the other hand, a beautiful place to stay is also a special experience. That travel time is by boat or bus. There is a bnoat to Luzern. There is a bus along the shoreline from Brunnen (train) to Küssnacht am Rigi ( train) passing through Gersau.
Lake boats run all year, and many stop at Gersau on the way to/from Luzern but their schedule has modestly reduced frequency until April 19th, when the Spring schedule adds some trips, and then May 25th, when the Summer schedule is adopted:
http://www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ timetable-fares/timetable/
Scroll down for the proper dates.
That web page includes this map:
It is upside down, with Luzern at the bottom, but that makes sense (sort of) in that Luzern is the main hub.
The boat takes 1 hour 33 minutes to get to Luzern. So, if you want to head out to the rest of Switzerland, that adds a 3 hour round trip to your day.
By bus and train… with a few more connections, not just to Luzern, but also to the North and East from Küssnacht am Rigi, it takes roughly an hour and 10 to an hour and 30 minutes, with timing not much different via bus to Brunnen. Thus, an added 2 1/2 to 3 hours per day added to any trip. Less if you go from Küssnacht to – say – Zürich or points north and east.
As noted in the link about when to travel, Spring barely begins in April, except at some of the warmer locations. And, as hinted in those comments, the weather is very dependent on altitude.
If you want a snowy high Alpine experience in April, Titlis, with reach of Luzern is a possibility:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/naturalsites
Scroll down to Titlis. Snow all year round, but, snow quality for skiing is diminishing, as Lucas noted.
Mid April weather:
The panoramic image attached may give you some idea about weather in mid-April. It was taken in the farm country (the Emmental) north and west of Luzern, looking a bit to the east of due south, at an altitude of about 800 meters, on April 17, 2014 at half past noon. In that year in April there was a very rare 10 day period of warm dry sunny days throughout central Switzerland. You can see that the trees are blossoming- a bit early but have not put out leaves, and the grass at the lowest levels is just startung to green up. There is a lot of snow left on the Alps. The farmers are just plowing their fields. That kind of weather is more usual at about the first of May. It is a bit warmer in Gersau at roughly 400 meters elevation on a sunny slope., but, you will not simply stay in Gersau.
Some feeling for the nature of the southernmost part of Lake Lucerne is given by this link. It is about a hike, but there are plenty of pictures of the derUrnersee ( Lake Uri, the southernmost part of the lake)
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne
You might enjoy Hammetschwand, but I don’t think that it opens until May…..
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-hammetschwand-lift
The route to Hammetschwand has been updated
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/getting-to-hammetschwand-lift
http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/buergenstock-hammetschwand-lift.html
Slowpoke
I am so grateful for the time you all take to give such detailed advise. This definitely helps give a sense of security to managing a trip to a previously unknown location. The links are so helpful in understanding and the pictures are magnificent & make me even more excited for our arrival. I’m getting closer to feeling confident that we’re “scheduling” to get the most possible without being overwhelmed & taking into account travel time. Day 1; arrive at Frankfurt airport and take a train to Luzern with expected arrival about 1900 (7pm). Staying the night in Luzern at a hotel. Day 2; take a train to Montreux. I’m thinking of skipping the Golden Pass specifically to focus more on the exploring that the train ride itself. We’d like visit the Queen Studio Experience, Freddie Mercury statue, & Chillon Castle and, if possible, the Broc Chocolate factory & Gruyeres cheese factory. In a list that seems like WAY too much but do you think this is doable for a full day trip or should we cut out the outlying towns? We will return to Luzern city for another night in a hotel. Day 3; explore the city of Luzern only before taking the boat over to Gersau to our rental house. The owner has emailed me that there is a bus stop just in from of the home so that should be helpful if the weather is finicky. Day 4; Boat day. We plan to travel around the lake and stop off at Brunnen for Swiss the small army knife museum and (weather permitting) take a small hike in Engelberg-Ober Truebsee, walk the town of Olten or any other recommendations for stops along the boat route. This is our actual anniversary and our host has graciously agreed to cook us a meal to celebrate so we plan to make this a shorter day of exploring. Day 5 is still open for a day trip. Maybe to Giessbach Falls, Bern or Basel? Advice welcome. Day 6; travel out of Switzerland to Munich via train. I assume the best route for this is to get to Zurich via bus/train and then I’ll find something direct from there. I greatly appreciate you all taking the time to give feedback. I’m sure we’ll be making the most our of our Swiss travel pass!
<<“take a small hike in Engelberg-Ober Truebsee, walk the town of Olten or
any other recommendations for stops along the boat route. “>>
Those are no where near the lake.
Have you looked at the map that I linked for you? (Mapsearch.ch)
<<“Day 6; travel out of Switzerland to Munich via train. I
assume the best route for this is to get to Zurich via bus/train and
then I’ll find something direct from there.”>>
Have you used the timetable that I linked for you?
It will find the fastest route for you, and it may not go through Zürich, but I expect it will.
Slowpoke
Ok. I’m glad I asked for advice because I thought through the Luzern link is where I read descriptions for the short hike & small town! I’ll have to circle back to that portion for sure. i hasn’t used the timetable yet for leaving for exact plans, just a generalization on that portion for now. I anticipate that being a fairly easy plan.
What you are proposing for day 2 is impossible. Montreux is quite a way from Luzern and not really a good day trip option.
The Lake Geneva area and the Lake Luzern area are two quite separate holiday regions.
I think you would find it much more relaxing for a celebratory trip to just stick to the Lake Luzern area. You’ll run out of time before you know it!
You can visit Luzern from Gersau
Switzerland by Public Transport, by Anthony Lambert. 6th Edition, October 2017.
ISBN: 978 1 78477 046 45.
It looks like you are recommending the book I already recommended and that Hestesh has already ordered…
For Gersau – Munchen I recommend:
Gersau, Schiffstation 11:10 Bus 2 to Küssnacht am Rigi, Bahnhof
Küssnacht am Rigi 11:58 E 2575 Schnellzug (express train – Voralpen Express) to St. Gallen(CH)
St. Gallen(CH) arr 13:56 platform (track in US English) 4St. Gallen(CH) dep 14:07 platform 3 EC 195 Eurocity Richtung: München Hbf
<<“It looks like you are recommending the book I already recommended and that Hestesh has already ordered…”>>
You are probably correct. The titles are different, but they may be the same book. I’ve used earlier versions thoroughly.
No matter which, it is a very useful guide.
Slowpoke
<<“What you are proposing for day 2 is impossible.”>>
Of course. Heshtesh is still not working the timetable.
Her loss.
Slowpoke
Thank you again 1960man. Your details are helpful. Maybe I’m using the timetable incorrectly as I thought the excursion to Montreux we were planning was about 5hrs via golden pass or about 3hrs alternatively (since this was planned during our time in a Luzern, before going to Gersau) which is a normal travel time for where are located at home. I was unsure on the amount of desired time at a destination and if off branches were worth the effort. We will take more time to investigate others experiences to make the most of our time. Thank you again.
If you are comfortable having 6 to 8 hours on the train to get to and from Montreux from Lucerne then you can certainly make it a day trip. I think most people would avoid those kind of travel times on a holiday.
If you get an early start you could be in Montreux in the late morning (via the Golden Pass) and then return after or around dinner time back to Lucerne (on the quicker train connections).
The SBB timetable always gives you the most direct options (so use what it gives you when you want to return on the fastest route).
Thank you for the clarification. That’s helpful for me to confirm possible travel time. The time to/from is easily definable but how much time to devote to exploring is so unknown. We’ve basically created 2 choices each day since things can always alter based on weather, jet lag, or just a desire for more time then anticipated in a particular location. All of your expertise & knowledge is greatly appreciated.
Yes, whether a long trip like that is worth it (or practical) depends on how much time you want or need in Montreux.
Indeed. I said it was impossible because hestesh originally stated was the day trip would include both ways on the trains and to “visit the Queen Studio Experience, Freddie Mercury statue, & Chillon Castle and, if possible, the Broc Chocolate factory & Gruyeres cheese factory.”
I was not saying that just the train ride was impossible – in fact it’s quite a acceptable day round trip, but only if you are wanting to just ride and watch the scenery, which was also stated as not what Hestesh wanted to do.
Exactly. 🙂
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