5 Nights Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux in July

Removed user
Participant

72625 posts
16 May 2018 at 3:21:06 #816000

Hi My wife and I will be visiting for our first time this July. Below is a basic frame work of our itinerary however we are looking for suggestions on activities or places to visit in each of the cities we plan to stay in.
- July 14th Arrive into Zurich – Tour the city and, spend the night in Zurich.
- July 15th travel from Zurich to Lucerne (Leave 8:00 am Arrive 9:30 am). Once we arrive into Lucerne which of the following activities do you recommend?
1. Boat trip of Lake Lucerne? How long does the boat ride take? Can it be combined with another activity on the same day?
2. Titlus can this be done on the same day that we arrive into Lucerne, or should we wait to go on July 15th?
3. Gotthard Panorama Express – can we take the entire trip from Lucerne and Lugano and return to Lucerne all in one day? Do you recommend we stay a day in Lugano?
4. If we are unable to do the Gotthard Panorama Express do you recommend that we do Pilatus or Rigi? Can either of these be combined with Boat trip of Lake Lucerne?
5. We are planning to stay both nights in Lucerne, but our accommodations are still pending.
- July 17th travel from Lucerne to Interlaken (Leave early morning), once we arrive in Interlaken can we go to Top of Jungfraujoch on the same day? We are planning to spend the night in Intelaken but our accommodations are still pending.
- July 18th travel from Interlaken to Geneva via Montreaux. What do you recommend we stop to see in Montreaux or on our way inbetween on the 2nd leg of the Golden Pass line?
- July 19th spend 1/2 day in Geneva and then fly out to Munich.
Any suggestions or changes to our plan are welcome.

Thanks

Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions.
Removed user
Participant

72625 posts
16 May 2018 at 4:30:42 #885359

Hi dparekh82 and welcome to MySwissAlps!
1. You can plan out trips by train, boats etc on the Swiss Railways timetable. For more details on the Lake Lucerne boat trip click here.
2. Yes, you probably can do that if you – check the timetable to see if the schedules/timing works for you.
3. Yes, if you start early in the day. You can take the Gotthard Panoramic Express train one-way and then a regional train on the same route back (or a a faster train through the tunnel if you want to get back even faster).
4. You can do the Golden Round trip to Pilatus that includes the boat or the classic or majestic round trips to Rigi with a boat.
5. Yes, you can go to Interlaken and on to Jungfraujoch if you wish – it would be a long day but not too bad.
6. You can get some suggestions for what to do in Montreux here.
Removed user
Participant

72625 posts
20 May 2018 at 15:51:47 #885360

Hi Lucas,

Thank you very much for the prompt response. Below is our finalized itinerary which has been slightly modified taking into consideration the pointers you had provided.
- July 14th Arrive into Zurich – Tour the city and, spend the night in Zurich.
- July 15th travel from Zurich to Lugano via Luzern on Gotthard Panorama Express – Tour the city in the evening, and spend the night in Lugano.
- July 16th Lugano to Luzern
1. After arrival in Luzern spend 1/2 of the day going to Mt. Titlis
2. Spend evening touring Luzern
3. Spend the night in Luzern
- July 17th Luzern to Interlaken
1. After arrival in Interlaken send 1/2 day going to Top of Jungfraujoch.
2. Spend evening in Interlaken
3. Spend the night in Interlaken
- July 18th Interlaken to Montreux
1. Boat tour of Lake Geneva
2. Tour Montreux
3. Spend the night in Montreux
- July 19th Montreux to Geneva in the morning
1. Tour Geneva for 3 hours
2. Fly out to Munich in the afternoon
I have a few follow up questions any assistance/guidance on these would be much appreciated.
1. Due to the possibility of cloudy/inclement weather do you think its best to wait to buy tickets to Mt. Titlis until the day of?
2. When going to Top of Jungfraujoch per this http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch/gettingther e it states we can go from Interlaken to Kleine Scheidegg. If we get a Swiss Travel Pass will the train be free all the way to Kleine Scheidegg, or only to Lauterbrunnen-Wengen or Grindelwald? I understand that from either Kleine Scheidegg, Lauterbrunnen-Wengen, or Grindelwald we will have to buy separate tickets to The Top of Jungfraujoch which we will receive 25% discount with our Swiss Travel Pass.
3. If we are planning to go to The Top of Jungfraujoch via Lauterbrunnen-Wengen route and return via Grindelwald route do we have to buy two separate one way tickets?
4. On our way back from Top of Jungfraujoch do you recommend spending a couple of hours touring the city of Grindelwald, or would you suggest we go straight to Interlaken and tour it instead? The reason I ask this is we only have time to tour one of these two cities that evening.
5. The Golden Pass trip from Interlaken to Montreux will we need to get seat reservations to ensure seats on the MOB Panoramic train, or should there be availability?
Please let me know on these and any other suggestions you may have.

Thanks

Deval
Arno
Moderator

15482 posts
21 May 2018 at 8:27:57 #885361

Hi Deval,
1. I’d at least wait buying tickets until the weather forecast is somewhat reliable, so max. 2 days in advance. Normally pre-purchased open date tickets would be fine, but as you only have one day, there is no way to move that trip to another day. I hope you’re lucky!
2. The Swiss Travel Pass includes free traveling until Wengen and Grindelwald (see http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity and the map on that page). The rest of the trip requires a discounted ticket. You can buy that on the spot, or beforehand at any staffed train station or online to save time.
3. No, one ticket for the whole route is ok.
4. Grindelwald is a village, not a city. There is not much to see, it is all about the wonderful surrounding region: http://www.myswissalps.com/gr indelwald. Taking the gondola from the village up to First would be a nice way to spend a few hours, if the weather is good. Interlaken is a small city and there is not much to see there either. It is a good place to hunt for souvenirs if that interests you, or take the funicular up to Harder Kulm to see the Jungfrau Region from a different perspective.
5. Please see http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/tickets.
Here’s a suggestion for Geneva: http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/geneva

The thread ‘5 Nights Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux in July’ is closed to new replies.