6 days in Switzerland from 13-19 April

Hi, My husband and I will be attending an expo at Milan in 2 weeks time. We have decided to extend our trip to Switzerland for 6 days. We have just purchased train ticket to Zurich as our first stop. I have a few questions :

1) We understand its in between seasons during our visit. Can you recommend activities and places/regions to visit during this time.

2) We would like to visit old towns, do a couple of easy to moderate hikes, visit Jungfraujoch, Gornegrat, museums.. and basically, we like outdoor activities and nature.. and we are unsure of the weather especially the highlands.. Nevertheless, we are open to suggestions.

3) What passes should we get?

4) We will need to return to Milan on our final day. Where do you think we should end our Switzerland trip?

sorry as our plan seems very skeleton and we only have apprx 2 weeks to plan.. thanks

Hi Jessietyp -

Welcome to My Swiss Alps-

Here is a partial answer:

Include Luzern in your plans.

It is 45 minutes by train from Zürich. In fact, you could have gotten tickets to Luzern....the main line from Italy branches at Arth-Goldau, and trains go on either to Zürich or to Luzern and on to Basel.

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

You can do most of what you mention in or near Luzern, and the altitude is low enough that snow is unlikely to be much of a problem in April.

This will help with planning-

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

If it were in July-October, I would have suggested going directly to Wengen...or nearby.

Slowpoke

Hi Slowpoke, Thanks for your prompt feedback.

Do you think its possible for me to get off at Luzern instead of Zurich with my ticket? I bought it with Trenitalia.

Are you saying its good to keep Luzern as base?

I had Wengen in mind too. Is it fine to visit in Mid April?

Thanks again for your kind assistance..

Hi Jessietyp,

You can't travel to Luzern with a ticket to Zurich. You can get off the train in Arth-Goldau and buy a ticket to Luzern from there. Can you still cancel that ticket? There is no need to go through Zurich at all, and I normally would have recommended an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass for the plans you've listed. That pass also includes the ride from the border to Luzern, or anywhere else in Switzerland. You'd best first finalize your itinerary, and then pick passes/tickets based on that.

Luzern, Wengen and Zermatt are good base towns for your plans, although 3 bases is a bit much for 6 days. Wengen in April is not ideal but for just 2 nights it's fine, and perfect for a trip to Jungfraujoch. Staying in Luzern only is perfectly fine as there's plenty to do, but Gornergrat is too far away, and Jungfraujoch would be a very long day trip.

Hi Arno,

Thanks for your feedback. We are staying one night at Zurich and visit the old town and if possible the Rhine fall. Thereafter, we may take your advice for Luzern and Zermatt.

Thanks again Arno.