6 Days trip to Lucerne, Interlaken and Zurich

Hello all,

I will be travelling to Switzerland next week from India with my husband and my 3 years old daughter. We are planning to stay 2 days Lucerne, 3 days Interlaken and last one day Zurich. We have made all the hotel bookings and also booked Swiss 8 days Rail pass.

This is our first trip internationally, so little bit confused , so I need help to set my itinerary and need suggestion to modify it.

Day 1:- We arrive Zurich in the morning at 8'o clock and from there train to Lucerne reach there around 10'0 clock. After freshen up we are planning to explore Mount Rigi. In the evening Chapel Bridge, Lion Monument, Old Town, Lake Lucerne. (Please suggest which train is suitable from Zurich to Lucerne and advance reservation is required).

Day 2:- Mount Titles - stay till afternoon. In the evening , visit Bern is good idea? Please suggest or any other place to visit.

Please also suggest good place for shopping in Lecerne and Bern (not so costly).

Day 3:-Transfer Lucerne to Interlaken via Golden pass line (pls suggest advance booking is required). After reaching want to visit nearby place like Harder Kulum, Schillthorn and Trummelbach falls, Lake Thun. What the charges for cruise on Brienz lake. As we also need to experience for the cruise.

Day 4:- Need suggestion (whethere we do Day trip to Zermatt, Lausanne, Chateau de Chillon etc.)

Day 5:- Jungfrau region, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald and village in between.

Please also suggest good place for shopping (not so costly).

Day 6:- Transfer to Zurich. Rhine Falls, Lake Zürich, Rapperswill, Rose Gardens etc.

Please also suggest good place for shopping (not so costly).

Day 7:- Depart from Zurich.

We don't want to see so much Mountain as Titles, Rigi and Jungfrau is enough because for my daughter need to go different place.

Thanks

PayalS

Hello PayalS, thanks for joining MySwissAlps!

Good to hear you've made your hotel bookings and arranged for an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass. As for your itinerary: I'll be providing some links that will help you find the information you're looking for.

• day 1: the timetable allows you to find all trains between Zurich and Lucerne, plus all other trips within Switzerland: www.myswissalps.com/ti metable. Seat reservations are not required: www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/reservations. Note that evening boat cruises on Lake Lucerne aren't as common as day cruises, and that a surcharge on top of your Swiss Travel Pass coverage may be required: www.myswissalps.com/bo atlakelucerne.
• day 2: I'd say Bern is quite far off: www.myswissalps.com/be rn. Spending another day in the Lucerne area, maybe doing the things you weren't able to do on day 1, makes more sense: www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne, www.myswissalps.com/la kelucerne.
• day 3: no, booking seats isn't necessary: www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/tickets. Both Lake Thun and Lake Brienz will be fully covered by your Swiss Travel Pass, so no additional fares have to be paid. Please study the validity overview and download the map from www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity to find out what's covered by your Swiss Travel Pass.
• day 4/day 5: there are lots of options, too many to randomly advise. It's up to you to decide what appeals to you most. The destinations you've mentioned are all quite far off from Interlaken: www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt, www.myswissalps.com/la usanne, www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux . The timetable mentioned before will help you find traveling times and decide what amount of time spent on trains is acceptable to you and your travel party. If you want to avoid long journeys, note that an additional day in the Bernese Oberland is a great alternative: www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland.
• day 6: please refer to www.myswissalps.com/zu rich for (shopping) ideas.

Hi PayalS-

You're trying to go to a large number of places, and, as a consequence, are less likely to enjoy any of them.

Anika has given good advice...cut back on the number of distant places that you want to travel to.

The timetable- already linked - plus a map:

map.search.ch

will help you simplify your itineray.

By the way, all those places....they are all nice. ;-)

Slowpoke

Hello ,

Thanks for the reply Annika and Slowpoke.

My Current Itinerary:-

Day 1 and 2:-Lucerne:- Mount Rigi, Mt. Titles, Chapel Bridge, Lion Monument, Old Town, Lake Lucerne.

Day 3 to 5:- Interlaken:- Harder Kulum, Schillthorn and Trummelbach falls, Lake Thun, Jungfrau region, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald. Will its possible Bern from Interlaken.

Day 6:- Zurich:- Rhine falls, Lake.

If there are any more places which I am going to miss out then please advice, as we are open to change our current Itinerary.

Regards,

PayalS

Hi PayalS,

I think your revised itinerary looks realistic. You'll now be focusing on nearby locations and cutting down on traveling times. That will allow you to enjoy more of the fantastic (outdoor) scenery. Of course you won't be able to visit all famous Swiss sites, but you simply can't do them all in a short holiday. You did list a couple of trips that are considered to be true highlights, so don't worry.

Yes, Bern is definitely possible as a day trip from Bern. Did you check the timetable I mentioned before? If you really like city visits it's a good option. But if mountains appeal to you more, I'd just focus on the immediate Jungfrau region if I were you and keep Bern on your list as an alternative for a bad weather day.