MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 7 days Lucerne, Zermatt, Montreux in winter
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Hi! Planning a short trip to Switzerland before heading down to Italy. I am a 20 year old travelling with my parents in their early 50s and this is our first trip to Switzerland.
We are hoping to get a taste of Switzerland in the winter. We really appreciate a good scenery, but we are non skiiers
Day 1: Lucerne
Day 2: Lucerne
Day 3: Lucerne/Zermatt
Day 4: Zermatt
Day 5: Zermatt/Montreux
Day 6: Montreux
Day 7: Montreux/Travel to italy
Lucerne:
Explore old town, chapel bridge
Trip to mount Rigi
Zermatt:
See the matterhorn (not sure if it is worth to go up the matterhorn as we don’t ski)
Explore old village (Saw some pictures of Zermatt in Winter and it was absolutely gorgeous)
Montreux:
Chateau de Chillon
Montreux christmas market
Gruyeres day trip (chocolate and cheese factory)
Vineyards
Explore Vevey old town
Some questions:
1. Itinerary
– Thoughts on choice of locations? Initially included interlaken/lauterbrunnen but saw some travellers stating that there’s nothing much to do/ low fog etc. Considered St. moritz via glacier express as well. Is st. moritz very special? Or worth a miss
– Let me know if there are any other locations worth the visit (parents are not very adventurous so long hours of hiking/adrenaline related activities out of the question, would like to see some different scenery as well, not just completely white with snow )
– Should we change to 1n only in zermatt? since we don’t ski
2. Accommodation (hopefully 100-120Chf/night)
– Would like some advice for budget options (parents do not want hostel/shared bathroom)
– I understand that Switzerland is an expensive location , and will be considering airbnb or cheapest hotels, but are there any nearby locations (with perhaps nice scenery) that can perhaps save some cost? yet not too inconvenient as well. Montreux seems to be filled with super expensive hotels too
3. Transport
– Was wondering which swiss pass card will be best for us? Was considering getting the Swiss half fare card
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Hi Socketplug and welcome to MySwissAlps.com!
When are you traveling? In December?
Lavaux Vineyards aren’t so beautiful during winter, but the Christmas market in Montreux is one of my favs. Vevey’s old town is relatively small. 🙂 But still, it is worth the visit but you cannot spend there much time. Gruyeres is so great too.
You can leave out the Jungfrau region if you want. But good to know, that fog during winter is a common thing, not just in the Jungfrau area. From Lucerne, you can also visit several mountain summits like Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis. You can read about these here: http://www.myswissalps.com/lakelucerne/activities.
St Moritz and the area are also nice: http://www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz/activities. Read about the route of the Glacier Express here: http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/gettingthere.
If you do not ski, you can still try snowshoeing.:) It is so peacefully but it needs a bit more effort than simple walking.
100-120Chf/night sound maybe a bit low for the winter season. In Switzerland, winter season is the high season because of the skiers.December is a bit cheaper tough than Jan-March.
For Zermatt, if you stay outside of Zermatt like in Tasch, that will be cheaper. Try here: http://www.myswissalps.com/mattervalley/hotels and http://www.myswissalps.com/mattervalley/rentals.
At http://www.myswissalps.com/hotels/budget you can find better priced accommodation. Most of them are hostels, but you can find hotels there too.
Instead of Montreux, you can stay in Lausanne too (they are close to each other, just 35 mins by train): http://www.myswissalps.com/lausanne/hotels and http://www.myswissalps.com/lausanne/rentals.
For your itinerary, I recommend the Swiss Travel Pass. Have a look at the validity map and list here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/validity.
As you are going to Italy, have a look at this one too: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/italy.
Finally a few practical tips regarding the winter:
- Weather: http://www.myswissalps.com/weather/winter
- Winter activities: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/winter and http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/winter/nonski
- Sample winter itinerary: http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/sampleitineraries/scenictrainswinter
I hope this helps,
Ildiko
Hi thank you so much! i will be travelling 5-11th december
Early December is not that ‘strong’ winter yet, but probably you’ll experience snow already on the mountains. The ski season starts usually in mid-December.
Make sure to check the operating times of the mountain transport before your holiday.
Make sure to check the sunset as days will be shorter, you should plan with that: https://www.myswissalps.com/time. I use this site: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@2659992
Ildiko
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