Itinerary help – 7 days in April in Switzerland

Hi Siva,

You itinerary looks like a good one! Good idea for the backup days for weather issues.
I’m not sure if you are visiting too many mountains (everyone is different). I think two mountain visits are pretty normal for most tourists. Jungfraujoch and at least one other usually. Schilthorn is close by and will be free on the Swiss Travel Pass for 2018.

If you were to add days to your vacation there are a lot of options. Many people would probably stay in the Lauterbrunnen area longer as there is so much to do and see in the Jungfrau region.

Another option would be to visit Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. If you are not interested in more mountains I might look at Montreux on Lake Geneva. You can continue the Golden Pass panoramic route from Interlaken to Montreux.

Hard to say about toboggan options for you – they are weather dependent so it will depend what it is like when you are there. Jungfraujoch and Mt. Titlis do offer these activities.

The Gornergrat (you can’t actually visit the Matterhorn itself) mountain is a little lower in altitude than Jungfraujoch and offers good views of the Matterhorn. All mountains are over 3000 meters so you should be careful with an infant (any time over 2000 meters).

Gstaad is a ski resort town (somewhat similar to Zermatt) but I haven’t been there for longer than 5 minutes! You can access the Glacier 3000 (https://www.glacier300 0.ch/en) though which looks quite nice!

It is quite awkward to try the Glacier Express route from Lauterbrunnen but possible. You could travel to Brig or Andermatt to board the train to Chur. From Chur it is a fair distance back to Lauterbrunnen but it could work well if you are then heading to Zurich to fly home. Another option would be to go to Zermatt for a night or two and then the full Glacier Express route to Chur and then back to Zurich for your flight.

Use the timetable here to plan the trips and make sure you can connect on a Glacier Express train (they only run once or twice a day).

Hi Siva,

My mother and I are planning for a week in Lucerne/Bernese Oberland, and the itinerary is strikingly similar to yours. We will however go in June 2018 as the weather will be warmer and cogwheel rails will run. We plan to stay 3 nights in Lucerne and 4 nights in BO. Have you thought of staying in Murren / Wengen instead of Lauterbrunnen? The views are better from up the car-free villages, I heard.

Our itinerary is not final yet though. We might cut short a night in BO and move over to Vevey, and fly out from Geneva the next day. That way we can experience the Interlaken-Montreux Golden Pass line as well as Lake Geneva. However this could be too many places in a week, so we might drop Vevey and stick to the original itinerary.

In Lucerne, have you considered the Mt. Rigi round trip?

Planning a trip is so much fun! Happy planning!

Ritu

We are finding the Murren hotels very expensive. We may have to look in Lauterbrunnen. It has campsites too. Let me know if you come across any budget accommodation in Murren / Wengen.

Pl. read the reviews of Pilatus in TripAdvisor, esp. the 1&2-star ones. People have complained about sudden clouds that come without warning blocking the view, and the apparently not-so-professional behaviour of the cogwheel railway authorities.

We plan to do Rigi and Schilthorn, for sure. Some experts say the experience in Pilatus / Titlis fades when compared to Schilthorn/ Jungfraujoch.

Have you checked the Swiss Pass offers? They are giving 2 extra days in the 8-day pass, and 1 extra day in the 4-day pass. May be worth planning your trip around such offers.

Best wishes,

Ritu

Hi Arno,

I did not check every hotel as there was no option to get prices on a single page. I will check.

Can I get a room for 2 persons for under 100 Francs in Murren/Wengen?

Ritu