Feb 2, 2016 - 4:41 PM
Hi Ulyesses and mikesc60!
Mikesc60, thanks for your valuable input.
Ulysses: for your travel plans I'd indeed recommend to stay in several base towns, just as mikesc60 advises. Travel times are long in Switzerland, and making all your trips from just one base will result in extremely long travel days. So spending the nights in Lucerne, Interlaken and Montreux definitely makes sense. As for day 7: I'm not sure if you plan to visit Zermatt as a day trip from Montreux. It's quite long: 2h40 for a single journey. So if you don't mind spending the night in yet another hotel, I'd advise to spend the night of day 7 in Zermatt or nearby Brig. That allows for an easy journey towards Venice (via Domodossola) on day 8.
You've inquired about the option to travel towards Italy using the Glacier Express and Bernina Express. You won't be able to reach Venice this way within one day. You'd first travel by Glacier Express to Chur or St. Moritz, and then board a train over the Bernina Pass to Tirano. This can be either an official Bernina Express train or a regular train covering the same route. From Tirano to Venice, it's rougly an additional 6 hours. So you'll only manage this if you plan an extra overnight stay in Chur, St. Moritz, Tirano or a nearby town.
An alternative is to travel by Glacier Express, or a regular train on the same route, towards Andermatt/Göschenen and board a train towards Lugano/Bellinzona there. This too is a very scenic route. Assuming you start in Zermatt, the total trip Zermatt-Venice using this option would take about 10 hours.
You can check the timetable for details on each journey. Hotels close to the rail stations can be found at our Lucerne, Interlaken, Montreuxand Zermatt pages.
I recommend to look into rail passes to save money. An 8 day Swiss Travel Passwould be a very convenient option for your plans.
Last modified on Feb 2, 2016 - 4:43 PM by Annika