8 day Swiss itinerary Lucerne Grindelwald Zermatt

Day 1 - Land in Zurich early morning and take the train to Lucerne where we stay for 3 nights. Trip to Mt Rigi

Day 2 - Trip to Mt Titlis .*Glacier garden *old chapel bridge - is all this doable in a day ?

Day 3 - Trip to Stanserhorn and then the emmental cheese factory

Day 4 - Transport museum in the morning and then train to Bern to visit Gurten. post that train to grindelwald where we stay for 2 nights. planning to skip jungfrau.

Day 5 - Gelmer funicular Ride and explore interlaken post that before returning to grindelwald for the night

Day 6 - Leave our luggage at the interlaken station and head for the lake Thun boat ride and visit the oberhofen castle. pick up luggage and head to Zermatt for 2 nights. explore Zermatt a little.

Day 7 - klein matterhorn or gornegrat. confused. Explore Zermatt city

Day 8 - Head to Zurich. Visit the zoo (my daughter is 4 :) ). Explore zurich in the evening.

Day 9 - morning flight back to Mumbai, India.

Please let me know if there's something I must see or do which i've missed in my itinerary. Jungfrau I'm sure is beautiful, but have received mixed responses on it. a lot of people think its over hyped.

Hello Barkha!

I think your schedule looks fine. Some days are quite full, but doable over all, and I assume you checked traveling times and decided that they're acceptable to you. Do try to be flexible and change your plans if weather isn't favorable. This especially goes for your mountain top visits. Looking at your previous posts I assume you'll be using a Swiss Travel Pass (is that correct?), which is the perfect solution to be flexible and adapt your schedule if necessary.

Let's look into some specific quesions:

• yes, you can combine a visit to the Titlis with the Glacier Garden and some more sightseeing in the town of Lucerne. Do start early, and plan your visit to the Titlis at that time of the day with the best weather forecasts;
• Gurten near Bern is certainly nice. Mind that traveling from Lucerne to Interlaken via Bern means you'll miss out on an alternative and more scenic route: the Golden Pass connection via Brünig and Meiringen: www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass;
• the Gelmer funicular is spectacular, but requires quite some traveling time from Grindelwald. Alternatively, you could pick one of the many attractions in the Jungfrau region. Grindelwald is amidst a breathtaking mountain scenery and it would be a bit a pity not to explore that area. There's a whole lot more than just the Jungfraujoch. Consider viewing points like Männlichen, First and Kleine Scheidegg, the beautiful Lauterbrunnen valley and other tips listed at www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland/activiti es;
• as for day 7: what exactly are you confused about? Don't you know whether you should pick Gornergrat or Klein Matterhorn? You can best explore our pages at www.myswissalps.com/go rnergrat and www.myswissalps.com/kl einmatterhorn. If you're looking for the 'classic' view of the Matterhorn, Gornergrat would be the better option. The views from Klein Matterhorn provide a different angle;
• as for the Jungfraujoch: of course you will also have a great time if you leave out this trip. It's really a personal matter and there are no "musts". For many visitors it's a true highlight, due to the spectacular train ride right through the Eiger and the stunning views at the top - provided skies are clear, of course. You're literally in between the snow-capped Alps and that's a special experience. I can imagine it feels a bit overrated on very busy and hot summer days in July and August, or if clouds block the views. It's a a different and more relaxed experience outside of tourist high season. You may like this recent trip report, that also includes an opinion on the Jungfraujoch: Whistletop Interlaken with children travel report.

Hi Annika, thanks for your detailed response. so about Lucerne to interlaken on the panoramic route, I was wondering if I could leave my luggage at Lucerne station, do the gurten trip, come back to Lucerne and then take the train to Interlaken.

Also I'd like to know that is it ok to do Mt Rigi post lunch on day 1 because we will not be able to settle into our apartment and leave before 2pm at least.

Hi Barkha,

Sure, it's no problem to store your luggage at Lucerne and come back there to head for Interlaken. It does add a lot of traveling time to your day though. Personally I'd just pick one of the options, rather than trying to do both. Traveling from Lucerne to Interlaken via Bern is fine too, and the last portion of the trip along Lake Thun is certainly scenic. The Golden Pass route is not a must, just an alternative I wanted to mention.

Yes, you can visit Rigi in the afternoon. A link to timetables can be found on our Rigi page: www.myswissalps.com/ri gi.

Mt. Gurten may be just the thing for your 4 year old. It is a "family/picnic" kind of place. I was last there a few years ago and did not find much that would draw an adult out of the way to make the trip. I did not try the restaurant and can offer no opinion.

www.bern.com/en/city-of-bern/attractions/gurte n

The playground beside the Lido and Transport Museum (Verkehrshaus) in Luzern is large and well equipped.

Slowpoke

Thanks Annika , slowpoke. And yes I primarily wanted to do gurten for my daughter. Thought she'd enjoy there with her grandparents who are also travelling with us. If I travel back to Lucerne to catch the golden pass rail I think I'll lose abt 1 hr 30 mins. However will keep that flexible and might not come back to Lucerne.