MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 8 Day Swiss trip in June – Need help
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Hi
I am Gauri and I am planning to travel to Switzerland for 8 day in June 2017. Thank you for sharing information on the thread. It has been very useful for me and has answered a lot of my queries. However, this is my first trip to Switzerland and I am a little nervous to plan it all by myself. And hence have some more questions.
We are planning to take a 8 day Swiss Pass to make travel easier. I am including my draft itinerary below and will follow it up with questions:
June 10: Reach Zurich from Paris by TGV Lyria at night and move to Lucerne
Jun 11 (Day 1): Plan a trip to Mt. Rigi or Mt. Pilatus + remaining time exploring Lucerne city (night in Lucerne)
Jun 12 (Day 2): Travel to Mt. Titlis and explore city in remaining time (night in Lucerne)
Jun 13 (Day 3): Travel to Lauterbrunnen via Interlaken and go to Schilthorn and explore Murren, Grimmelwald in the remaining time (night in Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen)
Jun 14 (Day 4): Travel to Jungfraujoch (take an early morning train) and explore the Jungrfrau region (night in Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen) (Have kept this trip flexible for Day 3, 4 & 5 depending on the weather)
Jun 15 (Day 5): Interlaken + Cruise on Lake Thun + ?? (night in Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen)
Jun 16 (Day 6): Travel to Montreux – Visit Chillon Castle + Spend time in Lausanne/Montreux (Night in Montreux/Lausanne)
Jun 17 (Day 7): Travel to Zermatt and go up to see Matterhorn from Gornergrat (night in Zermatt)
Jun 18 (Day 8): Take Glacier Express to Chur and reach by 13:35 and head to Zurich (night in Zurich)
Jun 19: Take a flight back to India
My queries are:
1. I have read that it is not advisable to do Mt. Rigi and Mt. Pilatus in one day. If I have to choose one which one should I visit?
2. I am not sure about what should be doing on Day 5. Would you suggest going to Gruyeres or exploring vineyards close by? Alternatively, spending an extra day at the end of the trip in Zurich exploring the city? Very confused about this.
3. Golden Pass Train is one of the scenic routes I have read a lot about. Since I would have already taken a train from Lucerne to Interlaken, does it make sense to do the Interlaken to Montreux leg on Golden Pass?
4. Is one day good to explore the Chillon Castle and spend sometime in Montreux/Lausanne? Or should I spend greater time here?
5. As you see I am changing base a lot – Lucerne (2 nights), Lauterbrunnen (3 nights), Montreux (1 night), Zermatt (1 night), Zurich (1 night). I fear that checking in and checking out will take a lot of time. Any suggestions on reducing the change in base?
6. I know Switzerland is about mountains but I am doing a lot of peaks – Pilatus/Rigi + Titlis + Jungfrujoch + Matterhorn. Should I be including Schilthorn or use the day in Montreux/Zurich region instead?
I know too many questions but I am really confused. Look forward to your suggestions. Thanks in advance.
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Hi Gauri, thanks for joining MySwissAlps!
Let’s look into your questions:
1. That depends on personal preferences. You’d best compare our Pilatus and Rigi pages and find out for yourself. A combination of both in one day indeed is a lot, but it can be done if you leave early and don’t mind a long travel day. Both are fully covered by your Swiss Travel Pass.
2. A cruise on Lake Thun can well be combined with a visit to Niederhorn, the Beatus caves and/ or Niesen. Alternatively you can make a cruise on Lake Brienz and visit Brienzer Rothorn or the Ballenberg Open Air museum.
3. Yes, that does make sense. The entire Golden Pass route is very scenic. Please see myswissalps.com/golden pass for more information.
4. In one day you can explore the castle and Montreux. I wouldn’t add Lausanne too if I were you, that might get hectic. Of course the region has much more to offer, but you simply can’t see and do it all!
5. Yes, there’s an alternative. You could extend your stay in Interlaken / Lauterbrunnen and make day trips to Zermatt, Montreux and even part of the Glacier Express from there. Those will be long days, but in all it might be more relaxed than changing base towns that often. And you’ll be more flexible in your planning, adjusting to bad weather days if necessary. The timetable will assist you in planning your trips and finding out whether you’re fine with the traveling times that are involved.
6. I wouldn’t worry about visiting too many mountain tops. They’re all different and all scenic in their own way. So adding the Schilthorn is no problem. Do mind to make some back-up plans in case weather is too bad to get up in the mountains.
I hope this gets you started!
Hi Gauri –
Let me compliment you on a well-organized trip-plan, and good questions.
Annika has answered most.
I’ll add a bit about #3.
<<“3. Golden Pass Train is one of the scenic routes I have read a lot about. Since I would have already taken a train from Lucerne to Interlaken, does it make sense to do the Interlaken to Montreux leg on Golden Pass?”>>
The whole journey is scenic. For many (myself included) the best part is the descent from approx. Montbovon to Montreux, through the vineyards, with thelake views.
Slowpoke
Hi Gauri,
You’ve put together a very good itinerary and I wouldn’t suggest any changes.
The only comment I would add is you can make changing bases a bit easier if you send your luggage ahead to the next town so you don’t have to struggle with your suitcases on the train. I use this service a lot and it takes a lot of the stress out of travelling. Have a look at the SBB site.
http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/lugg age-and-flight-luggage/luggage.html
Enjoy your trip!
Alan
Hi Annikaa, Slowpoke, Alan Price
Thank you so much for your response. We will definitely take the Golden Pass Train 😀 🙂 Since we are not going to any of the major cities like Geneva, Basel etc we thought we would add a day in Zurich to get a feel of Swiss cities. Also, we are making Lucerne, Interlaken and Zurich as bases now and will do day trip from there to all the place.
I love chocolate. However, I am not too keen on taking the chocolate train and spend the entire dat. Would you suggest tasting/tour at any other location?
Hi Gauri,
You can take a quicker local train to the Maison Cailler chocolate factory from Lucerne (instead of taking the chocolate train) to make the trip faster and cheaper.
There is also the Swiss Chocolate Adventure that is part of the Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
Lucas
Hi Gauri –
You can go to the Cailler factory on your own and join one of the frequent tours. The train station is Broc-Fabrique
https://cailler.ch/en/maison-cailler/la-chocolaterie-suisse/
It is hard to avoid chocolate in Switzerland. Every region has its favorite producer.
One of the very best brands is Lindt & Sprüngli, more common in the German-speaking regions, especially in Zürich..
Go to their store in the lower level of the Zürich main station, in “Shopville” or their store on Paradeplatz if you are on the Bahnhofstrasse.
In Luzern, look for Läderach on Weggis strasse in the old town. They are on the Bahnhofstrasse in Züri, too. I’ve been less happy with Bachmann in Luzern.
It is common to buy some chocolates as you leave the country. In the past few years, the Lindt/Sprüngli store at the airport in the departure building with many other stores after you have passed through security, possibly in order to meet a lower price point, has offered mostly “dumbed-down” packages. Lots of air and not much chocolate in the box. So, I now buy my “take-home” chocolates at the store in the main station on the evening before I fly out.
I particularly like the “truffes” – truffles – which come in packages or can be bought by the piece.
They are not cheap!
Slowpoke
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