8 days family vacation to Switzerland in May

Hi! We're planning a family vacation to Switzerland this May. (The family includes me, my wife, 2 kids 5yrs n 9 yrs, as well as my mom). The tour-operator through which we have booked has given us a package that includes 7 night-8 days apartment stay either in Lucern or Interlaken, excursions to Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Matterhorn Glacier Paradise and Staserhorn, a jetboat ride on lake brienz, as well as and Swiss travel pass. Rest of it is a DIY trip.

Would it be better to stay at Lucern or at Interlaken? (Both the options are available with the tour-operator).

Also, what additional activities or sightseeings can we include in our planning?

We also wish to go on a trip on Golden Pass Line.

Can you pls suggest an iternary taking all of this into consideration?

Hope May is an apprpriate time to visit...

Hi Montee35-

What dates in May are you in Switzerland, at what city will you arrive, and from what city will you leave? Times of day for arrival and departure are helpful, too. For us to suggest an itinerary, it is helpful to know where you are starting and where you are finishing, and whether you might have some time on arrival or departure days to do something. ;-)

Also- any spcial interests...hiking? Cities? Countryside? Museums? Anything special for the kids? There are some very nice playgrounds in Switzerland, including a large one by the lake near the Transport Museum in Luzern, and others here and there. My 8 year old granddaughter loved the one at Männlichen near the Jungfrau. May still be snowed in in May. Altitude approx. 2300 meters.

www.maennlichen.ch/en/ families.html

At lower altitudes, May can be quite nice. Spring is well advanced.

www.myswissalps.com/we ather

May is a good time to visit, except in the high Alps. At higher altitudes near the Jungfrau, the snow is pretty well gone for skiers, the trails are either snowy, icy or muddy, and the summer season really doesn't start up until about June 15th. So, while some very nice things are available, especially at the lower altitude areas, a lot of cableways and hotels are shut down for between-seasons break. June would be better. However, it is till definitely worth some time to be in the Jungfrau region. That said, Luzern will probably be a better base. That is not definite, and Interlaken might fit the full set of travel routings better, but Luzern seems more likely.

The Golden Pass route includes a section running between Interlaken and Luzern, except that particular section of the Golden Pass route route seems to have been renamed as the Luzern - Interlaken Express.

With either base (Luzern or Interlaken) you'll have some long travel days if you choose do all the things you stated. (By the way, it is Stanserhorn not Staserhorn, not far from Luzern.)

For a trip of that length (about a week) many people find two bases to be helpful, to reduce the amount of time on trains. However, it is not necessary or critical. Luzern and Interlaken both are reasonably centrally located. You can see a lot in one week using either one as a base. And, you can't see all of Switzerland in one week,anyway. ;-)

Here are some links to help you out:

www.myswissalps.com/ge ttingstarted

www.myswissalps.com/tr avel

www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass

Very important -

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

and

map.search.ch/

If you use the forum search feature, you can look up Titlis, Jungfraujoch, Matterhorn, and, maybe Stanserhorn, as well as other places of interest. It works quite well.

Some time with those links will help answer your questions, and, surely, generate more questions. They might be enough for you to rough out an itinerary on your own, for the forum members to help you refine it.

Once you have an itinerary, then rail passes can be considered.

Slowpoke

Many thanks for such an elaborate reply!  :)

Our travel starts on 18th May from Mumbai. We will be landing in Zurich. The return would also be from Zurich. As of now, we haven't received the detailed travel itenary. I'll post the same once I receive it. (Which might take another 4-5 days; the tour operator through which we have booked will provide us the details only upon realization of the submitted booking amount cheque...) In the mean time, I'm attaching the rough tentative itenary received from the tour operator. (Please do see the attachment).

Amongst our interests include countryside, some snow games for kids like snow-tube etc, lake-cruise and Rhine falls. Amongst museums, I read that Transport museum is worth seeing. Cities, I think we can skip unless if there's something which you recommend not to be missed... Also, hiking we can consider if time permits. (But like you rightly pointed out, one week is too short a period to do too many things. :) )

Thank you once again for all your help! Shall get back soon. :)