8 days in swiss first time with family

Hi folks,

Need help to work out best itinerary for 8 day trip in swiss as we are with family (2adults+2 kids), we want to base our selves at 3 places if possible.

Area of interest for us:

rhine falls

lucerne golden day trip for mount pilatus

bernese oberland for schilthorn & jungfarouch

zermatt

some interesting activites for kids

montreux

please suggest how we can do this with minimuma changes of places.

thanks in advance

seema

a

Without getting into the details, you should be able to fit those activities into your allotted time. Three bases makes sense, although they may not be needed. Might manage with two. Montreux may be a bit far afield. The forum moderators are experts in putting together that kind of itinerary, and I am sure that they will have good suggestions on how to fit your goals into 8 days.

Do yo want to do all your exploring by public transprt, or do you want to do any kind of walking on scenic trails or hiking? Are your children of an age where they can walk a few km.?

When are you traveling?

Thanks for reply!

we will arrive in zurich on 29th june & will be there till 6th july. Our kids are 13yrs & 5 yrs old. We want to explore some walking or biking but the safe one with kids just for fun.

Regarding public transport, we are planning to use train & will buy swiss family pass. We really want to see st moritz as well if possible.

Yes montreux is far so need suggestion if st moritz makes more sense? Our final destination will be geneva. From thr we will go by train to Paris.

Please advice.

thanks

Seema

St. Moritz was not on your original list. Any more;-)

Montreux is on the way to Geneva.

If you fit in the Berner Oberland, a beautiful walk which I did with an 8 yr old and which is popular with families is to walk from Männlichen, accessible above Wengen by gondola cable car, to Kleine Scheidegg, where you can catch a train back down.

www.myswissalps.com/hi king/maennlichen-kleinescheidegg

A very easy and safe walk is on the back road from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg, on the valley floor. Bus back to Lauterbrunnen.

Luzern is close to Zürich (45 minute train ride) and the Zürich airport (1 hour train ride more or less, passing through Zürich main station)) , and south of Zürich so you could leave your luggage at the airport, or, maybe better, Zürich main station, and pick it up after a trip to the north to see the Rheinfalls near Schaffhausen. Then continue to Luzern.

The airport is between Zürich and the Rheinfalls/Schaffhausen, but not all trains pass through the airport on the way from Schaffhausen to Zürich main station on the way .

I suggest that you look at a map and a timetable, as you consider possible routings.

map.geo.admin.ch/?X=190000.00&Y=660000.0 0&zoom=1&lang=en&topic =swisstopo&bgLayer=ch. swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe.

That map has tremendous detail if you zoom in.

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Hi

thanks a much for info.

Would love to explore easy walk with family as you suggested.

could you please advise after doing bernese oberland where we should go zermatt or st. Moritz / both can be done in 3 days time.

we are still confused. Please suggest.

thanks

Hi Seema,

You can do both, although that would not match with your initial wish to minimize changing places. You can take a train to St. Moritz, stay for one or two nights, then take the Glacier Express to Zermatt, and stay for one or two nights before going to Geneva. It's a lot of traveling. Just going to Zermatt, and finally to Geneva, makes more sense I think. Please see the links to find out what appeals to you most.