8 days in Switzerland itinerary help

Hi Bob and welcome to MySwissAlps!

You have made the right choice I think in taking trains everywhere – everything in Switzerland is accessible by train or bus, but not by car.

As for rail passes, a Swiss Travel Pass would work for you very well. Your son qualifies for a discounted “youth” Swiss Travel Pass as well.

You can read about all the major attractions that are covered (or partially covered) by the Swiss Travel Pass here – and there is also a handy map as well.

As for your itinerary: If you mountains, hiking and smaller Swiss villages I would give Zurich a pass and go straight to Luzern (local German spelling for your first 2 nights). Have a look here for attractions to see around Luzern.

Interlaken is a nice town as it has very good rail access – from here you can visit Grindelwald, Thun and other Swiss towns like Lauterbrunnen and Murren. Interlaken itself isn’t the prettiest town and I often mention to people you may like to stay in one of the smaller villages instead. Have a look at the links for the towns above what to do there and where to stay.

I hope that helps start your planning, let us know if you have further questions!

Lucas

Hi Bob, I am not an expert, just a fellow traveler that will be there about the same time as you. I think the train from Interlaken to Bern is only an hour (timetable here). I would add that night to the stay in Interlaken (or the mountain village of your choice) and do a day trip. That way you don’t have to waste 1/2 a day checking out/in and dragging your bags. You can do the day trip on a day when the weather doesn’t cooperate in the mountains. With the travel pass, you can just make it up on the fly based on how you feel. I think Lausanne is more like 2 hours, so maybe too far for a day trip. Though, you could take the golden pass train to Montreux in the morning, maybe take a boat to Lausanne and explore for the rest of the day and then take a night train home. Just throwing out ideas. Have fun!