MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 8 days, Zurich, Geneva in June, suggest base
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Hi all,
I am planning an 8-day trip to Switzerland. I’ve been researching a lot on this site and other travel itineraries, but there is so much to choose from! I could use some help with finalizing an itinerary or getting at least some advice on locations to visit or activities.
- Traveling in June for 1 week
- Landing in Zurich then flying out of Geneva
- It’s just me and my wife
- We’d like to mostly focus on scenic activities and visiting nature sites
- Would prefer commuting by train to save the hassle of driving
- Very open to train and boat tours
- Not interesting in intense hiking, but very open to adventures like Frakigaudi, Grindewald walking or paragliding
- Would like to visit old towns along the way, but no more than 1-2 days
- No preference for place to stay, but definitely less base towns if possible.
- We do not drink so not much interest in drinking/ night life culture
I was thinking of using Lucerne or Interlaken as a base town (or even both?), but I could use your guys help, based on my interests and facts above.
Thanks,
Moosa
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You basically have two chioices:
1) visit all the ‘famous’ places – as per just about every visitor this site (the ‘usual suspects’ being Luzern area, Jungfrau area and Zermatt)
2) visit some other parts of Switzerland and miss some of the tourist crowds
If you want leisurely hiking, consider walking in lower altitude Switzerland, the Jura mountains or the Appenzell region. I spent a week in a rented house near Appenzell a few years ago and we could walk form the house across lovely meadows, lower hills and some higher mountains, plus visiting the Appenzell brewery. The Appenzell region has one of the best ‘tourist visitor cards’ (ie those issued if you spend a long enough stay in one piece of accommodation. This would give you a wide variety of leisure activities free or discounted.
Hi Moosa,
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for joining MySwissAlps.
Based on your plans and interests, both Lucerne and Interlaken make ideal base for your trip. My personal suggestion would be to head straight to Lucerne from Zurich on the first day and spend a few nights here. In Lucerne, you can explore the city and go on lake cruises and plan mountain excursions to Rigi, Pilatus or Titlis and take the Voralpen Express to St Gallen. You can find additional activities in and around Lucerne here: http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne/activities
Your next base Interlaken also has lots to offer: http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/activities. You can plan excursions to the mountains in the Jungfrau region and plan boat trips on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. You can also plan day trips to Bern, Montreux and Zermatt.
For more ideas, have a look at these sample itineraries: http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/sampleitineraries
Be sure to check out the information about railpasses here: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses
Hope this gets you started.
Regards,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Yes very helpful. I think we’ll be doing basically this! 3 days Lucerne, 3 days in Interlaken, then the last night just head over to Geneva and keep it simple and relaxing so we could fly out easily the next morning.
Generally, is each mountain excursion a day activity in itself? e.g. In Lucerne, wouldMt Rigi require one full day? Or do people group together a couple within a day? It’d be nice to see a few, but I also don’t want to burn us out.
Thanks,
Moosa
Hi Moosa,
A mountain excursion can be a full or a half-day trip depending on your plans. If you’re planning a r ound trip to Rigi (train to Arth Goldau- cogwheel train – boat from Vitznau to Lucerne), you might need more than half a day for this. Check out the things you can do at Rigi. If you plan to do more than 1 activities, then you might need the whole day.
It’s fairly common to combine 1 – 2 mountains/ destinations in 1 day. If you have a railpass such as the Swiss Travel Pass, it actually makes sense to see and travel to as many places as you can. It’s a personal choice though so it’s entirely up to you.
Regards,
Anna
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