9 day itinerary Aug 2016. Suggestions please.

Hi

Me and my adult son are visiting switzerland in Aug 2016. Itinerary is as under. Please give suggestions so that we dont miss great things. We are interested only and only in nature and adventure...no museums or monuments at all.

Have booked hotels as under

Reaching lucerne from salzburg around 4.30 pm on 1st Aug.

• 2 nights in lucerne
• 4 nights interlaken
• 2 st. moritz
• 1 zurich airport hotel

As of now planned the following. Plz add

Day 1 (5.30 pm onwards) Lucerne boat trip n chapel bridge

Day 2 Mt. titlis and around engelberg

Read about rowing a boat around Trubsee, horse carriage, trotti bike from gershenialp to engelberg etc in this forum. Can you please indicate tentative cost of all this ?

Also can hike around the lake

Day 3 Reach Interlaken by 10 am. Early check in or luggage at hotel. Around interlaken, enjoying Lake breinz or thun (pl help select) boat ride and arre gorge....please suggest what else can be done on this day

Day 4 Jungfraouch n trummelbach falls.,weather permitting....can do some easy hiking

Day 5 Skydiving,weather permitting....please suggest activities for evening once back from diving. Also not able to find aeroplane skydiving options. More are helicopter tandem diving

Day 6 Glacier 3000 if alpine coaster is on, weather permitting or if a better suggestion

Day 7 Go to zermatt, put luggage on station n visit matterhorn. Then leave for st. moritz through normal train. Night at st moritz

Day 8 St. moritz to tirano bernina express. Tirano to poschiavo. A couple of hours there n back to st. moritz

Day 9 St. moritz to zurich. Early check in or leave luggage in hotel by paying n visit rhinefalls. Back in zurich. Local sightseeing till late (specific suggestions?)

Day 10 depart for our homeland India

Hi Hetal...

sounds like a good trip and very busy.

I have not cross-checked your plans against the timetable:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

But you definitely should. I think some are overly ambitious.

Days that concern me:

Day 1- may be too late to fit in a boat trip

Day 2...sounds like a lot. Hike around which lake?

Day 3- How will you reach Interlaken by 1000?

Days 3,4,5 - well planned to allow avoiding cloudy weather on the Jungfraujoch.

Here are some thoughts:

www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion

Day 6 - no comment.

Day 7 - Long day. Little time to appreciate the places that you visit.

Day 8 - Do-able. A rather long day

Day 9 -skip the Rhine falls.. Zürich is nice,but not a major tourist attraction, as is Luzern. Not much sightseeing.

Consider a day 9 in Luzern and train to Züruch airport on AM 10th, depending on your schedule.

Slowpoke

Thanks a lot slowpoke for a prompt detailed reply

This is the greatness of this website and the members of forum, one gets so much clarity

Day 1- may be too late to fit in a boat trip

boat trips dont operate in evenings ? i was under impression that it gets dark quite late so had planned that way. Any other reason why you think it wont be possible ?

Day 2...sounds like a lot. Hike around which lake?

I agree, was considering a short hike around Trubsee but can drop certain thngs depending upon how we go during the day. Can somebody please suggest, what all can be done and the tentative costs of rowing a boat around Trubsee, horse carriage, trotti bike from gershenialp to engelberg

Day 3- How will you reach Interlaken by 1000?

By 7.55 hrs train. Would our swiss pass be valid on regional trains.

Day 7 - Long day. Little time to appreciate the places that you visit.

I agree. Can skip Zermatt and go straight to St.Moritz and enjoy the nature there. Suggestions from other members please. Also, should we do zermatt instead of gstaad on day 6 ?

Day 9 -skip the Rhine falls.. Zürich is nice,but not a major tourist attraction, as is Luzern. Not much sightseeing. Consider a day 9 in Luzern and train to Züruch airport on AM 10th, depending on your schedule.

Any specifc reason to skip the rhine falls? flight is at 11.20 so staying at zurich gives peace of mind. If we leave st. moritz at around 8 and reach zurich, rhinefalls would not be possible? we have the full day with us. At most, zurich sightseeing can be skipped

Thanks again for your valuable inputs. Would be thankful if someone can suggest some less popular nice things during our 4 day stay at interlaken. Within the broad framework of number of days, the planning can be changed as per suggestions.

As I said earlier, We are not in for any kind of shopping or other sightseeing ...just want to relish nature and its colours

Members please suggest other nice excursions or trips or short hikes

Hi Hetal-

I've got a busy day, so I'll only answer #1 right now.

Check this schedule:

www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ timetable-fares/timetable/

The Swiss Pass is for residents.

The Swiss Travel Pass works on essentially all transport in Switzerland. Privately owned excursion railways, such as for the Jungfrau, offer a discount to holders.

Please check out the information under cities and regions -

www.myswissalps.com/wh eretogo

More later.

Slowpoke

Thanks. Pl take your own time. I have enough time to leave for tour.

One querry about timetable. Its not clear which stations to select for various sightseeing places....for example when I give rigi, i get so many options. I searched on net and found that rigi kulm to be selected....but this becomes a long way....any ready reckoner for all major sightseeing places ?

Hi Hetal,

Station names are often mentioned on our attraction pages, here for example: www.myswissalps.com/ rigi/gettingthere. You can also have a look on the map: myswissalps.com/ mapswitzerland.

Hi Hetal -

<<"Its not clear which stations to select for various sightseeing places....for example when I give rigi, i get so many options. I searched on net and found that rigi kulm to be selected....but this becomes a long way....any ready reckoner for all major sightseeing places ?">>

Arno pointed you to the best answer that I know of.

Often, in the timetable, there will be a simple or single word station name at the top of the list. It should be the first thing to try.

For mountain tops you will often see the word "Kulm."

I thought it was a German word, but it is not in my German dictionary, so it must be a special Swiss usage.

It is clearly related to the English word "culmination"

from Google translate -

<<"Culmination -

the highest or climactic point of something, especially as attained after a long time.

the product was the culmination of 13 years of research

synonyms: climax, pinnacle, peak, high point, highest point, height, high-water mark, top, summit, '>>

Slowpoke

Thanks a lot slowpoke and Arno.

kulm tip is valuable

Getting there link is not very clear for the purpose. It doesnt give station names.

Also, if boat trip is not possible in the evening on lake lucerne as slowpoke suggests, can u plz give alternatives....besides chapel bridge visit, which we will definitely do.

Hi Hetal,

Quote from the getting there page: "The train stop at the top is called 'Rigi Kulm'." Did you expect more details? When it comes to towns, the station is almost always called exactly like the town, so if you see other names those are mostly bus stops.

There are a limited number of boat trips in the evenings too. Just check the timetable Slowpoke gave you. For other things to do you can check the Lucerne page "What to do" section.

Thx Arno. But what station names do I enter to know about the lake trip? We want to do about 2 hrs trip if possible ....not the dinner cruise.....could be about one hour going n one hour return journey.

I have studied the things to do in detail but since its for after 5.30pm period, not getting a clear idea.

H Hetal -

Continuing my comments -

<<"Day 7 - Long day. Little time to appreciate the places that you visit.

I agree. Can skip Zermatt and go straight to St.Moritz and enjoy the nature there. Suggestions from other members please. Also, should we do zermatt instead of gstaad on day 6 ?">>

I'm not sure what you mean here. Zermatt is not close to Gstaad or les Diablerets.

Days 6 and 7 -

Either Zermatt or St. Moritz have beautiful mountain scenery. Zermatt has spectacular mountains.

St. Moritz has more variety , because of the chain of lakes extending to the Italian border.

Checking the timetable, I see that St. Moritz takes about twice as long (5 or 6 hours to reach from Interlaken in comparison to Zermatt. ( Although there is a special route to Zermatt from Interlaken via Kandersteg that adds about an hour and has wonderful scenery.)

<<"Any specific reason to skip the rhine falls? flight is at 11.20 so staying at zurich gives peace of mind. If we leave st. moritz at around 8 and reach zurich, rhinefalls would not be possible? we have the full day with us. At most, zurich sightseeing can be skipped">>

It wil take you 3 or 3 1/2 hours to get from St. Moritz to Zürich.

That would certainly allow time to visit the Rhinefalls. My too brief comment was based on the very personal judgement that the Rhine Falls, though powerful and impressive, are not terribly high. There are many dramatic water falls around the world. On the other hand, there is only one Luzern or one St. Moritz, and they are quite distinctly Swiss.

Everyone has their own preferences, and I and my wife have visited the Rhine Falls once and have never gone back.

We have spent days in St. Moritz and weeks in and near Luzern and the lake. I think that either one deserves as much time as you can find to spend at them.

Luzern -

I've attached a few pictures showing the environment of Luzern and the surroundings. There are plenty of pictures of the town itself all over the internet, and here:

www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/lucerne.html

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

This link, although focused on a hike at the southern end of Lake Lucern, also has quite a few pictures of the lake:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne

Zürich -

Zürich is a nice city. My favorite...but that is for reasons of culture and various places that are not really scenic tourist attractions. Some time in the old town is nice. I like to walk the old town on both sides of the river.

www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/fraumuenster-grossmuenster-walk-through-old-town-zuerich.html

The museums are quite nice, especially the Rietberg.

The Alps are distant.

Slowpoke

Hi Hetal,

Entering names is a quick option for people who are familiar in the area. You'd better download the PDF document for a complete overview. That will also show all the names you are interested in. Once you know them you can revert back to entering names if you prefer that.

In general, there isn't a whole lot to do in the evenings in Switzerland. Mostly people relax or go to dinner. In Lucerne you can stroll in the town center or do a boat trip. Some shops might be open in the early evening. I don't know of other options. All the "action" is during day time.

Hi Hetal-

<<"Thx Arno. But what station names do I enter to know about the lake trip? We want to do about 2 hrs trip if possible ....not the dinner cruise.....could be about one hour going n one hour return journey.

I have studied the things to do in detail but since its for after 5.30pm period, not getting a clear idea. ">>

Spend some time with the link I gave you.

Here is a further link from that website..near the end of the main page:

It shows the viw looking to the south:

www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ map-lake-lucerne/

Boats from Luzern leave from the boat landing near the main station. It is about 100 meters away from the railhead.

This page from the boat timetable shows all the trips.

www.lakelucerne.ch/fil eadmin/lakelucerne/con tent/Dokumente_Downloa ds_PDF/01_Fahrplan-Preise/01_Fahrplan/Sai sonaler_Fahrplan/2016/ Fahrplan_Sommer_2016_N EU_Tellsplatte.pdf

In the SBB timetable, the boat top is called "Luzern Bahhofquai".

I forced the choices to boats only- no trains, no busses - (under "advanced search") and selected a day in August after 1730.

The attached screen grab shows how the trips are listed in the SBB time table.

From the Vierwaldstättersee Lake Boat time table, you can see that there are very few trips after 1730.

You could leave for Vitznau at 1812, arrive at 1909. Return at 1949, arrive Luzern Bahnhofquai at 2047.

Or, outbound, you could go all the way to Beckenried at 1926, catch the return at 1932...probably the same noat...and still come back by 2047.

There is a buffet on board with hot and cold snacks. I can tell because of the little wine glass symbol under the boat picture, as well as the detailed key to symbols that shows if you scroll down.

A good way to get detailed information while you are in Luzern is to stop at the tourist information office by track #1 in the main station. They can answer your question about a late bot ride in detail.

if your schedule is too rushed, you will have trouble stopping for that kind of information. If you do stop and ask, your plans will go much more smoothly.

Slowpoke

Thx Arno.

The link to rigi.ch given at the end of the timetable page in this website is very useful.

Will go upto Vitznau in boat and return

What a detailed reply slowpoke....extremely helpful....thx a ton....learnt abt advance search now...a great support.

Thx a ton slowpoke n Arno

You're welcome. The timetable has a lot of good stuff buried in it.

You can take that same boat ride when you go up to the Rigi. For your evening excursion, I'd ride all the way to Beckenried. You cannot do much in Vitznau with a 40 minute layover. If you take the evening boat ride, i might suggest using a different route up to the Rigi Kulm. For me, the one from Arth Goldau is not as scenic but is very well connected to frequent trains. The route via Weggis and the cable car is better coming down, due to the need for a short walk at the bottom. There is a 10-15 minute walk between the Weggis Schiffstation and the bottom station (Talstation...Tal is "Valley") of the cable car. It is a bit of a climb, so I'd prefer to go downhill; take the cableway (die Luftseilbahn) from Rigi Kaltbad to Weggis and walk down the rest of the way.

Slowpoke

Hi everyone

A small question....I have a second class swiss travel pass....for boatrides can I get upgraded to upper deck by paying some extra charge ?where do I need to get ot done ? Any idea of cost?

You can buy an upgrade on board or on the dock if there's a ticket office. The price depends on the route.

Thx Arnika.

One more help. I have a swiss travel pass. Not able to decide whether to buy 3day jungfraouch pass or just a return ticket. Comparative costs sre not clear

Hi Hetal,

If it's only about the trip to Jungfraujoch you don't need another pass. The Swiss Travel Pass includes part of the ride for free and the other part is discounted by 25% (see here). Just buying a discounted ticket will be fine.