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Hi all,
Thanks for the information and insights here, incredibly helpful. I could use some guidance for our first trip to Switzerland. We are a family of 3, traveling from the US and planning to be in Switzerland from July 26 through Aug 3, departing early AM on Aug 4. As a family, we love hiking, but with a 6 year old son, prefer short bursts and moderate/easier hikes. Would also like to do things that a kid would enjoy – trains, chocolate/cheese making, landscapes, etc.
Here’s what we’ve been thinking about our trip, and some questions. Appreciate feedback and guidance:
Day 1 (July 26 – Luzern) – land in Zurich ~11am. Train to Luzern, arrive by mid-to-late afternoon. Spend the afternoon/evening around the city. 3 nights in Luzern
Day 2 (July 27 – Luzern) – Day trip to Bern
Day 3 (July 28 – Luzern) – Rotating gondola all the way up Mt. Titlis.
Day 4 (July 29 – Luzern/Grindewald) – Hiking at Mt. Pilatis / Mt. Rigi. Evening train to Grindewald. 5:06pm train, arrives 7:38pm. 2 nights in Grindewald
Day 5 (July 30 – Grindewald) – Cable cars from the middle of Grindelwald. Trottibikes at Bort, the mountain carts at Schreckfeld, and maybe Zipline at First
Day 6 (July 31 – Grindewald/Montreux) – Top Of Europe/Jungfrau, ice palace. Evening train to Montreux. Leaves 5:19pm, arrives 8:14pm. 3 nights in Montreux
Day 7 (Aug 1 – Montreux) – Sight seeing – Chateau de Chillion, Charlie Chaplin Museum, etc.
Day 8 (Aug 2 – Montreux) – Chocolate train. More sight seeing
Day 9 (Aug 3 – Montreux/Geneva) – Train to Rochers De Naya. Afternoon train to Geneva – leaves 4:20pm, arrives 5:30pm
Day 10 (Aug 4) – Early morning flight back to the US ~7am
In addition to any feedback on the itinerary, would appreciate some help on a few specific questions :
1) I realize that lugging baggage to 4 different locations/hotels is going to be tough (although Geneva is just a layover for the flight). Do you think I can cover some of the areas the Jungfrau area while being based in Luzern/Montreux?Sounds more challenging, but would appreciate some guidance
2) We intend to purchase the Swiss Train Pass for 8 days, but may need to figure out a pass option for the 9th day.On the 9th day (aug 3), I was planning on just paying for the tickets from Montreux to Geneva. Any suggestions on other passes to save on that day?
3) This is subjective – but do you suggest I reduce my time in Montreux and consider a day in Zermatt or add another day in Grindewald? Again, realize it’s based on personal preference, but I feel like we may be missing out on the natural beauty of the mountains.
Thanks a lot!!!
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1) it depends how bulky your luggage is. We had one stroller luggage and 1 backpack per person. We could easily move around since our accommodation was not far from train station
2) you may consider saver day pass for day 9
3) I think your itinerary is doable. If you have swiss pass you have a lot of flexibility. Look at time table and decide. We did a day visit to zermatt from Interlaken. It was a long travel day
Hi
Your itinerary is doable . For the luggage, if your hotels are not too far off from the station, it is manageable. Almost all the train stations ( i do not know about Grindelwald) that you would be using are not that huge as Zurich which makes it very difficult for changes.
some more suggestions from my end
Since you mention cheese making / chocolate making, the factories at Gruyeres and Broc offer you a knowledge experience and you wont get to experience “making” on your own so you may want to set your expectations accordingly .Same for chocolate factory too.
Since you are going to Bern, you may consider the cheese factory there which offers you the making experience. please visit emmentaler-schaukaeserei.ch/en/ for more information. They are quick to respond to any email queries too.
Since you mention Chocolate train on your itinerary, I wanted to let you know that you can do the visit to Gruyers and Broc on your own without getting tied up with these package tours and save some bucks. Maybe you are aware of that already
I would agree with you on reducing a day in Montreux. I personally didn’t like it as much as my stay at other bases. Instead of adding a day in Zermatt, you could add a day in Jungfrau region and do a day trip . Do check the travel times though. In case the weather isnt best for mountains, there are other options to do in that region.
Lastly, travelling from Grindelwald to Montreux gives you the opportunity to take the beautiful golden pass route but i m not sure if you will be able to enjoy the scenic beauty when you travel in the evening. Requesting experts to give their opinion here. If not, maybe you should consider moving the base at day time
Thanks
Hi Shroffchetan and Rohan, thank you, very helpful.
Good suggestion on the chocolate train, and cheese making in Bern. Will look into the cost and doing the trip to Gruyers and Broc on our own from Montreux.
Like your suggestion on extending maybe 1 day in Grindelwald, that was my sense thinking about Montreux as a base as well. Perhaps we could check out from Grindelwald on Aug 1 (as compared with July 31), do a half-day trip someplace around the area and take an early afternoon ride to Montreux so the Golden Pass ride is during daytime (maybe ~3pm train)?
1) Any suggestions for other half-day’ish trip from Grindelwald on Aug 1?
2) Weather wise, I am assuming it is going to be mostly warm at the end of July.Was thinking of packing light jackets or sweatshirts given our trip to the ice palace.Should we pack anything warmer for hiking up the mountains?
Hi PuneetB!
First of all, an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass certainly makes sense: myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/price. If you have a hotel in Montreux, you can use the Montreux Riviera Card for some local traveling: see the link under “More on other websites” at myswissalps.com/montre ux/hotels. It will also cover part of your trip up to Rochers-de-Naye on day 9 (myswissalps.com/rocher sdenaye), and part of the trip to Geneva. In addition you’d need 50% discounted tickets between Haut-de-Caux and Rochers-de-Naye, plus full-fare tickets Vevey-Geneva for day 9.
As for your other questions:
1. There are lots op options for a half day trip from Grindelwald. I’d suggest Männlichen (although you’ll temporarily have to get there by a bus, as the cable cars are being replaced), Kleine Scheidegg or Pfingstegg for nice views. I agree that it’s better to enjoy the Golden Pass route by daylight. The sun will set somewhere between 20h30 and 21h00 in early August.
2. Yes, it can be warm and even unpleasantly hot. But weather is very unpredictable, and you’ll want to dress warmly if you visit Jungfraujoch or other high mountain peaks. If you’ll be hiking, make sure to pack an extra layer and a (thin) water proof top coat.
Thanks, Annika, very helpul and much appreciated!! Will look into getting the Montreux Riviera card.
Changing hotels landed up being too complicated and expensive, so we decided to keep the extra day in Montrux. Thinking of making a day trip to Zermatt on one of the days there. Updated itinerary below and some additional questions:
Day 1 (July 26 – Luzern) – land in Zurich ~11am. Train to Luzern, arrive by mid-to-late afternoon. Spend the afternoon/evening around the city. 3 nights in Luzern
Day 2 (July 27 – Luzern) – Day trip to Bern
Day 3 (July 28 – Luzern) – Rotating gondola all the way up Mt. Titlis.
Day 4 (July 29 – Luzern/Grindelwald) – Hiking at Mt. Pilatis / Mt. Rigi. Evening train to Grindelwald. 5:06pm train, arrives 7:38pm. 2 nights in Grindelwald
Day 5 (July 30 – Grindewald) – Cable cars from the middle of Grindelwald. Trottibikes at Bort, the mountain carts at Schreckfeld, and maybe Zipline at First
Day 6 (July 31 – Grindelwald/Montreux) – Top Of Europe/Jungfrau, ice palace. Evening train to Montreux. Leaves 5:19pm, arrives 8:14pm, golden pass route. Earlier afternoon train to be evaluated. 3 nights in Montreux.
Day 7 (Aug 1 – Montreux) – Morning to Gruyers and Broc. Eening sight seeing – Chateau de Chillion, Charlie Chaplin Museum, etc.
Day 8 (Aug 2 – Montreux) – Day trip to Zermatt. Mt. Matterhorn. ~7am train to Zermatt, back on ~6pm train
Day 9 (Aug 3 – Montreux/Geneva) – Train to Rochers De Naya. Afternoon train to Geneva – leaves 4:20pm, arrives 5:30pm. Lake Geneva boat cruise, or sight seeing around Geneva in the evening
Day 10 (Aug 4 – Geneva) – Early morning flight back to the US ~7am
1. Should we consider keeping any cash for the trip, or do credit cards work most places?
2. Are there any stops on our journey that we need to book in advance? We’ll have the 8-day Swiss Travel Pass, but not sure if we need to hold our spot anywhere given the busy holiday period. Can’t think of any but any insight would be appreciated
3. Day trip to Zermatt is going to be long. Any guidance on what we might do there to optimize our time? Thinking we’d hike up Mt. Matterhorn. Anything else people might suggest?
Thank you all!!!
Hi PuneetB,
Your new itinerary looks ambitious but reasonable on most days. Note that you can enter Chateau de Chillon until 6pm, and it closes at 7pm. The Charlie Chaplin museum will also close around that time, I guess. So your plans for day 7 might need some adjustments. As for your further questions:
1. Yes, it’s recommended to carry some cash. Please refer to myswissalps.com/swissf ranc.
2. No, there are no journeys in your schedule for which reservations are required. You can consider seat reservations for Jungfraujoch (myswissalps.com/jungfr aujoch/tickets) and the Golden Pass leg between Zweisimmen and Montreux though (myswissalps.com/golden pass/tickets), as you will be traveling in tourist high season.
3. You can’t hike up the Matterhorn. It’s a steep and challenging mountain, accessible for trained climbers only. You will see the mountain from many places in and near Zermatt though, for example during this relaxed hike: myswissalps.com/hiking /zermatt. Enjoying the views up at Gornergrat would be great as well: myswissalps.com/gorner grat.
Great advise, Annika! Thank you for the info.
Do you know if the Männlichen cars will be running by mid September?
Hello maniimjach,
The opening of the new GGM cable car is currently planned for December 2019.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch/gettingther e
– http://www.maennlichen.ch/en/ winter/information/tim etable.html
– v-bahn.jungfrau.ch/en/Best,
StephHi all,
A couple more questions as we prepare to leave for our trip:
1. Instead of taking a long day-trip from Montreux to Zermatt (Gornergrat), should we instead consider a trip to Glacier 3000? Any guidance based on your experiences? Pictures look way too cool! Also is a trip there covered by the Swiss Travel Pass?
2. Where can one buy the Montreux Riviera card? I can read about it online but wasn’t able to purchase it. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hi Puneet,
1. Sure, that’s possible. You can get to the base station for free and buy cable car tickets at a 50% discount. Please see the validity map: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity.
2. You can’t buy it. You will get it for free upon arrival if you book a hotel in the area: http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux/hotels.
Thanks, Arno! Good to hear on the Montreux Riviera card.
While subjective, I understand,do you think a day-trip to Glacier 3000 is better for us from Montreux as compared with Zermatt / Gornergrat? Just curious what people’s recommendations based on personal experiences are as we will have to decide between the two.
Appreciate any input!
Hi PuneetB!
Well, those are hard to compare since they’re very different. If you’re looking for the “iconic” Matterhorn views, then I think Gornergrat would be better. It gets you closer to highest mountain peaks than Glacier3000, which offers more of a roundabout view on mountain rangers farther away. To make things even more complicated: how about Rochers-de-Naye which actually starts from Montreux? That would reduce your traveling time to a minimum, allowing you to plan other activities near Montreux as well. You’ll find details at http://www.myswissalps.com/ro chersdenaye.
Thanks, Annika. We’re definitely planning on Rochers-de-Naye but have an extra day at Montreux so were deciding between Gornergrat or Glacier3000. Decisions, decisions…..:-)
Right, I understand. Good luck with such tough choices :-).
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