MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 9 days in Switzerland with kids in late November
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Hi,
I just started planning our first visit to Switzerland. My husband and I will bring our 2 and 5 year-old to visit Switzerland this November. I understand that November is not the best time to tour Switzerland and many tourist spots are closed. Still I am trying to make our stay fun and not too tiring for the kids since we travel from a country with 6 hour jet lag. Here is what I figured out so far. I would greatly appreciate any could help me fill the blanks or point out any unsuitable/closed tourist spots on my list.
My general idea is that we will base in Zurich for 5 days with some day trips to places around and stay in Lucerne for 3 days, but I am open to moving around to more cities during our stay.
Day 1: Take a boat to cruise Lake Zurich and city walk
Day 2: Old Town and Uetliberg Mountain
Day 3: Take a day trip to Rhine Falls
Day 4: Can anyone suggest some one day trips around or a 2 day trip nearby for my day 4 and day5?
Day 5:
Day 6: Travel to Lucerne and city walk
Day 7: a day trip to Jungfrau
Day 8: a day trip to Rigi or Pilatus (Since Rigi has lower altitude, will it be easier for kids?)
Day 9: back to Zurich
I know my plan sounds too preliminary and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thank you very much.
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Hi monaGMona and Welcome to the MySwissAlps Forum,
My first reaction would be why Zurich? I think you should consider Luzern (German spelling) as a base. There is much more to do and see in the Luzern area. See http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne/activities
The Swiss Museum of Transport in Luzern should appeal to your 5-year old. See http://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en
You should use the SBB Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) to plan your travels.
Zurich Airport to Luzern is just over 1 hour by train and some trains go direct (no change required).
Hi monaGmona,
If you are looking for more outdoor / mountain experiences I would not bother with Zurich. However, if you are looking for more shopping, museums, galleries etc then that is your town. 🙂
For outdoor experiences I would divide yourself between Lucerne and a town in the Jungfrau region like Interlaken (not as pretty but good rail connections) or more alpine towns like Lauterbrunnen or Wengen.
Another thought, if you want, is Zermatt with the Matterhorn for 2 or 3 nights.
I would try and limit yourself to 2 bases if possible – but 3 is ok for a 9 day stay as well.
As for train travel – I would look at the 8 day Swiss Travel Pass for you and your husband and the free add-on Swiss Family Card to cover your 5 year old. Your 2 year old needs no ticket or pass.
Thanks, rockoyster!
Thanks for pointing it out that I planned too many days in Zurich. I will shift more days into Luzern or maybe add one more city.
The reason I chose Zurich was that I saw a lot of guided day tours departing from Zurich and thought maybe I could take advantage of convenience and join some tours from there. But I will look more into Luzern and explore some options from there too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated too.
Thanks, Lucas!
I do want to enjoy the unique mountain experience in Switzerland. Thanks for suggesting other cities. I will definitely explore more.
I was originally looking at some older posts and under the impression that tourist spots in many small towns would be closed in November. That’s why I initially chose to base in Luzern and Zurich. Would Interlaken be closed in November? Zermatt looks fun too. Will it be a scenic train ride from Zurich or Luzern? By the way, maybe I should ask this in the train forum, are there rules regarding keeping kids quiet on the train? Thanks!
No, the towns you are looking at will be operating pretty much as normal.
Small towns in Switzerland are Wengen or Grindelwald or Mürren as examples (all towns of less than 2500 people – mürren is about 500).
Just be sure to check out the timetables for some mountains as the gondolas etc may be closed for maintenance. Mt. Titlis, near Luzern, for example is closed (well you can’t get all the way to the top anyway from Nov. 6-17).
Thanks again for the reply!
As I am searching more for my 3rd base (the first 2 would be Zurich and Luzern) in Switzerland. I am down to 2 cities, Zermatt and Montreux.
I know Zermatt is great for its mountain view, but I also heard it is very weather dependent. Since I will be traveling in November, will Montreux be a more reliable choice? Will 2 days in either places be enough?
Thanks!
Not sure if this trip report will help your decision making – http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/10-day-trip-report
Thanks! I will use it as a reference.
All towns are fairly weather dependent 🙂
I have been to Montreux in the winter and it was not exciting to be honest. It was grey and rainy – which can be fairly typical everywhere in Switzerland in November.
I’d rather take a chance in Zermatt and head into the mountains where at higher altitudes you could be above the clouds and hopefully get some sun.
Thank you, Lucas for the information. I am in serious debating time now.
Yes, sorry to make things harder! If the sun comes out Montreux is a lovely town anytime of year!
Lucas, thanks a lot for all the input. It is the off-season timing that makes me so indecisive.
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