[vasudevd]

19 February 2018 at 7:02:22 #814419

Hi,

I am new to this forum, but I read valuable suggestions of the members. We are planning to travel Switzerland from Paris by the third week of May 2018 with my family and friends (approx. 19 people). Following is my itinerary for Swiss tour :–

Day 1 (20/5/2018) Paris to Zurich by Train, Night at Zurich

Day 2 (21/5/2018) Zurich Sight-seeing (Lake Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse, Watch Museum, etc.), Night at Zurich

Day 3 (22/5/2018) Zurich to Lucerne by Train

Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge)

Golden Round Trip to Mt. Pilatus

Lucerne to Interlaken Ost by Train, Night at Interlaken

Day 4 (23/5/2018) Interlaken Ost to Bern by Train

Explore Altstadt von Bern

The Munster Kirche and other activities

Back to Interlaken, Night at Interlaken

Day 5 (24/5/2018) Trip to Jungfraujoch entire day

Back to Interlaken, Night at Interlaken

Day 6 (25/5/2018) Interlaken to Zermatt by train

Mountain train up to Matterhorn, Explore Matterhorn, Night at Zermatt

Day 7 (26/5/2018) Local Trip of Zermatt (Hinterdorfstrasse for chocolate and Swiss shops for souvenirs)

Zermatt to Montreux by train for a mini-day trip

Chateau de Chillon, promenade, Rochers-de-Naye

Montreux to Geneva by Train, Night at Geneva

Day 8 (27/5/2018) Local trip to Geneva (Vieille Ville. Parc Des Bastions, Jet d’Eau, Place de l’Ile,)

Night at Geneva

Day 9 (28/5/2018) Train from Geneva to Brig

Glacier Express Brig to St Moritz, Night Halt St Moritz

Day 10 (29/5/2018) Bernina Express Train from St. Moritz to Lugano

Lugano to Geneva, Night at Geneva

Day 11 (30/5/2018) Geneva to London

Following are my questions regarding the travel :–

Q1 I am interested in the mountain excursions, landscape and glacier (no skiing). Is my itinerary being good and doable for the above places?

Q2 Is the order of visiting the places Ok?

Q3 As per my itinerary, I am planning to travel Jungfraujoch on 24/5/2018. However, the post on Gondola/rail access to mountains (http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/gondolarail-access-to-mountains-in-aprilmay-2018), mentioned that “Gondola Grindelwald Grund-Männlichen – Operating until 2 April 2018; closed 3 Apr to 25 May 2018; reopens 26 May 2018”. This makes me rethink the travel to Jungfraujoch on 24/5/2018. I seek suggestions from this forum in this regard. How can I shuffle my travel plan to accommodate Jungfraujoch in my itinerary?

Q4 I want the comment on my travel on day 9-Glacier Express Brig to St Moritz and day 10 Bernina Express Train from St. Moritz to Lugano. Whether it is doable?

Q5 My understanding is that Swiss pass will allow me free travel through train, bus, tram and boat in Switzerland; But the Eurail pass will allow me the free travel on the train only not the bus, tram and the boat. Is my understanding correct or flawed?

Q6 I am traveling Switzerland for 9 days excluding arrival and departure date. Is there any chance I can squeeze my Itinerary by 8 days? If that is possible, I will purchase an 8-day swiss pass?

Q7 As I am visiting Mt Pilatus, Mt. Jungfraujoch and Mt. Matterhorn, so skipping Mt. Titlis this time. Is there anything else worth seeing that I missed in my itinerary?

Q8 Can you suggest the best mode of travel from Lugano to London?

Q9 Is there any site that provides me a discount in bulk ticket booking for a swiss pass and cableway?

Any suggestions/advise on this itinerary is welcome. Any other recommendations will also be highly appreciated!

Thank in advance.

Vasudev

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[Removed user]

19 February 2018 at 10:47:56 #876746

Hi vasudevd, and welcome to MySwissAlps,

Thank you for sharing your itinerary. Looks like a wonderful trip.

1. Yes it is.
2. I would change it slightly. Travel to Lucerne on 21/05 and spend the night there. Lucerne is much nicer and you don’t give yourselves much time to explore it. If you haven’t booked your accommodation in Interlaken yet, you could consider staying in Wengen, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen or Mürren. On 25/05 I would go from Interlaken to Montreux with the Golden Pass. Stay in Montreux and go to Zermatt on 26/05 and spend two nights there. Then on 28/05 you could continue your trip to St. Moritz (long day). From St. Moritz you could go to Lugano on 29/05. I would fly to London from Milan. You probably have noticed that I took Geneva out of your itinerary. It won’t be the highlight of your trip anyway and I personally believe you’re wasting a lot of time going there.
3. That would impact your visit to Jungfraujoch. Read here how to get to Jungfraujoch. One tip I would like to give you, is to check the weather before you’re planning to go up. It might be better to go on 23/05 because of weather conditions.
4. From Zermatt to St. Moritz is around 6h45. It is doable, but you need to ask yourselves if you want to be on the train for more than 6 hours. You could have a break of a couple of hours in Chur.
5. The Swiss Travel Pass covers much more. Look here for the validity of the Pass. To see what’s covered with the Eurail Pass, click here.
6. I would do the same. If you like you can read more here more about how to choose the best rail pass. If you fly back from Milan0, you simply buy a point-to-point ticket from Lugano.
7. It looks pretty good. You could have a look at attractions and other things to do in Switzerland.
8. Via Milano
9. I’m not aware of any websites giving discounts. You can purchase the passes here.

[vasudevd]

19 February 2018 at 18:17:29 #876747

Hi Chantal,

Thanks for your valuable advice. I will definitely follow your advice and change my itinerary accordingly. Yes, I have not yet booked my accommodation at Interlaken, so I will consider staying at Wengen, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen or Mürren.

Earlier I have planned to fly from Milan to London, but swiss pass tempted to go to Geneva. Your suggestion of purchasing a point-to-point ticket from Lugano is worth considering.

We will definitely check the weather before approaching Jungfraujoch.

Vasudev

[Removed user]

19 February 2018 at 20:44:43 #876748

Sounds like you’re getting there! If you have more questions, please let us know.

[vasudevd]

20 February 2018 at 17:26:00 #876749

Hi Chantal

Based on your feedback I have revised my itinerary. Please comment on this:

Day 1 (20/5/2018) Paris to Zurich by Train, Night at Zurich

Day 2 (21/5/2018) Zurich Sight-seeing (Lake Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse, Watch Museum, etc.),

Travel to Lucerne, Night at Lucerne

Day 3 (22/5/2018)

Explore Lucerne

Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge)

Golden Round Trip to Mt. Pilatus

Travel to either Wengen, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen or Mürren , Night at either of these stations depending on the availability of accommodation. Preferably Lauterbrunnen

Day 4 (23/5/2018) Travel from above place to Jungfraujoch

Explore Jungfraujoch, Night at Interlaken

Day 5 (24/5/2018) Jungfraujoch if not possible on previous day, Otherwise Explore Interlaken

Optional and if time permit {go to Bern by train Explore Altstadt von Bern, The Munster Kirche, etc.}

Interlaken to Montreux by Golden Pass (approx. travel time 3 hrs).

Chateau de Chillon, promenade, Rochers-de-Naye

Night at Montteux

Day 6 (25/5/2018) Montreux to Zermatt

Mountain train up to Matterhorn,

Explore Matterhorn, Night at Zermatt

Day 7 (26/5/2018) Local Trip of Zermatt (Hinterdorfstrasse for chocolate and Swiss shops for souvenirs) , night at Zermatt

Day 8 (27/5/2018) Glacier Express Section I Zermatt to Chur (Break at chur 2/3 hrs)

Section II Chur to St. Moritz Night Halt St Moritz

Day 9 (28/5/2018) Bernina Express Train from St. Moritz to Lugano

Lugano to Milan, Night at Milan

Day 10 (29/5/2018) Milan to London Fly

As suggested by you have made following changes:

1) Remove Geneva out of the itinerary.

2) Squeeze my Swiss travel itinerary to 8 days by making Bern travel as optional..

3) I have changed my travel of Glacier Express in two section. Section I Zermatt to Chur (Break at chur 2/3 hrs) , Section II Chur to St. Moritz Night Halt St Moritz.

4) Departure from Milan.

I have one question to ask. Do I have to make two reservation for Glacier Express one for each section? In that case, I will have to pay separate reservation charges?

Kindly give your suggestion and feedback on the revised itinerary. Also, give advise on reservation charges for Glacier Express.

Thanks once again for your prompt reply.

Vasudev

[Removed user]

20 February 2018 at 21:58:34 #876750

Hi Vasudev,

Day 4: if you stay in Lauterbrunnen on day 3, I would do the same on day 4.

Day 5: it’s a good idea to have two days planned for Jungfraujoch. There is not much to explore in Interlaken. I like Bern, so I would recommend you to go there. Alternatively you could also do a boat trip on Lake Thun and/or Lake Brienz. You won’t have time to do Rochers-de-Naye. Frankly speaking, it’s not a must see after Jungfraujoch and the Golden Express route.

Day 6: you can’t go up the Matterhorn. You probably mean Klein Matterhorn. We’ve more information here.

The rest of your trip looks fine.

The Glacier Express is denoted as GEX in the timetable. So not every train is a GEX and I don’t think you can break up that trip if you would like to travel on this particular train. You could book the GEX up to Chur. Get off in Chur and take a regional train (for which you don’t need reservations) to St. Moritz as this train is following the same track as the Glacier Express. Seat reservations for the Glacier Express can be done here. You could also decide not to get off. Chur has a charming old town, but it won’t be the highlight of your trip.

By the way, from Chur to St. Moritz you will also be traveling on the Bernina Express track. They overlap that part. Seat reservations for the Bernina Express can be done here, but you can take the regional train as well as I wrote before.

[vasudevd]

25 February 2018 at 15:57:42 #876751

Hi Chantal,

I appreciate your valuable suggestion. One more suggestion from you.

Is there any camping site available in above sites where I can book in accommodation in advance
OR

Use my tent after paying the rent of the designated camping site?

Thanks and Regards,

Vasudev

[Removed user]

25 February 2018 at 17:39:57 #876752

Hi Vasudev,

If you haven’t seen our page on campsites have a look here. It lists different websites to help you find the right one for you.