[R1ck]

4 August 2022 at 12:05:01 #827970

Hi guys! 🙂

I’m going to Switzerland with my husband on August 28th for 8 days and it would be nice to get some tips on my itinerary, just to make sure I haven’t made any stupid decisions in terms of moving from one place to another.

We’ll be using public transport, and have not decided yet if we are getting the Swiss Travel Pass or the Half Fare Card, but need to finish the itinerary first. We’ll spend 3 nights in Geneva, 4 nights in Interlaken, and 1 night in Bern.

Here is what we have planned:

From 28/08 to 30/08 we’ll be staying in Geneva visiting a friend and don’t have much planned apart from walking around the city and maybe a day trip to Montreux on the 30th

01/09
– Leave Geneva early morning and go to Interlaken to do the check in
– Go to Blausee Lake hopefully before 12pm
– Since there is not much to do on the lake, we might take the train to Kandersteg (less than 20min from Blausee) and then walk or take the cable car to the Oeschinensee lake
QUESTION: Is it feasible to do Blausee lake and Oeschinensee on the same day considering we will get to Blausee around 1/2pm?

02/09
– Take the boat to Brienz Lake (16CHF return ticket with Half Fare Card or FREE with Swiss pass)
– Go to Meiringen and then take bus 161 to get to Gelmerbahn as its quite close to Brienz
– Get the funicular to go Gelmersee lake (18CHF each way/no discount)
– Handeckfallbrucke (suspension bridge)
– Take the train back to Interlaken

03/09
– Go to Lauterbrunnen early morning
– Stabbauch Falls and maybe Trummelbach Falls
– Take the train to Grindelwald
– Take the Cable Car to First (32CHF return ticket either with the Swiss travel pass or half fare card)
– Do the hike to Bachalpsee Lake (1.5 – 2 hours round trip)
– Back to Grindelwald with the Cable Car and then go back to Interlaken
QUESTION: It seems that Lauterbrunnen is quite small so I didn’t plan to spend much time there, that’s why I thought it would be good to add Grindelwald on this day, would that be too much?

04/09
– Day trip to Oeschinensee
– Take the train to Kandersteg and then walk or take the gondola to the Oeschinensee lake (30CHF return ticket or 50% off with swiss travel pass)
– Do the Toboggan ride at the top station of the Cable Car (only 4CHF)
– Back to hotel in Interlaken
QUESTION: Should we move Lauterbrunnen to this day to keep the days in Interlaken more balanced? Or is it actually enough to dedicate this day to Oeschinensee only?

05/09
– Leave Interlaken and go to Bern
– Explore the city center/old town

06/09
– Leave Bern early morning and take the train to Basel
– Arrive at the airport around 1pm (flight is at 5pm)

Thank you so much in advance! 🙂
Fernando

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[Anna]

5 August 2022 at 12:50:39 #945141

Hi Fernando,

Welcome to MySwissAlps and thanks for sharing your itinerary.

Some personal feedbacks below:

01/09 – It might be possible to visit Blausee and Oeschinensee on the same day. However this depends how much time you spend at Blausee. The bus service between Blausee and Kandersteg runs every hour so you need to plan your visit carefully. The cable car to Oeschinensee operates until 6pm in summer but be sure to double check. You can use the SBB timetable to plan your journeys.

02/09 – This plan is doable. You might want to book your seat on the Gelmerbahn funicular in advance.

03/09 – Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald is doable in one day.

04/09 – Yes, Oeschinensee deserves a day trip on its own. From the mountain station, you will need to hike to the lake (about 15 – 20 mins) or take a shuttle but the shuttle doesn’t run very frequently. You can rent boats and pedalos and also swim in the lake. There are also lots of trails in the area. So plenty of things to do for the whole day.

Hope this gives helps you to finalise your trip. If you need tips about how to choose the best railpass, be sure to check this out: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass

Regards,

Anna

[R1ck]

9 August 2022 at 11:25:01 #945142

Thank you so much for your tips Anna! 🙂

I’ve adjusted the days we’ll spend in Interlaken and will have a day dedicated to Oeschinensee on 04/09.

On 01/09 we’ll combine Blausee lake and then go back to Interlaken to do the boat trip to Brienz lake.

One important thing: I completely forgot that August has 31 days LOL, so I didn’t add 31/08 day to my itinerary.

Would you have any recommendation of other places to go around Interlaken on that day?

Thank you!

[Anna]

9 August 2022 at 15:16:17 #945143

Hi again,

Since you have an extra day, I was thinking perhaps you might like to take the Golden Pass train from Montreux to Interlaken? It’s free with the Swiss Travel Pass. The route is explained in detail here: http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass/gettingthere

You can find sightseeing options and ideas in Interlaken here: http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/activities

Regards,

Anna

[norcal1]

14 August 2022 at 20:53:52 #945144

Adding a comment regarding Stabbauch Falls. Check the water level before you go, as we were there 7 days ago, after a heavy thunderstorm 2 nights prior, and Stabbauch Falls barely had any water. It was really just dust like the name implied. There was a steep manmade grotto to hike up to go behind the fall. While the path gave an amazing aerial view of the Lauterbrannan Valley, we saw nothing (or felt any water drop) when we reached the end/top of the grotto.

The village path to Stabbauch Falls was mostly restaurants. The meadow to see other waterfalls was very pretty.

[R1ck]

15 August 2022 at 9:02:33 #945145

That’s good to know. I’ll keep that in mind and will check the weather before I go 🙂

Thank you!

[jbarn]

15 August 2022 at 11:46:43 #945146

Is there a way to know if the falls you’re planning to visit have water? We are making a trip to Trummelbach Falls in September and would definitely not go if the falls were dry! Thanks!

[Anna]

15 August 2022 at 14:27:15 #945147

Hi jbarn,

You can find information about the Trummelbach Falls here: http://www.truemmelbachfaelle.ch/e/

Probably a good idea to contact them directly if you are concerned about the water level.

Regards,

Anna

[norcal1]

15 August 2022 at 17:22:15 #945148

It’s hard to predict water level. While Staubbach Fall was dry, there were other waterfalls roaring during our Lauterbrunnen < > Wengen train ride.