10 day Swiss rail trip with 4 panoramic trains

  • Removed user
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    9 September 2018 at 21:11:34 #818289

    Tips:

    Use the myswissalps.com to plan your trip. Wealth of information and prompt responses to your questions. We more or less used their suggested 8-day rail itinerary, but did it in reverse order. Doing it in reverse gives you more time in Lugano. Also we added a day in Zermatt and a day in Montreux, so it was actually an 10-day trip.

    Get the travelers wifi for great internet connection throughout Switzerland. You wont get lost on hikes. It allowed us to use google maps, where even the trails are covered

    Get the Swiss Travel Pass. (We got the 1st class 15 day Swiss Travel Pass). Not only are the trains free, but also buses and boat trips and some funiculars. Note that there are few exceptions for trains over certain altitudes e.g. Kleine Scheidegg.

    Get the SBB app. We couldn’t have survived without it. You just have to put your start location and destination and it gives you all available options (train, bus, boat, cable car) and even details of platform numbers and time to walk from one platform to another!

    We used booking. com to pick hotels that were close to the station, included breakfast, didn’t require prepayment and were rated 9 out of 10

    Try to have only carry-on bags (no bags that require check-in). Makes it really easy to get from station to hotel.

    Take a raincoat or folding umbrella for each person. You never know when it might rain when on a hike.

    Day 1: Arrived from San Francisco in Zurich at 12:20. Took the 13:47 train from Zurich to Lucerne. Reached at 14:50. Checked into hotel within walking distance from station and walked around Lake Lucerne, Chapel Bridge and Lion Monument. Had dinner at one of the many restaurants near Chapel Bridge.

    Day 2: Took the 9:12 am boat from Lucern to reach Fluelen at 11:55 . Took the Gotthard train leaving Fluelen at 14:10 and reached Lugano at 16:38. Checked into the Continental Park Hotel which is right by the station. Highly recommend this hotel (great breakfast, nice room, pool, garden, vineyard). You can take the funicular down to the lake and city center or the steps and alleys. We took an evening cruise around the lake that had several stops including Paradiso and Gandria (free with Swiss Travel Pass)

    Day 3: Left Lugano by Bernina Express bus at 10 am and reached Tirano at 13:00. Had a quick bite at a restaurant just outside the stations. Took the Bernina Express train 974 at 14:06 to reach St. Moritz at 16:20. Walked around the lake and had dinner in a lakefront restaurant.

    Day 4: Ask for the Guest Travel Pass at your hotel which gives you free tickets to go up to Muottas Muragl by cogwheel train for great views (40 minutes by train). Our hotel forgot to give the passes to us and we ended up paying CHF 70 for cable car +chair lift combo.

    We took the bus from St. Moritz to Punt Muragl and then cogwheel train to Muottas Muragl. Then hiked from Muottas Muragl to Alp Languard (2.5hours easy hike) with gorgeous views of Engadine valley . We then took the chair lift down from Alp Languard to Pontresina.

    We had lunch at a real nice restaurant in Pontresina, where surprisingly most restaurants were closed on Sunday. Refreshed we hiked back from Pontresina all the way to St. Moritz. In all over 26,300 steps on our fitbit for the day!

    Day 5: Took the Glacier Express to Zermatt GEX 903 departed at 9:15 and reached Zermatt at 17:10. The Continenal Hotel is close to station and has beautiful views. Did the Village Tour of Zermatt which is a great way to get familiar with this beautiful town. Look here for directions http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/zermatt/route 3.5km 1 hr

    Day 6: Morning hiked the Matterhorn/Edelweiss Trail a 1 hour hike with views of Zermatt from Pension Edelweiss

    After lunch took the 14:13 pm train to reach Montreux at 16:46 (total 2.5 hours). The Eurotel is located close to station and right on the lake with gorgeous views. In Montreaux : Walked around lake and visited the Chateau de Chillon castle on lake by boat. The castle was a disappointment and not worth the visit. Took the train to Lausanne and the metro to Ouchy and had dinner in Ouchy, which is the touristy part of Lausanne facing Lake Geneva.

    Day 7: Took a train to Geneva and did a walking tour of Old Town and the lakeside promenade. http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/geneva/route – 5 km hike 1 hr 15 mins

    After lunch took the train to Gruyeres which is famous for cheese. You can see how cheese is made at the Cheese Demo across Gruyeres station and get free cheese samples (free with Swiss Travel Pass). Took a bus to Chateau de Gruyeres (free entry with Swiss Travel Pass and which I liked much better than the Chateau de Chillon. It is in a quaint village with great views of the valley. We then hiked back down to the station and return by train to Montreux.

    Day 8: After an early morning walk around the lakefront, took the Golden Pass train route to Interlaken at 8:53 am with changes in Zweisimmen and Spiez. After checking into our hotel, took the train to Lauterbrunnen. Took the cable car up to Gimmelwald and Murren (free with Swiss Travel Pass). Then took a bus to Trummelbach Falls (discount with Swiss Travel Pass) which are beautiful falls inside tunnels

    Day 9: Took the train to Wengen and had lunch there after hiking all around the alleys in Wengen village. Then hiked down to the tiny Wengwald station.

    Then took the train to Bern, a beautiful city. Follow these directions to do a walking tour of the Old Town https://www.tripadviso r.com/Travel-g188052-c127052/Bern:Switzerla nd:A.Walking.Tour.Of.B ern.html

    You will see beautiful views from the bridge over the river Aare, Zytlogge, Einstein’s home, Bear Park and several other interesting landmarks in Old Town.

    We happened to be there during a UNESCO cultural festival and got to sample Raclette and listen to some traditional Alpenhorn music and a great Latvian band Troubas Kater, which was great fun. Took the train back to Interlaken for the night.

    Day 10: Took the train to Zurich and checked into our Hotel Old Town. Did a walking tour of Zurich which covers all the landmarks of Altstadt (Old Town) and the Niederdorf (Lower Village), including Bahnhofstrasse the expensive shopping street.

    http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/zurich/route 7 km 1.5hrs

    Sept 2nd Saturday Day 11: Left for Zurich airport at 10:30 am

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    Removed user
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    10 September 2018 at 5:56:16 #895923

    Hi Nita and thank you for the great trip report! I’m sure future members will find it of great use. 🙂

    Sounds like you had a great trip and everything went well – just what we like to hear!

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    10 September 2018 at 21:28:39 #895924

    Hi Nita

    That seems to have been a really good tour, visiting so many different places and enjoying the train travel between as well. You clearly researched your trip carefully to make the most of your time – well done for that and so glad it all went so well. I am sure others will enjoy reading your report and get some good ideas from it. Thank you for posting it.

    Maggie

    luvmystang
    Participant
    104 posts
    11 September 2018 at 16:43:45 #895925

    Thanks for writing up your trip report.

    I was curious about the hotel you stayed at in Zurich. How did you get to the airport from the hotel? Do you recommend the hotel?

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    11 September 2018 at 17:31:37 #895926

    Yes, I would recommend Hotel Old Town. While it is within walking distance from the station, you can also take a bus from the station to a stop near the hotel. We took a bus the first time and then on way back we just walked to the station. We then took the train to the airport. It is right in the heart of Old Town and you can walk to all of the landmarks in the walking tour of the city.

    A nice breakfast was included and the room was clean. I think the hotel is run by a husband and wife team. There is no lobby,but the check-in is in the restaurant on the ground floor.

    luvmystang
    Participant
    104 posts
    11 September 2018 at 18:01:07 #895927

    Thank you so much!!!

    In full planning mode for my first trip to Switzerland in June of next year!

    Love this site….so much awesome information.

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    11 September 2018 at 18:38:51 #895928

    Hi luvmystang and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    We also have hotel recommendations for Zurich on our website here: http://www.myswissalps.com/zu rich/hotels if you are looking to do some comparisons.

    All note how far they are from downtown Zurich and the railway station. If you have any other planning or hotel questions, don’t hesitate to start your own thread as well. 🙂

    luvmystang
    Participant
    104 posts
    11 September 2018 at 18:47:23 #895929

    Thank you so much! I have been looking at the recommended hotels as well.

    I’m sure you’ll be hearing lots more from me in the coming months 🙂

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