[vincenology]

23 March 2018 at 9:06:33 #814913

Hi all,

I’m working out an 15 days itinerary touring around Switzerland starting from Geneva. I would probably visiting most of the places like Geneva, Bern, Interlaken, Lucerne, Zurich, Jungfrau, Wengen, Grindelwald, Montreux, Zermatt, St Moritz, Lugano). I’ve attached a Google Sheet (my itinerary planning) here.

docs.google.com/spread sheets/d/1uHo9H23cbFYN XJH4qsi_7_S9qsP_fI0jnG RxjvyGwNs/edit?usp=sharing

This is the first time of me travelling to Switzerland so it is an exciting one, especially when you spend your Xmas and New Year there. Anyway, I’m appreciate if anyone if you here can give me some advices on my itinerary.

Thank you in advance.

Vincent

Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions. Sign up

[cam223]

23 March 2018 at 16:16:03 #879582

We were in Zermatt in early December, 2017, most restaurants told us that they were booked months in advance beginning mid-December through early January. I would make absolutely certain that you have reservations for your hotels and restaurants as soon as possible. Some of the better places are booked a year in advance and have repeat visitors year after year.

[Removed user]

23 March 2018 at 17:36:05 #879583

Hi Vincenology,

We don’t create itineraries here but can guide you on creating a great one for yourself. 🙂

Can you give us an idea of what you want to see and do here (other than visit those towns). Are they must visits for you? I would recommend making about 3 base towns during your stay – perhaps 4 at the most.

Have a look at the following pages on our site for help:

• What to do
• Where to go
• Scenic trains
• Rail Passes

On a quick look I’d probably pick the following towns as your overnight bases in an order like this:

1. Montreux
2. Zermatt
3. St. Moritz (1 night after the Glacier Express)
4. Lucerne
5. Wengen or Grindelwald
6. Geneva

[Removed user]

24 March 2018 at 0:00:50 #879584

Funnily enough you can actually visit all the places you mention on days trips from Geneva. Strange but true!

[rockoyster]

24 March 2018 at 3:35:14 #879585

Hello Vincent,

Where are you departing Switzerland from? If you end up in Lugano then Milan would be an obvious airport to fly home from but Lugano in the dead of winter wouldn’t be my top pick.

As I read it you are thinking of staying at Geneva, Geneva, Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken (visiting Grindelwald, Jungfrau, Jungfrau), Montreux, Zermatt, Zermatt, St Moritz, Lugano

I’m assuming you plan 4 nights in Interlaken visiting places in the Jungfrau Region but even so you are going to spend a lot of time checking in and out of hotels and packing and unpacking bags. It’s going to be even worse if you are actually planning a night at Grindelwald ect.

Cut down on the number of different overnight stay locations and do day trips. eg Bern from Interlaken, Zurich from Lucerne. As 1960man says you can do day trip to anywhere but you’d want to be a keen train rider.

It depends where you want to end up but as Lucas implies the order of your movements is a bit erratic especially if you want to end up Geneva. If you do want to end up in Geneva then the sequence Lucas proposes makes much more sense.

Have a look at the map you can download from http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity to help get your bearings and use the Swiss Train Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) to figure out how long it takes to get from A to B.

[vincenology]

26 March 2018 at 5:55:36 #879586

Hi Lucas,

I don’t really know how to choose a base town but I will be visiting these places for sure.

Geneva, Bern(spending my xmas eve), Zurich, Lucerne, Interlaken, Wengen, Grindelwald, Jungfrau, Montreux, Zermatt, St Moritz and Lugano.

[vincenology]

26 March 2018 at 5:59:02 #879587

Hi Rockoyster,

Thank you. Yea, I think both you and 1960man suggestion make sense, cut down number of different overnight stay locations and do day trips. But my problem is I do not know where should I pick as a base for overnight.

[Removed user]

26 March 2018 at 17:31:36 #879588

Hi vincenology,

Lucas’s suggestion makes sence. And as earlier said, plan day trips: Interlaken, Bern, Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch from Wengen, and Zurich from Lucerne.

As Rockoyster said, Lugano is not the best in the winter. I personally would leave it out of your itinerary.

What is it that makes it difficult for you to pick an overnight base?

[vincenology]

27 March 2018 at 3:47:24 #879589

Hi,

It is hard for me to choose base to stay because I do not know which town is the suitable town to do a day trips to the town nearby.

Vincent

[Removed user]

27 March 2018 at 5:53:13 #879590

Hi Vincent,

We have given you the suggestions. Lucas has given you the locations and they are all nice cities/villages. I have given you more details about which villages / cities you can visit from one of the locations that Lucas suggested.

If you use the Swiss timetable and you put for example Wengen – Bern (and so on), it will tell you per trip how long it will take to get there. You can then decide for yourself if Wengen is a good base to do all the day trips from Wengen as suggested in my post.

If you’re not quite sure where some of the places are located, you should use this map: http://www.myswissalps.com/ma pswitzerland.

[Removed user]

27 March 2018 at 23:17:28 #879591

Switzerland is a small country. You can base yourself just about anywhere and do another town/city in one day. For example it is easy to do Zurich in one day even from as far away as Geneva.

If you base yourself in Bern you would be able to do day trips to Zurich, Geneva, Fribourg, Bulle, Luzern, Brig. All the places I have just mentioned are a single train journey from Bern without changes.

Once you have seen how the railways work you would be able to get slower trains to stop off at smaller towns and villages, for example a slower train from Bern to Luzern via Langnau stops at smaller places along the Emmental valley