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I’d like to receive some feedback on my itinerary. My husband and I are spending two weeks for our honeymoon. We don’t want to overextend by planning too much – we typically plan 1 activity (day hike or something) and then the rest of the time is free to explore. We plan to schedule a spa day during the trip and of course, lots of eating!
One of the highlights is taking the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz but I am worried that it is off-season and there will be nothing to do or nothing is open there. I’m also worried about the location of the hotel in St. Moritz because it’s actually not in St. Moritz. I wonder when we get off the Glacier Express, we should actually just head somewhere else or head straight to Zurich?
Thank you for any thoughts.
- Wednesday, September 14
Depart for Zurich
- Thursday, September 15
Arrive in Zurich
Transfer to Lucerne
Hotel Himmelrich
- Friday, September 16
Lucerne Golden Round Trip (Mt. Pilatus) in the morning.
Explore Lucerne in the afternoon & dinner in the evening
- Saturday, September 17
Train to Grindelwald
Hotel: Bergwelt Gindelwald
Free to explore/day hike
- Sunday, September 18 – Grindelwald
Do Via Ferrata excursion in the morning
Free rest of the day
- Monday, September 19
Visit Grindelwald First – explore the area, do some day hikes
- Tuesday, September 20
Lauterbrunnen valley – visit the village, Staubbach waterfall, and Trummelbach Falls, and visit Mount Schilthorn in the early afternoon.
- Wednesday, September 21 Grindelwald –> Zermatt
Hotel: Matterhorn Focus
- Thursday, September 22 – Zermatt
Five Lakes Walk and another hike
- Friday, September 23 – Zermatt
Visit Matterhorn/Glacier Paradise
- Saturday, September 24 : St. Moritz
Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Mortiz
Hotel: Giardino Mountain B&B
- Sunday, September 25
St Mortiz – spend day exploring
- Monday, September 26 St Moritz
Hotel: Widder Hotel
Lindt tour, explore Old Town
- Tuesday, September 27 – Departure
- Wednesday, September 14
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Hi amrick,
This is a well-planned itinerary, not rushed ad with plenty of time to explore each destination at your own pace.
Giardino Mountain is highly rated and is actually located on a mountain above St Moritz. The hotel provides free pick-service from the station so you might want to make prior arrangement with them. There are plenty of outdoor activities you can do in the area. The hotel might be able to arrange biking, hiking and other activities for you upon request.
More sightseeing options in St Moritz here: http://www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz/activities
Enjoy your trip!
regards,
Anna
The railway terminates at St Moritz, so there is no railway up the Inn valley to Champfer, but there is a frequent bus service. However if you want the convenience of hopping on and off trains, consider booking a hotel east of St Moritz – in Celerina, Samedan (I recommend Hotel Terminus) or Pontresina. Samedan is convenient as you can alight from the GEX there.
St Moritz itself is actually quite a small place. The area you will be exploring encompasses Samedan, Bever, Pontresina, Silvaplana etc.
September isn’t off season
That looks great amrick! I thinks it’s a well-paced holiday with lots of variety.
I recommend that you look into rail passes once your itinerary is more or less set, and especially into the 15-day Swiss Travel Pass. Even though it has slightly more travel days than you need, it will be the perfect fit for your holiday and is relatively cheap. A 15-day pass costs CHF 429 in 2nd class, which comes down to only CHF 28.60 per day. Please find more info below:
- https://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass
- https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass
- https://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price
No worries about September, everything is still fully operational during this month: https://www.myswissalps.com/besttimetovisit.
Thank you for all the replies and information! Yes, we just purchased the Swiss Travel Pass for 15 days and plan to walk, bus, or if necessary – take a taxi to our hotel if it’s further away and we cannot walk with our luggae.
I’m trying to find fun excursions that are outside of the typical day hiking/activities. I found the Alpine Cheese Dairy Morteratsch in Pontersina that I think looks quite enticing. We’re also considering getting a day pass for the pool and spa at the Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina while in St. Moritz too.
I know it might be a bit touristy but we’re thinking about doing a tour or a class or something with chocolate (besides visiting all the shops and buying some). Is there anything that you might suggest, especially since it’s our honeymoon?
I saw some champagne and cheese experiences while riding the gondola up the mountain so that might be a nice add-on to an experience but I will continue to surf the forum & pages as well as the tourism pages.
Hi Amrick,
At http://www.myswissalps.com/stmoritz/activities you can find some activity tips like scenic rafting, paragliding and hiking tips.
If you are looking for some spa and wellness treatment, check this one too: http://www.stmoritz.com/en/wellness-spa/. The Grand Hotel Kronenhof Spa has also great reviews.
Regarding the chocolate, I am not aware of any chocolate class in St Moritz, but we have a list of chocolate factories here: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/culinary/chocolate.
Ildiko
Wonderful. I am quite excited.
One random question: We have our swiss travel passes purchased already but to get access to things like Grindelwald First and Jungfraujoch, it looks like we have to buy additional tickets/passes and the Swiss Travel Pass gets us a discount. Can we purchase those tickets when we are there? The websites (http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfraujoch-top-of-europe/ and http://www.jungfrau.ch/de-ch/grindelwaldfirst/ for example) all have options to purchase before hand.
We don’t have a printer at home so hence why I would rather purchase when we are there as well as give us some flexibility to choose depending on energy levels and weather. If the weather is still very nice, it says you might want to purchase ahead of time – do you recommend buying the tickets a day or two ahead or is it fine to just go day-of?
For clothing: we plan to wear layers but I wonder if I should bring my down jacket? It’s a bit thicker than regular hoodies and my technical sport jacket (it’s thin and for on the move but not exactly cold weather material)
Thank you for helping with all the questions so I’m prepared!
Hi amrick,
Yes, you’ll need additional discounted tickets for mountain trips. You can buy them on online shortly in advance, e.g. the day before traveling. That way you can wait until weather forecasts are reliable enough. If you get print-at-home tickets or e-tickets, it’s often not required to actually print them. Showing them on your phone is fine too. Alternatively you can get tickets on the spot upon showing your Swiss Travel Pass. Please see
- https://www.myswissalps.com/jungfraujoch/tickets
- https://www.myswissalps.com/grindelwaldfirst/tickets
I think it’s a good idea to pack your down jacket. It’s not clear yet what weather and temperatures will be during your visit, but it can get pretty chilly at mountain tops. If you’re just standing there and enjoying the views (which is highly recommended :-)), you can cool down quickly.
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