[Removed user]

24 March 2019 at 23:15:39 #820586

Greetings from Canada. I’ll be in Switzerland with my two 19 year old kids from May 12-17. We start our trip in Geneva where we have a commitment on May 13th until mid afternoon. I have a hotel in Geneva booked for the evening of the 13th. My plan was to leave for Interlaken early on the morning of May 14th. I have a hotel booked there for May 14 & 15. The plan was to use Interlaken as the home base to explore the higher regions of the Jungfrau and Schilthorn. We would leave Interlaken on May 16 for Lucerne and stay the night there as we fly out of Zurich on May 17. My concern with this plan is that it may be impractical to come and go from Interlaken. So here are my questions:

• Should we skip the night of May 13 in Geneva and go straight to the Interlaken area? Or beyond? We arrive in Geneva around 1 pm on Sunday so we have some time to explore.
• To explore the higher regions, should we stay somewhere else to be closer to the “action? I’m worried that if we stay in Interlaken and want to be exploring the higher regions, we will spend too much of our time travelling back and forth (not that being on the train and seeing the sights won’t be wonderful).

• I’m also a bit confused about the arrangements I should be making for train travel. Should I buy a pass or should I just purchase each leg of the trip? I know there are may modes of transport involved in getting up to the higher regions.

I anyone has suggestions on how to manage this part of our trip, I would be very happy to hear from you. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Debra

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[Removed user]

25 March 2019 at 7:34:48 #907535

Hi Momof2,

Welcome to MySwissAlps!

A really nice trip you’re planning.

Regarding you questions. You can do both on the 13th, stay in Geneva, go directly to Interlaken or, as an alternative, stay in Montreux that night before heading to Interlaken the next day.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ge neva
– http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux
– http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass
– http://www.myswissalps.com/in terlaken

You can consider staying in Wengen or Murren or Grindelwald instead of Interlaken but at the end of the day you won’t spend too much time travelling, as you will see using our timetable link.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

With such a varied and active itinerary as you have it is recommendable to get a rail pass, as they offer lots of freedom and also economic relief.

Check the available passes using below link:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses

Once you have a clear idea of your itinerary you can use the spreadsheet in the following link for detailed calculations:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

Two always worth considering options are the Swiss Travel Pass and the Swiss Half Fare Card:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass (up to 25 year old there’s a “youth” price)
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard

I hope this provides you with some guidance. Otherwise we’re here anytime for further support.

Best,
Steph

[Removed user]

26 March 2019 at 0:43:11 #907536

I shouldn’t worry. Very few people would consider Interlaken as an ‘impractical’ location for visiting the Jungfrau area – otherwise it would never have developed as a resort packed with hotels in the early 20th century.

Remember Switzerland is a small country and the Berner Oberland is a small region in a small country – distances are not great. As such Interlaken is a perfectly good central location – and as close as you need to be to the ‘action’ in the ‘higher regions’, given that you can get to the ‘higher’ villages (ie Wengen/ Grindelwald) from Interlaken in 40 minutes

Being in Interlaken helps on the day you leave as you wouldn’t spend the extra time ‘coming down from higher regions’ to get there, before continuing on to Luzern

[Slowpoke]

26 March 2019 at 1:30:52 #907537

Hi Debra-

1960man said;

<<” I shouldn’t worry. Very few people would consider Interlaken as an ‘impractical’ location for visiting the Jungfrau area – otherwise it would never have developed as a resort packed with hotels in the early 20th century.”>>

While I do not disagree with him, and agree completely about the convenience of travel from Interlaken, there is a different issue to be considered. The experience of staying in the alpine villages is quite different, even in the low season when you will travel. So, the choice is a trade off between overall convenience (Interlaken) and the experience and sights (Alpine villages).

Slowpoke