[Removed user]

12 July 2011 at 21:26:14 #804479

I would love any advice on planning our trip in September. We fly into Zurich on Sept 2 early afternoon and would prefer to hop on a train to our next destination immediately (Luzern?) to spend the night and start exploring the next day. We are on the trip for 3 weeks but also hope to go to Italy and Croatia, so right now am planning around 7-8 days in Switzerland. We fly back out of Zurich on the 22nd early afternoon, so we plan to spend the night there on the 21st and welcome recommendations for a place to stay.

We are very active mid-thirties – would like to do some hut-to-hut hikes while we are there, rent bikes and see the scenery. We are budget conscious but will spend money for something we really like to do. We have no interest in nightlife or partying, but we would like to eat good food, drink local wine and eat chocolate! Places we have talked about wanting to visit are Interlaken, the Dolomites, and the Ticino region.

Right now the decision I am struggling with is over the many rail passes. I would like to go on some scenic routes and boat rides, and don’t want to plan the trip out to the last detail – would like to leave room for spontaneous adventures. We will probably either explore northern Italy or go straight to Venice (or even Croatia, if possible?) from Switzerland.

Please give me your suggestions and advice, I will really appreciate it as this has crept up on me and I have done a poor job planning so far 🙂 Thank you in advance!

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[Annika]

14 July 2011 at 9:17:49 #833472

Hi Bethany, and welcome to the forum! It’s great that you get to spend (part of) your honeymoon in Switzerland. Hiking and biking are excellent ways to enjoy the scenery. Lucerne and the Interlaken region are wonderful, and both offer lots of possibilities you’ll like, such as hiking routes, mountain trains and cable cars and boat rides. Scenic train rides are the trip from Lucerne to Interlaken over the Brünig Pass (via Meiringen and Brienz) and nearly all mountain trains in the Interlaken region. Some tips can be found here. The trip up to Rigi near Lucerne is beautiful too.

As for a rail pass: that’s a bit hard to say right now, as you should look for the right pass to match your activities. And that’s quite a challenge if you’re unsure yet of what your activities will be, where you’ll be staying overnight, and so on. However, if you like the idea of flexibility you should consider a pass that’s valid on all days and throughout the country, allowing you to go wherever you want and whenever you want. An 8 day Swiss Saver Pass would be very convenient, especially if you want to be able to include some longer (and more expensive) train journeys. A Swiss Half Fare Card can be considered too. It offers a 50% discount and may be an economical solution if you do want flexibility, but know beforehand that you don’t want to make several longer train/bus/boat trips.