[milredroyan]

31 August 2022 at 9:27:08 #828218

Hi

We are a family of three. My husband and I along with my 17 year old son. We are planning a 15 day vacation from mid to end december. We will land in Switzerland. Where in Switzerland is something we need to plan? We want to combine Switzerland with either France, Germany. We have done Switzerland, France (Paris only), Germany only Munich before. Switzerland we have been to Jungfrau, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Basel.

What we want to do this time is stay at Interlaken or Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen or Wengen whatever you all recommend, want to go to Zermatt and st. Mortiz, Matterhorn or anything else that you all may recommend and maybe Zurich and there onwards to Germany.

Germany we want to do the Neuschwanstein castle , Munic or anything else that you all may recommend.

We are also ok with France instead of Germany . Pl help me plan an itinerary from where we shoud land in Switzerland (we have to land in switzerland as we are taking the visa from Swiss embassy) and where to proceed and fly out of. We are coming from Bangalore, India.

Thanks in advance.

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[Removed user]

31 August 2022 at 11:41:02 #946259

Your best option would be:

fly to Zurich

travel Zurich to Interlaken (stay in Interlaken as a base for the whole Berner Oberland area, or Wengen (Lauterbrunnen is dingy in winter as it is in a deep valley)

travel Interlaken to Zermatt

stay Zermatt

travel Zermatt to St Moritz on the Glacier Express

NOTE that the Glacier Express takes a December break. It starts running again on 11 December 2022

stay St Moritz

St Moritz – St Margrethen – Munich (plus rest of Bavaria)

Note we cannot give recommendations about Germany as this web site is about Switzerland

[Removed user]

31 August 2022 at 12:35:05 #946260

Hi milredroyan,

In addition to 1960man’s answer, many tourists visit in France Colmar or Annecy. They are quite close to Switzerland and both are wonderful towns. Mount Blanc is also close to Switzerland and it is a popular attraction too.

Other tourists visit Italy and travel via the Bernina Express to Tirano and they continue their Italian trip from there: http://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress/gettingthere

If you travel to Germany, you can also visit on the route the Rhine Falls: http://www.myswissalps.com/rhinefalls

Other than these tips, I recommend these pages:

• Regions in Switzerland: http://www.myswissalps.com/regions
• Natural sites (Switzerland): http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/naturalsites
• Must knows about Swiss winter activities: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/winter

I hope this helps,

Ildiko

[milredroyan]

3 September 2022 at 2:15:09 #946261

Hi

Thank you all for your reply. 1960 ur suggestions were helpful. There is a bit of a change in the plan. We will now be landing in geneva instead of Zurich. Rest of the places remain. So Geneva(plan to stay overnight for a day to rest). Pl suggest the route and the no of days for the following:

Zermat(zermatt being expensive pl suggest closer villages towns maybe)

St. Mortiz(wont be staying in st.mortiz. pl suggest closer villages towns)

wengen(or interlaken or grinderlwald )

Munich.

Is St. Mortiz area worth it and can we do a day trip to st.Mortiz from zermatt itself and avoid lugging our bags nd staying there? Or do we do lugano? can both be done as day trips from Zermatt itself thereby reducing travelling frequently. From where do we head back to Munich?

We leave on 16th. stay at Geneva. Help me plan the route , no of days and the itinerary from 17th dec to 30 dec when we fly out of munich. Do we take a 15 day swiss travel pass?

please note: We have done Jungfrau, zurich, lucerne, vevey, Titlis, geneva on our past visit and passed through interlaken. We want to do the Matterhorn and any other must see that we have not seen in our previous stay.

Thanks much in advance.

[Anna]

3 September 2022 at 8:15:44 #946262

Hi milredroyan,

Thanks for sharing your updated plans.

A sensible route for you to avoid switchbacks would be:

1. Arrive in Geneva. Spend 1 night in Geneva to recover from jetlag. Hotel options in Geneva: http://www.myswissalps.com/geneva/hotels

2. Take train from Geneva to Grindelwald or Wengen and spend a few days exploring the region. Hotel options in Grindelwald: http://www.myswissalps.com/grindelwald/hotels. Hotel options in Wengen: http://www.myswissalps.com/wengen/hotels

3. Take train to Zermatt. There might be cheaper accommodation in Brig, which is about 1 our away. But regular train services mean you can plan day trips conveniently to Zermatt. Brig is also a good base for day trips to Montreux, Saas-fe and the Aletsch Glacier.

4. Take the Glacier Express from Brig to St Moritz and stay in nearby Pontresina. Spend a few days here exploring the Upper Engadine region. Maybe you can even do a short trip on the Bernina Express.

5. From St Moritz take a train to St Gallen via Chur. You can find direct train connection to Munich from St Gallen.

The Swiss Travel Pass would work for this trip as it is valid throughout Switzerland.

Hope this gets you started on planning your itinerary.

Regards,

Anna

[milredroyan]

6 September 2022 at 10:39:06 #946263

Hi Anna

Thank you. How about Grachen instead of Brig?

[Anna]

6 September 2022 at 16:16:18 #946264

Hi again,

Grächen is a small mountain village and certainly a lovely place to stay especially in winter. It doesn’t have a railway station though. The nearest train station is at St Niklaus, about 20 mins away. So to get to Zermatt, you need to take a bus to St Niklaus then switch to a train to Zermatt.

regards,

Anna