Itinerary for honeymoon trip in mid-late November

Hello all,

Im Vishal from India, male of 30 years. Im getting married on 8 Nov. I want my honeymoon trip in switzerland for around a week starting around 15 to 20 Nov. I have never been outside india before but I have read a lot of information on this website. Ive read that november is not the best time to visit switzerland but the timing cannot be changed much.

I (and thankfully my fiancee too) love nature and mountains. So am not keen on visiting cities, more interested in the alps. On reading the forums two regions are of most interest i.e. jungfaru region and lucerne.

My broad plan is

Day-1: land at zurich. train to interlaken (luterbrunnen/wengen/murren appear to be better for nature lovers and quiet retreats if possible.). Explore whichever of these towns for the day.

Day-2/3: Visit the Jungfraujoch on the day when weather is good. If weather is not good then suggest some other day trip or even a short hike but not too strenous as im not sure of the wife's stamina.

Day-4: take a train to Lucerne. Enjoy a boat trip at lake lucerne. roam around town.

Day-5: Visit Pilatus/Titlis (which one is better?) on day trip. return to lucerne for the night.

Day-6: Spend this day in Lucerne itself OR go to some other region (zermatt??) for a day or two.

Day-7: Go to zurich and take rerturn flight to new delhi (India).

Is this good? Should i do the lucerne days first and jungfrau afterwards? Will any cog railways etc be closed during 15-28 november? Can add a day or two for some worthwhile attractions. Since its a honeymoon trip dont want to be moving around too many different hotels within a region. I have my birthday on 25 nov. would like to spend it there.

I can take the swiss half fare card (120 CHF) or is it better to take the swiss travel pass with the india promotion for effectively 5 or 10 days? www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/up-to-2-extra-travel-days-for-indian-travelers

Any other suggestions/advice are welcome?

Vishal,

Congratulations! I just returned from Switzerland two weeks ago. My daughter and I had a wonderful time. I didn't want to spend time in the cities, either, so we focused on the area within 30-45 minutes from Lauterbrunnen, where we were staying. If you are planning to spend any time in Interlaken, I would highly recommend the restaurant in the Hotel Du Lac. It overlooks beautiful Lake Thun. We arrived before they opened for dinner, so the menu was limited, but we had one of the best tasting pizzas I've even had. Have you thought of taking a cruise on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz? In my opinion, they are both much prettier than Lake Lucerne. We also visited Wengen and Murren. Beautiful! Enjoy your visit!!

Hi Guptavis,

Congratulations on your marriage! Most of your travel plans look fine to me. Interlaken and Lucerne are good base towns for your visit. The order of visiting doesn't matter that much. Since you indicate you don't want to be moving bases too often, I'd leave out Zermatt if I were you. If you allocate a bit more time to Interlaken/the Jungfrau region, you could still make a day trip to Zermatt from there if you'd like. It will be a long travel day, but it's possible. Please consult the timetable for details.

Our Titlis and Pilatus pages allow you to compare both mountains and find out which appeals to you most. Which is "better" can't really be told, as that's a matter of personal preferences. As for bad weather alternatives: I fully understand that the Alps and the outdoors are your main interest. Unfortunately, November is low season and there aren't that many bad weather alternatives available during your visit. So in case of fog or rain I still recommend to visit some towns such as Bern, Thun or Lucerne. They're definitely atmospheric. The boat rides mentioned by Darlinann are great too. Mind that Lake Brienz isn't accessible in November and that timetables for Lake Thun are restricted.

As for rail passes: an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass will probably be best. The promotion with 2 extra travel days won't help you much for a 7 day stay, but of course it could be interesting if you decide to add some more days to your stay in Switzerland. If you want to make sure which pass is best, you can calculate your options as explained here.

Thanks for the sugestions Darlinnan, would try to see if i can go to lake thun as lake brienz would be closed.

Thanks Annika. Will be leaving out zermatt then. First 2-3 days in lucerne and then 2-3 in jungfrau region (wengen/ Lauterbrunnen/murren/grindelwald/interlaken in that order).

Also we're vegetarian, no eggs even. Will finding veg. food be an issue??

I travel very light and would have maybe one bag. But my wife would be travelling with lots of luggage. would cayying huge suitcases across trains and walk to the hotels be manageable ?

Also my travel agent said swiss visas are hard to come by. They need a marriage cetificate and lots of other documents. Would have to delay a bit for the paperwork!!! So now it looks like trip would be around 25-30 Nov.

Hi guptavis,

Spending your days in Lucerne and the Jungrau region seems to be a good choice to me. Don't worry about vegetarian foods: they're widely available in supermarktets and nearly all restaurants offer several vegetarian dishes. Please see myswissalps.com/abouts witzerland/culturehist ory/food as well.

Traveling with several suitcases shouldn't cause major problems. Of course it depends on the hotels you pick and whether or not they're close to the railway station. This selection of hotels may help you out: myswissalps.com/hotels /railstations. Bus services to stops close to your hotel may be available (please consult the timetable and enter your hotel's address as your destination), and of course you can contact your hotel and ask if they can arrange for a (free or paid) shuttle service.

Hi Guptavis-

<<"But my wife would be travelling with lots of luggage. would cayying huge suitcases across trains and walk to the hotels be manageable ?">>

You can manage it, with multiple trips, but your wife will regret it if you ask her to carry her own bags.

If you carry them for her, your back will regret it and you might have trouble making the standard 4 minute connection time from train to train (usual in Switzerland) if you have to make several trips. .

If you plan to use taxis, watch out for prices that are normal for Switzerland, but very very expensive by US standards, and astronomical by the standards of some countries.

Perhaps she could consider reducing her baggage quantity?

Once she is in Switzerland, very few people will be concerned with exactly how she dresses. The country welcomes travelers from everywhere, and they dress with varying standards of formality (or lack thereof) and refinement.

Of course, if you are planning attendance at formal dress balls or ceremonies, the Swiss know how to dress very formally, when required. Do you have that need?

Slowpoke