13 days Zurich-Glacier Express-Interlaken-Lugano

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    7 July 2019 at 9:20:53 #822699

    I’m planning a trip for 14 days with my elderly parents (so don’t want to make it very rushed; too much walking). Here is what i’m thinking; but would love to get expert guidance if I can plan differently…Many thanks in advance!

    we are keen on exploring scenic beauty ; enjoy local food, relax in Switzerland and then finally do some shopping at the end in Lugano outlet mall & Milan.

    arrive in Zurich, stay 3 nights; explore city, may do rhine falls

    day 4- take a train from Zurich to Chur and then take glacier express from Chur to Zermatt – so all day in train, arrive in Zermatt by evening.

    Day 5 & 6in Zermatt ; day 6 late afternoon; drive or take train/ bus to interlaken

    day 7-10 Interlaken as base to explore jungfrau, Lucerne, grindelwald, lauterbrunnen valley, gruyere(may be?)

    day 11 interlaken to lugano – 2 nights in Lugano – half day sight seeing and one day the outlet mall

    day 13 head to Milan for 2 nights and fly back.

    my questions are as follows:

    1. Is there a better order to optimise my travel? I.e. do interlaken first and then Zermatt but how do I fit the scenic glacier express … understand that Andermatt to Chur is the most scenic part but it doesn’t fit anywhere ..

    2. Should I keep only one base for Lugano and Milan instead of 2. I.e. do 2 day trips ?

    3. Would you suggest driving or taking trains/buses for travelling around interlaken during days 7-10? Would driving be more convenient , bearing in mind parents ..

    look forward to hearing from you… thanks

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    7 July 2019 at 11:37:37 #917110

    Hello Manubansal and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

    Nice to hear you’re coming along to Switzerland with your parents!

    The overall order of your travel makes sense. I would recommend traveling by train, as it is a practical, comfortable and a very scenic way of traveling in Switzerland.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/ca rversustrain

    Day 4 will be a long day, but a wonderful one, you’ll have to leave Zurich with the 10:37 or 12:37 train to reach Zermatt by 18:10 resp. 20:10. Use the timetable provided below for verification, note that the Glacier Express is labelled PE in the timetable.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
    http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress
    http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt

    To find out about available activities and attractions in the Jungfrau Region use below links. You will find more than enough, I’m convinced!
    http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion
    http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland

    If you are flying out of Milano anyway, why not stay a night or two as well, but both options are do-able, depending a little on the time of your flight, of course.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/lu gano

    If you decide to travel by train (which I suggest), make sure you read the following link to provide you with input about available rail passes, etc.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass
    http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy

    Happy planning and get back to us anytime.

    Best,
    Steph

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    7 July 2019 at 12:41:45 #917111

    Many thanks, Steph. Appreciate the prompt response and insights. The links are very useful.

    Yes, I do plan to stay in Milan for a couple of nights. Just wondering if moving every 2 days makes sense… I.e. 2 days in Lugano and 2 days in Milano _ instead can I just go to Milan from interlaken and do only a day trip to Lugano? This way I have one base for the area instead of two.

    Also is there a recommendation for nice cheese factory or Swiss farm in any of the area I’m covering? Gruyère would be quite out of the way from interlaken…?

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    7 July 2019 at 12:46:27 #917112

    Also for the car – I only wanted to use it in the interlaken area to keep flexibility to go near by scenic spots and towns , for the rest, we will takes trains. But you recommend that car is not required even in that region?

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    8 July 2019 at 11:12:20 #917113

    Hello Manubansal,

    You would have to use the timetable to find out if you are fine with the traveling times involved, it is quite a journey, so I think I would stay in Lugano for a night at least.

    I don’t know of any other cheese factory to visit in “closer” than Gruyère, but by chance stumbled over this experience in the Interlaken area, which might be of interest for you:
    http://www.interlaken.ch/en/p oi/farm-visits

    I don’t think you will need a car in the are around Interlaken, as all is well connected by public transport, but again, this is quite individual and you of course can rent a car. However, it’s often a quite an expensive thing to do for various reasons (check my first link).

    Best,
    Steph

    Annika
    Moderator
    7104 posts
    8 July 2019 at 18:12:26 #917114

    Hi Manubansal,

    I agree with Steph that public transportation is great, especially in the Interlaken area. Note that you can’t reach many of the scenic spots in the Jungfrau region with a car, so you’ll have to use trains, buses and mountain transportation quite often anyway. How about using public transportation only, using a 15 day Swiss Travel Pass: myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass? It would cover lots of trips during your 13 day stay.

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    9 July 2019 at 5:11:10 #917115

    thank you Steph!

    Removed user
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    9 July 2019 at 5:11:40 #917116

    thank you Annika, i’ll stick to trains and buses then!

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