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Greetings! I am currently planning for 14 days in Switzerland in July. Would appreciate any input on the sketch of my itinerary. I am planning to get the 15days STP.
Day 1: Arrive in Zurich (Evening time)
Travel to Interlaken
Stay in Interlaken
Day 2 – 4: Day trips from Interlaken
Visiting Bern, Jungfrau, Wengen & Grindelwald
Day 5: Travel to Zermatt via Montreux
Stay in Zermatt
Day 6: Visit Matterhorn
Stay in Zermatt
Day 7: Take Glacier Express to St. Moritz + Travel to Chur
Stay in Chur (or should i stay in St Moritz given Day 8’s plan)
Day 8: Take Bernina Express to Tirano + Bus to Lugano
Stay in Lugano
Day 9: Visit Lake Como and surrounding areas
Stay in Lugano
Day 10: Take Gotthard Panorama Express to Lucerne
Stay in Lucerne
Day 11-12: Lucerne
Day 13: Zurich
Day 14: Fly back from Zurich
I understand that there will be inevitable backtracking due to the boarding of both Glacier Express and Bernina Express. Would this route OR the reverse of this itinerary be more sensible should I want to take both the Glacier Express and Bernina Express in full?
Are there any other cities/places I have missed out or could add in?
I look forward to any input from everyone!
Thank you so much!
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Hi Prishjl and welcome to MySwissAlps!
You’re itinerary seems pretty nice to me. A few comments to start:
- I think one of the towns near to Interlaken would be preferable: Lauterbrunnen or Wengen or Grindelwald or Murren. There will be a little extra time involved to get over to Bern but otherwise a much nicer stay I think.
- You can use the Swiss railways timetable to plan out all of your train trips & you can buy the Swiss Travel Pass online here (so it is emailed to you for printing at home and you have an electronic backup).
- Day 6 – you can’t actually visit the Matterhorn – you can go up two nearby mountains from Zermatt for excellent Zermatt views: Gornergrat & Klein Matterhorn.
- Yes, stay in St. Moritz – a much more interesting town for tourism I think and convenient as well for the Bernina Express & no reason to do the route between Chur and St. Moritz three times.
- If you don’t have anything specific to do in Zurich I would probably stay in Lucerne until your flight – you can take direct trains from Lucerne to Zurich airport.
You’ll need to make reservations for the Glacier Express, Bernina Express & Gotthard Panorama Expresstrains on top of your Swiss Travel Pass.
>> Day 9: Visit Lake Como and surrounding areas
Is there some reason why you don’t want to explore Lugano and/or take a boat trip on Lake Lugano while you are there?
You can get from Lugano to Menaggio on the #12 bus (Italian bus) or on the Palm Express (Swiss PostBus). You can see pick-up and drop-off stops on the timetables, and look for the stop locations on Google Maps.
If you want to use your Swiss Travel Pass, the Palm Express is the only option. It runs once per day in each direction, and reservations are mandatory. You can make a free reservation online here:
http://www.postauto.ch/en/exc ursion-tips/palm-express
If the timing of that bus doesn’t suit you, you would need to take bus #12, on which your Swiss Travel Pass is not valid.
The schedule for the Palm Express is here (near the end of the page):
http://www.postauto.ch/en/exc ursion-tips/palm-express
The schedule for the #12 bus is here, but is only valid until 8 June, so you will need to check for the summer timetable closer to your travel date:
http://www.sptlinea.it/conten t/it/orari-rete-extraurbana
Information about ticket outlets for bus #12 is here:
http://www.sptlinea.it/conten t/en/tickets-offices
Alpenrose
Thank You Lucas for your valued input.
Would definitely take your suggestions into consideration.
- I am planning to visit Rhine Falls at Zurich and nothing much else there. Would it be advisable to do a day trip there from Lucerne or are there alternatives for me to fit Rhine Falls into my itinerary as I will be flying back from Zurich at around noon on Day 14.
- I understand that the Bernina Express departs from Chur at 0832hrs. Given that I would stay at St Moritz, would it be worth the early travel to Chur to board and experience the Bernina Express in full, or would the journey from St Moritz onwards be sufficient?
Hi Alpenrose,
Appreciations for your information sources.
- I am definitely open to exploring Lugano. A boat trip on Lake Lugano sounds like an activity my mother would love.
- In your opinion, would a visit to Lake Como be worth the journey back into Italy given that I would have travelled from Tirano to Lugano the day before? Or would Lugano suffice?
- Is there any possibilities that I visit Lake Como while on my journey from Tirano to Lugano then?
>> am definitely open to exploring Lugano. A boat trip on Lake Lugano sounds like an activity my mother would love.
There is some useful information here:
http://www.luganoregion.com/e n/attractions-activities/lake-nature/lake/cruises
>> In your opinion, would a visit to Lake Como be worth the journey back into Italy given that I would have travelled from Tirano to Lugano the day before?
In my opinion, no. Lake Lugano, and the lovely town of Lugano, is right on your doorstep. If you wanted to explore Lake Como, I would stay at a town on Lake Como, not at Lugano.
But it’s not my holiday – it’s yours 🙂 Read up about both destinations, take into account how much of your limited time you will spend getting from place to place, and decide for yourself.
>> Is there any possibilities that I visit Lake Como while on my journey from Tirano to Lugano then?
No. The Bernina Express bus does not have rights for dropping passengers off on the way, or picking them up. If you wanted to get off at a town on Lake Como, you would need to get there some other way. You will, however, travel along a substantial part of the Lake Como shore in the Bernina Express bus, and experience the wonderful climb out of Menaggio, with its narrow streets and impossibly tight corners!
Alpenrose
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