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Is this itinerary practical? I know Swiss trains are reputed to be punctual, but this schedule will rely on absolute punctuality. I am also not sure if I am reading the boat schedule (http://www.bls.ch/-/media/bls/pdf/fahrplaene/schiff/fahrplan-schifffahrt.pdf?la=en&vs=1) properly. This trip will take place in the final days of August, so I am going by (or at least, I’m trying to go by) the summer schedule. Finally, are meals pretty quick in Switzerland, or are they more of a leisurely affair? 😉
*Take the 9:06am train from Lucerne to Brienz. Arrive at 10:33am.
*Immediately board the 10:40am boat from Brienz to Giessbach Falls/Hotel. Arrive at about 11am.
*Walk to the bridge halfway up (behind the waterfall). I am to understand this hike is pretty quick. If true, we’ll have lunch at the hotel restaurant, which opens at 11:30am. So maybe a 12 noon lunch reservation? Otherwise we’ll save lunch for Brienz. Maybe we can at least get a snack on the terrace. :-O
*Either way, we’ll return to Brienz with the 1:09pm boat and arrive there at 1:20pm. (Next boat departure is not until 3:09pm!)
*Unless we miss the 10:40am boat to Giessbach. In which case the next boat would leave Brienz at 12:40pm and arrive at almost 1pm. We’d then leave Giessbach at 3:09pm and have just as much time there overall. Maybe we would have an early lunch in Brienz, were that to happen. This would certainly disrupt any meal reservations we’d want to make at the Grandhotel Giessbach. And probably complicate or negate the next parts of this plan.
*Walk around Brienz at our leisure.
*Take the train to Meiringen. Visit Aare Gorge (not Reichenbach Falls). The gorge closes at 6:30pm. I believe it is a 25 minute walk from the train station to get to the gorge, so we’d have to arrive in Meiringen with plenty of time – by about 3:30pm, I would guess. So we’d need either the 2:54pm or 3:25pm train from Brienz. This should give us at least 2 hours for the gorge.
*Is there a good place for dinner in Meiringen (after the gorge), or should we save that for Lucerne?
*Return to Lucerne (it seems that direct trains depart from Meiringen at the “xx:41” of every hour).
I’d say the boat is definitely the most complicating part of this plan, due to its lack of frequency and gaps in the timetable. It’s starting to make me wonder whether the gorge or falls are more worthwhile! If what I’ve laid out seems practical, though, I’d love to do it all. Is it?
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Hi Elana,
trains are usually punctual, boats may late. The train station and the harbour in Brienz are very close to each other.
Meals depend on the crowd and the place where you go. Some restaurants are quick, others are slow. There is also a (snack) restaurant at Aare Gorge. As far as I remember, we spent around 1 hour (maybe 45 mins) there walking just in one direction. But if you walk in return, that should be already faster as you’ve already seen it once.
I think there are more great restaurants in Lucerne than in Meiringen.
You can also check the boats in the SBB timetable, so you do not have to use a pdf file. I think this way it is easier.
Ildiko
Hello,
Thank you for your input. I am wondering if you can tell me how breakfast is on the IC trains, in case we decide to take an earlier train. I figure we need a real breakfast to do any hiking, which is why I am going for the 9:06am train, so we have some time to eat at the hotel at least. But otherwise we’d not be opposed to the 8:06am train from Lucerne, to give us more breathing room for the boat connection.
Hi Elana,
a Restaurant or a Bistro (table service or take-away) is available on most of the IC trains.Read more about the options here: http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/culinary/dineonthemove
You can check the timetable if there is a restaurant carriage on your train.
Ildiko
Do you think 2 hours is enough time to both hike up to the falls and have lunch at the hotel, or are we better off only having dessert at the hotel, to avoid a time crunch?
Hi Elana,
it depends on, how far you would like to hike, please see this route description: http://www.myswissalps.com/hiking/giessbach-iseltwald and http://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-route/switzerland/giessbach-waterfalls-hike/213372942/
To the Hotel you can also take the funicular if you would like to save time.
This trip report might help you too: http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/trip-report-part-8-brienz-geissbachfall
Ildiko
Be very careful with Swiss train restaurants – they are VERY expensive.
A very light breakfast costs CHF10
You refer to the infrequency of the Lake Brienz boat and gaps in the schedule. This is a tad unfair on the operators of the Brienz lake boats. It is a small lake and there are only one or two boats (one of which is the historic paddle steamer) and limited staff
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