Itinerary feedback, hiking in late June

Hello,
Thanks so much for these forums! They are so very helpful and we’ve pieced together what we think will be a pretty good first trip to Switzerland.

We’ll be traveling to Switzerland the last week in June. We’re active walkers and like to do hiking in our area (Midwest USA), but have little to no experience hiking up in the mountains. There is some hiking near us with hills (Appalachian area), but not the Alps! (We are now starting to add more weekend trips/hiking in the hills to help prepare.)

Day 1 – Arrive mid-morning & stay in Zurich (explore & adjust to time)
Day 2 – Rail to Engelberg & explore
Day 3 – Hike to Meiringen (taking the cable car up to Trubsee and hiking from there)
Day 4 – Hike to Grindelwald
Day 5 – Hike to Wengen
Day 6 & 7 – Stay in Wengen (paragliding, hike to Lauterbrunnen & Murren, maybe visit Interlaken, etc.)
Day 8 – Rail back to Zurich
Day 9 – Depart

Some questions …
1. Do we need detailed & topography maps for the town-to-town hikes? The guides all list these hikes as easy hiking; is this pretty accurate?

2. On Day 3, hiking to Meiringen – We know that we are going to have to do a combination of hiking and transportation on this leg of the trip, but I can’t seem to find specifics for what transportation is available after the cable cars up to Trubsee (to Jochpass, Engstlenalp, Baumgartenalp, etc). Is it possible to hike from Trubsee to Meiringen in that one day, and would it be a fairly easy hike after reaching Jochpass? Any help here would be appreciated.

3. We are planning to use the Fast Baggage option to send our luggage ahead to the next towns on Days 3, 4, & 5 … do I need to pre-arrange this service? Is this safe in this area (theft from rail station)?

4. Would the Half Fare Rail pass be our best option? The to/from Zurich full price fairs (Day 2 & 8) equal less than the Half Fare Rail pass per person. However, with all the additional transportation via buses/lifts/etc. we'll be using throughout the trip, this pass might be worth it overall? Any additional suggestions are welcome! And, are tickets easy to buy the day of by just going to the rail station, or should we pre-buy these as well?

Thanks!!!

Hi MLS2010,

Good to hear our website is helpful to prepare for your vacation! Let's look into your questions:

1. Well, the trails may technically be easy, but personally I would not want to do these longer hikes without a map. In case of bad weather you may miss a sign, for example. Also you always need to know about alternative trails, in case of an emergency or if the hike is longer or more strenuous than expected. You can buy a detailed hiking map locally, or at least take printouts from wanderland.ch. There's an app for your smart phone as well, please see here.

2. Trübsee to Meiringen is a lot of vertical meters to cover! First from 1800 m up to the Jochpass at 2200 m. Then either all the way down to Innertkirchen at 625 m, where you can take a train to Meiringen. Or, from the Jochpass, up to about 2250 m along the Tannensee and Balmeregghorn, ending at Planplatten (2233 m), where you can take a cable car down to Meiringen. There is a chairlift from Trünsee to the Jochpass, which will start operating June 19. The timetable is posted on the Titlis website.

3. It's safe, and no need to pre-book. Details and links can be found here.

4. Actually, the full fare for day 2 and 8 is equal to the price of the Swiss Half Fare Card (see here for how to do the math). The Swiss Half Fare Card allows you to save 50% on these train trips and the cable cars you intend to use. See here for Swiss Half Fare Card prices please. Tickets can be purchased on the spot.