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I have been following various discussions on this forum for last few days. It has been a great help to me in chalking down my itinerary for 9 days in Switzerland in 3 rd week of May. Travelling with my husband and 11 years and 8 years kids
Flying in and out of Zurich
Zurich to Grindelwald by train
Stay for 4 days in Grindelwald in Chelet
(We do not have big plans for Grindelwald. We basically want to have feel of a small swiss town. Things to do consist of- visit Trummelbach Falls, Interlaken, Visit small towns around like Murren, Wengen, Do paragliding or helicopter ride, take few trails for hiking) With 2 kids we prefer staying in Grindelwald rather than smaller towns like Wengen/Murren.
Grindelwald to Lucerne by train
Stay for 3 days in Lucerne.
Things to do – Mt. Titlis, Mt. Rigi, Chocolate factory
Lucerne to Zurich by train
Stay for 1 day in Zurich
Things to do – difficult to decide what to be given priority in a limited time of 1 day. Need suggestions at this point
Zurich to Chur to catch Bernina Express: route Chur to Lugano
Stay overnight in Lugano
Lugano to Zurich to catch the flight back home
QUESTIONS :
Need inputs and suggestions on overall itinerary if any
Can someone suggest good trails in and around Grindelwald (easy to moderate trails keeping in mind my 2 kids).
would like to know how is the weather in May around Grindelwald,Mt. Titlis,Mt. Rigi
Want to visit cheese factory. Would appreciate suggestions
We are planning to catch Bernina express from Chur. This starts in the morning around 8.30. Is it possible to start from Zurich the same morning by one of the local trains and get connected to Chur for BE? In this way we can omit staying in Chur the previous night.
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Hi Shurchirumit,
I would think your best bet for hiking in May around Grindelwald would be to utilize the locally maintained winter trails. Lauterbrunnen valley may be clear enough to hike as well. The staff at your Grindelwald residence or the local tourist information office should be able to advise you what is available. One of myswissalps moderators may know as well. There will be a limited number of trails open due to snow or mud and while the locals keep some of them open in winter the will stop at some point in the spring. Again the moderators may know the exact dates. Mark
Hi Shuchirumit,
I personally would skip Zurich and go straight to Chur from Lucerne. I think it’s a more relaxing way of starting the Bernina Express which will take you the whole day anyway. I don’t know what time you’re flying back home, but you could consider a quick visit to Zurich then. For activities in Zurich please visit this web page.
By the end of May, more and more hiking trails will be accessible. Trails up to 2000 m should mostly be clear of snow, but can still be muddy. This is not a guarantee and varies each year, so exact dates are hard to give. Our overview may help you select some routes. The local tourist office will know exactly which trails are open when you’re there. When you stay in Grindelwald you can also walk around Lake Thun and Brienz.
You can find more information about the weather here. The ideal thing is to check the weather forecast 24-48 hours beforehand, then on the day you want to go up to any of the mountains, check the webcam for visibility at the top before buying a ticket.
This thread: http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/any-cheese-and-chocolate-factories-around-lucerne has information about cheese factories around Lucerne. The train times might have changed. Please use the Swiss timetable to plan your trip.
Marki, Thanks a lot for taking out time to respond. It is very helpful
Chantal, I highly appreciate your valueable inputs. Thjanks a lott.
“I personally would skip Zurich and go straight to Chur from Lucerne. I think it’s a more relaxing way of starting the Bernina Express which will take you the whole day anyway”
If Iwe go to Chur directly from Lucerne that meanse we have to reach the previous day. – Have I understood it correct? We are not so particular of visiting Zurich. It can very well be skipped however I would like to know what can I expect in Chur. I have researched several sites and came to know one thing abt Chur that it is one of the oldest towns of Switzerland apart from that it is hard to get additional things on Chur.
Excellent suggestion on Lake Thun , castle and Brienz. Already made changes in itenarary and added one day in Switzerland (Grindelwald)
Apart from these, do you think overall itenarary is fine? Are we missing out on any major attraction? Since we get 10 whole days in Switzerland, I am sure we can accomodate if something is worth visiting. We are ok with Travelling.
Yes, I had envisioned you would travel late afternoon, leaving enough time to have a stroll through the pretty old town of Chur. True, there isn’t much else to do.
Another idea would be to carry on to St. Moritz (two hours further) and spend the night there. There are regional trains from Chur every hour (see Swiss timetable) and they follow the same route as the Bernina Express. From St. Moritz you can either take another regional train or you book the Bernina Express. Should you take a regional train, do note that it’s mandatory to make reservations for the bus from Tirano to Lugano which leaves once a day in the afternoon.
I think your overall itinerary is fine.
>> I would like to know what can I expect in Chur. I have researched several sites and came to know one thing abt Chur that it is one of the oldest towns of Switzerland apart from that it is hard to get additional things on Chur.
I have attached some photos of the old town of Chur. There is a tourist office in the Chur station, and they can give you a map showing where the notable sights are.
There is also some basic info here:
http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-au/old-town-chur.html
Try to get a hotel close to Chur main station, or at least find out what your transport options are for getting from your hotel to the station in the morning, before booking your hotel.
Alpenrose
As suggested by you, we are planning to go to Chur from Lucerne to catch Barnina Express. Only concern is luggage. We do not want to carry all our luggage. Is it possible to go to Zurich from Lucerne- leave luggage at the locker room at the railway station and then proceed to Chur? After Bernian, we are flying back home from Zurich hence we consider this option.
You would have to get to Zurich before 7am which is possible if you want to get going around 5:30am from Luzern. You could do the exact same trip on regional trains and not be on the actual Bernina Express train though (and not leave so early from Luzern).
You are going all the way to Lugano that day then staying overnight before returning to Zurich the next day for your flight?
I meant, we will be staying overnight in Chur and start BE the next day as you had suggested earlier. Because of luggage, we were thinking to drop the luggage in Zurich and then head to Chur for overnight stay. Lugano is again overnight stay. The next day start for Zurich.
Alternate option is, keep the luggage in lucerne. Go to Lugano stay there overnight and the next day start for BE. Reach Chur in the evening. The same night reach back to Lucerne. The next day start for Zurich. In this option, we are saving one day which can be utilize in Zurich
Either can work well.
I suppose it is down to spending a little extra time in Zurich for option 2 rather than overnighting in Chur….probably what I’d do as well. 🙂
Thaks a lot for the response Lucas. This will help a lot.
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