Itinerary help – 1 week Switzerland in July

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    5 May 2018 at 20:20:04 #815748

    Hello ! Thanks to the wonderful information on your website, we have decided to visit Switzerland ! I will be travelling with my wife and 9 year old daughter in July for a week. We are planning to buy the swiss travel pass, Kindly review the below itinerary and advice.

    July 6th: will be landing in Zurich by 10:30 AM, plan to take the train to Interlaken and then to Wengen – night in Wengen.

    July 7th: Jungfraujoch excursion if the weather permits, night in Wengen

    July 8th: Schilthorn excursion if the weather permits, a visit to Trummelbach falls if possible and back to Interlaken, night in Interlaken.

    We have not yet decided where to spend the next day, have thought of few different options;

    July 9th:

    Plan 1:

    Early morning train to Zermatt to reach by 9 AM so that we can board the Glacier express which leaves by 9:50 AM from Zermatt, to travel until Chur, night in Chur.

    OR

    Plan 2:

    Golden pass express from Interlaken to Montreux, day at Montreux visiting lakesidepromenade/Chateau de Chillon and back to Interlaken, night in Interlaken.

    OR

    Plan 3:

    Day in and around Interlaken – Harder Kulm/ visit to Grindelwald first +/- boat trip in one of the lakes, night in Interlaken.

    July 10th: Train from Chur/Interlaken to Lucerne, Excursion to Mt. Pilatus, lake Luzern cruise if possible, night in Lucerne.

    July 11th: Excursion to Mt. Titlis, night in Lucerne

    July 12th: Train to Zurich and visit to Heidi land if possible. Night in Zurich

    July 13th: Morning flight back home.

    Kindly suggest if this is doable and what wound be better for the 9th of July. Thank you.

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    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    5 May 2018 at 23:05:27 #884315

    Hello Ibbi and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

    Looks fine.

    Tough choice for the 9th. Option 1 and 2 are long train days. Especially the Glacier Express day. I’d prefer a day trip to Zermatt and Gornergrat Rather than adding the GEX.

    Option 3 is more relaxed and you could maybe also add Schynigge Platte to that day. For option 2 and 3 I wouldn’t even bother shifting hotels to Interlaken. Same for a day trip to Zermatt. Another night in Wengen will also give you more flexibility to take best advantage of the weather for your mountain trips.

    On 10th you can include a boat ride to/from Alpnachstad in your Pilatus excursion. Cog-wheel up and cableway down (or vice verse) makes a great round trip.

    Enjoy your travels.

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    6 May 2018 at 0:19:58 #884316

    July 9th Plan 1:

    • As I have stated in response to previous forum threads it is not logical or practical to travel to Zermatt just to depart again immediately, just to be on the Glacier Express. Doing so completely misses the point of visiting Zermatt which is to travel above Zermatt village and view the Matterhorn.

      To understand the above, it is worth taking a moment to understand the Glacier Express and its history. It was created with the notion that well-healed travellers taking long holidays in Switzerland in the ‘Belle Epoque’ would stay in Zermatt and then also go and stay in the other fashionable resort of the time, St Moritz. The train was named (mainly) after the Rhone Glacier which has now melted so much that you don’t see it from the train and in any case the train runs under the Rhone Glacier in a base tunnel which replaced the Furka mountain section in 1982.

      The Glacier Express thus runs roughly on an East – West axis in the southern part of Switzerland.

      Points to bear in mind about the Glacier Express:

    • Although the whole journey is in the mountains, a lot of it is in valleys – where you get some good views of bubbling rivers but not all the time – there are some mundane sections.
    • in truth there are only 3 really spectacular sections – in order West to East: the loops around Grengiols and Fiesch; Andermatt – Oberalppass – Disentis; Ruinaulta (Rheinschucht aka Rhein gorge); Albula north ramp loops and spirals Tiefencastel – Filisur – Preda
    • The trip is a long one – tourists can frequently be seen sleeping rather than watching the view and missing the spectacular bits anyway!
    • the same railway lines can be travelled using ordinary local trains which are no slower in practice due to the single track infrastructure
    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    6 May 2018 at 0:21:37 #884317

    Hi Ibbi-

    Rockoyster has replied with his usual precision. promptness, and an excellent perspective.

    The Jungfrau Region and the Bernese Oberland offer enough for weeks, not just days.

    http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland

    http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion

    My 8 year old granddaughter really enjoyed her walk on this easy trail:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/hi king/maennlichen-kleinescheidegg.

    Children get tired of looking out of train windows.

    Would your daughter like a special souvenir of her trip?

    Buy her a music box from the excellent selection at Jobin, in Brienz:

    http://www.jobin.ch/cms/cms.a sp?lg=EN&page=258&LF=3&p= ASP\

    I bought her one when she was 8 years old, when she visited Switzerland with me, and get her one from Jobin each time that I am near Brienz.

    She is now 16 years old and still treasures those reminders of her trip.

    Slowpoke

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    6 May 2018 at 0:27:16 #884318

    Heidi Land

    Personally I would not expend too much effort on ‘Heidiland’

    The Heidi story was a work of fiction.

    The ‘Heidiland’ that has been ‘cleverly’ created around Maienfeld is almost as fictional as the original story book. It is based on the very tenuous reference to Maienfeld in the original Heidi book, but otherwise the whole concept is as fictional as the original literary work.

    If you go into the higher Alps of Switzerland during other excursions on your holiday you might see real cowherd/goatherd/shepherd activities happening for real

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    6 May 2018 at 0:41:02 #884319

    Hi 1960man-

    Although I share your perspective, a 9 year old might have a different one. Possibly, the visit might be special for her, when it is not for us jaded old codgers.

    If I were going with adults who appreciate learning about Swiss wines, I would stay at Gasthof zur Bündte in Jenins, and try the wines of Herr Christoff Jenny, or from the family related vineyard just up the hill. Forgot the name. ;-(

    Slowpoke

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    6 May 2018 at 2:45:01 #884320

    Just replying to your wonderfully unembroidered description of the Glacier Express, 1960man, so I can keep a copy of the link. 😉

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    6 May 2018 at 5:34:28 #884321

    Thanks a lot Rockoyster, Slowpoke and 1960 man. I think we will stick around either Wengen/ Grindelwald for July 9th. Thanks for all the suggestions. Rockoyster, will keep in mind Schynigge Platte and your suggestion for the Mt. Pilatus excursion. slowpoke, thanks for suggesting Jobin and 1960man for the detailed description of the journey in Glacier Express. I will just look up more in your forums for the finer details, think I will have few more questions before the final Itinerary is made. Thanks a lot again!

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