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Dear All,
I am travelling to Switzerland with my family [ 3 adults and a 2 year old toddler) in October 2018. We will reach Zurich on 2nd Oct and will take a train to Lucerne. We have booked hotels in Lucerne (2 nights), Interlaken (2 nights) and Zurich (1 night) and will return back home from Zurich on 7th October. We have also taken 4 days SWISS TRAVEL PASS (2nd Class) to avail the unlimited public transport service. This is a self-guided tour and we will be on our own. We are thinking of doing the following excursions and would love and hope to cover as much as possible with the time that we have.
02 Oct – Reach Lucerne around 4 p.m. Check in at hotel . Later do a walking tour of the nearby attractions like Kapellbrücke etc and then go for a cruise on panorama yacht SAPHIR.
03 Oct – Mt Titlis excursion – I have read multiple threads on this in the forum and it has been of great help. I do have a question though about the safety of young children travelling up. The advisable age limit is above 2 years (24 months) and my son is 28 months old and I believe he will be alright in the cable car trips. But can he ride on the Ice Flyer? Is that Safe? Please advise.
Can we combine another trip on the same day?Mt Rigi – Is that possible? Or will that be too much for the day?
04 Oct – Mt Rigi Excursion covered by SWISS TRAVEL PASS – We will be checking out from the Lucerne hotel and after leaving our luggage at the reception we will go for the Mt Rigi excursion. And after that we will return to Lucerne and will take a train to Interlaken. How long will it take to complete the Mt Rigi excursion round trip?
Ballenberg Museum and Maison Cailler chocolate factory visit – Would love to include both of this in the itinerary. Please advise on how we can plan this from Interlaken. If Mt Rigi can be done on the same day as Titlis, we can do anyone of this on this day right?
5 Oct – Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe – Depending on the weather conditions we will do this trip from Interlaken OST. I believe there is a 25% discount on the tickets for STP holders. Please confirm. Could you please advise us on any short scenic trips that we can take on the same day? Would love to see more of Lauterbrunnen after reading so much about it’s beauty.
6 Oct – Interlaken to Zurich – We will be in Zurich for only one night. Should we choose the quickest route to Zurich and take the Zurich Trolley for the city tour? OR Should we stay a little longer in Interlaken and cover Ballenberg and Maison Cailler and later in the day travel to Zurich? OR Should we take a scenic train route to Zurich? It would greatly help if you could give some suggestions. I know all of these will give a different experience and might not be comparable. Still please let me know what you think will be the best option for a family travelling with a toddler.
Luggage on Intercity trains – Do the trains have dedicated space/racks for luggage? Please advise. I am aware of the luggage transfer service. But would like to take it along with us.
Washrooms on trains – Do they have diaper changing facilities in the 2nd class coach washrooms?
Switzerland is such a beautiful country and we will be covering so little of it in the limited time that we have. This trip itself is a dream come true. Hope to have a lovely holiday. Thank you so much for all the help Myswissalps.
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Hi jyothymenon and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Oct 3: Yes, I think the your child will be fine on the Ice Flyer. You can certainly have a look before boarding and decide against it at the time.
Yes, a trip to Titlis and Rigi on the same day is possible. A bit rushed and a long day for sure but many people do it. Use the Swiss railways timetable to plan travel from Lucerne to Titlis and then Titlis to Rigi to see your travel times. Most people spend around 2 hours on the mountain top on average. http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Oct. 4: the timetable link above will give you all trip details and duration for all trips around the country.
Ballenberg and Cailler chocolate factory are not very close to each other but again, on a longer day this could be done. Up to you and how you feel that day I think. Probably too long a day with a toddler (but you know your child best).
Oct. 5: The Swiss Travel Pass gets you 25% from Wengen or Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch. See all coverage details on the rail pass here: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity
You could head up via Grindelwald and come back down via Wengen and Lauterbrunnen and then spend a couple hours in around Lauterbrunnen: http://www.myswissalps.com/la uterbrunnen
Oct.6: I would split Ballenberg and Cailller chocolate factory over two days. So on this day I would do one of those activities before going to Zurich (Ballenberg makes more sense I think on this day).
There is definitely dedicated luggage racks on every train yes. http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/practical/luggage
You know I am not sure about diaper changing facilities on Swiss trains…never looked for it so I am drawing a blank! It isn’t a matter of 1st class vs. 2nd class though. I believe on longer distance trains yes they have them in train washrooms….Maybe another forum member who has traveled with a baby will know for sure!
Hi Lucas! Thank you so much for the detailed response.
We are having second thoughts on the Jungfraujoch trip. We will anyway have the snow experience at Titlis so wondering if it is really worth the time, money and effort to take the Jungfraujoch trip. Or will it be better for us to take the other trips from Interlaken. Maybe take a scenic train route to visit the chocolate factory in the morning and Lauterbrunnen visit in the evening. Your thoughts on this please?
Yes, I think it is reasonable to skip Jungfraujoch if you aren’t set on it. Perhaps take the Golden Pass route from Interlaken to Montreux: http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/gettingthere and then train up to Broc and the Cailler chocolate factory? This would be a full day trip though so get an early start to not be too rushed. The trip and factory entrance are included in the Swiss Travel Pass.
Thank you! That was reassuring.
Hi i am planning similar trip, is panorama cruise yacht saphir free with swiss travel pass?
Thanks
Some of those private yachts are discounted with the Swiss Travel Pass (short 1 hour cruises etc).
Any of the regular boat trips (paddle steamer and others that regularly travel on Lake Lucerne are fully covered.
Hi jyothy
few quick thoughts about your queries.. as we recently did almost similar one.. even though it was from a single base..
We had similar concerns about Ice Flyer ( I had previously done that long ago.. but without kids.. ) we didn’t buy the tickets initially.. but when we went there my son wanted to take it.. so both of us went for it.. my wife and daughter (5 yrs) stayed back.. As Lucas told, u can always go there, see & decide.. u can buy tickets at the spot also.
After Titlis we visited the Luzern transport museum.. there is a small chocolate show there Lindt chocolate experience.. which I feel is slightly overpriced.. the museum is nice for adults and big kids..
Ballenberg and Maison Cailler we wanted to see.. but skipped due to time constraints (hopefully next time)
Jungfraujoch and Titlis peaks are almost similar for snow…. but views and travel is different experience. multiple days in high altitudes may be tiring for the 2 yr old..
Around Lauterbrunnen you can visit Trümmelbach falls. Beautiful place. but be careful to hold on to your 2 yr old all the time.
we did a lot of boating in Lake thun.. also visited St Beatus caves .. and Oberhofen castle.. in a day.. and I felt that was one of the most exciting day of our trip .. Can easily be done from Interlaken.. if u are thinking of alternatives to jungfraujoch
No problems with luggage on any trains..
Didnt recollect having come across diaper changing facilities.. try to get into a coach with the sign for differently abled people.. washrooms are quite big in that..
Regards
Fazil
Hi Fazil
Thank you so much for sharing your experience in detail. Very helpful indeed.
It is so difficult to choose from such lovely places. Wondering if I should just go ahead with my plan to cover the Golden pass line and then to Broc for the chocolate factory or should we take the Schilthorn excursion which is easier from Interlaken. We have only one day in Interlaken and finding it hard to pick the best trip.
Hi jyothymenon,
Indeed a hard choice. It really boils down to how much travel time you want that day and if you’d like the train/chocolate factory experience or going up a mountain.:)
Either way I’m sure you will have a good time!
Nice thread.
I am also travelling from oct 19-23 to Zurich + Interlaken with 30 months old kid.
@jyothymenon please share your expirience about the trip ones you are back.
Hi Lucas,
That is true..so we have decided to forgo the long train journey since we are already doing a part of the Golden pass from Lucerne to Interlaken. Thinking of doing the Schilthorn excursion (free with STP), a short visit to Lauterbrunnen on the way back to Interlaken. Later take a boat trip on Lake Brienz and then from Brienz if time permits visit the Ballenberg museum(free with STP). A mountain, a lake and a museum in a day or any two of this, hope that works out! It also gives us the option to get back relatively quicker to Interlaken whenever needed.
Thank you, I hope so too 🙂
Surely 🙂
We had a lovely trip! Many thanks to the myswissalps team! The information and guidelines that I got here greatly helped us.
Just wanted to add a few points for all those who are visiting Switzerland with babies/toddlers.
1. Stroller – we decided to take the stroller with us at the last minute and thank god for that. Majority of the places that we visited had wheelchair access and that meant stroller-friendly too. Just look for the wheel chair/differently abled sign in train coaches, attractions etc and follow the directions. We took the stroller to Titlis (till the exit to the snow point, parked it near a shop and took it on our way back) , Rigi Kulm, Schilthorn, Lauterbrunnen, Ballenberg, basically everywhere 🙂
2. Diaper changing – As suggested by Fazil here, the washrooms are bigger in the coaches marked with the wheelchair sign. There was a diaper changing table in the washroom of the ♿ coach in the Luzern – Interlaken express. However I am not sure if it is there in the rest of the coaches. There are baby rooms in most of the places or a changing table in the main restrooms.
3. Family services area in Zurich airport – Excellent play rooms for kids with all the facilities – changing tables, restrooms for the families, kettle, microwave oven etc
Hi jyothymenon,
Thanks for the follow up! Glad to hear your trip went well.
Could I ask you to post this on the Trip Report forum too? It will be much easier for members to find it there and it is really useful information for families!
Just copy and paste if you don’t want to add anything else. 🙂
Hi jyothy
Nice to hear that you had a good trip.
Try to post a report and do include some pics 🙂
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