My 7N/8D plan in Switzerland

Hi,

I am travelling to Switzerland with my Family(which include 2 senior citizens) on 2nd Aug. Someone please tell if there would be any difficulty in the below itinerary..
Day1 Reach Zurich at 10.40 am from Bombay. I am staying at service apartment in Luzern and it will be my base. My flight and stay tickets are already done. Reach Luzern from Zurich by train. Take some rest and explore Luzern.
Day2 Go to Lauterbrunen from Luzern, then if weather is good go to Jungfrau else go to Wengen.
Day3 Go to Lauterbrunnen and then go to Wengen, if went to Jungfrau on Day2 else vice versa.
Day4 Explore Luzern.In the afternoon take the boat to Vitznau and then go up the Rigi by. Return by cable car to Weggis and take a direct boat back to Luzern.
Day5 Go to see Matterhorn in Zermatt from Luzern
Day6 Go to see Geneva, Montreux, Broc Gruyeres from Luzern.
Day7 Go to see Zurich from Luzern
Day8 Explore Luzern. Check out from Luzern apartment and then go to Geneva. My return flight is at 8 pm on 9 Aug from Geneva to Bombay via Munich. Will stay at Munich airport overnight.

Please tell if there will be any difficulty in travelliing as above.

Hi travelfreak, welcome to our website!

Day 2, 3, 5 and 6 involve many hours of traveling. If that's what you want, it's fine of course. But there is plenty to do and see near Lucerne too. I would recommend to consult the timetable and see how much time you need to get to all locations. The plan for day 6 is not realistically possible; there is not enough time to visit all these sites. I would at least skip Geneva since you'll be there anyway on your last day. With this amount of traveling, an 8-day Swiss Saver Pass would be perfect.

Regarding day 2 and 3: you can easily visit Wengen on your way up or down from the Jungfraujoch, so you would only need one day for this. However, if you plan to do hiking or other activities apart from visiting the village, you do need the extra day.

I am not familiar with Munich Airport, but staying the night is not allowed at Swiss airports. So be sure to check what's possible. There are hotels near Munich Airport.

I hope this was useful!

Thanks for the reply!! I realize it would be lots of travelling, but then i think its ok.

1. Why do you think option 2 is hectic? I think only way to reach Jungfraujoch is thru Wengen or Grindlewald. I chose Wengen, because if in case weather is bad i would head to explore Wengen only. Is there any other way?
2. Wengen, Jungfraujoch and Matterhorn are my most wish to visit places...So i tried to fit in all three. Do you think any change can make this plan better?
3. Also whats the most convenient to take money? Do we get any kind of prepaid cards, which we can use there?
4. I checked the timetables. For almost every trip we would return to Luzern at around 9 PM. How safe is Luzern at night?
5. Also for any day trip how early can we move out? Whats the best time of day to visit the Mountains?

Hi travelfreak,

1. I just meant to say that you can visit Lauterbrunnen and Wengen on the same day you visit the Jungfraujoch, because indeed they are on the way up there.

2. Your plan is fine if you don't mind the traveling and keep an eye on the weather when visiting the mountains, like the Matterhorn. Only decide what you do the next day once you've checked the weather on the evening before. I would recommend to do some hiking on your second day in the Jungfrau region. There are easy routes as well, e.g. Grütschalp to Mürren.

3. Debit cards are commonly used, and so are credit cards for the larger amounts (from CHF 30 or so). VISA and MasterCard are widely accepted, AMEX and Diners less I believe. Always carry some cash for small amounts or places that don't accept such cards.

4. That's no problem, but do keep an eye on your luggage and other belongings at all times, also during the day and especially in crowded places such as stations and trains.

5. Train times are in the timetable I linked to in my previous post. Weather in the mountains is usually best in the morning, but do check the weather forecast the evening before.

Hi travelfreak,

1. Absolutely. See the map you can download from the Swiss Pass page.

2. You have listed Gruyères, a midieval town and tourist attraction, and Montreux, a classy luxurious town on Lake Geneva. These are good choices I would say.

3. No, you don't need reservations. Please see the reservation page.

4. Please see these pages:
http://www.truemmelbachfaelle.ch (it's a bit of a weird site, but all information is there)
www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities

5. Please see here: www.myswissalps.com/train/practical/luggage

Kind regards,

Annika

Hi, Thanks for your advice!!

Based on our above discussion, have made some changes in the plan. Please suggest if this sounds better!!

1. Zurich airport to Luzern. Explore Luzern in the evening. Suggest some places in Luzern which would be best to explore in the evening.

2. Luzern to Interlaken to Jungfraujoch. Back to Luzern. If sufficient time left would explore a bit of Interlaken.

3. Luzern to Lauterbrunnen to Wengen. Explore Wengen. Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp to Murren. Please help to plan this day's trip. Thinking of dropping the idea to Trumelbach falls, since there might not be sufficient time. Is trip to Schlithorn possible during this day. Will it involve extra cost besides Swiss pass?

4. Explore Luzern.In the afternoon take the boat to Vitznau and then go up the Rigi by. Return by cable car to Weggis and take a direct boat back to Luzern

5. Luzern to Broc Gruyeres to Montreux. Visit chocolate and cheese factory. Back to Luzern.

6. Luzern to Bern to Basel. Back to Luzern.

7. Luzern to Zurich. Explore Zurich. Back to Luzern.

8. Luzern to Geneva. Back home..

Have dropped Zermatt and Matterhorn, think would be too hectic. Please suggest if the above plan sounds better.

Hi travelfreak,

Sure, this plan is fine, especially if you don't stick to that order and just decide per day which day trip you're going to do based on the weather.

The trip to the Schilthorn is explained here. See the 'Route' section for travel details. With a Swiss Pass, the trip is free, except for the section between Mürren and Schilthorn, that's 50% off.

There's plenty to see in Lucerne in the evening. See the Lucerne page for suggestions please.

Hi travelfreak,

The route to the Schilthorn is explained in detail on the Schilthorn page Arno linked to. There are two ways to get there, so you can do a round trip for more variety. The travel times are in the timetable Arno gave in his first post.

I would do it in this order: Lucerne - Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Grütschalp - Mürren - Schilthorn - Stechelberg - Lauterbrunnen - Wengen - Lauterbrunnen - Wilderswil - Schynige Platte - Wilderswil - Interlaken Ost - Lucerne. Although I would skip either Wengen or Schynige Platte as this is too much for one day. But you can check the timetable and see if you would like to do it like this.

Thanks very much for the detailed route!!

Would request your help on planning for the events on day 5 to Montreux.

• Luzern to Broc-Fabrique by normal train. Visit the chocolate factory. How to reach the factory from Broc Fabrique? Will this trip be covered fully by Swiss pass? I think there is some entry fees for the Maison Caillers. Can we purchase tickets after reaching there?
• Broc-Fabrique to Gruyeres. Will this trip be covered fully by Swiss pass? Visit the cheese factory. I think its open from 9:00 am till 11 am and 12:30 till 2:30 pm. We would try to reach in the second slot. Can we buy the entry tickets to the factory after reaching the place? Then visit Gruyeres castle.
• Gruyeres to Montreux. Will this trip be covered fully by Swiss pass? Visit Chateuu de Chillon, old Montreux, take a walk on the lake promenades. Would also like to visit wineries which offer wine tasting. Please suggest more on these items to help perfect planning. Is there anything which involves additional cost and not covered in Swiss Pass.
• Catch the train from Montreux at around 19:19 and reach Luzern at 22:00

Please suggest if any correction needed.

Thanks a Lot!!!!

Hi travelfreak,

You're planning to visit 5 sites or so, plus you also have a return trip of nearly 6 hours. That's way too much for one day. I would say that you can visit 2, perhaps 3 sites. Be sure to check the timetable Arno has linked to, so that you can see what is possible.

All the trains are free with a Swiss Pass. Please download the map as suggested in one of my previous posts. You can see all such details there.

Information about the cheese and chocolate factories can be found on their websites. Tickets can be purchased on the spot.
cailler.ch/en/maison-cailler/visit-us/tarifs/
lamaisondugruyere.ch

Note that there may be waiting times in July and August.

Thanks for all your last replies!!

Had few more questions on the Swiss pass usage. I was trying to calculate the price of my Jungfraujoch return trip from Luzern in the sbb.ch link. It does not provide me the option of Swiss pass reduction. It only shows Half fare reduction and No reduction. I thought if I have my 8 day Swiss pass i would get 25% reduction on the trip. Please help to confirm this and how do i check the cost of my trip. I had given source and destination station as Wengen and Grindlewald via Jungfraujoch. Please suggest.

Hi travelfreak,

Indeed you will get a 25% discount on the leg from Wengen or Grindelwald to the Jungfraujoch. So just take 75% off the quoted price from the timetable or the Jungfrau website (links are here), and you know the costs. For example, Wengen to Jungfraujoch return is CHF 163, or CHF 122.25 for Swiss Pass holders.