Need Help planning 2 days in Switzerland

Me and my husband are planning to spend two days in Switzerland, we will reach Zurich early morning around 7 on May 15th and will be returning back on 17th noon.

So far we have panned to arrive Zurich airport and then leave directly from there towards Jungfrau

Then we are planning to see Grindelwald for an hour and for night stay in Interlaken

Next day 16th, we plan to see Interlaken a little (if there are some places nearby) and then leave for Luzern (visit some attractions there), then leave for Zurich, and spend rest for our day there.

We have few questions

Q) Any suggestions on the trip we have planned so far? Any places we can add here?

Q) Also do we need to book all our rail tickets in advance?

Q) Also the price we are seeing from Zurich Airport to Jungfrau seems to be different on sbb.ch (approx 87 CHF per person) vs almost double on www.jungfrau.ch (about 170 CHF per person). We don't why is this different?

Q) Any advice we should get the Swiss Half fare card? Or just book it online on sbb.ch? Any other way plan the commute in budget?

We are open for suggestions. Let us know if are missing something here.

Hi Rakhi90,

1) Please take into account that a Jungfraujoch visit requires clear skies. If it's in the clouds there's no point in going up. In that case you better do something else (e.g. a hike, visit Bern).

2/4) A Swiss Half Fare Card suits your plans. All details are here. It's cheaper to buy online. All prices are listed here. The discounted tickets can be purchased on the spot, no need to book in advance.

3) At the SBB site, you're looking at the "from" price (half the fare). If you select that you're not entitled to a reduction, you will see the full fare. It's explained here. The prices you quote are single trips. What you can best do is get a single ticket to Interlaken (assuming you'll stay there). Then decide if the weather is good enough for a Jungfraujoch trip, and buy a return ticket.

Good hotels can be found on the Interlaken page.

Hi Annika,

Thanks for the reply. It clarified many things for us.

I need advice on few more things.

1) Regarding place to stay overnight.

I am still confused on deciding where to stay Interlaken/ Grindelwald/ Lauterbrunnen?

We are more interested in viewing beautiful places (without Hiking Or Ski'ing, because we don't have enough time to incorporate them in our trip)

2) Also does it make more sense to do Jungfrau on the day we land it Zurich (considering we will reach there around 2:30 pm) or do it next day early morning?

3) Also, after doing a little more research we also saw Harder Kulm as one options. Is it possible to visit it and take some picture without taking to much time from Interlaken?

Hi Rakhi09,

1) If you like beautiful places then take Interlaken off your list as it is more a practical and central town than a scenic town. Lauterbrunnen is tiny. Grindelwald is a mid size town. The links provide more information.

2) That totally depends on the weather of the day. If it's fine upon arrival you'd better go up immediately since you have so little time. In general though, the mornings are better.

3) Harder Kulm is definitely an option. And so is a boat trip on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz. There is not much to see in Interlaken itself, so don't spend your time there.

Thanks for your advice Annika.