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Hi! I am hoping to travel to Switzerland in the 3rd week of April 2020, & I would really appreciate your input regarding our proposed itinerary. We are a family of 4, & this will be our 1st visit to Switzerland. The kids and I have never experienced snow, & would love to do so.
We will be coming from Ulm, Germany. These are some of the things/places we would like to do/see in the 4 to 5 days we intend to spend there… we hope to get a swiss travel pass.
The Bernina express
The Glacier express
Interlaken
Mount Titlis or Schilthorn
The golden pass to Montreax/ Geneva
Are we trying to do too much? How best can we experience all these lovely attractions? I would really appreciate your input.
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Hi Miri and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
Are you trying to do too much? Probably. How do your kids cope with long train rides?
The Bernina Express is ideal if you are going from North East Switzerland to Italy or the other way.
The Glacier Express is worth considering if you want to travel from East to West.
I would not bother with either, or the Golden Pass to Montreux for such a short stay. If you try to do them all you will spend most of your time on trains.
Where are you going after you leave Switzerland? Back to Ulm? To get from Ulm to Switzerland see http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/germany.
If it was me and I only had 4 – 5 days I would just visit Luzern and the Jungfrau Region (Interlaken).
You will find plenty of snow at Titlis and Schilthorn.
Based on your personal itinerary you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math. The spreadsheet also includes links to the “Where it’s valid” page for all available passes. Be sure to check those pages for each pass you are considering. Study the map AND read all the text on those pages to fully understand what is covered by the respective pass.
If you have children (>5<16) they will travel free with a Swiss Family Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/swissfamilycard) which is available for free when acquired in conjunction with a Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass) or Swiss Half Fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard). Kids under 6 travel free.
For checking timetables see http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/checking-train-timetables.
Hi Miri and welcome to MySwissAlps,
Great that you are planning a Swiss holiday. May I ask how old are your children? (It is useful to know for the rail passes.)
As you are coming from Germany: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/germany/.
You could spend 2 nights in Lucerne (http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne) visiting the old town and one or two of the mountains nearby:
- Rigi: http://www.myswissalps.com/rigi/gettingthere
- Pilatus: http://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus/gettingthere
- Titlis: http://www.myswissalps.com/titlis/gettingthere
- Stanserhorn: http://www.myswissalps.com/stanserhorn/gettingthere
From Lucerne if you want to do the whole Bernina Express route, it takes 14,5 hours: train to Chur from Lucerne then Tirano by the Bernina Express then Lugano by the Bernina Express bus then back to Lucerne. I recommend just to do part of it. You can read about the route at http://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress/gettingthere.
From Lucerne I would move to Interlaken (http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken) for 2 nights and visit the Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities.
From Lucerne or Interlaken you can travel to Montreux by the Golden Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass.
If you would like to travel by the Glacier Express, you can do that from Interlaken: take a train to Brig and board the Glacier Express there. Get off the train in Chur. Then take a train back to Interlaken. This day trip takes 9 to 10 hours. More info: http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress.
Glacier Express from Lucerne: take a train to Chur and board the Glacier Express there. Get off the train in Brig. Then take a train back to Lucerne. This day trip takes 9 to 10 hours. If you get off the Glacier Express in Andermatt instead of Brig the trip takes 7.5 to 8.5 hours.
As you are not staying that much I would recommend to choose between the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express. Or stay a bit longer in Switzerland 🙂
Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass) is a good idea. Once you know your itinerary you can choose the best rail pass. You’ll find a helpful chatbot and a useful guide with a calculation spreadsheet: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. The downloadable spreadsheet also includes links to the “Where it’s valid” page for all available passes, be sure to study it carefully.
Ildiko
Thank you very much for your responses & ideas…
@ Rockoyster, I kind of knew I was trying to do too much, but the more I read about this beautiful country, the more I want to see of it! Mu husband loves heights, & was quite keen to try the suspension bridge near Zermatt…
However, I am very grateful for your feedback… I will change our plans & make Luzern or thereabouts our base…
My kids are 11 & 10, & yes, I dont think they will stay attentive right through a 7 to 8 hour train ride (or 2!!!)
We will be going to Paris when we leave Switzerland – that’s why I thought we could leave from Geneva or Montreax, after spending a day there.
Thank you for all the links… i will do the math & get back to you for clarifications or further questions!
Thanks again for your time & input – it is very helpful!
You can go to Paris via Basel if that is more convenient for your last base.
@ Ildiko,
Thank you very much for your detailed response, especially the time taken to actually do the Bernina express or Glacier express routes from Lucerne & interlaken…i didnt realise it would take that long to get back to base… I was thinking more along the lines of moving from place to place – e.g. staying the 1st night at Chur, boarding the Bernina express on the second day, and processing to Brig or Andermaat for the 2nd night; I thought we could then board the glacier express the next morning & travel to Zermaat, where we could spend the 3rd night and 4th day, before leaving for Montreax for the 4th night, and spending the 5th day either there or in Geneva, before taking the train to Paris!
But I now realise that we would be in trains for most of our time, & we would completely miss the Bernese Oberland region… Our kids, aged 10 & 11 will also not like being cooped up in trains for most of the day…
Now I will change our itinerary & use these suggestions to pick where we stay… my husband is a thrill seeker, & he really wanted to try out the suspension bridge from Randa… I will have to look for other exciting heights for him to experience… would you be able to suggest any in the interlakken/lucerne areas?
About your suggestion to extend our stay on Switzerland… we originally intended to stay only 2 to 3 days, & later realised how foolish we were! 😉🤦♀️ The more I read about this country, the more I realise that we can’t do as much as we wish to in such a short period! But, we hope we will at least get to skim the surface of all there is to experience !
Thanks again for your input & suggestions – it is much appreciated!
Oh, I hadn’t thought of Basel as an option, as I assumed there would be more trains to Paris from Geneva than Basel… thank you for suggesting that – I will look into the frequency & prices of trains to Paris from Basel too!
Hi Miri,
if you are looking for heights for your husband, I recommend Schilthorn (because of the Skyline Walk and Thrill Walk) and Grindelwald – First (because of the Cliff Walk) in the Jungfrau region.
You can read about these places here: http://www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn and http://www.myswissalps.com/grindelwald.
Also he would enjoy Titlis: Cliff Walk and Ice Flyer. Read more at http://www.myswissalps.com/titlis.
Although it not that close to the Jungfrau region but at Glacier 3000 there is also an amazing suspension bridge: http://www.glacier3000.ch/en and http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad/activities.
Ildiko
Wow! Thank you so much! My husband will be delighted. I will show these to him.
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