Need suggestions on mountain visits

Hi,

I am visiting Swiss for 5 full days (excluded my arrival and departure days) for a first time. I am in the mid of planning my itinerary. I need some guidance on planning to mountain trips. I am coming with my family to do free and easy trip.

I am thinking of visit Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Titles and Jungfraujoch. I am not sure going to all these three mountain is worth of time and money or just stick to any two of these three. I also don't want to duplicate the experience over these mountains as the ultimate goal is to have fun and amusement.

I am keeping my base as Zurich as I don't want to carry my luggage's and wasting my time in checking-in and checking out at different places. I also need some experts review and advice on my high level itinerary.

• Day 1- Zurich region only -> Rhine falls, roaming in Zurich town and boating in Zurich. All these are with Zurich region pass.

Getting Swiss travel Pass (Family Pass) for 4 days and covering rest 4 days.

• Day 2 - Lucerne -> Mt.Pilatus by cable car, Cog wheel train, Boating in Lake and city tour in Lucerne (Chapel, wooden bridge, Lion Monument, Shopping, back to Zurich)
• Day 3 - Getting Glacier express in Chur and travelling up to Zermatt and coming back to Zurich
• Day 4 - Half day on Mt. Titles and post lunch going to Bern (Half day city tour) or taking Golden train to Montraux (Need some suggestions here what is worth?) and then going back to Zurich
• Day 5 - Interlaken - Jungfraujoch - Trummelbach falls or Thun river boating and back to Zurich

Kindly advice.

Regards,

Jay

Hi Jay, thanks for joining us, and welcome!

You've selected some very long day trips. Be sure to check the timetable so you know how long it takes before you decide. Note the spelling of places, that will make it easier to find schedules: Titles = Titlis, Montraux = Montreux, Swiss = Switzerland.

The 3 mountain trips you have in mind are very different experiences. You'll find all details on our Pilatus, Titlis and Jungfraujoch pages, so you can decide for yourself. Things will also depend on the weather. There's no point in going up if a peak is covered in clouds. Bern and the Golden Pass are very different as well. Both are worth it. Personally I would pick the Golden Pass ride over a city visit, but on the other hand it might be nice to walk around a bit as you'll be sitting in trains a lot anyway. Please see the linked pages for details.

On day 3, I would recommend not to travel as far as Zermatt, but get off the Glacier Express in Brig as suggested here. Brig to Zermatt is in a narrow valley. Nice, but not the highlight of the trip, and you must backtrack that leg to travel back to Zurich. It will make a long day trip 2-3 hours longer.

You can buy the Swiss Travel Pass from any of the websites listed here. The easiest way is to print it at home: go to www.swissrailways.com/ en, fill out the requested information, and pick "Online Ticket" from the bottom of the list of shipping options. They will e-mail the pass to you.

I hope this was useful. Have fun!

Hi Arno,

Thanks for providing me your suggestions with good links.

I have 4 more questions:

1.Can you tell me whether my itinerary is doable or its tightly packed?

2. Is it good to check the weather on the mountains before 1 day? I assume it will not be accurate if I check that now and plan the itinerary am I right?

3. Are the train travel time mentioned between the source and destination is reliable or some delays are expected?

4. Does Jungfraujoch and Mt. Titlis both have fun activities on the top? or its only Mt.Titlis have some fun park?

Thanks,

Jay

Can you also please suggest me for cheese factory / chocolate factory to visit according to the itinerary I have? If any factory that comes on the way / nearby to the places I visit, I can plan to go that factory. Please share me if you have any good links on restaurant and shopping that I must try.

Thanks,

Jay

Hi Jay,

1. Especially day 3 & 4 are quite full. Please check the timetable as recommended in my previous post. There's no room for additional activities, unless you add a few days. Perhaps you could sqeeze in a visit to this shop on day 1: www.laederach.com/ch-en/shops/shops/filiale /zuerich-bahnhofstrasse.html

2. You need to check the prior evening. Or even the same morning. Forecasts for many days ahead or not reliable.

3. Delays are uncommon but do occur.

4. Yes, please see the links in my previous post to review all details.

Kind regards,

Arno

Hi Arno,

Thanks for helping me out to draft my itinerary in a best way. I have final few questions to ask and need your advice as I will be in Switzerland next week.

1. Whether too much waiting time (queue) is expected during this period at every counters such as getting into cable car, boat in Golden trip to Mt.Pilatus , Mt.Titlis and Jungfraujoch?

2. Do I need to reserve seats (to and fro) from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch? or Wengen / Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch? My understanding is, I need to purchase ticket with 25% discount (with Swiss travel pass) from Wengen / Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch and not from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch, am i right?

3. Apart from alps tour, if I want to make a city tour any one day and want to make a choice between Bern or Basel, which one should I choose? (Its just half day, planning to do after visiting Mt. Pilatus.

4. About Glacier express: I already reserved seats from St. Moritz to Zermatt. Planning to take train from Chur to Zermatt. I dont know whether I will be missing any stunning views between St.Moritz and Chur. If there is, then probably i might think of taking train from Filisur. Please advice.

5. When I hold Swiss travel pass, do I need to exchange and validate tickets at all sightseeing places and transports. Would you be able to go through my itinerary once i finalize and let me know for any correction?

Didn't open new thread as these are going to be my final questions.

Thank you very much!

Regards,

Jay

Hi Jay,

1. No, very probably not. Tourist high season is in July and August, so you should be able to board without delays.

2. Seat reservations aren't necessary. You indeed need an additional 25% discounted ticket between Wengen/Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch. Please refer to myswissalps.com/jungfr aujoch/tickets.

3. Both are possible, but I'd slightly prefer Bern. You can compare our Basel and Bern pages and decide for yourself.

4. So you've reserved seats from St. Moritz, but plan on boarding in Chur? The leg St. Moritz-Chur is absolutely beautiful; it's described at myswissalps.com/glacie rexpress/gettingthere. However, doing this as a day trip from Zurich is quite challenging, and starting in Filisur or further south will only increase your travel duration. I'd just stick with the Chur-Zermatt plan if I were you (or even Better: Chur-Brig, as suggested by Arno).

5. No, in most cases ticketless traveling is allowed. If a (mountain) route is discounted instead of for free, you do need additional tickets. Details are described at myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpass/howtouse.

As you'll be leaving next week, I suggest you start ordering your passes: even the online ticket option described by Arno may take a few processing days. Ordering through www.swissrailways.com/ en would be the easiest option.

Hi Jay -

I'd stay in Luzern, not Zürich, for your interests.

Slowpoke.