Sep 12, 2016 - 6:25 PM
At first we were only going to take one train ride through Switzerland on our way to the Cinque Terre area of Italy. The Bernina Express seemed like a good fit since we could fly to Zurich and head on down to Tirano. Then I discovered this forum and my desire to see more increased. The Rick Steve's travel log also added a level of complexity. I now wanted to visit the Bernese Oberland. While not the most direct way of doing things, we made a plan to visit our top choices and have no regrets.
Landed in Zurich, August 30 at 7:45 cleared customs, stopped at ATM, bought 15 day Swiss Travel Passes and were on a train to Pontresina by 9:00. Spent two nights in Pontresina and that gave us free passes on busses and lifts around the area. Walked around town, took bus ride to St Moritz and then headed back to hotel for a good night's sleep. The next morning we took the bus to the Mouttas Muragl funicular and walked the lovely trail to the Alp Languard chair lift. Unfortunely it was out of service and we had to walk down a very steep long path back to Pontresina. Sore all over the next day. Despite the soreness, we took the train north to Morteratsch Glacier and walked the trail. Lovely walk and great lunch near the train station then headed back to Tirano. The train ride from Chur to Tirano is wonderful, so glad we got to experience parts of it more than once. Next day we headed to Lucerne, a beautiful city. Spent three lovely nights there. Enjoyed a boat trip to Vitnau, cogwheel to Rigi and gondola back to Weggis then boat back to Lucerne. Walked Old Town, saw Glacier Gardens and Lion Monument and went to the Transport Museum, very worth seeing. Rained our last day so spent most of it on Lake Lucerne.
Headed to Murren in the Bernese Oberland for four days. Had struggled on whether to stay in Murren or Wengen, so glad we chose Murren. Yes, it is smaller and quieter and we loved it. Thought the views were better too. From our apartment balcony we could watch paragliders and the chairlift . It was stunning. We went to Jungfraujoch, lucked out on great visibility, on the way back we walked from Kleine Scheidegg to Wengenalp before taking train back to Lauterbrunnen. After lunch we strolled the valley enjoying the waterfalls and finally Trummelbach Falls before returning to Murren. Next day we took train then cableway down to Lauterbrunnen then train to Wengen and gondola up to Mannlichen for walk to Kleine Scheidegg. This is a easy beautiful walk not to be missed.
Next day we took a boat trip on Lake Thun to Schloss Oberhof
Left for Italy and first day there wanted to leave. We missed beautiful pristine Switzerland.
Thank you so much for all your hard work and the information you provide on this site. We will never forget our Swiss adventure.
