Please suggessions on my Switzerland trip

Hi all,

First of all thank you for this forum, this is very useful. We have planned 5days in Switzerland & 5days in Italy. Below are my questions;

- i am arraiving in zurich 23rd Jul,2014. I think Zurich is quite expensive to stay. Is Lucarane or interlaken will be the good options to stay for all five days.

- How much travel it takes by train to travel to lucrane or interleken from zurich, as we are coming from oman taking long journey with kids and want to know is it convinient to travel on the same 23rd july to lucarane or interleken

- what all major attractions maximum i can cover in 5days, if i stay in Lucarane or interleken

- from where and which train i can take train to italy and to which station, we are planning for rome, venice and floreance

I know this forum is about swiss but still want to ask about the sample italy etinary covering all above italy cities.

Please give some information on above.

Thnanks a lot guys.

Hi deepali,

Thanks for complimenting us on our forum! I'll try to answer your questions below:

I assume you mean Luzern (or Lucerne in English)? If so, it is really easy to reach from Zurich airport. There are direct trains, and the journey takes about an hour. Traveling to Interlaken takes more than 2 hours at least and requires changing trains along the way. See the timetable for details about all trips in Switzerland and to surrounding countries such as Italy.

I think the pages below will be useful for your further queries:

• Activities near Luzern
• Activities near Interlaken
• Hotels in Lucerne, varying from budget to 5-stars
• Hotels in Interlaken
• Rail passes to save money on your trips

I can't suggest an itinerary for Italy, sorry.

By the way, I moved this thread to the Miscellaneous forum. You posted in the Trip Reports forum but that's only to report back about completed trips. You're more than welcome to post there once you returned from Switzerland, that would be great!

Hi Annika,

Thanks for your reply. After a much reading on internet and this myswissalps, below is our 5day plan in switzerland. Can you please review and

advise.

23/072014-Day 1-

1. Land in Zurich by Swiss air and head to Lucerne check in hotel and get refresh for the tour (now as this is 1st day, thinking of spending remaining day in Lucerne sightseeing)
2. Chapel Bridge and Lion Monument
3. Traffic Museum or Glacier Garden.
4. Stanserhorn
5. Rhine Fall in Schaffhausen (How to get there from Lucerne, please tell)
6. Overnight in Lucerne

24/072014 - Day-2

1. Pilatus - Golden round trip (Golden Round Trip - 'Take the boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad. Change to the cogwheel train to the Pilatus. Then take the cable car down to Fräkmüntegg and change to the gondola to Kriens. It's a 5 minute walk to the bus stop. Finally, take the bus to the Lucerne rail station (15 minutes).Toboggan and rope parkFräkmüntegg. - How many hours it will take for this trip? Can it be a half day tour?
2. Mt. Rigi - (Majestic Round Trip'Take the boat from Lucerne to Vitznau. Change to the cogwheel train to Rigi Kulm and enjoy the view. Then take the cogwheel train down to Arth-Goldau and change to the regular train to Lucerne)The Rigi is included for free in the Swiss Pass, the others are discounted.
3. The Stanserhorn - How to get there.
4. Overnight at Lucerne

25/072014 - Day-3

1. Titlis-(how far Engelberg from lucerne? from Engelberg titlis can be reached by cable car) Can this be covered in half day?
2. Titlis Glacier Park (How to reach Here)
3. Golden Pass Train to Jungfrau region or Interlekan - Can we drop the train in Jungfrau and go to interleken in hotel. Please provide the route - Is it possible to take golden pass train till Interleken or Jungfrau region? which is best to stay budgetwise?
4. Overnight at Interleken or Jungfrau region

26/07/2014 - Day-4

1. Jungfraujoch (I have seen information here about how to reach Jungfraujoch, which is the best to start from interleken?) Can it be a half day trip?
2. Schilthorn - Is it possible to get Schilthorn directly after the visit from Jungfraujoch and how den? which is the best route?
3. Overnight at Interleken or Jungfrau

27/08/2014 - Day -5

1. Take Bernina Express- The Bernina Express is a direct train from Chur to Tirano in Italy. How to travel to chur from Interleken?
2. Tirano - Lugano (See swiss miniatur)
3. How to travel From lugano to venice? (As read through forum - ucerne to Lugano first by paddle boat from Lucerne to Flüelen, then by train via Bellinzona to Lugano, right? but we are thinking of taking Bernina Express)
4. Any Idea how to reach venice from Lugano? Possible by Swiss rail or pass, or by Eurorail only?
5. Overnight in Venice.

From Day 6 to Day 11 In Italy :)

Annika I know may be toooo many things, too many questions in the plan. Please review, I hope I have not planned too much for the day :) But this what I made, need help to finalise this. This is a first Draft :) . will wait for your reply

Best Regards,

Deepali

Hi Deepali,

You sure did a lot of reading :-) You have a good list of options here, but it is absolutely impossible to fit it all in 5 days. I suggest to read this article about how to plan a trip in the Swiss Alps, and adjust the plan accordingly. Our pages for the Titlis, Stanserhorn and other attractions explain how to get there and how much times it takes to visit the attraction.

It's good to have two options for each day: one for good weather and one for bad weather, when you can't visit the mountain tops. But either option should be doable in terms of traveling times.

I hope this has helped you out!

Kind regards,

Arno

Hi,

can you tell me how to reach Rhine Fall in Schaffhausen from Lucerne..

Also how to get to Chur to take a bernina express to tirano.

Thanks,

Deepali

Hi Deepali,

All trip details can be found in the timetable Annika linked to. For the Rhine Fall, the destination is called 'Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall'.

Hi Arno,

Thanks for your reply. I need your help. we are thinking of using bernina expresss on our last day in swiss to travel to Italy. i was checking the timetable but didnt get much information. we want to travel to chur or st moritz from interleken. and from chur or st moritz to italy. From chur the train starts at 8.35am to italy.

can you please l help me in this timetable.

thanks,

deepali

Hi Deepali,

The Bernina Express departs from Chur at 8:32 in the morning. A link to the detailed timetable is available on the Bernina Express page. The train is also included in the general Swiss timetable, which you can also use to plan your transfer from Interlaken to Chur. You would have to travel to Chur the evening before and book an hotel there. If this is not practical for you, you can also consider traveling by regular trains instead of the official Bernina Express. The scenery is not different. Alternatively, you can look into the Wilhelm Tell Express, which is a scenic route that goes towards Italy too.

Dear Arno,

Thanks, we are going to tale Wilhelm Tell EXpress. I have few point to disscuss with you as below:

1. As mentioned in the link to reach lugano we need to change the train in Bellinzona. And again further travel to Venice from Lugano. Journey till Lugano is covered in swiss pass. What about from lugano to venice, is that covered in swiss pass? Or we need to book the International rail ticket (this is available on swiss travel system web)

2. Which will be the best option costwise either to take Eurorail Pass or in Swiss -swiss flexi pass for 5days and in Italy - Italy rail pass 5days

(Can you sugesst any pass in Italy which will cover Venice, Florence, Rome?)

3. And waht is this swiss family card is this come for free when we go for swiss flexi pass, or need to purchase seperatly, with this i think child travel for free.

Waiting for your sugessions.

Thanks,

Deepali

Hello Deepali,

1. The Swiss Pass covers traveling until Chiasso (Swiss border). You can see such details on the map you can download from the Swiss Pass page. From Chiasso onwards, you need a point to point ticket or a pass for Italy.

2. For Switzerland, a Swiss Travel System pass usually works better than a Eurail pass. For Italy, it depends on your itinerary details (all town to town transfers plus side trips) whether tickets or a pass would be cheaper. In the end, doing the math as explained here is the only way to know for sure.

Since you live in Oman, you can get all you need from one website: the Swiss Pass here, tickets here, and a pass for Italy here. Don't forget the promo code if you do so.

3. A Swiss Family Card comes for free with any Swiss Travel System pass (not with Eurail passes). You just have to request it while ordering. See here for details.