[Removed user]

5 February 2019 at 22:05:29 #819801

Hi,

Me and my husband and my 6 year old son are visiting Switzerland for the first time. I need some advice on rail travel where my son will not get bored with long travel hours. We have booked airflight to and from Basel in April for 5 nights. Please let me know which which rail sightseeing we should go for? It can be the shortest but the best one to explore and have a feel of Swiss Alps.

Also is it best to hire a car or rail card or bus and visit nearby cities like Luzern, Interlaken etc?

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[rockoyster]

5 February 2019 at 23:51:05 #903659

Hello Punam and Welcome to MySwissAlps

I would strongly recommend you rely on public transport to get around. Use the SBB Timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) to plan your travel. If you are not familiar with using the timetable it will pay to first read the instructions on that page.

If you want to consider a rental car read this first – http://www.myswissalps.com/ca rversustrain

Your son will be able to travel free with a Swiss Family Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issfamilycard) in conjunction with a Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass) or Swiss Half Fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard).

We can’t tell you what to do because it depends on your personal priorities. Maybe start off by looking at the options at http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities.

Be aware that April is between the winter and summer tourist seasons so some areas are very quiet with hotels and restaurants closed for a break. There will still be some places open though. See http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit.

Once you have a rough itinerary you could post it here to get some advice on how to refine it.

[Removed user]

6 February 2019 at 18:37:09 #903660

Hi Punam and welcome to MySwissAlps!

As Rockoyster has mentioned, our advice would depend on what your interests are and ideally you should build an itinerary of what you want to see, checking travel times etc. You can find more information about building your itinerary here: http://www.myswissalps.com/pl antrip/doityourself/co mposeitinerary

About train vs car. I absolutely would recommend you travelling by train! Besides the fact that you can relax and look at the beautiful scenery (specially if you go to the Alps), you will be able to entertain your son in ways you wouldn’t be able to do if you’re in a car 🙂 Many families travel like this in Switzerland because trains here are spacious – you can get up and walk around as well if your son is bored for example, play games etc.

I would recommend you look at the following page to get an overview of what to do in each region: http://www.myswissalps.com/re gions

The following regions are within easy reach from Basel by train and are in the Alps:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland (for Interlaken)
• http://www.myswissalps.com/ce ntralswitzerland (for Lucerne)

Also close to Basel, but not in the Alps:

• http://www.myswissalps.com/gr eaterbernregion
• http://www.myswissalps.com/no rthwestswitzerland (this is the area in and around Basel so you should definitely have a look since this will be your starting point).

Good luck planning your trip and get back to us if you have any more specific questions!

Maria.

[Removed user]

6 February 2019 at 22:13:11 #903661

Hi Maria,

Thank you for your support. I want to Bernina express. Could you please let me know what is the quickest way to reach from Basel to Chur for a day trip?

Also is it best to travel my train to close by cities like Interlaken and Luzern?

[rockoyster]

6 February 2019 at 22:23:43 #903662

Use the SBB timetable link I posted earlier to plan how to travel from Basel to anywhere. Trains are easy to Interlaken an Luzern.

The Bernina Express departs Chur at 8:32am so you would need a very early start from Basel to make it. You can easily do part of the route on regular regional trains. A return trip to St Moritz following the Bernina Express route is probably doable for you.

[rockoyster]

6 February 2019 at 23:13:53 #903663

Are you planning to stay in Basel and do day trips from there or have I misunderstood your initial post?

[Removed user]

7 February 2019 at 7:20:00 #903664

Hita,

yes we are staying in basel from 15th to 20 th April. That is our base. But i have read that doing Bernina Express is a very long journey from Basel and its not easy. Is that true? If so, wat other swiss alps train journeys i can do whoch won’t take very long?

[Arno]

8 February 2019 at 21:03:55 #903665

Hi Punam,

Yes, it’s a very long day trip as it’s at the other side of the country. You’ll find details under “Day trip if you are staying off the route” on http://www.myswissalps.com/be rninaexpress. From Basel it would be similar to doing it from Zurich, but with an additional hour of travel time each way. Too much for a day if you ask me 🙂

More scenic train routes are here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain. Basel is relatively far from the Alps so also far from the most impressive train routes.