MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 8 day Swiss trip – fewer mountains more relaxed?
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Hello,
I am planning to travel to Swiss on 8th June 2018, with my wife and 20 month old daughter. Thanks to this great forum, I was able to gather many important information from here and prepared the below travel plan. Requesting your valuable suggestions to improve this itinerary.
Day 1 (16-Jun-18)
Doha to Zurich . Arrival at Zurich by 14:30 PM. Zurich to Lucerne by train. Apartment we booked is in Lucerne Allmend. Take Bus number 20 from Lucerne station and get down at Lucerne Allmend. Check in the hotel and relax.
Day 2 (17-Jun-18)
Day trip to Rigi. Lucerne to Mt. Rigi, Return through Vitznau via Boat. If time allows inn the evening,visit Lucerne old town, Lio Monument etc.. Stay in Lucerne.
Day 3 (18-Jun-18)
Mt. Pilatus trip. Come back to Alpnachstad and head to Ballenberg open air museum. (Hope these two trips can be done on the same day). Stay in Lucerne
Day 4 (19-Jun-18)
Day trip to Mount Titlis. Stay in Lucerne.
Day 5 (20-Jun-18)
Check out the hotel in Lucerne and head to interlaken by train. Leave the luggage at Interlaken OST station and visit schynige platte. Stay in Interlaken.
Day 6 (21-Jun-18)
Mürren – Schilthorn – Wengen trip. Stay in Interlaken
Day 7 (22-Jun-18)
No Plans made yet. Decided against Junfraugh because of the altitude. Options like Grindelwald, Thun are under consideration. Requesting Suggestions.
Day 8 (23-Jun-18)
Check out. Train to Zurich Airport. Return to Doha.
My concern about the trip plans is that its too many mountains (in fact mountains everyday). I am thinking about skipping few mountain trips and visiting some scenic places/villages.
Please provide your inputs.
1) Whats is the forum’s suggestion about skipping a mountain trip in Lucerne and visiting Rhine falls instead? If I have to choose any two out of Rigi, Pilatus and Titlis- which one should I choose?
2) Kindly suggest a relaxed day trip option in Interlaken area.
Thanks
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Hi Reddevil
I think Lucas meant move Ballenberg to day 7. Beatenberg is close to Interlaken and has some beautiful caves that are worth a visit.
As an alternative to having a day in the mountains you might consider a ferry trip on lake Thun and include the town of Thun while you’re at it.
Alan
Not a bad plan and nice to see you’ve included Schynige Platte; a lovely trip on an old fashioned little train.
On that same day (5) take the Zentralbahn metre gauge train to Interlaken; a beautiful trip. Your return to Zurich Airport on day 8 would be via a different, faster, route.
Day 6 would be a magnificent trip and hopefully you’ll have the same good weather as I did in June 2015. The extra fare to get to the top at Schilthorn is worth it.
Consider boat trips on either or both of the lakes at Interlaken (day 7).
Working out the best tickets/pass(es) for your trip will be an interesting exercise. Your hotel in Luzern may issue a visitors’ card. https://www.myswissalp s.com/train/ticketspas ses/practical/choosera ilpass
Enjoy your travels!
I did! Edited – thanks Alan!
Just on our first trip to Switzerland so limited experience compared to the pros. We found the info office in front of the Interlaken OST train station to be very helpful. Being in our 60’s, webwere interested in simpler trails. They have a map with all the trails by level of challenge, normal time to walk, and change in elevation. They also have live cameras to show the mountain top weather. Today it was clearer up high and overcast in Interlaken. We take transportation up and do fairly easy trails down a few miles and finish the rest on transit. We see many parents with young kids on their backs. Lauterbrunnen has the beautiful 300 meter Staubbach falls on the edge of a lovely town and even a playground across the way. Great place to picnic. The path thru and down from Mürren to Grutschalp Is wide and firm with great views (and cows with the traditional bells) Or you can walk up as it is a modest change in elevation. Also, We took the train from interlaken Ost to Grindelwald, walked around this nice commercial village and then took the cable car up to First and had lunch. On the way down, we excited at Bort and walked the path to Grindelwald maybe 3 -4 kilometers depending on the route. Most of the trail is paved but not all and can be a bit steep in a few places but overall not too challenging. The info office also pointed out that some trails along the lakes can be simple and can be mixed with boat rides. As others noted, you can visit towns along the lakes via trails or boats or busses or trains. Wish I had more to share. The area around Interlaken is beautiful with many options and the information office can help you modify plans if your 20 month old child gains the upper hand. Enjoy!
Thank you all for your kind suggestions and special thanks to Tfisch for the detailed write up. Really appreciate the support and sorry for the delayed response from my side.
I have decided to skip Mt. Pilatus on Day 3 and visit Rhine falls instead. As Lucas suggested, is it possible to visit St. Gallen on the same day? The Ballenberg museum trip will be moved to Day 7. Requesting to suggest any nice places on the same route that we can include in the days plan.
i just checked the weather forecast and very disappointed as it is showing rain and clouds on most of the days 🙁 Live webcam view of Schilthorn is also very cloudy, whereas Rigi, Schynige platte, KLEINE SCHEIDEGG looked very pleasant. Loved the webcam views of Grindelwald-First, considering to add it our plan.
I am planning to take a stroller, will that be a bad idea? is the places mentioned in the itinerary are stoller friendly? I read the rain in swiss are in very short spells.
Requesting one more suggestion about the Junfraugh region. I wish to visit – Murren, Schilthorn, Wengen, kleine Scheidegg, Schynige Platte and Grindelwalk-First.
How these can done inside two days? which all places to be done on day 1 and 2.
Still here in region until June 7. Went to First a few days ago and very clear. Schilthorn covered in clouds. Check webcam on your device or in info office and prepare to change plans. Seems like almost all trains, busses, cable cars run about every half hour. With planning, you frequently exit one and get on another in 5-10 minutes. Strollers and suitcases seem common on most of these. I tend to think you could do the venues you listed in the Interlaken area in 2 days with a reasonably early start. Most rides are less than 20 minutes and require some transfers the higher you go. A few are very crowded but many are not. Some transfer points are towns. Others are just transfer points w no commercial buildings.
Hi Reddevil,
You can use the timetable to plan your trips. That will show you how long any trip takes and allow you to decide how much you can do in one day: https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable. The RheinFalls and St. Gallen could be done in one day (I guess all you want is a few hours in St. Gallen to see the town center).
Strollers are usually ok but try to bring one that can fold up on the trains etc.
Ballenburg is near Brienz and Thun so worthwhile visiting those on the same day (perhaps a lake cruise: https://www.myswissalp s.com/boatlakethun
https://www.myswissalp s.com/boatlakebrien z
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