Zurich, Lucerne - sightseeing with toddler

Hi,

We are traveling to Switzerland in the end of May for 5 days with a 3 year old. We plan to stay in Lucerne for 4 days and 1 day in Zurich. Our plan is:

Day 1:Arrive in Zurich and take train to Lucerne. Check in to the hotel and roam around Lucerne

Day 2,3,4 - Stay in Lucerne. See Jungfrau, Interlaken, Titlis, Pilatus etc

Day 5 - Travel to Zurich - See around Zurich

Day 6 - Fly back from Zurich

Looking for recommendations on which places are worth visiting.

Which one is better with a 3 year old Jungfraujoch or Titlis? Is it worth doing both or should we skip one and replace with Pilatus? Or should we do all three? We want to have varied experiences and don’t want to feel like we are doing the same thing every day. We are leaning towards Jungfraujoch a bit because of the top of Europe tag but are not sure if we should also do Titlis or maybe do Pilatus.

We definitely want to see Interlaken. Can it be combined with Jungfrau in a day from Lucerne?

We want to do some lake cruise, which one is the best for that?

Anything else in the area that is recommended with a 3 year old.

Thanks.

Hi Ashru,

Welcome to MySwissAlps.

From Lucerne, the trip to Jungfraujoch will take about 4 hours so you will be spending a long time in transit. Children in general love train rides so I think your toddler will have a great time but the biggest challenge would be to keep them entertained during long train journeys. I think a day trip combining Interlaken, Wengen and Männlichen might be more doable with a little one. Skipping the Jungfraujoch might also give you more time to explore the Jungfrau region.

Lucerne to Titlis takes about 1.5 hours on the train and 40 mins on the cable cars so a lot more manageable. Also there are various things to do not just at the top of Titlis but at the middle stations too. You can find more details here: www.myswissalps.com/titlis. Pilatus has a large adventure playground at Kriesenregg (one of the middle stations). This is easily accessible by cable cars from Kriens. You can also combine a trip to Pilatus with a boat trip on Lake Lucerne. You can find details here: www.myswissalps.com/pilatus

If you have time, do visit the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. In addition to various interactive displays, there's an outdoor and indoor play areas suitable for toddlers.

You can find more sightseeing options in the links below:

• Lucerne: www.myswissalps.com/lucerne/activities
• Zurich: www.myswissalps.com/zurich/activities

Hope this gives you more options for your itinerary. Please reach out if you need more info.

Regards,

Anna

Thanks for the suggestions Anna. It’s really helpful.

We do plan to rent a car for a day or two. If we drive to Grindelwald from Lucerne and then take the cable car/gondola to Jungfraujoch will it still be a 4 hour journey?

Is it worth doing both Titlis and Pilatus if we skip Jungfraujoch or will it be too similar? Since we have a short trip we are confused wether we should do just one mountain or more than one in the trip.

Also, in general is driving around faster and more convenient with a toddler than taking trains and buses? We definitely want to do a train journey for the experience of it but are open to rent a car and drive around if that makes our travel times faster and allows us to cover more distance and see more things in a short time. How car friendly are all these regions of Switzerland especially when it comes to parking?

Hi Ashru,

I would rather go to the Titlis, as it is less high and gives more air to breathe. Of course, the Jungfraujoch is more impressive, but if the weather isn't good, you can't see anything. I would also go to Pilatus, because all mountains are different. It should be possible to combine Interlaken and the Jungfraujoch. I would also take a boat trip on Lake Lucerne on an old paddle steamer.

Have a great trip!

Martin

Hi Ashru,

I think driving would certainly get you to Grindelwald faster. If you take the Eiger Express, the journey to Jungfraujoch takes roughly 1 hour. So this might be a lot more manageable with a toddler. But as Martin mentioned in his post, there's no point going up if the weather is bad so be sure to check the weather forecast before buying the tickets.

Here are some useful links about driving in Switzerland if you're planning to rent a car for your trip:

• Travelling by car in Switzerland: www.myswissalps.com/car
• Driving in the mountains: www.myswissalps.com/car/drivinginthemountains

Regards,

Anna

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. If we were doing Jungfraujoch then would Titlis or Pilatus be a better second mountain to visit which will give a different experience from Jungfraujoch?

Hi Ashru,

It's a personal choice really. Either one will give you a different experience than Jungfraujoch. Pilatus is closer to Lucerne and you can combine this excursion with a boat trip on Lake Lucerne. You can find info on how to plan a trip to Pilatus here: www.myswissalps.com/pilatus/gettingthere

Titlis is further but the journey to Engelberg is quite scenic: www.myswissalps.com/titlis/gettingthere

Regards,

Anna