[Removed user]

15 July 2019 at 11:32:20 #822861

Hello Myswissalps team,

Thanks a ton for taking time & efforts in helping trip planners. I`m amazed to see almost all topics being covered in the forum & using that information I could draft my 6N 7D itinerary for Switzerland, for which I seek your expert advice & suggestions.

We are a family of 3 (me, my spouse & our 5 year old), touring around Europe from 9~22-Oct,

Paris: 9~12/ Switzerland 12~18/ Venice 18~20 & finally Rome 20~22.

We plan on taking a 8day Swiss pass & our itinerary for Switzerland is as follows,

12-Oct: Paris > Basel > Lucern

(Lucern is our base for 12, 13 & 14)

13-Oct: Gotthard Bernina circular route ( Lucern > Lugano > Tirano > Chur > Lucern)

We realize this will be a long day & could be been done as a last leg of our Swizz journey before travelling to Venice. However we are travelling with a child stroller & luggage (2big size & 3 carry on ons) hence presume would be much easier to travel hand free at the cost of some extra time.

14-Oct: Afternoon trip to Rigi

15-Oct: Lucern > Wilderswil (via Golden pass express)

(Wilderswil is our base for 15, 16 & 17)

16-Oct: Mountain Excursion, either jungfraujoch or schilthorn, (yet to decide on)

17-Oct: Open day (yet to decide on)

18-Oct: Wilderswil > Interlaken > Montreux (via golden express) > Milan > Venice

Given the number of travel days/destinations & travel involving a kid & luggages. A 4day flexible pass didn`t work out to be more cost effective & flexible than 8day pass, hence we chose an 8day pass.

Request for adivce;

12-Oct, We booked our tickets from Paris > Basel stretch & will use swiss pass for Basel > Lucern stretch.

Do we need seat reservation for Basel > Lucern, our can we board any train leaving for Lucern?

13-Oct, even for swiss pass holder, I guess seat reservation is needed for Bernina express bus & train, where do I do that & how much would that cost us?

15-Oct, for Lucern > Interlaken journey, do we need seat reservation on golden pass express or are we good without it?

We were more inclined towards lauterbrunnen rather wilderswil. Will hotels in lauterbrunnen shut down by mid October?

A bit confused between jungfraujoch or schilthorn, any suggestions please. I understand schilthorn is fully covered by swiss pass whereas jungfraujoch is at discounted cost.

For 17-Oct, any suggestion, please for a mountain excursion or must visit places around Interlaken area?

18-Oct, our trip for Montreux to Domodossola will be covered by swiss pass & for Domodossola to Venice, we’ll buy separate ticket. With this I understand that we can travel on the same train from Montreux to Milan without having to change at Domodossola, am I correct?

Will appreciate any suggestions/ comments on the over all itinerary please.

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[Annika]

15 July 2019 at 16:57:26 #917844

Hello Raj12. Thank you for joining the MySwissAlps forum and for your kind words!

You’ve managed to create a good itinerary I think. The 8 day Swiss Travel Pass is a great option for your plans: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass.

October 13 is a very long travel day indeed, but if you’ve checked schedules using the timetable (http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable) and if you’re still comfortable with it, that’s fine. Note that there are services to have your luggage sent ahead: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/practical/luggage.

I’ll try to answer your questions below:

• October 12: correct, you’ll only need tickets from Paris to Basel: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france. Seat reservations for Basel-Lucerne aren’t necessary: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/reservations;
• October 13: you can find options and costs for your Bernina Express reservations through http://www.myswissalps.com/be rninaexpress/tickets, and for the Gotthard Panorama Express (if needed, you might be using regular trains here) at http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress/ tickets;
• October 15: you don’t have to reserve seats for the leg Lucerne-Interlaken: http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/tickets;
• no, not all hotels in Lauterbrunnen will shut down. Mid-October is still at the tail of summer/autumn season. You’d best start looking for hotels well in advance: http://www.myswissalps.com/la uterbrunnen/hotels. Wilderswil is certainly a good alternative! It’s located very centrally bus less crowded than Interlaken;
• October 16: you’d best compare http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthorn and http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfraujoch and decide for yourself. The fact that Schilthorn is fully covered by your Swiss Travel Pass can make an important difference;
• October 17: there are plenty of options: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion. Do check closure dates, as some mountain transportation might stop running by that time;
• October 18: indeed, your Swiss Travel Pass covers the ride far as Domodossola: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/validity. You need additional tickets Domodossola-Milan: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy. If you pick a direct train between Montreux and Milan, you can indeed stay seated the entire journey; just show your Swiss Travel Pass when asked for during the Swiss leg as far as Domodossola, and your additional Italian tickets during the remaining leg.

[Removed user]

17 July 2019 at 15:31:40 #917845

Thanks Annika, appreciate the information.