Suggestions welcome 4 nights & 5 days Interlaken

Hello Everyone,

Hope everybody doing great and Enjoying EuroCup 2016 :)

I would appreciate a quick Travel itinerary expertise for a family trip with Parents and 4 year old kid.

We will be travelling to Switzerland from Germany - 4 Nights/5 Days starting from 22nd June - 26th June. Our Apartment is in Interlaken for 4N/5D which is close to Interlaken OST.

a.) Should we include Mt. Pilaus or Mt. Rigi and other options like Luzern or any other destination. We would like to avoid JungFrau this time. our planned itinerary looks like this:

• Day 1 Arrival at Zurich in the morning and transfer to Interlaken by Train - Apartment check in followed by Trip to Breinz village + walk around interlaken lake and town center
• Day 2 Travel to Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Falls
• Day 3 - Golden Pass Panorama Train
• Day 4 - Grosser Aletschgletscher
• Day 5 - Zurich Rhines Falls, Flight Back to Düsseldorf (Germany) in the evening

b.) As we are travelling for 5 days. How to include 4 nights and 5 Days with swiss travel pass as the best availabe swiss travel pass is for 4 days only?

Many Thanks & Regards // Prakassh

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Hi Prakassh, welcome to MySwissAlps!

Are you coming from Düsseldorf on your way into Switzerland as well? The reason I ask is that it seems like you plan to take a flight. A train ride might be your better option. Trains take the more direct route without a detour through Zurich, and the quickest trains take about the same time as a flight if you include the time to get to/from the airport, luggage collection, etc. There's even a direct train from Düsseldorf to Interlaken. The more enjoyable and eco-friendly option I would say. Tickets are very cheap at the moment: from only € 34 through www.bahn.com. More options are here. Booking early is recommended.

a) You'll find lots of suggestions through the below links. Be sure to include a few hikes/walks; that's the best way to see the Alps.

• www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland/activiti es
• www.myswissalps.com/la kelucerne/activities

b) It depends on your mode of travel and route on your way in or out. If you pick the train option I explained about, the transfer to Interlaken is included in the ticket from Düsseldorf, so a 4-day pass will work. If you prefer a flight, you will need an additional ticket (or pass day) from Zurich to Interlaken. There are two passes to consider I would say:

• www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass (4 days of free traveling, and discounts on mountain trips)
• www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard (discounts on all tickets during your entire stay)

Both passes can be printed online to save time on arrival: you can visit www.swissrailways.com/ en. After filling out your address, they will show the delivery options. Pick "Online Ticket" from the bottom of the list. They will e-mail the pass (no delivery fees), so you can print it at home. Be sure to order today or tomorrow morning, or they may not be able to issue a pass for the 22nd (it takes a few business days to process orders).

I hope this was useful!

Hello Annika,

Thanks for your reply on the questions above. Yes, we are travelling from Düsseldorf. I had explored several options before and finally booked Air tickets considering all the timeschdules of Train and Flights, price and also since we will be majorly travelling through trains during our visit to destinations so thought flight would be a slightly better option. I also agree with you Train from Düsseldorf-Interlaken could also be a best possible option.

a.) Do you think, other popular destination like Mt. Titlis, Luzern can also somehow be covered in the Itinerary specified above.

b.) Yes, I agree with you and realised I should have ordered the Swiss travel passes online before on time. I am planning to get the swiss travel passes from Zurich Trains station on arrival. As we are planning to cover Boat trip to Breinz so not sure if one day travel pass would be valid to cover that as Swiss travel pass covers that. Slighlty confused what should be the right day (Day 1 or Day2) to start with swiss pass.

Thanks & Regards //

I

Hi Prakassh,

a) Sure, you can replace one of your original plans by Mount Titlis. The pages are referred to link to all the details of the attractions, so you can have a look which is of most interest to you.

b) It's not too late, you can still buy it online. There can be quite a queue at the airport ticket office, but even if there isn't, spending 5 minutes on buying a pass can cause you to miss your first train and wait for half an hour or an hour. If you print it at home you can board the train straight away. As for the 4-day pass my proposal would be to make the most out of either day 1 or day 5, depending on the time of your flights. You can consider to skip the Rhine Fall. It's a nice visit, but it's not the Alps, and with only 5 days you may want to focus on the Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne area instead. Note that Mount Rigi is free with a Swiss Travel Pass, as well as the Lake Brienz boat trip and the Schynige Platte train from Wilderswil. You can possibly even combine two of these on either day 1 or 5. Schynige Platte can also be added to day 2.

Hi Annika,

Thanks for the tips, two questions related to Golden Pass Panorma Train and Grosser Aletschgletscher

a.) As our base location will be Interlaken, should we follow Golden Pass Panorma train routes -- > Interlaken Ost- Zweisimmen-Montreux and back or should we start Panaorma Train journey from Luzern ?

b.) Is it really great to visit Grosser Aletschgletscher, if one is not really into hiking or sking ? :) Though some very great reviews of this location considering long glaciers.

Thanks & Regards //

Hi Prakassh,

a) You can travel any route and direction you like.

b) Well, that depends on the eye of the beholder. I like that view a lot. The experience is better if you add a (short) walk. Information is here:

• www.myswissalps.com/be ttmerhorn
• www.myswissalps.com/eg gishorn
• www.myswissalps.com/hi king/riederalp-aletschwald-bettmeralp
• www.myswissalps.com/hi king/bettmerhorn-marjelensee-fiescheralp

Skiing is not possible on the glacier, and certainly not in June, so you don't need to consider that ;-)

Hi Annika,

Thanks for some important travel tips. Looking forward for a great trip to Switzerland next week. Though weather looking not so great for some days but lets see, hoping for the best ! :)

Regards,

Prakassh //