Switzerland 12 days itinerary for June/July

Hello guys,

We will visit Switzerland for 12 days on 24 Jun - 6 July. Can you guys please check our itinerary? I think it's a little packed but my dad told me that he want to go as many place as possible and I've heard that the sun will set around 10 PM and rise around 6 AM, right? Here's our itinerary,

1st : Landing at Zurich Airport (around 6AM)

Zurich - Interlaken (walking in the town) - Thun - Interlaken

2nd : Day trip to Bern

Interlanken - Gruyeres - Bern - Interlaken

3rd : To Jungfrau and around there

Interlaken - Jungfrau - Grindelwald - Interlaken

4th : Day trip to Geneva

Interlaken - Geneva - Montreux - Interlaken

5th : Go to Zermatt

Interlaken - Sion - Zermatt (Walking around the town)

6th : Go to Matterhorn

Zermatt - Matterhorn - Saas Fee - Zermatt

7th : Go to Lugano

Zermatt - Lugano - Lake Como (Italy) - Lugano

8th : Day trip around the region

Lugano - Locarno - Bellinoza - Lugano

9th : Go to Zurich

Lugano - Zurich

10th : Around the Zurich Region

Zurich - Schaffhousen (Rhine Falls) - St Gallen - Appenzell - Zurich

11th : Glacier Express

Zurich - Vaduz - Chur - St Moritz - Zurich

12th : Day Trip to Basel

Zurich - Basel - Zurich

13th : We're heading back to our country.

So how was that? Is that too much? Or maybe there are some cities that worth visiting than which I've listed above? We're open to all kinds of travel and very appreciated to all your opinions!

Ps. We will travel by train in most of it.

Ps 2. I've been thinking about replace Mt.Matterhorn with Mt.Titlis. Is that a good idea?

Thanks a lot guys!

Hi Carcassone, thanks for posting here!

Well, your itinerary is quite full indeed. You'll be spending lots of time on train traveling. Only you and your travel party can decide whether you're fine with that. Did you check traveling times in the timetable? And do you think they're doable?

Here are some alternatives to consider, allowing you to reduce traveling times:

• day 2, 4: focus more on the Bernese Oberland/Jungfrau region rather than traveling to Bern, Gruyères, Montreux, Geneva and Zermatt. The immediate surroundings of Interlaken have a whole lot to offer and it would be bit of a shame to explore them on day 3 only. You'll significantly reduce traveling times and you'll get to spend time in one of the prettiest alpine regions of Switzerland. Please check the pages I linked to for activities. Sightseeing trips to Bern, Thun or Gruyères are perfectly fine as bad weather back-up plans;
• day 6: just spend your time in the immediate Zermatt region and visit Gornergrat and/or Klein Matterhorn for good views of the Matterhorn. Getting to Saas-Fee requires a long trip;
• day 10: it's a bit much, but doable, to visit both the Rhine Falls and Appenzell in one day. Alternatively you could look into this guided Appenzell tour;
• day 11: this day too is very long and you'll only do part of the Glacier Express. If you really want to experience the Glacier Express and feel like it's worth the traveling time, this tour allowing you to cover the stretch Chur-Brig might be a bit better. Mind that it's a private guided tour and therefore quite expensive;
• day 12: how about spending time in Zurich itself, rather than traveling back and forth to Basel?

Once your itinerary is set, you can start looking into rail passes. You'll probably be traveling a lot, even if you plan to make some changes, so a 15 day Swiss Travel Pass would definitely be the most convenient option. Making calculations is the only way to tell for sure though.

Hi Carcasonne -

Annika said it politely.

I'll say it jokingly-

with your proposed itinerary you'll "see" a lot, most of it going past the train windows very quickly, and the rest only within 100 meters of the train stations.

Just joking of course, but if I were planning that trip, I'd spend some time with your dad to discuss what he means by "go to" as opposed to "see" . Annika's comments about more time in the Berner Oberland are exactly right, and you could also focus on Luzern.

After you have experienced that region...taking enough days to be sure you have at least one good weather day to really appreciate the Alps....trips to other high mountains will be nice, but, perhaps not as critical.

I'd go to St. Gall to see the Abbey Library before I went to Schaffhausen.

If you do indeed live in Carcasonne, you may have the possibilty to return easily, in which your trip might count as a survey, to plan the next trip in detail in a few regions. Where do you live?

If you are French, Geneva will look a lot like a French city, except that the joke about Geneva is that what makes it different from a French city is that there will be a bank on every corner. ;-)

Will yo and your family want to do any walking or hiking?

Slowpoke

Thanks Annika and Slowpoke. I'm really appreciated.

Ok my first plan is really messed up. Since what you've told me, I've decided to change our plan to a new one.

Day 1 : Go to Bern

Zurich Airport - Bern

Day 2 : Day Trip to Geneva

Bern - Geneva - Bern

Day 3 : To Interlaken (I decided to take Lauterbrunnen as my base. Is that ok?)

Bern - Lauterbrunnen (Check in and deposit our bags) - Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen

Day 4 : Jungfrau Trip

Lauterbrunnen - Jungfraujoch - Murren - (Wengen) - Grindelwald - Lauterbrunnen

Day 5 : To Zermatt

Lauterbrunnen - Sion - Zermatt

Day 6 : Matterhorn Trip

Zermatt - Matterhorn - Zermatt

Day 7 : To Zurich

Zermatt - Zurich (We will deposit our bags here. And will come back again.)

Day 8 : To Lugano (With a light bagpack. My dad really want to go to Como Lake once in his life.)

Zurich - Lugano - Como - Lugano

Day 9 : To Lucern

Lugano - Lucern

Day 10 : Day trip around

Lucern - Schaffhausen - St.Gallen - Appenzell

Day 11 : Day trip around

Appenzell - Vaduz - (Chur) - St Moritz - Zurich

Day 12 : To Basel

Zurich - Basel - Zurich

This is my first idea. Another one is cut Basel out and add Glacier Express.

Day 11 : Appenzell - Vaduz - (Rapperswil) - Zurich

Day 12 : Zurich - St.Moritz - Chur - Brig (Glacier Express) - Zurich

Is the second one is possible? I'd love to do the second one. Cut Basel out and do Glacier Express instead.

What is the better place to go between Basel vs Geneva? Maybe should I cut Geneva on Day 2 out and then go to Basel instead? Is that a good idea?

So what about it? Annika, your Glacier Express plan is really exciting but I can't see what day should I go or what should I cut out from my Itinerary. I really want to ride Glacier Express as long distance as possible too.

Slowpoke, from my new plan, is it better to go from Luzern - Schaffhousen - St.Gallen - Appenzel (Take a night there).

And no I'm not French. I have to go to Zurich and take a flight home. I live in Thailand.

Any walking or hiking? Maybe not too much since my parents, they're like in their 60s.

Thanks to you two a ton! My first plan is really the worst. I'm still open to every ideas and really appreciated to them.

Hi Carcasonne-

You first plan is not all that bad....it just meant that you had no time to stop and look at anything.

Even now, I think you should add at least one more day, possibly two in Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen is convenient as a base, but I'd pick Wengen ( 1st) Mürren (2nd) before Lauterbrunnen ( 3rd) and Grindelwald (4th).

However those are merely personal preferences. The scenery from Wengen is extra special.

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim

And, Männlichen is a cable car away, for one of the easiest stunning walks in Switzerland: A local knickname is "The Grannies' Walk."

www.myswissalps.com/hi king/maennlichen-kleinescheidegg

<<"Slowpoke, from my new plan, is it better to go from Luzern - Schaffhousen - St.Gallen - Appenzel (Take a night there).">>

To answer that question, I'd like to know what you want to see in Schaffhausen.

Slowpoke

Hi Carcassonne,

In terms of traveling times, visiting Basel instead of Geneva makes more sense if you're based in Bern. Don't forget to spend some time in Bern itself as well;-). Alternatively, you can skip such city trips from Bern and spend more time in the Jungfrau region as suggested by Slowpoke. But again, it all comes down to personal preferences, and if you're fond of city sightseeing that's fine of course!

The same goes for the Glacier Express ride. If you don't mind a long traveling day, just go for it. The way you've planned it in your second itinerary, on day 12, would work. Another option is to incorporate it in day 7, when you want to travel from Zermatt to Zurich anyway. You could do Zermatt- Brig-Glacier Express to Chur-Zurich. That way you don't have to make a separate day trip from Zurich, and it gives you an extra day in your itinerary to be spent wherever you like.

Ok that's a great idea. We would do a Gracier Express on Day 7 and will spend a time in Zurich on day 12.

So it would be,

Day 7 - Zermatt - Glacier Express - St Moritz - Zurich (late check in)

Day 12 - Spend a time in Zurich

Moreover, about send our bags to our destination, is that easy to do? Can they deposit at a station for a few days? May be we can use this service some times.

<<"Moreover, about send our bags to our destination, is that easy to do?

Can they deposit at a station for a few days? May be we can use this

service some times.">>>

Yes, it is easy. Yes, they will hold it for you at the destination. And, you did not ask, but, yes, they do operate that service as a profit center, or, so it seems. ;-)

www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/lugg age-and-flight-luggage.html

Slowpoke