Switzerland 3 and half days itinerary planning

Hello Mayur, welcome to our website!

Let's take a look at your queries:

1) You won't travel via the Golden Pass line that day. You can travel via the Golden Pass when you travel from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen.

2) Pilatus and Rigi are both great, also in September, but very different. Rigi is more "fresh, green and meadows", Pilatus is more "rough and rocky". It depends on what you like, so I suggest to read our pages about the Rigi and Pilatus to make a choice. The Rigi would be free with a Swiss Pass, the Pilatus is discounted by 50%.

3) September is perfect for high altitude trails. The hikes with the best views are mostly higher up on the mountains, so some transportation costs will be involved to get there, unless you do it all on foot but that is only doable for very experienced hikers. However, with a Swiss Pass, you can reach Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren for free. Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg is really nice, so you only need a one-way ticket back down (to Grindelwald, I would suggest, to see more of the area). See the Jungfrau region section and hiking section for further tips.

4) You could take a boat from Interlaken West to Beatenbucht (free with Swiss Pass). Then go up by funicular and cable car to the Niederhorn (50% off with Swiss Pass), and walk to Waldegg. Then back by bus (free).

5) I already mentioned the Swiss Pass, which I think is a good choice for what you intend to do. See here for all details about it. The process of selecting a pass is explained in detail here. I think you can limit your research to the Swiss Pass and Swiss Half Fare Card.

6) Absolutely, please see here: www.myswissalps.com/hotels/budget

Hi Arno, thanks for information provided in your response and apologies for my late reply. Actually i was busy doing my trip planning and calculating whether i need swiss pass or not:)

Please tell me below few related/unrelated queries if you know by any chance

1) I will be travelling from Salzburg(austria) to zurich and i have read it is possible to use swiss pass for swiss side of journey which starts from Buchs SG. My question is how to validate my swiss pass without getting off the train at Buchs SG. Is it possible? Which side of the train is more scenic on this route from austria to switzerland. I will be using Railjet scenic train from salzburg.

2) Before Austria ill be travelling from Venice to Salzburg on Euro Night EN236. i know this is not switz based question but am still aksing in case you know. Question is i am buying venice to salzburg night train at OBB site because it is not showing on trenitalia. Will this ticket be valid when i use it in venice? There is many discussion on web regarding this but am not convinced.

So far you can help me on this and i will get in touch again when i actually will write down my plan to spend time in bernese oberland for which i need an exhaustive 2 days tiring and amazing itinerary:)

thanks, mayur

Hi Mayur,

Good to hear back from you!

1) Coming from Salzburg, indeed your Swiss Pass includes free traveling from Buchs SG. Going to Milan, free traveling applies to Domodossola. Did you download the map from the Swiss Pass page?

Pass validation can be done on the train (see the Swiss Pass page as well). Be sure to ask for that before you reach the border (Buchs). On the other days there's no action to be taken. Just board the train and enjoy the ride. You need a seat reservation + ticket for Salzburg to Buchs and Domodossola to Milan.

2) If you buy a ticket, it is valid regardless of where you purchase it. I'm not sure if I understand your question though. Why wouldn't it be valid you think?

It's usually easier to buy all travel tickets from one reseller (just one shipping fee, if any), unless you can save some money by doing it differently. For Singapore, in your case, the Swiss Pass and tickets/seat reservations for Italy/Austria are all available here:
www.raileurope.com.sg/ pass/swiss-pass
www.raileurope.com.sg/ train/austria-intl-night-trains
www.raileurope.com.sg/ train/italian-international-trains
There's no shipping fee if you collect the tickets in their office after ordering.

hi Arno, regarding my second question there are lot of forums on web which discusses tickets bought online are not valid while using from italian station unless they are stamped in austria. That is my worry because i wont be in austria before this journey and i would only have online bought printed ticket and not an actual stamped paper ticket. are you able to understand my concern now? Though i called Austrian call center and they are saying if you are able to book it is valid and i can show this to austrian conductor for stamping while boarding the train venice. Just wanted to see whether you already know something on this topic. Thanks anyways, i think ill book it online:)

regarding question 1, how about the reservation from buchs SG to Zurich? no need?

thanks a lot, mayur

Hi Mayur,

I see what you mean now, I am not familiar with that issue though. It won't happen if bought through the Rail Europe site, of that I am sure. As for seat reservations: only a handful of trains in Switzerland require seat reservations (see here). If you have a Swiss Pass during an incoming trip, it's easiest to get a ticket to the Swiss border, which includes a seat reservation. But theoretically you could also purchase a ticket to the border without a seat, plus a seat reservation for the whole journey.

Hi Arno,

Now that i have purchased swiss pass, i am in the process of deciding of what am going to do in those 3 and half days in switzerland. Need your help because there are so many options to pick from. But good thing is i know what i dont want to do.

ill start with very easy question, it might have the most difficult answer:)

Day1 - i will sleep in lucerne after reaching Switzerland from austria
Day2 - i will be doing titlis or rigi in Lucerne and will run towards interlaken without wasting time.
Day3 - Full day
Day 4 - i have train from interlaken at 6 PM

My question is how i spend this much time to do the maximum sight seeing in lauterbrunen valley. I am not interested in Top of Europe. can you suggest me at high level how i can visit the maximum number of places from Trummelbach, Grimmelwald, Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren, Kleine Scheidegg, Männlichen, schilthorn, Niederhorn walk to Waldegg, some boat ride on lake brienz
I very well know i have the least amount of time to visit switzerland and its a shame but pls tell me the best possible non stop way to see maximum. You can exclude any place over other. Dont count any resting time for me. Dont count eating stops for me. Dont count budget ways. I just want to do maximum. Suggest the most tight itinerary.

Thanks a lot,
Mayur

Hi Mayur,

You are very ambitious! Well, you could do a trip like this in the Jungfrau region: Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Grütschalp - Mürren - Schilthorn - Mürren - Stechelberg - Trümmelbach Falls - Lauterbrunnen - Kleine Scheidegg - Grindelwald - Interlaken Ost. You can check the timetable to see whether this fits for you or not. Of course you need reasonably good weather for this, or else you won't have any views.

The second day in the region could be filled with a boat trip from Interlaken West to Beatenbucht, then go up to Beatenberg by funicular, further up to the Niederhorn by cable car, and walk to Waldegg. Then take the bus down to Interlaken. If you still have energy left you can add the Harder Kulm trip near Interlaken Ost.