Switzerland - 4 days

Hello snowee812! First of all: whether you'll end up with plan A or plan B, both are beautiful trips! As for your questions:

1) It's hard to say which plan you should choose and it depends on what's most important for you: being in the alps or visiting the Chillon castle (which is considered to be a very pretty castle). As I said, both options seem great to me. My personal preference would be to spend as much time in the alps as possible, but that's a very personal decision. I'm not sure when your flight to Barcelona from Geneva on October 6 will leave. If it's (late) in the afternoon, you may even be able to combine your trip from Interlaken to Geneva with a visit to the Chillon castle, thus combining a 3 day stay in the Bernese Oberland with the castle visit. Depending on the train connections, the trip from Interlaken to Geneva takes 3h to 3h30, which means that there could be time left to get to Montreux on the way, if you leave really early. From Montreux, you can get on board of a ship that takes you to the castle in about half an hour. You can plan your trips using the timetable.

2) Yes, a Swiss rail pass is most probably worth your money, as you'll be travelling each day. Which pass is most economical depends on your exact travel plans though, which especially goes for the days in which you want to explore the Bernese Oberland. If you know what trips you want to make those days, you can start and make some calculations to find out which option is best. Based on the plans you describe, I'd say that a Swiss Half Fare Card may come in handy. The prices of the trips you're sure of (Strasbourg - Interlaken Ost, boat trip lake Thun, Interlaken Ost - Geneva Airport) amount to CHF 217.00 (per person and in 2nd class). This means that with a Swiss Half Fare Card, which costs CHF 99.00 and offers a 50% reduction, the total costs will be CHF 207.50. The Swiss Half Fare Card will also offer 50% discount on most trips you plan to make in the Bernese Oberland. As for other options: a Swiss Card would in all be slightly more expensive. And as the Swiss Saver Pass is concerned: I'm not sure if you'll be making enough long journeys to make this a cost effective option. Again, this depends on what you'll be doing. The Swiss Saver Pass offers ease of use though, as you don't have to buy separate tickets for trains, buses and boats. The Swiss Half Fare Card does require you to purchase discounted tickets for each trip.

3) The beautiful Swiss landscape can be explored perfectly by train and cable car. You don't have to hike to arrive at splendid locations. The boat trip on lake Thun will offer nice views (in clear weather of course). Lots of day trips which can be made from Interlaken are listed here. For example, consider a ride up to Kleine Scheidegg via Lauterbrunnen/Wengen, maybe even up to the Jungfraujoch, and back again via Grindelwald. In Grindelwald, cable cars for Männlichen and First leave. So you can easily reach several stunning viewing points in only a few days. Cog trains leave from Wilderswil (to Schynige Platte) and Brienz (to the Brienzer Rothorn). For the ride back to Geneva, you may pick the route crossing Zweisimmen and Gstaad, which is part of the impressive Golden Pass route. The standard route, via Bern, is faster but less scenic. If you won't be combining the trip to Geneva with a visit to Chillon Castle, and if you have enough time on this day, the Golden Pass route will definitely be worth the extra travel time.

4) Interlaken is a convenient base for exploring the Bernese Oberland. It requires only a short train trip to get into the alps and it offers great connections to all directions. And as it's in between lake Thun and lake Brienz, boat cruises can be easily made. If you plan to concentrate on the Jungfrau region (the area stretching from Mürren to Grindelwald, south of Interlaken), towns such as Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Grindelwald are very nice as well. They're situated less centrally, but are right in the heart of the mountains and offer a perfect base for mountain train and cable car trips. So again, you should try and decide for yourself what's most important.

I hope this helps a bit!

Hi snowee812. It's nice that you've been able to make up your itinerary. As for your questions:

1) Most things you've planned can be done, but it's ambitious indeed. I understand that you want to see as much of the Alps as possible, but it's wonderful as well to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views, for which your scheme doesn't leave much room. You've included a few hikes and your time estimates on these are pretty much right, but you always have to keep in mind that hikes may take longer than the official signs indicate. Bad or changing weather, wonderful views and many other factors may cause delay. My advice would be to plan at least twice the official time for hikes, just to be safe and to be able to take some breaks along the way. It's hard to say whether you should skip things you're obviously interested in. Small elements which could be skipped to save some time are the Trümmelbach falls, the Harder Kulm in Interlaken, the hike at Chrindi or even the entire ride up the Stockhorn, and the Allmendhubel visit. This absolutely doesn't mean that these aren't interesting, because they definitely are! If you don't mind having quite a full travel scheme, just give it a try. As you don't have to reserve seats for most trips, your itinerary is flexible and can be changed on the spot.

2) Yes, I still think the Swiss Half Fare Card is your best choice. Most trips are fairly short and don't justify the purchase of the more expensive Swiss Saver Pass.

3) Here are the timetables you're looking for:

• Harder Kulm;
• Männlichen;
• Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch;
• Stockhorn;
• Grütschalp/Mürren;
• Schilthorn.

• from Grindelwald, you can reach Lauterbrunnen either via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, or via Zweilütschinen, which is lot cheaper;
• in high season it can be recommended to get 1st class tickets for a boat trip on lake Thun, but I don't think boats will be that crowded in October. In that case, 2nd class is comfortable enough.

Hi snowee812:
You have put much work into planning your itinerary! As Annika says, it is quite ambitiious but do-able. Once you embark on your adventure you may find you want to slow things down a bit but that's up to your personal preferene.

I do have a comment about your Jungfraujoch day. As weather is always a factor and the clouds tend to come in during the afternoon, I recommend you go straight up to the Jungfraujoch first thing after breakfast and spend your time up there in the morning. Then, take the train back down to Kleine Scheidegg and have lunch there. My favorite spot is the outdoor restaurant by the train tracks. The food there is VERY good and you will have lovely views to enjoy.

Then after lunch, you can either take the 2.8 mile hike up (slightly uphill) to Mannlichen if you feel like walking then take gondola down to Wengen. Or, if you don't feel like walking, simply take the train from KS down to Wengen. Spend some time looking around this lovely car-less village with a stunning view of Lauterbrunnen valley and the peaks and have dinner there. Hotel Schoenegg restaurant is the best, other good choices include Pizzeria da Sina (pizzas, pastas, grilled items), Hotel Berghaus (local fish), or Hotel Baeren.

Should you decide to keep with your original plan, be aware that:

1. There are no "picnic supplies" as such at Mannlichen. You can order take away (carry out) from the restaurant there but I don't think that's what you had in mind. Also, the food there is not very good, certainly nothing on the order of the excellent food at Kleine Scheidegg.
2. Grindelwald is a quite touristy town, full of cars and T-shirt shops. I would pick Wengen over Grindelwald for a visit and dinner.

Oh, and another thought: the gondola up to Schilthorn doesn't take an hour, it's only about 20 minutes. You probably don't need more than one hour up top -- that's one full revolution of the restaurant. The food there is not very good. Suggest instead you plan your schedule to go up in the morning (for same reason as Jungfraujoch) then have lunch at Hotel Alpenruh in Murren (right next to the gondola station) afterwards.

Annika said: Hi snowee812. It's nice that you've been able to make up your itinerary. As for your questions:

1) Most things you've planned can be done, but it's ambitious indeed. I understand that you want to see as much of the Alps as possible, but it's wonderful as well to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views, for which your scheme doesn't leave much room. You've included a few hikes and your time estimates on these are pretty much right, but you always have to keep in mind that hikes may take longer than the official signs indicate. Bad or changing weather, wonderful views and many other factors may cause delay. My advice would be to plan at least twice the official time for hikes, just to be safe and to be able to take some breaks along the way. It's hard to say whether you should skip things you're obviously interested in. Small elements which could be skipped to save some time are the Trümmelbach falls, the Harder Kulm in Interlaken, the hike at Chrindi or even the entire ride up the Stockhorn, and the Allmendhubel visit. This absolutely doesn't mean that these aren't interesting, because they definitely are! If you don't mind having quite a full travel scheme, just give it a try. As you don't have to reserve seats for most trips, your itinerary is flexible and can be changed on the spot.

2) Yes, I still think the Swiss Half Fare Card is your best choice. Most trips are fairly short and don't justify the purchase of the more expensive Swiss Saver Pass.

3) Here are the timetables you're looking for:

• Harder Kulm;
• Männlichen;
• Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch;
• Stockhorn;
• Grütschalp/Mürren;
• Schilthorn.

4) Yes, the views at Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn are different. At the Jungfraujoch you'll be literally in and in between the Alps, overlooking the huge Aletsch glacier. The Schilthorn lets you watch at the Alps from a distance and has more of a roundabout view. Both are beautiful, but you could take a look at the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn websites to make your own comparison. It the two are too much alike for you, you could consider to pick only one out of the two.

5) You can arrange for your tickets at the spot at railway stations and cable car valley stations. The same goes for the ride to Montreux, unless you want to make this trip in a special Golden Pass Panoramic train. This train requires seat reservations and it may be wise to arrange for this further ahead, for example as soon as you arrive in Interlaken or even online in advance.

6) Yes, even though you won't be making very challenging alpine hikes, you should take along warm and water proof gear. It's impossible to predict what the weather will be like in October, but it could be cold and you may even come across some snowfields already. So make sure you have reliable hiking boots and always take along an extra sweater and rain coat when taking a hike. Further tips can be found on the hiking page.

As for some questions concerning your itinerary:

• from Grindelwald, you can reach Lauterbrunnen either via Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, or via Zweilütschinen, which is lot cheaper;
• in high season it can be recommended to get 1st class tickets for a boat trip on lake Thun, but I don't think boats will be that crowded in October. In that case, 2nd class is comfortable enough.

Have fun preparing for your Swiss trip!

Hi snowee! I'll try to give some comments and answer your questions:

• October 3 - I'd say this is a fine scheme, but please be careful with the planning of your hike to Männlichen as you may get there shortly before the last cable car leaves. In bad or instable weather, it may be best to skip the hike;
• October 4 - my preference would be option B, as you can combine a castle visit, a boat trip and a beautiful viewing point all in one day. The Harder Kulm from Interlaken is nice, but definitely less impressive. You could opt for option C as an alternative for bad weather - getting up to the Stockhorn in the cloud isn't that pretty after all and a city visit to Thun is a nice alternative. There are several restaurants along the small marina of Spiez for a lunch;
• October 5 - it would be nice if you'd get up to Mürren by taking the cable car up to Grütschalp and then taking the train to Mürren. You'll get to do the bus ride from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen at the end of the day, so this would be a nice variation and the short train trip between Grütschalp and Mürren is pretty scenic. I'm not familiar with the north face walk to Gimmelwald, but please to make sure to start early enough and get back before the sun starts setting. You shouldn't be hiking when dusk sets in!

maggiehorswell said: We have found that nearly all castles and museums in Switzerland are closed on mondays! Other travellers to Switzerland please note this fact and avoid disappointment!! maggie