MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Switzerland-Italy trip in March: itinerary check
-
Hi all,
First of all THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL 🙏🏻 🙏🏻🙏🏻 for your extended help for my Previous questions. I have created many threads with different questions. Now, I am creating this new thread summarising my itinerary to get a final suggestion.
My summary of planned itinerary as below,
we are Family of 5 ( 2 Adult,3Kids 6Y,2Y,1Y)
Day1: Feb 29: 7am. Reaching Geneva and moving to Hotel at Montbovon. Day trip to (Chillon castle, Maison Cailler, Gruyères )
Day2 : March 1
Check- out from Montbovan and Catch the Glacier express at Brig upto Chur then Chur to Zurich to Baden. Checkin at Baden in the evening.
Day 3 to Day 6 : March 2 to March 6
Stay at Baden ( I have training. If time permits after 4pm will explore near by places)
Day 6: March 6 – 1Pm
moving to Luzern and 3 night stay here
Day 7: March 7
Day trip to Mt Rigi
Day 8: March 8
Need Suggestion!! Interlaken/Bernina/Glacier 3000?
Day 9: March 9
moving to Italy from Luzern for 5 nights
my Questions now,
1) On day 6, I am reaching Luzern at 3pm. Shall I plan for Mt Pilatus? Or any other suggestions
2) On day 7, Rigi day trip will consume the whole day?
3) on March 8, considering one day available with STP, Where shall I plan?
I am planning to buy 8 days STP Flex ( Will skip one day during my training period)
This is the first time time for us to visit Switzerland. Our interest is to Visit the places where we can play around with snow, not skiing.
we are from hot tropical country. So, Never know how to layer our clothes. Is there any suggestions How to layer clothes during our stay?
-
Hi Abu Anas,
Your itinerary looks fine and do-able. But you do know Day 2 involves long hours travelling on the train, right. Make sure you take the 7.22 am or earlier train from Montbovon to Brig. The Glacier Express leaves Brig at 10.18 am and arrives in Chur at 14.15. Chur to Baden via Zurich will take you another 2 hours. You can book your Glacier Express seats here: http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress/tickets
Day 6 trip to Pilatus after 3pm – The last gondola up is at 4pm, so you might just miss it. As an alternative, I recommend exploring the city or perhaps take the kids to the Swiss Museum of Transport (it’s open daily from 10am to 5pm). Your kids might be interested to experience the Swiss Chocolate Adventure which is part of the museum: http://www.myswissalps.com/museumoftransport
Day 7 – I would recommend spending half a day in Rigi and combine it with the Majestic Round Trip that includes a boat ride to Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/rigi The Majestic round trip includes taking the cogwheel train from Arth Goldau to the top of Rigi, than cogwheel train to Vitznau and from Vitznau by boat to Lucerne. As an alternative you can also take the Voralpen Express via Kussnacht am Rigi from Lucerne to Vitznau, then cogwheel train from Vitznau to the top of Rigi, then cogwheel train down to Arth-Goldau before taking the train back to Lucerne.
Day 8 – You can explore more options here: http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne/activities
For tickets to Italy, be sure to check this out: http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/italy
Regards,
Anna
Do you have your compulsory seat reservations on the Glacier Express already. If not you are going to have trouble find a group of seats for you all to sit together. As of now I see only 1 block of 4 seats vacant in 2nd class. See http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/seat-reservations-on-the-glacier-express.
If you don’t have your reservations l’d suggest you drop the GEX and take the Golden Pass route towards Zurich. You can always do a day trip to the Oberalp Pass (the best part of the GEX route between Brig and Chur) from Luzern.
Montbovon is an “interesting” choice. I think attempting Chillon castle, Maison Cailler, Gruyères in the same day from there is quite ambitious as you need to head in multiple directions with several connections. Did you check the timetables and allow sufficient time to enjoy each of the places you are planning to visit. I would allow 4 to 5 hours for a visit to Chillon from Montbovon. For checking timetables see http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/checking-train-timetables.
Hi Abu Anas,
Be sure to wear the right clothing when you head for the mountains and if you plan to do some winter activities.
I would definitely recommend wearing layers. Three layers is the minimum for my kids. First is the base layer – basically thermal or second skin, breathable clothes that hug your body but do not stick when you sweat. Second layer – fleece or sweaters that keep the heat in. And lastly the outer layer – thick, waterproof and windproof winter jacket. Don’t forget gloves/mittens, scarves and hats/snowcaps. And winterboots!
Regards,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Thank You for your all recommendations.
i have already booked the tickets to Italy from Lucerne.
is there any well known forum/website to get an idea for Italy itinerary ?
You wont; find anything as good a MySwissAlps but for Italy try . . .
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy
community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy
http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowForum-g187768-i20-Italy.html
Hi Rockoyster,
Thank you for your recommendations.
I found a budget price for a one night stay at Montobavan (Hotel de la Gare). Also, It seems near to train station. So, I decided to stay here. Mainly we are interested to visit Chocolate and Cheese factories. We will consider the Castle if we have free time.
After March 1st, My free dates in Luzern are 7th and 8th but the there is no 4 seats block available. So, I have already made the reservations for GEX from Brig to Chur for 1st March.
I am super excited for this journey but still in a dilemma to take this train or Not. I am afraid how i am going to keep my kids calm (especially the 1Y and 2Y old ) during this long journey. We ( Kids) should not disturb other co-passengers.
If we decided not to take this train or Missed the early morning train from Montobavan then as a Backup plan, i am planning to visit Glacier 3000. We will checkout from hotel then move to Gstaad keep the luggage in the station and move to Glacier 3000. In this case how much time we shall spend there at Glacire 3000? What is the fast route to reach Baden from here?
Should i stick to GEX and ignore Glacier 3000 (as i am doing another mountain trip in luzern -Rigi) ?
Kindly share your advise.
“Should i stick to GEX and ignore Glacier 3000“
That’s not a question I can answer for you.
I am glad you have seat reservations but I can understand your dilemma. It’s a very long travel day for infants.
Glacier 3000 is completely different type of mountain to Rigi. In early March it will still be a busy ski resort. You can see some pictures of what it looked like in September in this trip report. There is also some information on the cheese and choccy factories in that report.
Do you mean from Montbovon or Gstaad? You can learn the fastest route from anywhere to Baden using the SBB timetable. If you go via Bern there is a train from Bern to Zurich which passes through Baden so you won’t have to go into the city.
Hi Abu Anas,
If you do decide to skip the Glacier Express and make a trip to Glacier 3000, you’ll find more information here: http://www.myswissalps.com/glacier3000
Information on Gstaad here: http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad
Regards,
Anna
Hi Rockoyster and Anna,
Thank You for your kind responses.
If i buy a sim card in Switzerland for Data usage will it work in Italy as well?
Hi Abu Anas,
The Europe & UK SIM card offered by SimCorner offers plenty of internet data, calls and text messages not only in Switzerland, but also the rest of Europe. You can find more information here (scroll down to option 2): http://www.myswissalps.com/simcard
Hope that helps.
Regards,
Anna
Hi,
I am planning to skip my italy trip ( Due to corona issues).
I am planning to extend my stay in Switzerland for two more days ( 9 and 10 March) then from geneva i will return back ( March 11). I am interested to visit Interlaken/Glacier3000. What would be the right base to stay for this extended trip?
Hi AbuAnas,
Interlaken – Col-du-Pillon (Glacier 3000) is an almost 3 hours long train trip (2 hours 40 mins). If you are interested in Interlaken then I recommend the Jungfrau region (http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities). While if you would like to visit Glacier 3000, I suggest to stay in Gstaad (http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad/activities).
You can find accommodation here:
- Jungfrau region: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/hotels and http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/rentals
- Interlaken: http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/hotels and http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken/rentals
- Gstaad: http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad/hotels and http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad/rentals
Ildiko
Hi Ildiko,
Thanks for your kind response
As I am travelling with small kids, I don’t want to reach the highest point
1) In case of Interlaken, Till at what point shall I go in Jungfrau. Where can we see snow and kids can play around.
2) In case of Gstaad, Till at what point shall I go in Glacier3000. Where can we see snow and kids can play around.
Hi there,
As you are traveling soon, it will be easy to find snow in those regions. There will be already snow at Kleine Scheidegg (elevation: 2,061 m) for sure. But you can also enjoy the snow at Grindelwald-First, Männlichen. You can check the webcams in the region at http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/live/webcams/.
Also Gstaad is snowy, see at http://www.gstaad.ch/en/news/livecams.html.
Actually it is snowing at this very moment too in the Swiss Alps. 🙂
Also see:
- http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/snow
- http://www.myswissalps.com/gstaad/activities
- http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/activities
Safe travel!
Ildiko
Thank you Ildiko
Hi,
Can i buy the swiss travel pass from the Geneva Airport on arrival? or it is better to buy online?
Hi AbuAnas,
yes, you can buy your Swiss Travel Pass at Geneva Airport but I recommend to buy it online in advance. There is no rush you can get your Swiss Travel Pass just a few days before your trip as you can get it via e-mail. Buying online is much simpler and having the rail pass via e-mail is better than a paper pass, what you can lose or can it can be also damaged. Read more about where to buy your Swiss Travel Pass at http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/wheretobuy and http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/price. Make sure to check the promotions too: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/promotions.
Ildiko
Hi,
I reached Geneva today and moving to Montreaux by train. It’s wow..wow..every where…
from Montreux to Montobovan, there is a golden pass train..I could see free seats but not able to reserve seats.. with STP can I get into this train without reservation?
- The thread ‘Switzerland-Italy trip in March: itinerary check’ is closed to new replies.
