9-day Switzerland itinerary-Would love feedback!

We will be flying into Milan on 5/23 and spending one night in Varenna (Lake Como area) to enjoying a relaxing day/night and recover from jet lag. After that, is off to Switzerland for 9 days!!! My head has been swimming with details of train schedules and maps, trying to make the best use of our time. We'd appreciate feedback on this itinerary to help us make the most of our stay in Switzerland!

5/23. Arrive in Milan 8:30 am; off to Varenna, Italy for a day/night

5/24. Off to Tirano, Italy to hook up with the Bernina Express to Chur, then switch to a train to Luzern, early evening arrival.

5/25 & 5/26. Lucerne

5/27-5/29. Golden Pass to Interlaken then to Lauterbrunnen. Make our way to Murren for 3 days/nights

5/30 -31. Golden Pass to Montreux. Spend 2 days/2 nights. Attempt to head to Zermatt for the day (weather permitting) and also explore Lake Geneva, Chocolate/Cheese Factory, Castle--possibilities.

6/1. Head to Bern for the day, spend the night in Bern (or maybe go in and spend the night at Zurich airport hotel.

6/2. Zurich to the US

Thanks so much for any advice! Once I clarify our itinerary, then I'll be hitting the other forum boards for advice on accomodations/train schedules.

Carol

Welcome to MySwissAlps, Carol!

Great that you get to visit Switzerland next May. Yes, there are lots of options to choose from; that certainly gets one's head spinning. However, I think you've created a good itinerary. It does include quite a lot of train traveling and transfers, but if your aim is to see lots of highlights during this week, you've done a good job. To make sure, you can check traveling times with the aid of the timetable and see if you're fine with them.

Please see our Lake Lucerne and Jungfrau Region pages for tips on day trips on May 25, 26 and 28, 29. If you manage to visit Zermatt, do try to include a trip up to Gornergrat. Our pages on Bern and Zurich airport hotels may be of help too.

Once your itinerary is set, you may start looking into rail passes. For now, I'd say an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass is worth looking into. You'd have to get regular tickets for June 1 though, but you can check whether cheaper supersaver tickets are available.

Thanks for your quick reply! I agree with you--probably more train travel than I'd like, but hubby really wanted to do the Bernina Express/Golden Pass, so....also will help us connect to the places we want to go anyway.

I am concerned about the time of the year that we are going but it was necessary with our work commitments. Should I be concerned?

You mention Super Saver Fares. Would they be on raileurope.com? We are definitely getting an 8 day Swiss Travel Pass. I thought I read somewhere about discount fares in conjunction with the Swiss Travel Pass when traveling in/out of Switzerland (example: when we travel Italy - Switzerland). You are wonderful to be so helpful.

Hi Carol,

The thing about May is that it's low season, so not all cable cars will operate, and high altitude trails will not be accessible yet. There's still plenty to see though. Most depends on the weather of the day, which can be great or awful in any season. So you need some luck, but with 9 days you will most likely have good weather also.

The super saver fares are non-refundable tickets offered by the Swiss Federal Railways only, and only for specific trains. Please see here.

The Swiss Travel Pass offers free traveling on all routes highlighted on the map. There are no further discounts in Italy. You can best get the pass through www.swissrailways.com/ en. Pick "Online Ticket" when asked for delivery options to print it at home. Or check here for all other options.