Switzerland trip by car from Interlaken as base

HI,

I am travelling to Switzerland in 1st week of July with my family (5 adults, Parents are 60+ years of age). We will start our tour by Mid-June and travelto Italy, Croatia, Austria, CZECH Republic, Munich and then come toSwitzerland. After seeing Switzerland,we will return car in Zurich and then travel to France by train.

We have planned 5 nights and approx. 4.5 days in Switzerland and will stay at an apartment near Sporthalle Diemtigtal with Kitchen (We eat pure veg. food). Below is our Switzerland Itinerary. Request to help with the questions inline.

Note : Any information/help on good Vegetarian food throughout the places as well as car park(free/paid) will be helpful :)

Day 1: Reach Sporthalle Diemtigtal(Near Interlaken) and take rest.

Day 2: See Trümmelbachfäll in first half and then reach Bern. See Parliament square, federation Palace, Bear Pit, Flag street etc.

[Question]: Do you think we can cover this in one day if we go by car ? Is it a bit of rush ? As per our knowledge, it takes 1 hour to reach trummelbach falls from our place and wecan enjoy there for 3-4 hours and then go to bern, park car at one place andwalk and see all the places. Return toour apartment by car at End of day. Where should we park car at bern ? Can we see all of bern(places mentioned above) in our second half ?Is there any time specific things which can not be done in second half.

Day 3: Go toInterlaken OST by car, park car and then take Golden pass panaromic train toMonterrux(with one change). Get down atmonterrux, see Broc choclate factory and then back to Interlaken OST(by fast train) and back to apartment.

[Question]: We don’t have rail pass. Should we buy point to point ticket? As per my understanding, we don’t need reservation, but is it better to reserve it? How do we go from Monterrux station to Broc Chocolate factory ? Is it worth it? Is there anything else we could go for instead of this ?

Day 4: Go to Engelberg, park car and go for Mount titlis. On return go to Luzern if we get time, see transportation museum. Return to the hotel/apartment.

[Question]: We will be paying for full fare for Mt. Titlis as we will not purchase any pass. Do you think, for the itinerary we are planning, we need to get any pass which will be cheaper? We have rented car because it is more comfortable for my parents and will be cheaper(220 euro for these 5 days for 5of us). We want to be a bit flexible for this day and based on weather, we will plan it or swap with Day 5 or 4.

Day 5: Not planned yet. May be Luzern.

[Question]: What else can we see on this day ?

Day 6 : Check out from Hotel, Go to Rhine falls and then return the car in Zurich by 2 PM. Take train for Paris.

[Question] : How much time should we spend in Rhine falls ? Are there any tickets, we need to buy ?

I know there are lots of questions and I am not sure how much help I can get from this forum. But any and all help is highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dhaval Mehta

Hi Dhaval,

Thank you for sharing plans here! You have picked a pretty remote accommodation, so having a car there is convenient. The Diemtig valley is a lovely place. But not the best base to travel around the country.

I would not take the car into larger towns like Bern and Luzern. It's hard to find your way around, and expensive to park. It's much simpler to park your car at a rail station (e.g. Spiez, and there are a few parking places in Oey-Diemtigen too) and take the train. Parking is mostly paid, but rates vary. By the way, the Bear Pit is under construction until September so there's nothing to see there currently. But Bern is still very much worth a visit.

As for day 3: you don't need to travel to Interlaken Ost. The Golden Pass Panoramic train is only available between Zweisimmen and Montreux. Simply park your car at a nearby station and travel to Zweisimmen by train, or park in Zweisimmen.

Day 5: I wouldn't go to Luzern. You've been in that area on day 4 and it's quite a long drive. There's so much to see much closer to where you stay. Why not go to the Stockhorn? And have a stroll around the lake on the way back from the top. This would be much more relaxed. A boat trip on Lake Thun is wonderful as well. Or a visit to Mount Niesen. Even closer, there are trails right there in the Diemtig valley for some beautiful hiking.

It might be worth it to buy Swiss Half Fare Cards. First figure out when you'll be using public transport (train, bus, boat, cable car), and then decide. Be sure to read our car section for a lot of information about how to drive, parking and more.

Hi Arno,Thank you very much for your response and the informationprovided and Sorry for the late reply.

Yes, I agree the accommodation is remote but I loved thelocation(from the pictures I saw) and it was economical and yes, since we had acar, we opted for it.

Any help on below ishighly appreciated.

Day 2: If we want to seebern after visiting Trummelbach falls Which can we park the car which can bethe nearest and easiest.

Day 3:

1. As I read, Golden Pass Panamoric train is in three legs ? Lucern-Interlaken- Zweisimmen and Montreux and we were planning to take it from Interlaken to Montreux. Do we need to reserve the seats ?

2. Is there anything we can see in Montreux in 3-4 hours of stay ? Is Broc Choclate factory worth it ?

Thank you again.

Hi Dhaval,

Day 2: Personally I would park the car in the garage of the rail station in Spiez. There are frequent trains to the city center of Bern from there. If you prefer to park in or closer to Bern, please check www.parking-bern.ch.

Day 3:

1. No, you don't need to reserve seats: myswissalps.com/goldenpass/tickets

2. Chateau de Chillon can be done within that amount of time. Or a short boat ride.

Thank you very much for all the guidance.

One question though, I am assuming July is the peak time there and we are planning to go from Zweisimmen to Montreux by Golden pass Panoramic train. But dont want to fix a date since we want to save best weather for Mt titlis.

Just as per the experience, Do we generally get seat in this train in July without reservations ? I am planning for July 4th. Do we have separate coach for un-reserved seats ?

Thanks,Dhaval Mehta