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Hi All, first of all this website has been very helpful when I was doing my research so I really appreciate it! My relatives and I (6 people, 3 families) will be visiting Switzerland on Nov 13-25, 2022. For context, here is our itinerary (research for this itinerary has been done for a few days and should be quite detailed). Note that we will buy Swiss Travel Pass for 15 days so it will cover all transportations except for cable cars.
Nov 13 = Reached Zurich Airport in the morning, directly leaves to Lucerne. Half day sightseeing at downtown Lucerne (hotel at Lucerne).
Nov 14 = Visit to Mt. Rigi (Lucerne boat trip to Vitznau, Vitznau cogwheel train to Rigi). Return to Lucerne in the afternoon (hotel at Lucerne)
Nov 15 = Panoramic train from Lucerne directly to Montreux, then half day sightseeing at Montreux, Chillon Castle, etc. (hotel at Montreux)
Nov 16 = Montreux – Vevey – Chexbres – Lausanne – Geneva (sightseeing around 2 hours each except for Geneva until evening). (hotel at Montreux)
Nov 17 = Montreux train to Zermatt. Then, take the Gornegrat cable car to go up to Lake Riffelsee at Rotenboden, then Gornegrat. (hotel at Zermatt)
Nov 18 = Zermatt to Interlaken. Sightsee around Interlaken and Iseltwald, grocery shopping since will be staying at Interlaken for the next 5 days (Airbnb at interlaken)
Nov 19 = Interlaken to Lake Blausee from morning to noon. Then go to Spiez to sightsee, and back to Interlaken (Airbnb at Interlaken).
Nov 20 = Interlaken to Harder Kulm in the morning. In the afternoon, take boat trip at 14.10 from Interlaken West to Thun, then sightsee around Thun. Back to Interlaken by train (Airbnb at Interlaken)
Nov 21 = Interlaken to Grindelwald to go up to Jungfraujoch using Eiger Express, then back. (Airbnb at Interlaken)
Nov 22 = Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen to sightsee. Planning to go to Murren, then back. (Airbnb at Interlaken).
Nov 23 = Interlaken to Zurich by train (transit Thun), sightsee around Zurich. (Hotel at Zurich)
Nov 24 = Zurich to Schaffhausen to Rhine falls, then back to Zurich to sightsee and pack up. (Hotel at Zurich)
Nov 25 = Fly back home.
Question for Nov 15 itinerary:
1. For the Panoramic Train, I know the original route is Lucerne – Interlaken. Then 2nd train is Interlaken – Zweisimmen. 3rd train is Zweisimmen – Montreux. But from this site during Nov 2022, I see that Zweisimmen will be skipped. Does that mean from Interlaken, I just have to transit and then the train will directly go to Montreux?
2. Is there any boat trips that can sightsee Chillon Castle on November? I know there is a boat trip but I can’t seem to find the schedule. Can anyone confirm this? BTW this question also relates to the next question on Nov 16 Itinerary.
Question for Nov 16 Itinerary:
3. I know that it’s possible to enjoy boat/ferry ride on Lake Geneva, but from what I see, the boat/ferry ride trips in November are very limited. Is this true? I know that there are many routes that are closed and only 1-2 trips per day, so options are very limited. Can anyone vouch for this or is my research incorrect?
4. If my research for no.1 is correct, we will be taking trains for the city hopping. Would 2 hours each city except for Geneva enough?
5. We are planning to visit Lavaux Wineyard in Chexbres, any recommendation and is it beautiful?
Question for Nov 17 itinerary:
6. At first, I was planning to visit Stelisee lake, but it seems like impossible on November. Can anyone confirm this? If it’s possible, how do I go there while also going up to Gornegrat as well? The reason why I wanted Stelisee lake is because from blog reviews, it looks more beautiful than Lake Rifelsee.
Question for Nov 18 itinerary:
7. I have been looking around, and there seems to be no boat trip on Lake Brienz on November (http://www.bls.ch/-/media/bls/pdf/fahrplaene/schiff/fahrplan-schifffahrt.pdf?la=en&vs=1). Is this accurate or is it possible that it can still change?
Question for Nov 20 itinerary:
8. Just want to confirm if there is really only 1 boat trip from Interlaken to Thun at 14.10, or if there is any other boat trip (I used the timetable from the website (see link from previous question)).
Question for Nov 22 itinerary:
9. I have been looking around on ways to go to Murren from Lauterbrunnen. Can anyone give me some guidance? Because from what I see, the cable cars are closed, how do I go to Murren (by train or by cable car is fine, but no taxis please).
Other Questions:
10. On Nov 13 and 20, they fall on Sundays, and I know transport are more limited that’s why I schedule only sightseeing around town. This should be possible right, and buses and trains are running even on a Sunday?
11. Some meals we are planning to eat at restaurants, is split bill possible and common? And are we allowed to not order drinks and just drink from our water bottle instead? Since of course as we all know, Switzerland is expensive and we are also limited by budget (not super budget but definitely can’t spend too much as well)
12. I want to try toboggan run, but it seems like all toboggan runs are closed in November. Is this true?
13. We are also planning to go to Grindelwald First, but it seems like it’s closed and you can’t go up during November. Is this true? I checked the timetable, and it seems impossible for our dates. Is it possible for the timetable to change last minute?
13. Any suggestions on our itinerary and tips and tricks? I know like we need to be careful of weather and keep checking, so I guess especially for our 5-day Interlaken Jungfrau area, we might have to move things around depending on weather.
Last but not least, I know November is not the best month to visit, but due to work constraints, we can only manage to take long vacation in November. We have to work around many things and this is the best that we can come up with. Thank you very much for reading until the end, I would really appreciate comments and replies regarding my trip. I hope that I am not breaking any rules, and if I do, it’s not intentional and please let me know.
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Hi Felix suroso,
Welcome to MySwissAlps.
Thank for sharing your detailed itinerary. You have certainly put a lot of effort into planning your trip. Overall it is good and certainly doable and travelling with a Swiss Travel Pass is indeed the way to go.
You are right, November is considered a shoulder season and some services in selected destinations may be limited. This is true for boats on Lake Brienz. There will be no boat services on Lake Brienz in autumn and winter, but services will continue on Lake Thun.
OK, let’s go through the rest of your questions one by one.
1. The SBB timetable always provides the fastest connection. If you plan to travel from Interlaken to Montreux on the Golden Pass route , to find the right connection you need to input the destination as Montreux via Zweisimmen.
2 and 3. There are limited boat services on Lake Geneva during the autumn and winter period. I recommend taking the bus to Chillon Castle from Montreux train station. It is also possible to reach the castle on foot.
4. I think 1 or 2 hours each in Lausanne and Geneva would be enough to explore these cities. Montreux is comparably smaller and would need less time. In fact you can basically do Vevey – Montreux – Chexbres as a walking tour (if you get tired, you can always hop on the train of course).
5. Visiting the Lavaux vineyard in November is perhaps not as interesting as visiting it in spring or summer. But it might be a good experience for you. But do it only if you have the time.
6. The easiest way to get to Stellisee is to take the Sunegga-Rothorn cable car to Blauherd middle station. From here it takes about 20 mins to reach the lake. Unfortunately the cable car undergoes maintenance from Oct to Nov, in preparation for the winter season. But you can travel to Gornergrat and visit Riffelsee. The cogwheel train to Gornergrat operates all year round.
8. Yes, there are boat services on Lake Thun in November, albeit limited.
9. There are two ways to get to Mürren from Lauterbrunnen. The most common option is via the Grutschalp cableway. And the other option is via the cable car from Stechelberg. One option is always open when the other is closed. You can find more details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/murren/travel
10. Public transports operate on weekends but not on a regular schedule. For instance, on weekdays buses may run every half hour but on Sundays it’s usually every hour or every 2 hours. In any case, please use the SBB timetable to check schedules.
11. You can find some useful money-saving tips here: http://www.myswissalps.com/plantrip/doityourself/savemoney
12. There’s a nice toboggan run on Pfingstegg in Grindelwald. Unfortunately it is closed in November 🙁
13. Grindelwald First is inaccessible in November as the cable car does not operate during this period.
Travelling in November is a bit tricky if you’re planning a fair amount of mountain excursions. During this period most mountain transportation will go into maintenance in preparation for the winter season. As an alternative you might want to plan your trip around visiting old towns and villages, and stick to mountaintop destinations that are open all year round such Rigi, Titlis, Jungfraujoch and Glacier3000.
Hope this gives you additional points to consider for your November trip.
Regards,
Anna
November is not a good month to visit Switzerland and do all the ‘famous’ things. You have told us why your trip needs to be in November so I do sympathise, but you will just have to accept things will be limited. Many features you see mentioned by others on this site are summer activities (toboggans, flyers etc), or midwinter (ski) season activities
Not a great deal I can add to Anna’s comprehensive answer, but
(1) On Nov 15 on the Golden Pass from Interlaken, you will travel on three trains: Interlaken – Spiez; Spiez – Zweisimmen; Zweisimmen – Montreux
a) November is the start of the winter season, so is not a time when people travel on the lakes in Switzerland, hence lake boat service across the whole country are limited and boats on smaller lakes don’t run.
b) your proposed lake visits at Zermatt really are summer excursions. However, there may already have been a snowfall – so that might be a good thing scenically. On the other hand the weather might be drab and foggy!
c) the vines in the Lavaux vineyards might already be just bits of wood (unless some of the autumn coloured leaves have not fallen off) – so not ideal
d) I’m afraid there is a limit to how much you can pare down spending in Switzerland, for example not buying drinks in a restaurant would make you very unpopular…
e) don’t worry you can’t get a taxi to Murren as there is no public road… Using a taxi in Switzerland is generally totally unnecessary as most places are always within a short distance of a public transport stop. Swiss public transport runs 24/7/365, with services on all routes on all days, but some commuter – related local services on some lines only run Monday to Friday which may reduce a local service from half hourly to hourly – but this doesn’t normally greatly affect the sort of trains a tourist usually uses.
Thank you very much Anna and 1960man, your replies are very helpful.
To Anna : Thank you so much, I have checked thoroughly and yes, I see that I can go to Murren. That’s one checklist I can do (since Grutschalp will be open on November). Also thanks for the tip on Lavaux Wineyard, I will take that off and change to something else.
To 1960man : Thank you so much for the information as well. for d), I totally understand, I am trying to save budget but definitely don’t want to stand out and do things out of ordinary (since when I visit US and Japan, they give free tap water) that’s why I’d asked. Since from what I see that drinks in Switzerland are usually charged, I do have follow up questions (see below).
Follow up questions :
1. For drinks, on average, how much do restaurants charge normally for drinks that are non-alcoholic? This will help us estimate our budget, we are shooting for around 50-60 CHF a day per person for food (lunch and dinner only since breakfast is served at our hotel). I think that should be enough for a restaurant meal + a cheap meal from the supermarket.
2. Since we are 3 families, I assume split bill is okay as long as table is separate?
3. How do I “use” my Swiss Travel Pass? For example when riding a bus, do I have to show my QR code to a machine and scan it, or there will be someone who checks it? Same thing with ferry trips and others, how is the system?
I think that pretty much sums up all of my questions and worries since I personally have researched quite intensively as well so I should be quite prepared already. Thank you very much!
Hi Felix suroso,
1. CHF50 – 60 per person a day for meals at restaurants is reasonable but you’ll spend much less at supermarket restaurants and takeaways. Bottled drinks like mineral water or fizzy drinks on average cost CHF3.50 in restaurants. You can get them much cheaper at the supermarkets for less than CHF2. Be sure to read this for practical information about dining at restaurants and buying things at the supermarkets (scroll down to get to the relevant sections): http://www.myswissalps.com/aboutswitzerland/culturehistory/food
2. You can just request for a separate bill if you’re splitting the payment.
3. Travelling on public transport with the Swiss Travel Pass is very easy. You simply get on board, choose your seats and enjoy the ride. Ticket inspections are usually done randomly onboard and all you need to do is show your railpass when requested. More details here: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/howtouse
Let us know if you need more information.
Regards,
Anna
Very much appreciated Anna, thank you!
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