[Removed user]

18 May 2019 at 22:58:25 #821710

I am not one to write trip reports but this was very special trip. Also I used this forum/website a LOT and spent lot of time here searching for answers specific to our infant situation. So I am hoping this post will help someone in future.

I’ll start off by saying this website is a godsend and read the information very carefully. It’s very accurate and complete. Thanks to all for keeping this website going.

Baby related questions-answers:
My son was 20 months old and highest we took him to was Jungfrau @3470m. We also took him to Schilthorn. There was absolutely no health related or breathing related issues. We checked with the local doctor(s) in the UK and since he was a healthy baby since birth they said it’d be just fine. I am guessing the suitability is decided on a case by case basis so please consult your doctor rather than following general advice.

Switzerland is generally very accessible for buggy/pram/pushchairs. You can take it almost everywhere (I’ll mention the odd place where it’s not allowed in my report below). So by all means take it with you if you can since it saves a lot of effort of carrying your infant everywhere.

We also bought an 8 days Swiss travel pass with free family card which worked out rather nicely for us and better than expected.

Trip report:
Day 1:
Arrived in Zurich at 10am and we made our way directly to our first base in Lauterbrunnen. After checking in and a brief rest we took a quick 10 minute bus ride to Trummelbach falls. Luckily my son fell asleep and we easily took turns going up the falls as infants aren’t allowed.

Day 2:
Took bus to Stechelberg, and then cable cars all the way up to Schilthorn. Unfortunately due to a conference and terrible weather we couldn’t go outside in the morning. We came back down to Murren by which time the weather had cleared. We looked around the town which was beautiful, then took the cable car again(!) back to Schilthorn. Even though we were allowed outside this time, the visibility at the peak was still rather poor unfortunately we could barely see much. But we did stop off at Birg for the thrill walk and weather here was sunny and with great visibility. We got some amazing views here. Thanks to the travel pass we didn’t have to pay to go up second time. I did purchase a boarding pass for our morning trip which was completely useless since didn’t get any priority boarding. So save yourself some money since that was a complete scam. We only bought the boarding pass so we could skip long queues with the infant but that didn’t happen.
In the evening we walked around Lauterbrunnen and took pictures here.

Day 3:
Took the 09:07 train from Lauterbrunnen to Jungfrau. The whole ride was really awesome and well worth the cost. This is once in a lifetime opportunity (at least for us) so make sure you go on a decent day. I found myself a little out of breath indoors but I was fine outdoors. My wife and son were absolutely fine with no issues. I saw a guy with a drone here, and had I known it was allowed it might have been worth it to buy one just for Jungfrau. Also I found the shop at Jungfrau to be sightly cheaper.
We made our way back to Lauterbrunnen and after a brief rest made our way to Harder Kulm. You cannot take buggy up to Harder Kulm but there also isn’t much walking here. You can leave your buggy (at your own risk) under the ticket office and take the ride up to the Kulm. You get views of both the lakes in Interlaken and makes for nice panorama shots.

Day 4:
Made our way to Grindelwald First walk. Our initial plan was to hike to Bachsee lake but the path was closed due to snow. We had a clear day though and views were of course great with clear visibility. And yes you can take the buggy on the gondola up to the First. The trip is rather amazing too especially since you have the whole gondola to yourself and hence the privacy to enjoy the ride. As for the cliff walk I am not sure how much it was worth it on its own after having done the thrill walk at Birg. The experience as a whole might be worth the cost. If the path to Bachsee was open it’d have been more worth it of course.
Since we had time from not being able to hike we instead visited the Glacier canyon in Grindelwald. This made for a nice change from mountains and snow. It’s also a good place to visit on a bad weather day. We could only walk half the gorge but we enjoyed it none the less.

Day 5:
Left early to Interlaken and kept our luggage in the station locker for 7 CHF. Beware the lockers here only takes 5, 2 and 1 CHF coins. We spent couple of hours in the city. Then took the last part of the golden pass train to Lucerne which was our second base for rest of the trip.
After checking in and freshening up we took a tour of the city visiting all the popular sights and took a brief walk along the lake.

Day 6:
Decided to go to Rigi on an impulse (because why not, its fully covered in the pass). We took the “majestic route” described on this website. Worked out quite nicely since it covered boat ride in lake, train ride to mountain, a ride along the lakes back to Lucerne.
In the late afternoon/evening we spent a couple of hours in city of Bern and shopping there. It’s a very nice compact city. Worth a visit for sure.

Day 7:
Took the train to Rhinefall south bank. We followed the walking route on this website to the North bank and took a boat ride from there.
Once back to Zurich we made a quick detour to Uetliberg which is only 20 minutes ride from the Zurich main station. Then made our way to Lucerne for our final night in Switzerland.

Day 8:
Took the train to Zurich and spent couple of hours in Zurich just walking around the city and shopping.
We kept our luggage in XL locker at the station for 10 CHF. The lockers here can be paid for with a credit/debit card.
We took a circular route through the Bahnhofstrasse and back down the other side of the “river” bank.
Then back to airport and back home.

The trains in Switzerland all seem to run on time and connections are all matched very nicely. We rarely ever had to stand around waiting for connections since everything was perfectly matched. But the frequency seems rather low in comparison to some trains I am used to here in the UK. So looking at the timetable and planning a little ahead will make your travels very smooth.

To put it shortly it’s a beautifully expensive place that’s unique and well worth the visit.

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[Removed user]

19 May 2019 at 3:28:37 #912677

Hello AnandG,

Thanks a million for all the nice words you find for this forum and for Switzerland and of course also for sharing your experiences here with the other members!

Should you have any pictures to go with the report feel free to add them to this wonderful report for visual aid.. 🙂

Take care and kind regards,
Steph

[Removed user]

20 May 2019 at 5:38:13 #912678

Hi Anand,

Great to see that yo enjoyed your trip. I am planning my trip in first week of July

I see that you stored your luggage in Interlaken train station. Was it Interlaken OST or Interlaken West train station? Do they have enough space to store 30 inch luggage? Is there a maximum time limit for storage?

Regards,

Shajid

[Removed user]

20 May 2019 at 6:00:38 #912679

@Steph, I am currently on another holiday but I’ll add pictures in a few days time 🙂

@Shajid, we stored our luggage at Interlaken OST (East) station. The lockers come in 2 sizes if I remember correctly. We used the larger one to store our largest suitcase which was around 26inches and two other fairly large bags. So I feel 30inches should be fine. I am not sure how long it’s valid for. since we needed it only for couple of hours I didn’t bother to check. If you go over the limit I think you just have to pay a small top up fees so it’s not end of the world.
But remember to have coins, it only takes coins. (No card payments)
There is a cash machine and a chance machine near by (building on the right facing the lockers). The cash machine only dispenses a minimum of 50 CHF notes and you have to pay 1 CHF fees to have it converted to change. We had to do this unfortunately. Alternatively if you have more time you can use the ATM for free and buy something at the coop supermarket right opposite the station.

[Removed user]

20 May 2019 at 10:57:47 #912680

Thank you Anand for the information about lockers.

Shajid