MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial Trip report 9 days Interlaken and Lucerne in June
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Before i write about my trip, i have to say a big thank you to all the mySwissAlps experts on this forum who so tirelessly replies to every query (repeated questions or not) and gives so valuable information. All the information that guys provided on this forum helped our planning big time !! A big thank you and kudos to all of you
Dates: 13th June – 21st June 2019
Our travel group: I, my wife and my 6 year old daughter
Flight: EuroWings NYC to Dusseldorf, then Dusseldorf to Zurich
Accommodations:6 nights 7 days at Interlaken and 2 nights 3 days at Lucerne
We bought 8 day Swiss travel pass for all 3 of us (valid from 13th June to 20th June), and since we knew that our swiss pass would expire on our last day in Swiss, we bought 3 super saver tickets in advance from Lucerne to Basel SBB for 21st (got it for 7 bucks per person), as we had a train from Basel SBB to Paris at 4.34pm on 21st June.
Day 1: Arrived At Zurich, 2 trains to our AirbNB at Interlaken West
Day 1: Arrived at Zurich airport at 4pm. Took a train from Zurich airport to Bern. and then a connecting train from Bern to Interlaken West. We had rented an airBnb here.
Something worth mentioning here for other travelers. If your choice is to stay on the mountains or between valleys (fully immersed in nature), then book your accommodation in either of Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, Murren or Grindelwald rather than staying at Interlaken .Interlaken is a town like accommodation. The only reason we did here, was that we had an 8am appointment at the US Embassy at Bern the next day and commuting back to Bern the next day to be there at 8am was going to be difficult from elsewhere.
Day 2: Bern city tour, Chocolate making workshop at Funky Chocolate Club in Interlaken West and Harder Kulm
Day 3: My daughter para glided from Beatenberg, and we visited Glacier 3000 (Golden Pass line from Zweisimmen to Gstaad)
Day 4: Lauterbrunnen, Staubbach falls and Schilthorn
Day 5: My wife did a helicopter sky dive at Wilderswil, and we visited Jungfrau
Day 6: Rented bikes from Interlaken, and biked in Interlaken (next to the shores of Lake Brienz), Boat cruise on Lake Brienz, souvenir shopping
Day 7: Golden pass from Interlaken to Lucerne.
Day 8: Visited Mt Titlis
Day 9: Lucerne city tour, lion monument, train to Basel SBB, and then TGV Lyria from Basel SBB to Paris.
I will write a separate in detail report in a few days
cheers
Vinay
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Hi vinay, wanted to know whether you covered giessbrach waterfalls which can be visited from lake briennz. Secondly whether you did lake lucerne cruise. Thirdly if I have six days for interlaken and lucerne what should I include. Also mention where you stayed at lucerne. Your idea of not staying at interlaken is well appreciated. But I am confused where to stay… Will murren be a good choice..
Hi Vinay,
Thanks a lot for taking the time to post about your experiences here. Much appreciated! And thanks for your compliments too!
Hi Tukaikol,
Suggestions for things to do can be found on our Interlaken and Lucerne pages (also see the links in Vinay’s report):
You’ll find detailed information about other towns in the Jungfrau region here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion.
Hey Tukaikol,
yes staying in Mürren will be great. Wengen is another option. Staying in Lauterbrunnen is great too. In all these places, you will get the feeling of staying right in the alps region.
no I did not go to the waterfalls on lake Brienz. I did not do a lake Lucerne cruise, though you can very easily add some time to do it, as the boats are right opposite Lucerne station.
If you have 6 days, I would recommend the following:
stay 4 nights at one of Lauterbrunnen/Wengen/Mürren
spend one day in Lauterbrunnen. This valley is mesmerizing and deserve one day of exploring this place. There are tons of waterfalls and you can do some simple hikes to go to one. Or you can also add Schilthorn to this day.
I woudlnt recommend spending money on the Jungfrauch trip. It’s crazy expensive and I did not feel it’s worth that much money at all. You can get the exact same experience (snow, ice castle, tubing, ice flyer) on mt Titlis for 1/4th of the price. But Jungfraujoch mountain itself is a must see. So what I recommend is take a train to Klein Scheidegg, off board there and hike around the base of Jungfraujoch. Don’t spend money to go to the top.
Take a boat cruise on Lake Brienz. It’s a beautiful lake. The boat also has a stop where you can off board and go to an open air museum if that’s something you like.
dont miss the golden pass line train. It’s just too beautiful. You have to catch this train from Zweisimmen and it goes all the way to montreaux. If you have time do the full journey. If you want to add more snow experience other than Titlis, off board at Gstaad and go to Glacier 3000. It’s another beautiful majestic mountain.
as for Lucerne, you can go to Mt Titlis on one of the days. I missed Mt Pilatus and Stanserhorn because of some time issues, but if you have time try visiting both these places too.
Hi Vinay and other senior members,
Many thanks for such informative and specific reply which is impossible in other reputed travel sites. My main concern now is
1. If I stay at Murren with a family of four (2 kids aged 15 and 7) whether transportation to and from will be a challenge. What is the nearest rail station to Murren. Whether all the sight seeing including lake brienz can be covered from there.
2. Very interesting and unique advise relating to Jungfruach trip – will surely study more and decide.
3. Is it possible to cover the golden pass line from my base at murren/Lauterbrunnen. How long it takes.
Hi Vinay,
Thank you for sharing your experience. Did you have to book Golden Pass seats ? Can we just hop on with Swiss pass or reservation is recommended?
thanks!
No need of booking golden pass seats, just hop on to the train at Zweisimmen
If you are traveling with 2 kids, I assume you might have lot of luggage too. In that case, Mürren might pose a bit of challenge as it’s high up and you need to take a cable car to go there. In that case I would recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen. All your Bernese Oberland region destinations can be easily be done here and you have direct trains to interlaken from here
Could you give a little more info on the bike rental. Cost, where to get bikes and what trail. Sounds like exactly what we wanted to do. We are however in our early 70’s so we are looking for mostly flat and dedicated (no roads) if possible.
Hi Grammy,
Interlaken to Grindelwald (route 61 on the below map) is fairly flat.
Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg is ok too, and some paths along the lakes from Interlaken. Everything else will be quite steep. I don’t know about costs.
Grammy, Arno has already suggested some great routes. I rented the bikes from a bike rental shop very near to interlaken ost train station. Cost of a normal mountain bike for me for 26 francs for 2 hours, and cost of an electric assisted bike with a child seat that my wife used was 40 francs for 2 hours. You can rent the bikes from here and taken them to Lauterbrunnen in the train
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