Trip to Switzerland

Hi Everyone...

After reading many post on this forum, I have come up with my preferred destinations to be covered during the visit. I need your suggestion in order to calculate number of days and proper route to finalize it. Any other stunning spots which I have missed please do let me know. Also feel free to comment on duplication of similar sight seeing from different places/regions.

Zurich: Will arrive at 2pm

Day 1 (Half): City tour and Niederdorf

Day 2: Rhine Falls and Lake Zurich

Lucern: Suggestion please either to go by train or car ?

Day 3: Early morning departure from Zurich which means I will be in Lucern by 9.30 am.

I prefer to cover below places in two days (Day 3 and Day 4)and not sure which one to combine with what. Suggest please.

Pilatus ,
Titlis
Stanserhorn Cable Car
Mount rigi
lake lucern ( Is it something different than Lake Zurich )
Bit of city walk

Day 5: Early morning to Interlaken and as per various post best place to stay is Murren. I guess its a 2 hours journey.

I prefer to cover following in 3 days (Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7) and not sure which one to combine with what. Suggest please.
Trummelbach Falls
Schynige Platte
Schilthorn - Piz Gloria
Harder Kulm
Jangfrouch Peak
Suspension Bridge

Day 8: Planning to leave early morning for Zermatt. I guess its a 3.30 hours journey.

I prefer to cover following in 2 days (Day 8, Day 9) and not sure which one to combine with what. Suggest please. Also should I skip something which will be almost similar to what I will be doing above and add something different ?

Matterhorn glacier paradise
Gornergrat Mountain
Montreux Lake Geneva
Gondola Ride

Day 10: I want to go Milan- Italy but before that I need to have a panoramic pleasure glacier express trip. I see it operates from Zermatt to St. Moris. What will be the best way to reach Milan ?

Also I would like to do some sports such as Rafting and skydiving. Which region will be best for it. I read for Interlaken. I assume this will take another half day for this activity.

With such travelling which pass should I opt for ?

Thanks in advance.

Hi naumanrahim, welcome to MySwissAlps,

Basically your itinerary is fine, although it's quite a lot for the number of days you have. Also, you have to be flexible and check the daily weather forecasts. Going up a mountain is not worth it if it's cloudy or rainy, but a boat trip or city trip can still be done.

You can combine Lake Lucerne with Mount Rigi as explained here. The other attractions around Lucerne can be combined if you leave early and do a maximum of two per day. See the timetable for traveling times.

I don't know which suspension bridge you are referring to. As for the others: it's all fairly close together, so I would check the weather and just see how much time is left after visiting one attraction. Then decide what to do. From a pure logistic point of view, it makes sense to combine Harder Kulm and Schynige Platte, and the Schilthorn with the Trümmelbach Falls.

Zermatt is at the end of a valley so it takes a lot of time to visit other regions. If you're there for just two days, I would not travel all the way to Montreux but focus on the stunning scenery right there in Zermatt, unless the weather is bad. A ride up to Klein Matterhorn Glacier Paradise includes a gondola ride. The Gornergrat is to be reached by cogwheel train.

All Glacier Express information is here. It will take a full day to reach St. Moritz. The next day you could do the Bernina Express route to Tirano and Lugano, and change to Milan there. This will you will get the maximum amount of Alpine scenery.

Rafting and skydiving take a lot of time. Indeed at least half a day, possibly a full day. You can best contact a local expert such as this one for details.

You will be traveling a lot so a 15-day Swiss Saver Pass would be very convenient. It includes all trains for free. You can just board without buying a ticket. Many museums are free too, and so are the boats. Cable cars are discounted. You do still need a Glacier Express seat reservation. See here for all pass info, and here for promotions as you can get a discount if you buy the pass online.

Thanks Arno for the details.

Few Concerns:

• Lake Lucern , Lake Geneva and Lake Zurich are all same ? which is the most preferred one ?
• Pilatus ,Titlis and Stanserhorn Cable Car can be combined together if we start early by 8am ?
• I was talking about the bridge in Sigriswil. This can be combined with Jangfrouch ?
• I agree with you to better stay in Zermatt. Matterhorn glacier paradise and Gornergrat can be done together right ?
• I saw on the map that Glacier Express intersects with Matterhorn Express somewhere on Goschenen. Is it possible to go that way to Lugano rather going all the way to st.moriz and then Lugano. ?
• I am covering so many places. Do you think any spot can be taken off based on the similarity of other sights. Like Pilatus and Tiltis may be same or Schilthorn, Schynige Platte, Harder Kulm may be same ? so that way i can reduce my travelling.

Thanks..

Hi, I notice you mention the 'suspension bridge'. Are you referring to the wire bridge near Gimmelwald-Murren? This is part of the Via Ferrata and should only be attempted with proper climbing equipment and a guide. There's a good description of the route at;

http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/via-ferrata-%E2%80%94-scared-silly-on-the-iron-cableway-from-murren-to-gimmelwald/

and several other photos and descriptions if you Google Murren Via Ferrata.

Hi naumanrahim,

• They're quite different, but they're all lakes surrounded by hills or mountains of course. I think I would prefer Lake Lucerne, then Geneva and finally Zurich. But it's a personal choice and others may disagree. You can best visit our pages about the lakes to see details and pictures and make your own decision:
  www.myswissalps.com/boatlakelucerne
  www.myswissalps.com/boatlakegeneva
  www.myswissalps.com/boatlakezurich
  By the way, your trip is nowhere near Lake Geneva, so it doesn't make sense (time wise) to consider it.
• You can best check the timetable Arno referred to. I guess it is possible but I would not recommend it as you would just rush up and down all day. Taking your time to enjoy the views is more fun. I would personally include Titlis because of the snow on the top, and one of the other two. Just read our pages and see what you like best:
  www.myswissalps.com/titlis
  www.myswissalps.com/stanserhorn
  www.myswissalps.com/pilatus
• Combining the Jungfraujoch and Sigriswil is not logical, but you can check the timetable if it's possible if you start early.
• Yes, the Gornergrat and Matterhorn Glacier Paradise can be combined.
• The cable car up to Klein Matterhorn (Glacier Paradise) is called the Matterhorn Express, but it is not related to or intersecting the Glacier Express. But you can indeed take the Glacier Express only until Andermatt, then take a train down to Göschenen, and continue to Lugano and Milan from there. That's much quicker, but also you would miss a beautiful part of Switzerland. But if time is limited this is the better option.
• You can easily skip Harder Kulm. It's nice but not spectacular compared to all other things on your list.

Thank you everyone for suggestions. They helped me alot to prepare.

I will also be travelling to Paris before Switzerland and after that to Milan.

Is it better to go with Swiss Pass + 2 countries Eurail or 4 countries Eurail ?

Regards,

Hi Nauman,

You don't need Eurail Passes for France and Italy if you will just be visiting Paris and Milan. A Swiss Pass plus regular point to point tickets from Paris and to Milan would fit your needs.

So even though I am travelling to Vienece and Pisa, I should stick to point-to-point tickets ? what about internal local travelling within Paris and Italy ?

Hi Nauman,

I assumed Milan only. With Venice and Pisa on your list as well, there's more traveling, so an Italy Pass may be worth it. We're no Italy/France experts, but basically you can do the math similar as explained for Switzerland here.

For Paris you can look into the Paris Pass and a regular ticket to Basel, where validity of the Swiss Pass starts. See this forum topic too.

Within Switzerland, a Swiss Pass covers much more than Eurail. You can see the Swiss Pass page and Eurail Pass page to compare. In short: the Swiss Pass also covers urban transport like buses and trams, museums, the Glacier Express, and discounts on much more cable cars.

Thanks Arno.

Hi Arno, Anicka and Others...

After much research I finally prepared below plan:

1: Lucerne (from Paris) @ 9.30 pm..

2: Lucerne: Mount Rigi and Lake Lucerne

3: Lucerne: Zurich Day trip (Rhine Falls, Lake Zurich)

4: Lucerne / Wengen: Pilatus ( 9am - 3pm). Then depart @ 5pm reaching Wengen at 7:51 pm

5: Wengen: Schilthorn - Piz Gloria & Trummelbach Falls

6: Wengen: Schynige Platte & Harder Kulm

7: Wengen: Jangfrouch Peak

8: Wengen / Zermatt: Water sports Rafting (9am - 3pm). Depart @ 5 pm reaching Zermatt at 8 pm

9: Zermatt: Gornergrat Mountain or Matterhorn glacier paradise (starting early @ 9am). Departing @ 6.15pm reaching Milan @ 9.35pm

This way I am getting 3 nights in Lucerne, 4 nights in Wengen and 1 night in Zermatt.

Suggestion are welcome.

Hi Nauman,

Your itinerary looks good and doable. All you need to do is keep an eye on the daily weather forecasts to check if the weather is suitable for your plans on the next day.

Hotel suggestions can be found here. It would be great if you could let everyone know how you enjoyed your trip by submitting a trip report once you're back home.

Enjoy Switzerland!