Trying to find suitable month

Hi all,

Kindly bear with me for 4-5 minutes for these questions:

Okay, we are a young couple, planning to travel for 3 weeks time to Switzerland/Italy/France.

Detailed as below:

Day 1: Zurich
Day 2: Bellinzona (train to Italy next day morning)
Day 3 - Day 6: Italy (flight to Paris next day morning)
Day 7 - Day 9: Paris
Day 10 - Day 21: Switzerland, planned route:
- Montreux (1 night), day trip to Geneva
- Bettmeralp (2 nights)
- Grindelwald (4 nights), day trip to Jungfraujoch and Lauterbrunnen
- Lucerne (3 nights), day trip to Engelberg and Chur
- back to Zurich

Main activity: Hiking (beginner to moderate), Small walks, Small to medium sized town walks.

The main concern:

1. What is the most suitable month for us to do this? At first, our plan is end of June to mid of July, but it seems a lot of friend advise to go from mid May. The problem is, our friends did not do any hike / minimum hike.

I have read somewhere that on May, still a lot of hiking paths are closed.
So, from experienced travelers' perspective, which one is better?

mid May to mid June / mid June to mid July? I need this as I have to purchase air tickets, preferably in near time

2. Weather-wise. I know this has been asked numerous times and as we experienced in New Zealand previously, the weather IS unpredictable. However, looking from our itinerary, which month can we go to maximize our experience?

3. May I know how to make a "plan B" (in case of bad weather). I do not see many options in Switzerland doing indoor stuff. Coming from big cities, we do not like malls :-)

4.Any feedback/advice on the itinerary above?

We'd love to hear any response from you all :-)

Thanks for reading
Regards,
R

Hi Annika,

Thanks for your reply!

We have decided to omit France this time around.
So here is the updated itinerary if you have time, kindly advice what is wrong :-)

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Day 1 - Day 8: Rome/Venice (1 night in Milan)
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Day 9: From Milan to Tirano end up in Chur (Bernina Express)
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Question 1:

Any other alternatives to Bernina Express? I have read somewhere that if I take local usual train, it will provide same beautiful scenery to BE.

Chur : 3 nights (Schaltzaap, Swiss Grand Canyon hike/Rhine-Gorge)

Question 2:

I read, to have a Rhine-Gorge view from above, one has to take bus from Chur to Flims Waldhaus. Will it be the same view if I hike Swiss Grand Canyon?

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Day 12: Lucerne, 3 nights (Lake Lucerne, Pilatus or Rigi, Engelberg)
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Question 3: I feel like I have too many nights here without any major activities. Any ideas? Or better off somewhere and reduce nights in Lucerne?

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Day 15: Brig, 3 nights (Geneva, Montreux, Aletsch hike, Ice Pavilion Saas-Fee(time permits) )
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Day 18: Lauterbrunnen, 5 nights (Trift Bridge, Eiger Trail, Jungfraujoch, First, Kleinn Scheidegg)
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Question 4: Is the Eiger trail same as Jungfraujoch? If it is the same I can leave 1 day empty as a reserve day if weather not permits a hike

Question 5: Will Lauterbrunnen provides better base than Grindelwald, looking at this itinerary

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Day 23: Zurich, fly back home
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I feel like there are still some things that I can fix but of course I will need all of your inputs, considering the experience in Switzerland.

My concern is I do not have reserve days for bad weather . Which of these you guys think I can omit to visit.

Some of my backup plans including : Trummelbach Falls, Lake Brienz, Lake Thun.

Regards,
R

Hi R,

You can indeed travel by regular train instead of the Bernina Express. Just check out the timetable to see all the options. Three nights in Lucerne is not too much. There's a lot to see and do for all weather conditions, including boat trips, museums such as the Swiss Transport Musuem and the Glacier Museum, or even a day trip to Zurich. The Eiger Trail and Jungfraujoch are in the same area; the trail starts from one of the rail stations of the Jungfrau railway. Grindelwald would be slightly closer to the locations on your list, but it's not that big of a difference.

Unless the weather is 100% perfect, you won't be able to do everything on your list. But there alternatives such as the ones you already found: Trümmelbach Falls, boat trips, train rides, city trips. If you have a rail pass, it would be very easy for you to just go where the weather is good, as local differences can be significant sometimes.