Two weeks itinerary for July- need suggestions

Hello, I am new in this forum. We are a family of 3 (me and my wife in our mid and late 30s and our 4 year old daughter. We have planned a two weeks trip to Switzerland this July (8-21).

I have spent some time for the research and this is what I have planned so far.

Day 1: Arrival at Zurich at 650 AM. Buy 14 days Swiss Travel Pass, SIM card at airport. Go to Zurich central station, keep the luggage in the luggage room and take a half day tour of the city.

In the 2nd half, take train to Lucerne and check in at the Reneissance Lucerne Hotel. In the afternoon sightseeing at old city area and if possible visit Glacier park

Day 2: In the morning, visit Mount Titlis

In the 2nd half visit transport museum

Day 3: In the morning, mount Pilatus (Golden round trip) or Mount Rigi (Classic round trip)

In the afternoon, Lake Lucerne boat cruise

Day 4: Train to Wengen from Lucerne via interlaken

Lake Brienz boat cruise before heading to Wengen

Check in at Hotel Edelweiss for 3 nights, local sightseeing at Wengen

Day 5: Jungfraujoch in the morning

Kleine Scheidegg and Grindelwald in the afternoon

Day 6: Schilthorn in the morning

Murren and Lauterbrunnen in the afternoon

Day 7: Wengen to Montreux via Interlaken by goldenpass line (booked VIP seats for the last segment)

Check in at Hotel Eden Palace Au Lac at Montreux or Hotel Victoria at Glion

Visit Chateau de Chillon in the afternoon and local sightseeing

Day 8: Chocolate train to visit Cheese and chocolate factory

Day 9: Visit Vevey and Lavaux vineyard area in the morning

Visit Geneva or Gstaad in the afternoon (if possible). I am thinking whether I should visit either Geneva or Gstaad instead of the chocolate train on day day 8)

Day 10: Montreux to Zermatt by train (arrival at Zermatt around 1 PM)

Zermatt to Gornergrat Bahn

Check in to Hotel Metropol for 2 nights

Day 11: Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cablecars in the morning

Local sightseeing at Zermatt in the afternoon

Day 12: Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz (upgrade to 1st class for this scenic journey for the duration)

Check in at Hotel Steffani at St. Moritz or Hotel Privata Sils Maria

Day 13: Diavolezza or Corvatsch in the moring

Visit to Sils maria and Lake Silvapana

Dinner at Mouttas Muraghl

Day 14: Bernina Express to Tirano (planning to upgrade to 1st class for the scenic journey)

Tirano to Bellagio, spend 2 days there before heading back home from Milan Airport

I would request your suggestions to make it better. Have I packed too many mountain excursions in the trip? My wife loves mountains, she want to see the snow peaked mountains though we are traveling in summer.

Some specific questions:

1. Whether to stay at Montreux (Eden Palace) or we can consider Glion (Victoria) because of the views? Is commuting from Glion will be difficult compared to Montreux?
2. Whether to stay at St. Moritz (Steffani) or we can consider staying at Sils Maria (Privata) (again mainly for the views). As we are staying only 1 full day at St. Moritz region, should we base ourselves in town rather than in Sils Maria? We have to catch Bernina express at 930 AM as well.
3. Since we'll visit Lindt section at Transport museum, should we consider dropping chocolate train and plan instead a day trip either for Geneva or Gstaad or Chamonix?

Sorry for the long mail. Hope to get expert suggestions from the experts here.

Thanks,

Nasim

Have not studied your whole plan, but Glion is really a nice place to stay.

We stayed nearby, but the Victoria looks like the kind of place we should have picked.

Consider the cog rail up to Rochers de Naye.

Good choice.

Slowpoke

Hi Nasim, welcome to MySwissAlps!

1. I second that Glion is a nice place. Good views, and relatively easy to reach: there's the cogwheel train down to Montreux (12 minutes), and also a funicular down to Territet (6 minutes), where you can connect to trains, buses and boats too. Montreux is more centrally located, but Glion is certainly doable.
2. I would pick St. Moritz for such a short stay. Both places are nice, although St. Moritz is touristy. Both places offer good views. You'll have better connections from St. Moritz.
3. Lindt at the transport museum is like a theme park, the Chocolate Train takes you to actual chocolate and cheese factories. These are different experiences, so it's up to you what you like best. One "chocolate thing" might be enough though.

You can buy your Swiss Travel Pass ahead of time and print it at home to save time. That way there's one thing less to spend time on while you're there, and you can immediately board the first available train. Please see here for all options. An easy way to purchase is to go to www.swissrailways.com/ en. After filling out your address, they will show the delivery options. Pick "Online Ticket" from the bottom of that list. They will e-mail the pass (no delivery fees) so you can print it at home.

<<"I would pick St. Moritz for such a short stay. Both places are nice, although St. Moritz is touristy. Both places offer good views. You'll have better connections from St. Moritz.">>

If you use a bus, you'll be 250 meters or so from the bus stop at the Post in Sils-Maria. Buses run about once per hour after 1914, or every half hour in the AM and take 28 minutes.

You'll probably end up taking taxis if you stay there, and you will not be surprised to learn that they can be expensive in Switzerland.

Re:Glion -

The glorious views are the major attraction, especially if the summer days are hazy down by the lake.. Particularly If the weather is bad, you'll likely ride down to Montreux if you want to be an active tourist. There is not a whole lot to do in Glion. Great place to relax.

Thank you Slowpoke and Arno for your responses.

Definitely purchasing the travel pass on line is a good option to save time. But in our country maximum amount that is allowed to do online transaction by a dual currency credit card is USD 300. So I can't buy the pass online as it will cost CHF 440 person. Is it very time consuming to purchase at Airport? I have to also validate that before hoping on a train, right? If I but it at airport, can they also validate it or I have to go to another counter at the rail station? If it is time consuming, I may purchase it locally from the vendors. I know there are some vendors here who sell swiss travel passes.

Regarding Glion, I heard the trains to Montreux are not very frequent (probably once in a hour), how frequent is the funicular? and do I have to walk a distance to catch bus or train to Montreux. Also how frequent are the buses and trains from Terriet to Montreux? I wont have much time to relax as I'll be there for only 3 nights, and have plan to visit Lavaux, Castle de Chillon, take the Chocolate train, etc. So considering that should I stay at a lake view room at Eden Palace instead of staying at a lake view room at Victoria, Glion? I have booked both (with free cancellation option), apparently Eden Palace is slightly more expensive between the two, But I am more concerned about convenience and time .

Will stay at St. Moritz and will try to make a half day tour at Sils Maria region.

Thanks

Hi Nasim,

Waiting time at the airport varies. Could be a few minutes, could be 30 minutes. If you buy online the pass is ready for travel; no validation required, so you can immediately board the train. I think credit card companies allow a higher limit for one day or so in case of occasional large purchases, but you would have to ask them. I've done that with a debit card several times. Local retailers might be more expensive, but you can check.

The funicular from Glion operates 3-4 times per hour. All details are in the timetable.

ok, thanks. What about the itinerary? Any suggestions to do it differently or add new attractions or exclude some listed in the itinerary. Since all the hotel bookings have free cancellation options, I am flexible. Looking for your suggestions.

Thanks

Hi Nasim -

The train to/from Glion/Montreux operates once per hour - departs Glion at xx59, arrives Montreux in 12 minutes, according to the time tabe.

I suggest that you use the timetable, because it shows the more frequent funicular, but also that there is a further connection to Montreux by bus or train if you use the funicular.

map.search.ch/?x=-101228m&y=-47642m&z=256

Re - St. Moritz. It's been a while since I was there, but I don't recall that the scenery is all that much different at Sils-Maria from the scenery at St. Moritz. Is there something special you wan to see? Even if I were to go to Muotta Muragl, I'd consider the ride up to Corviglia before I would choose a trip to Sils-Maria. We stayed there once....on flat land near the lake.

map.search.ch/?x=117580m&y=-45144m&z=128

There is a fantastic walk from Muottas Muragl to Alp Langard. Only modest climbs and descents. If you are up to doing it with a 4 year old, it could be a high point of the stay there.

www.myswissalps.com/hi king/muottasmuragl-alplanguard

Slowpoke

<<"Is it very time consuming to purchase at Airport? I have to also validate that before hoping on a train, right? If I but it at airport, can they also validate it or I have to go to another counter at the rail station? If it is time consuming, I may purchase it locally from the vendors. I know there are some vendors here who sell swiss travel passes.">>

Hi Nasim.

At Zürich airport train station the lines at the ticket counters may be just as Arno says.

To the left of the regular ticket office is an SBB Travel Bureau. It will likely be faster if the ticket counter lines are long. Go in, take a number for the correct category from the machiine, have a seat, and wait till your number is called ( number shows up on the signboard.)

The Travel Bureau opens at 0710 on weekdays. Whatever validation is need - if any - can be done there.

Some validations are also done by small orange machines at the rail heads or near each track, which print a dat e on some kinds of day passes, etc. if you put the pass in the slot. No people involved. I don't think you need that.

Slowpoke