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Hello. We are taking our first trip to Switzerland this March. We will have 5 full days to explore. We would like to see as much of the country as possible. Would Lucerne and Wengen be good places to make our home base (2 nights in each)? I was reading that certain times of year are better than others for Wengen, not everything is open year round. Would this be true for March? If so, could you suggest an alternate town? We will be relying on public transportation, so we would like to be near a train station.
Thank you so very much for your help!
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Hello Scout and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
March is still part fo the Winter ski season in many areas. See http://www.myswissalps.com/be sttimetovisit.
You said “we would like to see as much of the country as possible”. In 5 days you can only see a finite amount of Switzerland unless you plan to spend a lot of time in trains.
You don’t say where you are arriving at or departing from. Lucerne and the Jungfrau Region are good places to get a taste of Switzerland on a short visit. Zermatt is also popular and apart from the iconic Matterhorn has the advantage of being a start point for the famous Glacier Express (http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress) train ride.
If you want to see more of the country side (which will still be under snow in may parts) you might look at fitting in one or more of the scenic train rides (of which the Glacier Express is one) listed at http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/scenictrips/t rain.
Zurich/ Interlaken could be a good option for base.
Hi Scout,
March will be busy as it is ski season in the mountains. It is in between hiking and skiing seasons that places tend to close down (November and April/May).
You’ll find Lucerne (http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne) and Wengen (http://www.myswissalps.com/we ngen) to be fully open as is Zermatt (http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt) another good idea noted by Rockoyster.
For planning tips and practical information on Switzerland look here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ge ttingstarted and be sure to use the Swiss railways timetable to find train connections etc: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Finally, you’ll want to look at a rail pass as you noted taking public transport everywhere: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issrailpasses
Read here for help choosing the right rail pass for your specific itinerary: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpassThank you so much for your help. Could you please advise me on this itinerary?
Day 1 Arrive in Zurch at 8am. Take the train from the airport to Rhine Falls. Then take a train to Wengen. Explore Wengen. See Tummelbach and Staubbach Falls. Overnight in Wengen
Day 2 Zermatt. Overnight Wengen
Day 3 Jungrau top of Europe train. Overnight Lucerne
Day 4 Golden Pass Scenic Route to Montreux, Chillon Castle, Bern. Overnight Lucerne
Dary 5 Explore Lucerne. Overnight Zurch
Day 6 Depart
Can you advise me if this looks like a good schedule? Also what would be the best train routes for the scenery and time frame? Thanks so much for your help.
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Hi Scout,
You can find the train routes and schedules with the timetable link on my last post (it defaults to the most direct route). Be sure to check schedules for days 1 and 4…those days are too busy I think and won’t give you much time to explore.
The only day where you have flexibility on the train you take is day 2 to Zermatt (as the other days currently stand you’ll need to take the most direct routes to maybe make them work).
On the way to Zermatt I’d go via Kandersteg (use the VIA tab on the timetable) for a more scenic route (otherwise you go through a long tunnel in that part of the trip).
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