[Removed user]

12 December 2017 at 2:00:19 #813807

My husband and I are going to Switzerland for our first time in February 2018. When i was trying to do my planning, i am so so confused! Hope i can get some help here!

I will be flying into Zurich and flying from Zurich back to Singapore. Therefore, i need to plan a 7 days (returning on 8th day) itinerary starting from Zurich and returning back to Zurich.

We do not know how to skii nor snowboard and i hope to include a scenic train ride into part of the trip (hopefully not too long a ride). I also hope for a comfortable yet inexpensive trip, so we welcome budget but comfortable options. Since it is in winter, not sure besides skii and snowboard, would there be less activities?

I was thinking of staying in Interlaken, staying on a mountain with great view and returning back to a city that we can visit and chill while we go back on our last day to from Zurich airport.

I read online and find that most of the itineraries travel daily from places to places and seem to be quite packed. As we will be carrying our luggage throughout, we were hoping to spend at least 2 days per location unless you think its really not much to do at the location.

My initial plan was to follow below plan:

Zurich–>Interlaken –> schilthron–>lucerne–>bern–>Zurich

1) not sure if this sequence is ok?

2) not sure if schilthron will be a good mountain to stay at? we welcome other options that are not too expensive too.

Lastly, thanks in advance and hope to hear some suggestions on itinerary routes that i can start planning on! 🙂

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[Removed user]

12 December 2017 at 9:07:52 #872818

Hello Regine10c and welcome to MySwissAlps,

1. On the way to Interlaken you will pass Bern. So it would make less sense to visit Bern via Lucerne. You could make Bern your first stop. But since you would like to spend at least 2 days per location, I would suggest to do a day trip from Interlaken to Bern and extend your stay in the Jungfrau region. There is so much to see and do. Have a look at this page and discover the activities that we recommend.
2. The area of the Schilthorn is beautiful. I would look for accommodation in Wengen, Lauterbrunnen or Mürren.

You say you’re hoping to include a scenic train ride. You can hop on the Golden Pass from Interlaken. If you then were to do the complete trip up to Montreux, expect a long day. You could also get off in Gstaad or Schönried, enjoy lunch and head back to Interlaken. A timetable can be found here. To be sure to travel via the Golden Pass line, enter the via-station Zweisimmen.

Make sure to check out the following pages as well:

Scenic train trips

Traveling by train in Switzerland

Activities to do in Lucerne

Good luck with your trip!

[rockoyster]

12 December 2017 at 9:40:02 #872819

Hello Regina,

What time of day do your flights arrive and depart Zurich Airport? That could make a big difference on the best itinerary for such a relatively short visit to Switzerland.

If you give us that information it will be easier to tailor our advice.

[Removed user]

12 December 2017 at 10:47:27 #872820

Thanks for your input Chantal, i’ll read up the options as suggested when I am planning.

[Removed user]

12 December 2017 at 10:47:59 #872821

Thanks Rockoyster, I will be reaching Zurich airport at 5.00pm and return flight will be at 10.30am from Zurich.

Reach on 6th Feb (5pm) and return on 13th Feb (10.30am). All in all, i have 7-6 days in Switzerland.

[rockoyster]

12 December 2017 at 20:57:39 #872822

Hi Regine,

OK, might I then suggest on 6th you go direct from Zurich Airport to Lucerne. Spend maybe 3 nights there then move to Jungfrau Region before returning to Zurich via Bern on 12th ready for your flight out the next day.

[Removed user]

13 December 2017 at 8:41:09 #872823

Thanks Rockoyster.

So i was thinking of the following itinerary, is it possible? Look forward for some advice if the number of days stay at each location is too short or should we stay at 1 location and do a day trip to the places that we want to visit.

6th Feb – 1 Night in Lucerne

5:00pm Reach Zurich Airport take a train to Lucerene (there seems to be many options for train, what will be the best train to take? Do I need to buffer walking/transfer time from touch down to the train station? Is 30mins sufficient?)

6.30pm Reach Lucerene for 1 night stay. We will look for a hotel near the central, is that a good option?

Night in Lucerene – any suggestions for place to chill or activities?

7th Feb – 2 Night (7-9th Feb in Interlaken)

Morning in Lucrene, enjoy breakfast and out to visit Chapel Bridge/ Water Tower/ Walk around lake Lucerne also if there’s time, maybe visit the old town Musegg Wall too.

I am thinking to leave Lucrene to Interlaken by golden pass train at about 12pm, reach about 2pm.

Explore Interlaken by foot, chill-out, coffee/wine place, search for day trip packages

8th Feb – Day trip to Schilthron/ Jungfaug/ or any other mountains to recommend?

Qns: Would it be possible to do our own trip or how much is a day trip generally if we sign up a trip when we are there?

9th Feb – Interlaken to Murren ? Or Interlaken to Zermatt?

Qns: If we want an experience to stay in the mountain, should we plan a day to stay in Murren? Or would it be too much trouble moving around?

Qns: Is it recommended to stay near city ? We were hoping to waking up to a fantastic view 🙂

10th Feb – Murren to Zermatt or Another day at Zermatt

Qns: Any suggested activities?

11th Feb – Travel to Zurich to stay till 13th Feb

12th Feb – Zurich

Yet to plan activities

13th Feb – Zurich – Flying off to Singapore at 10.30am

Is the above a good plan?

Throughout the journey, when I travel from one place to another, is there specific train recommendations? I am quite lost with so many different types of trains. 🙁

Also, with these amount of travelling, is it recommended to get swiss travel pass?

[rockoyster]

13 December 2017 at 9:14:06 #872824

Hi Regine,

For such a short visit I would concentrate on Lucerne – there is much to do there (http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne) and the Jungfrau Region (http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion). Wengen is a very popular place to stay. Don’t try to move around to much or you will waste too much time checking in and checking out of hotels. Don’t go back to Zurich on 11th. Go back there on 12th. Zurich is just a city but the Alps are the Alps.

As far as a pass goes you should read this http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass.

If you limit your travels to Lucerne and the Jungfrau Region you are not doing a lot of long expensive train trips so you might want to look at the Swiss Half-fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard) or the Tell Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/te llpasswinter).