Itinerary advice winter holidays in the Swiss Alps

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    9 May 2018 at 19:25:24 #815861

    Hello!

    My husband and I will spend our winter holidays in the Alps (New Year to mid January/2019) and would like some counseling regarding our itinerary.

    I know it’s still far, but since we’re coming from Brazil, we need to schedule it with a lot of advance. 🙂

    Hope you can send us your comments and feel free to suggest any other schedule you might think it’s more interesting.

    We’ll be arriving in Italy (Milano) and our plans are as follows:

    29/12 to 31/12 – Milano, Italy

    31/12/18 – Take a bus from Milano to Chamonix Mont Blanc

    31/12 to 03/01 – Chamonix Mont Blanc (snowboarding, sightseeing, etc)

    03/01 – Annecy, France.

    04/01 to 07/01 – Lausanne (we have family in Lausanne, so we plan on visiting them and seeing some other places nearby).

    07/01 to 12/01 – Grindelwald – We’ve chosen Grindelwald as base and would like to explore the Jungfrau region (Top of Europe) as well as snowboard a day or two. At first, we thought about staying in Interlaken, but we’ve read that Grindelwald is a better option.

    12/01 to 14/01 – Lucerne/Bern/Zurich (still not sure how we’ll manage these days)

    14/01 to 17/01 – Lugano and Ticino region (this is a place we would very like to know, as we have plans on moving there in the future. That’s why we have included in our schedule. Also, we need to return to Italy anyways).

    Please, feel free to add any comments. We’re still very open on changing this schedule.

    Also, if you have any tips of places not to miss, we’re all ears. 🙂

    Our main doubts:

    1) Is it worth going to Annecy in January? Or is it too out of schedule, considering that we’ll be in Chamonix and next stop is Lausanne?

    2) Is 5 nights enough time for the Jungfrau region? Do you believe it’s worth staying 1 night in Interlaken to see the lakes before heading up to Grindelwald?

    3) What is the best way from Grindelwald to Lucerne. Any scenic rail options?

    4) And from Lucerne to Lugano?

    Thanks a lot!

    Natália

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    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    10 May 2018 at 2:01:06 #884762

    Hi Natalia,
    I agree with Grindelwald over Interlaken. The favourite town on this forum is Wengen so you may want to look there too.

    12/01 – 14/01 — I’d stay in Lucerne

    The Ticino region is very nice in general but January isn’t the best time. If you like it in January then you’ll love living there year-round I’m sure!

    1. I can’t comment on Annecy – We don’t have information on France on the website and I’ve never been there 😉
    2. 5 nights seems plenty in the winter – depends on how much you enjoy winter activities – you could spend weeks there.
    3. Go via Interlaken on the Luzern-Interlaken Express train (part of Golden Pass route)
    4. Go via Göschenen (following the Gotthard Panoramic Express train route which doesn’t operate in the winter)
    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    10 May 2018 at 19:08:44 #884763

    Hi, Lucas!

    Thanks for your reply!

    I’ll check the post about Wengen, evengthough we’re really excited about Grindelwald. 🙂

    As for Ticino, we’ll have to return another time during spring/summer as I’ve read wonders about it. Unfortunately, for this first time, it’ll have to be during winter time due to our vacation availability.

    Will check the trains you suggested.

    Thanks again,

    Natália

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