16 nights Zurich – Lucerne – Zermatt – Geneva

Hi CarolynB,

Welcome to MySwissAlps!

Looking at your planned routes, I think it’s a sensible idea to travel east before heading to central Switzerland (Lucerne and Mürren), then southwards to Zermatt and Montreux and finally Geneva. Staying a few days in each destination will certainly allow for more flexible planning regarding activities you can do and places you can visit.

Be sure to check the timetable to refine your itinerary. There is a mobile version that you can install on your smart device that will allow you to buy your tickets online and on the go.

• SBB timetable: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
• SBB Mobile App: http://www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland/practic al/websites

If you are considering getting a rail pass, the 15-days Swiss Travel Pass is the obvious choice for me. But there are various options as outlined below:

• Swiss Travel Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass
• Swiss Half Fare card: http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard
• Saver Day Pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass

Initially you may find the information overwhelming, but it you have an itinerary planned, it will be much easier to calculate the cost of your journey and decide which rail pass i s best for you. Please use this page as a guide:

• How to choose a rail pass: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass

Hope you are less confused now 🙂
Anna

Hi Carolyn-

We are missing one extremely important datum – When are you traveling?

Here are suggestions from the Forum guidelines:

<<“Please provide enough information. For example: the question “What can I do in 7 days in Interlaken?” can be answered much better if you include some information about your interests, preferences, when you plan to travel, age of the travelers, etc.;”>>

To bring that general principle into focus – there are lot of activities and sights in Switzerland that depend on altitude and weather at different times of year…interactively.

So, at certain times of year, I might suggestion a different order for travel.

In general, your plan makes good sense. Visiting the eastern part of Switzerland is a good start, and Appenzell is not a bad base. A few images attached.

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/st-gall-aka-sankt-gallen-and-good-bratwurst

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Abbey_of_Saint_Gall

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Abbey_library_of_Saint _Gall

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Zeppelin_Museum_Friedr ichshafen

And, if you want even more mountains in your trip, Säntis is worth a trip.

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/santis

Stein am Rhein is within easy reach:

http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/stein-am-rhein-easy-day-trip-from-zurich

But, if you have specific activities that you prefer…. wine? food? photography? museums of any kind? looking at high mountains? walking among high mountains while looking a them? Hiking? Lake boat rides? Child focused activities?…then that can help us comment.

One other comment –

Personally, I’d spend more time in the Jungfrau region and less at Zermatt. The Jungfrau region has more “stuff” and benefits from even more “stuff” in the surrounding Bernese Oberland…very useful for bad weather days. And, Bern is nearby. Zermatt is a bit more isolated from major cities and a variety of other attractions of a type which tend to be worthwhile options even in bad weather. The area around Zermatt is a smaller region than the Jungfrau region.

http://www.myswissalps.com/be rneseoberland

http://www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion

http://www.myswissalps.com/ze rmatt

Slowpoke

Hi Carolyn –

<<“We are traveling in August, arriving Zurich 24, Aug 2020 and departing

for Appenzell the next morning 25 August. “>>

Good time to travel, although there will be high tourist density, which drops off quite a bit in early September. Dates can be important at times of schedule changes of public transport in other months.

<<“Are you suggesting we stay 4 nights in Murren, 3 nights in Zermatt?”>>

That is what I would do, given your priority on hiking.

<<“.<<” It does appear there is lots of

hiking to be done in the Murren area, which is the primary activity for

us on this trip.”>>”>>

Either way would work OK, of course.

<<“My husband is pretty keen to see

the Matterhorn and I know weather can be a challenge so we were trying

to maximize our opportunity to see it. “>>

Remember, a day trip to Zermatt, though definitely not a short journey from Mürren, is within reach from Mürren if the weather reports so indicate, and the specific goal is to see the Matterhorn.

I like this site for detailed local weather:

http://www.meteocentrale.ch/e n/europe/switzerland/w eather-berne/details/N-3513023/

By the way, although most people will understand you, especially in a tourist region, if you say or write Murren, the correct spelling is Mürren, which is pronounced a bit differently.

Slowpoke

<<“Also, I didn’t know I could add an umlaut over a letter – after some

time on Google I figured it out! Thanks for pointing it out. Mürren will

be spelled correctly from now on!”>>

Glad to help with your German. Just one more service from the Forum. Now, you’ll be one step ahead of 90% of the tourists. 😉

Now that you know how to do it right, I’ll mention that the work around is to add an “e” after the vowel. So, Muerren, Roesti, Taesch.

Slowpoke