Advice on 7 nights Lucerne – Interlaken – Zermatt

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    10 July 2016 at 2:38:01 #809637

    Hi

    We will be arriving in Zurich on 14 Sep early morning and departing zurich on 21 Sep morning. That gives us 7 nights in Switzerland. Would like to seek advice on the below draft itinerary if it’s doable.

    D1 -14 sep (lucerne)

    D2 -15 sep (interlaken)

    D3 -16 sep (interlaken)-jungfrau

    D4 – 17 sep (interlaken)-Bern

    D5 – 18 sep (zermatt) – matterhorn

    D6 – 19 sep (advice needed on enroute back zurich on 20 sep)

    We would like to do lucerne, interlaken and Bern in our itinerary. Not very sure if we should do zermatt or if there are other routes that is good for consideration besides taking the trip to zermatt.

    If we do the trip to zermatt, what is the route that we should take from zermatt to end our trip in Zurich on 20 sep. We are departing on 21.

    Thank you in advance for advice.

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    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    10 July 2016 at 7:43:20 #853940

    Hi Summer0761 –

    Welcome to My Swiss Alps.

    You have chosen a very nice time of year for your trip, and are wise to allow several days in the Jungfrau region in case cloudy weather on high makes the trip up to the Jungfrau an expensive way to see the inside of the clouds.

    You have also created an itinerary that avoids rushing around from place to place, trying to “cover” everythng possible.

    Keep close tabs on the weather up high on the Jungfrau while you are there. Ask at the tourist offices, the train stations or your hotel/inn. the weather can change frequently in the mountains, and is difficult to predict more than a day in advance.

    Please check these links, especially the parts about Interlaken.

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

    http://www.myswissalps.com/in terlaken

    Interlaken is an excellent travel base, but lacks the character and scenery of the mountain villages, such as Mürren and Wengen. Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen are also nice. Lauterbrunnen is on the valley floor, but still has some nice views. In my opinion, higher is better.

    I like Wengen. So does Kim:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim

    Looking at your travel plans, you don’t really need the convenient rail links from Interlaken to the rest of Switzerland. Bern is close by, so the extra travel time from Wengen ( for example) or Grindelwald still allows plenty of time to get to Bern, see the city, and return in one easy day.

    Your proposed trip to Zermatt is not a one day round trip as you have planned it, so the extra time needed to get out of the valley to Interlaken is only for a one way trip on that day.

    Have you looked at the time table:

    http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

    and a map:

    map.search.ch/

    for guidance on the trip back to Zürich from Zermatt and for times in the Jungfrau region?

    The timetable defaults to the fastest route, unless you insert a “via” or connection in the available box along with start and destination. There are many options from Zermatt to Zürich, including the day long Glacier Express as far as Chur and thence to Zürich, the long route via Montreux and Bern, and the more usual routes through Spiez then either Bern or Luzern.

    In your travels, you may wish to consider the especially scenic old route from Brig to Spiez for part of one of your trips. That train route has a special train, called “The Lötschberger” which shows up if you tell the time table to select a route via Kandersteg. It takes over an hour longer than the default route through the fast new “basis” tunnel that ooes between Visp and approximately Frutigen, near Spiez. The scenery inside the tunnel is rather uninteresting.

    The timetable, unless given the “via” connection through Kandersteg, will send you through the new tunnel.

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/bls-regioexpress-loetschberger.html

    The attached photo was taken on September 22, 2009, on an unusully clear and sunny afternoon near Mänlichen. Note the clouds gathering near peak of the Eiger ( and out of sight to the right) the Jungfrau.

    Slowpoke

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    11 July 2016 at 4:33:16 #853941

    Hi slowpoke

    Thank you for your advice. If we were to skip zermatt, which route would you recommend for the return leg of our journey to zurich. since that we took the lucern-interlaken for the 1st leg of our journey, I would prefer not to take the same route back.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    11 July 2016 at 9:03:36 #853942

    <<“If we were to skip zermatt, which route would you recommend for the return leg of our journey to zurich.”>>

    You have many choices; some are quite time consuming. Any recommendation needs to be based on your preferences for fast vs. scenic.

    IO to Spiez to Bern to Zürich is surely the fastest.

    If you want to take a bit of time for a detour through the Emmental, you can route from Bern via Langnau i.E. (im Emmental) to Luzern thence to Zürich, instead of the direct route to Zürich

    A really long route is via Brig, then over the Alps to Chur, thence to Zürich along much of the Glacier Express routing. Or, you can go partway over the Alps, to Andermatt and thence to Luzern via Flüelen and from Luzern to Zürich.

    Slowpoke

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