Trip to Lauterbrunnen, Zermatt, St. Moritz in May

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    26 September 2017 at 13:36:04 #813365

    My husband and I are traveling to Switzerland from Meinz Kastel by train on May 13th 2018.

    My itinerary:

    Arrive Lauterbrunnen Monday May 13th by train. Visit Wengen and Murren, next day visit Jungfraujoch.

    Wednesday travel by train to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. 2 nights in Zermatt.

    Friday take Glacier Express to St. Moritz. 2 nights St Moritz.

    On Sunday possibly travel by car to Passau Germany to start river cruise.

    Is ths itinerary too aggressive. Do you have any suggestions for modifications?

    Which is the best way to get to Passau from St. Moritz?

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    26 September 2017 at 15:27:56 #870244

    Hello & Welcome to MySwissAlps.

    You don’t mention what time you expect to arrive in Lauterbrunnen, but even if you’re early in the day you may wish to visit Murren on one day and Wengen the next. You can easily reach each village from Lauterbrunnen train station, but note that they are on opposite sides of the valley. Certainly you could visit both and enjoy a leisurely stroll around, on your first two days. The train up to the Jungfraujoch passes through Wengen, but you’d need to check that your ticket allows you to stop off en route – if that is your wish (they usually do, but a Good Morning Ticket has limitations for example). Hope this helps with your planning!

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    26 September 2017 at 22:36:25 #870245

    I have modified some tell me what you think?

    Mon May 14th Frankfurt to Lauterbrunnen

    tues may 15th lauterbrunnen

    Wednesday may 16th lauterbrunnen

    Thursday may 17 to Zermatt

    Friday may 18 Zermatt

    Saturday may 19 glacier express to Chur

    Sunday may 20th train to Passau

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    27 September 2017 at 7:07:12 #870246

    >> Mon May 14th Frankfurt to Lauterbrunnen

    That should work well. If you pick your connection carefully, you can probably get a service with only one change (at Interlaken Ost). The trip will take about 5.5 hours. You can see what the options were for May this year on the Deutsche Bahn website:

    reiseauskunft.bahn.de/ bin/query2.exe/en?rt=1&

    The Deutsche Bahn timetable for next year will be released on 17 October 2017, after which time you can check the options for your actual travel date.

    >> tues may 15th lauterbrunnen, Wednesday may 16th lauterbrunnen

    When you go to Wengen, there is a great lookout you should not miss! It is about a 5-10-minute walk from Wengen station. Here are the directions:

    From the station, head left up the main street lined with shops and hotels (Dorfstrasse), past the Hotel Silberhorn on the right, Männlichen cable car on the right, Hotel Bernerhof on the left, and uphill a bit past the Hotel Schönegg on the right and a chemist on the left. At the top of the hill, you will see a path on the left leading to the Swiss Protestant Church, where there is a lookout and seats. I have attached a map and a photo showing the view.

    Most mountain transport in the Jungfrau Region, including the train to Wengen (or Grindelwald) and the Jungfraujoch, cable cars/train to Mürren and the cable car to the Schilthorn will be operating while you are there. The following are likely to be closed:

    • Schynige Platte train (probably closed until 25 May 2018)
    • Wengen-Männlichen cable car (probably closed 3 Apr-18 May 2018)
    • Grindelwald Grund-Männlichen gondola (probably closed 3 Apr-18 May 2018)
    • Mürren-Allmendhubel funicular (probably closed 9 Apr–22 Jun 2018)

    >> Thursday may 17 to Zermatt

    If you travel via the Lötschberg-Basistunnel (the fastest route, which the timetable will bring up by default), it will take up to 2 hours 48 minutes. However, by taking the tunnel, you miss out on the scenery.

    To take a more scenic route, put “Kandersteg” in the “via” field of the online timetable. That journey will take you an hour longer, but the mountain scenery is lovely.

    You can use the Swiss Timetable to plan a trip at your preferred time once the new timetable is released in mid-October.

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

    >> Friday may 18 Zermatt

    With only one day, you run the risk of the Matterhorn being in the clouds the whole time you are there, but the mountain transport will be running.

    If you get there early enough on 17 May, and the weather is clear, it might be worth putting your luggage in the lockers at Zermatt station and going straight up to the Gornergrat, unless clear weather is also forecast for the following day. You can use the Swiss Timetable to work out what is feasible time-wise.

    >> Saturday may 19 glacier express to Chur

    In case you don’t already know: reservations are compulsory on the Glacier Express.

    It’s probably a good idea to just go as far as Chur instead of continuing to St Moritz. That will cut a substantial amount of time from your long trip to Passau the following day. Furthermore, staying only one night in St Moritz is not really enough to enjoy what it has to offer in any case; and May is not a good time to visit St Moritz, because all the mountain transport except the Diavolezza cable car will be closed for maintenance. A lot of shops will be closed as well.

    >> Sunday may 20th train to Passau

    Just be aware that some options presented in the timetable include a sector by bus, so if you want to go the whole way by train, make sure not to pick a departure that involves one or more sectors by bus along the way.

    Alpenrose

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    27 September 2017 at 11:07:09 #870247

    Thank you for the wonderful and valuable information. I am happy about my intinerary except for the travel from Chur to Passau.

    what do you think of the overnight train from Chur?

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    27 September 2017 at 12:39:13 #870248

    I have always been a fan of overnight trains.

    They can be hard to reserve (the sleeping cars sell out fast) but if you go for it they can be a nice way to travel and save time if comfort isn’t your top priority of course! Be sure to select a train where you don’t have change in the middle of the night tho!

    Currently there are two sleeper options leaving Chur (not sure what the options will be next May).
    You can check out the current train schedule here.

    The schedule for next year should be up my mid-October.

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    27 September 2017 at 22:02:49 #870249

    If I am taking the train from Chur to Passau, can I use my swiss travel pass or do I need a seperate ticket?

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    28 September 2017 at 9:16:30 #870250

    >> what do you think of the overnight train from Chur?

    You might find the following page useful:

    http://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/nightjet.htm

    Alpenrose

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    28 September 2017 at 9:48:20 #870251

    It looks like you would board the night train in Sargans at 22:37. To keep things simple, I’d buy a ticket for the sleeper from Sargans to Passau. The Swiss Travel Pass does cover the first 28 minutes of that train until Buchs, but trying to split tickets and reservation here is pretty complicated I think. Money wise there will be very little difference as they often have fixed prices for night trains regardless of where exactly you board.

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    1 October 2017 at 12:22:28 #870252

    With limited time in Switzerland which is the better choice. My Pilatus or Zermatt?

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    1 October 2017 at 16:03:48 #870253

    I think it depends on where you are based – I would go with whichever is closest honestly. From Lauterbrunnen it is a long trip to Zermatt (even to Mt. Pilatus it isn’t a quick trip).

    Are you thinking of skipping Zermatt and the Glacier Express train then?

    Use the SBB timetable to plan out your trips and see if they would work for you.

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    1 October 2017 at 16:14:04 #870254

    That is my dilemna. With 6 days in Switzerland and my end point is Passau Germany trying to see the most I can. Have read cool things about both. So trying to decide which would be better.

    is the Glacier Express more spectacular than Lucerne and Mt Pilatus?

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    1 October 2017 at 16:35:21 #870255

    I think the Glacier Express is quite the train trip – but you are comparing it to a town and a mountain. 🙂

    How badly do you want to see Zermatt and take the Glacier Express panoramic train?

    If it were me I would skip Luzern and area totally…go from Meinz Kastel to Lauterbrunnen for 3 nights. The Lauterbrunnen area gives you a lot of mountains to visit (you won’t miss anything by not going to Pilatus). Then train down to Zermatt for 2 nights (visit Gornergrat and/or Klein Matterhorn) and then take the Glacier Express up to Chur / St. Moritz and then on to Passau.

    A bit of a detour for you from Meinz Kastel to Passau but a good one! 🙂

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    1 October 2017 at 16:40:35 #870256

    Ok perfect just wanted validation that the Glacier Express is a must see!

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