4.5 Days Between Christmas and New Years

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xxspokesxx
xxspokesxx

Hello! First post here. Thanks for all the great info thus far.

My wife and I will be traveling to Switzerland on Dec 26th from the USA and returning Jan 1st this year. We'll be landing in Zurich on Dec. 27th. We obviously want to see it all (scenery, towns, experience the culture, and eat lots of chocolate) but understand we need to be realistic with 4.5 days in the country. Our "must sees" are Lucerne, Bern, and Zermatt. We'd also like to experience the Glacier Express to see more of the Alps as well (is it worth it?).

Our brief suggested itinerary is:

27th Arrive in Zurich and take train to some city that will get us on the Glacier Express. St. Moritz? Chur?

28th - Glacier Express to Zermatt

29th - Zermatt

30th - Bern

31st - Lucerne

1st - Fly home with smiles on our faces from a magical trip.

Any thoughts or suggestions on our itinerary? Any MUST SEES we are missing or places we should visit rather then spending a day on the Glacier Express? It should be noted that we tend to move from city to city fast when we travel so as we rather experience more parts of a country as a whole then everything in one or two cities.

Thanks in advance. You guys rock!

Rob

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neckervd
neckervd

Be aware that all will depend on the weather. Ths Swiss Alps are fine if the sun shines and horrible in fog, wind, snowfall and temperatures much below zero degrees centigrade!
If the weather is fine in the Alps, take a train from ZRH to St. Moritz and relax in the sun.
Do then the trip you planned. It's a good solution.
December can get very cold in the whole country. The week between Christmas and New Year is super high season at at winter sport places like Zermatt, St. Moritz, etc. The cheaper hotels there are often fully booked in August already. Hotels at Bern, Lucerne etc. will be almost empty and it should be possible to get huge discounts.
For more info, have a look at http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html and the many links you will find there

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anonymous
anonymous

I agree, this sounds like a nice itinerary. However, and I'm sure neckervd will agree, consider that you're backtracking between Chur and St. Moritz. Never mind, you'll be sound asleep on the train either from Chur to St. Moritz or the next day from St. Moritz to Chur. This is due to the jet lag that you don't seem to take into account. And if you're not sleeping: The described leg of your trip is the most spectacular one, it might be taking all your attention, you still can sleep later :-) Have a nice trip in Willy Tell's own country.

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xxspokesxx
xxspokesxx

Excellent! Thanks a ton for the info. Looks like my wife and I will stick to the proposed itinerary and fight off any jet lag with will power. I have gotten a lot of good info reading post from the both of you on this forum so thanks for your replies!

Zermatt seems like it is already PACKED for that week. I managed to find a hotel for two nights (very expensive as it's the super high season) but everything else seems booked. Looking forward to our winter Swiss adventure this year. Now we need to research specifics in each city and good places to eat.

Thanks again!

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anonymous
anonymous

You're welcome. If you feel like, come back and ask more questions. It's pleasure to assist people that appreciate our work.

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