7 day Switzerland itinerary

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firstswisstrip
firstswisstrip

We are planning our first trip to Switzerland during first week of July. It will be two adults with 2 kids (11 and 6). Needed some advise on our planned itinerary so we can finalize our plans. Our current thinking is to fly into Zurich and take the train from Zurich airport to Lucerne. We also plan to use trains for transportation and not rent a car.

Day 1: Fly into Zurich, train from airport to Lucerne. Dinner in Lucerne and get rest. Stay in Lucerne
Day 2: Explore Lucerne (lake and old town, etc.). Maybe Mt. Titilis or Pilatus (any suggestion?). Stay in Lucerne
Day 3: Leave for Interlaken in the morning. Explore Lauterbrunnen and other villages. Stay in Wengen
Day 4: Excursion to Jungfraujoch, stay in Wengen.
Day 5; Explore Interlaken area and maybe boat ride on Lake Thun. Stay in Wengen
Day 6: Train in the morning to Zurich. Explore Zurich or place nearby (Basel or Stein-am-Rhein). Stay in Zurich
Day 7: Fly out of Zurich in the afternoon

  1. Is this itinerary reasonable and doable?
  2. Any suggestions on hotels or B&B in all the towns we are staying overnight (Lucerne, Interlaken, and Zurich). Looking for something close to train stations if possible. Price range around $250/night.
  3. There is lot of debate on where to say in Interlaken area - Interlaken vs. some of the villages close by. Thoughts on this appreciated given we are traveling with kids and bags so want to minimize moving too many times as well as want convenience.
  4. Is Montreux worth a visit or we should just maximize our time in the interlaken area instead of Montreux?
  5. Believe the train ride on Golden Pass from Interlaken to Montreux is beautiful - is it similar from Lucerne to Interlaken?
  6. Any suggestions for a chocolate factory tour in any of the cities we are staying? Doubt we can do the chocolate train so maybe just a tour would be fine.
  7. Anything else we should think of doing in this trip?

Thanks in advance for all the advise.

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meckerdv
meckerdv
  1. it's doable
  2. You will most probably need 2 double rooms. It might get rather difficult (although not impossible) to find double rooms for less than 115 CHF each in high season and at places which are extremely popular with tourists from overseas.
  3. Wengen is a good choice; as to the room prices, see above.
  4. Montreux/Lake Geneva is a nice place, but within only 3 days, I wouldn't move too much. Be aware that you cannot plan your Jungfraujoch trip in advance, because it doesn't make any sense to go there if all is in the clouds or in thick fog. One has often to wait several days unti the weather is good enough in order to make this trip worthwile.
  5. No; the landscape (and the architecture of houses and villages) is completely different.
  6. Best chocolate tour: visit of Cailler chocolate factory at Broc, cheese diary at Pringy, medieval city and castle of Gruyeres, all close together, about half an hour by train from Montbovon, a stop along the Golden Pass line Interlaken - Montreux.
    There is also a tiny chocolate factory at Interlaken.
  7. Choose the best railpasses and family cards. You may have a look at
    http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
    http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
    http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en
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berg2
berg2

I strongly urge not staying in Interlaken. Not that anything is wrong with it, it is just a rather large city with big hotels and traffic. Wengen is beautiful so no problem with that. Grindelwald is another good option. Muerren is also wonderful though a bit out of the way. I like being in the mountains; if lakes are more your thing than perhaps disregard this advice (although I would still suggest that Interlaken is not why you went to Switzerland in the first place).

If you take my advice and stay instead in Grindelwald, check out the ParkHotel Schoenegg, which I think is in your price range. Get the dinner plan.

I don't know much about Montreux but it sounds like maybe you are going there because the train trip is nice. Not sure I agree with that approach. I think you will see lots of nice scenery apart from that train trip and the kids might get antsy. Maybe a stop in Thun, which is on the way to Zurich from Interlaken is an idea. But I don't know much about Thun other than that it is beautifully situated.

Enjoy it.

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