Advice for my Swiss itinerary 2 weeks

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cyin
cyin

Hello all,

First of all, I would like to say thanks for all the useful info available here. My partner & I are planning a trip to Switzerland in June'14. We had our itinerary planned and we would like to seek further advices to improve our itinerary from the helpful members here.

Our main aims are sightseeing, exploring towns, riding scenic trains, cable cars & boats in this beautiful country. We are not planning to do any major outdoor activities like hiking or biking. We will be purchasing 15D Swiss Pass for our trip.

6 June: Arrive in Zurich 8am. We start off the trip by leaving to Paris via TGV Lyria for 3 nights before heading back to Switzerland. We already booked our air flights (non-changeable) before a sudden decision to visit a friend in Paris :(

9 June: Paris to Basel and transfer to Luzern. Stay in Luzern for 3 nights.
- Mt Rigi/Mt Pilatus trip.
- city tour, day trip to Bern if the weather is bad.

12 June: Luzern to Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen. Stay in Lauterbrunnen for 3 nights.
- On the way from Luzern to Interlaken, might want to stop over at Meiringen.
- One must do thing here is the Jungfraujoch trip, at any day when the weather is good.
- others: Murren -> Schilthorn, explore nearby towns Wengen/Grindelwald/Thun.

15 June: Interlaken to Montreux via Golden Pass Express. Stay in Montreux for 2 nights.
- probably boat cruise to Lausanne/around lake Geneva.
- Chocolate train trip to Gruyeres

17 June: Montreux to Zermatt. Stay in Zermatt for 3 nights.
- Must see: Matterhorn & Gornergrat!

20 June: Zermatt to Chur/St Moritz via Glacier Express. Stay in Chur/St Moritz for 2 nights.
- Might do a Bernina Express trip to Tirano if time allows.

22 June: Chur/St Moritz to Zurich. Stay Zurich for 1 night.

23 June: Morning flight home.

We planned a flexible itinerary so that we can change according to the weather etc. We have not book the accommodation & reserve the scenic train rides until we finalize the places that we want to visit.

And we appreciate any feedback/suggestion to improve our itinerary :)

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voyager_2002
voyager_2002

Before you buy your Swiss passes, have a really good look at the SBB (Swiss railway) site. Since there are specific journeys that you want to make on specific days, you might save money by getting cheap advance-purchase tickets for these journeys.

Alternatively, enjoy the flexibility that a rail pass gives. If you have a pass then there is no need to reserve a train journey: you just turn up at the station and get on whatever train you find attractive. I once rented an apartment in Luzern, and every day would just go to the station and go somewhere new.

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cyin
cyin

Hi Voyager, thank you very much for the advice. We will try to compare the prices of individual trips before purchasing Swiss Pass :)

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berg2
berg2

A few reactions:

  1. Not sure Lucerne merits 3 nights though it is certainly a nice spot. Could stay that first night in Basel. If you like museums, check out the Beyeler in Basel as well as the main art museum in the city.

  2. Not sure about the choice of Lauterbrunnen as the place to stay in that area. It is in a valley with less than ideal views (relative to surrounding towns). I am not suggesting staying in Interlaken, but you might want to consider Grindelwald (a bit bigger than Lauterbrunnen) or Murren, a little village right above Lauterbrunnen.

  3. Good job in including the Gornergrat. In good weather, consider staying overnight up there at the Kulm hotel. A bit pricey but not too bad and fabulous views. (note, you might wake up all night with altitude effects). As a another day time activity around Zermatt, consider a day trip to Saas Fee. Beautiful little town. Takes a little less than two hours to get to from Zermatt - train to Stalden and then a quick connection to the Post Bus there.

  4. Might check a little bit into St. Moritz. I have not stayed there but what I saw I didn't like much - big buildings and not a small town feel. Chur is nice.

Have a great time.

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cyin
cyin

Hi berg2,

Thank you for the suggestions!

  1. Yes, we are actually planned to take one night out from Luzern and extend it on Lauterbrunnen stay.

  2. We have not booked/decided whether to stay in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren or Grindelwald. Shall do more search on these locations.

  3. Souds great, we will check it out too.

  4. We are leaning more towards staying in Chur and planning trip to St Moritz if possible.

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