| Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 | |
12 days in Switzerland...pl help meCountry forums / Western Europe / Switzerland | ||
Hi I am travelling with my son and spouse to Switzerland for 12 days. Have built an itenary after reading the thorntree forums but would help if someone can tell me if this looks good to follow and have a few queries against each...will be so thankful for your feedback. Day 01 Lucern We would do Mt Pilatus for half day, possible? Day 02 Luzern- Mount Titlis Day 05 Interlaken - Schilthorn Day 07 Montreux/ Should we explore Chocolate Train and do Chillon Palace in one day? Day 08 Zermatt Day 11 Zurich Edited by: Winnie2000 | ||
Ummm, how old is your son? If he is young enough to enjoy some of the specifically children's things, I doubt if he would appreciate the castle (NOT 'palace') at Chillon. I think that Mount Pilatus and Mount Titlis would each require more than half a day: after doing one, you might not feel any need for the other. The 'Golden Pass' route is gorgeous, but combining it with a tour of Geneva in just one day sounds like quite a lot. I found both Interlaken and Zermatt rather boring in themselves, although they give access to good mountain areas. | 1 | |
Everything is doable. But it will not be a trip for people travelling on a budget. You plan to visit 3 Swiss towns. Lucerne, Geneva and Zurich (the other places you mention are holiday resorts with no historic buidlings, museums, etc, except Chillon castle). I suppose you know that there are more interesting towns in Switzerland than these 3. Now to your questions: Which Lake Brienz Dinner cruise? 1 boat leaves Interlaken at 16.25 and comes back at 18.50 (wekends from mid June, daily in July and August), another one cruises between 19.00 and 21.15 (saturdays from July 9th to August 21st only). Harder is close to Interlaken: 10 min by cablecar. The Trummelbach Falls are of easy reach from Lauterbrunnen, between Interlaken and Jungfraujoch. Chillon castle is a 5 minutes train, boat or citybus ride from Montreux. There is also a promenade (nice walk) along the shore of Lake Geneva. Geneva has some good museums. If you don't get lost there, you can easily visit the town in one day. You don't need any guide. The chocolate train excursion to Gruyeres and Broc takes the whole day. Chillon castle would be closed when you come back to Montreux. Zermatt: Gornergrat is as good as Kleinmatterhorn. But it's not forbidden to do both (if the weather is fine, otherwise it wouldn't be worth the money). Zermatt - Rheinfall: take any train leaving Zermatt between 7.39 and 18.39 (departures every hour), change at Visp and Winterthur; 4 1/2 hrs later you will arrive at Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Swiss timetable: http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm | 2 | |
Thanks a lot. Opened my eyes fully. My son is 10 year old...not sure if he is going to enjoy the views. He is keen on toboganning, husky rides and playing with snow. Would I be able to do so at one of these excursions at Titlis or Pilatus. I am confused between doing Pilatus or Schilthorn and Gorgengrat vs Matterhorn. Maybe if I choose one each from the set, maybe I will be able to reduce my days and cost :). Also looks like i should give Geneva a miss. Have kept the 3 towns as a base so that travel is easier due to the kid and luggage. Do let me know options that could bring down my hotel rates and would be accessible to places. Many thanks once again...wondering if I need to go back to the drawing board to chart the routes again. | 3 | |
Snow: you never told us in which month you plan to travel. Euope has 4 different seasons: much snow in January and almost no snow in August (only at places above 3000metres). | 4 | |
If cost is any kind of issue, then you could economise on hotel rates by renting an apartment for the week and visiting other places as day trips. | 5 | |
That means up to 8 hours in trains per day. | 6 | |
Re reducing hotel costs. I highly recommend the Swiss Hostels especially when traveling with children. It gives them a chance to meet and mingle with other local children, They have family rooms which are quite comfortable, some even serve breakfast and a good fresh dinner. check it out. It was a highlight for my grandson when I did a trip a few years ago. | 7 | |
Thanks for all your advise, am doing the following now with all the inputs, 2 and half days in Zurich...the half day is to free ourselves from the long flight journey. Moving to Interlaken and staying for 6 days in a hotel near Interlaken which I got a real bargain deal on. Moving to Lucerne for 4 days and post that will fly back. We plan to explore the smaller towns around Interlaken and Lucerne. Am still populating that list and will share for advise soon. Neckervd : your inputs were really helpful in building the new itenanary. We are travelling around 19th May and will be there till 2nd June. I am buying the 15 day Swiss Pass, guess that should suffice and will give me great discounts. | 8 | |
"a hotel near Interlaken which I got a real bargain deal on": | 9 | |
Hi thanks Neckervd. Was travelling on work and could not return on the forum. Working further on the details, have planned our itinerary starting from Zurich. Now it reads as: 1-3 Zurich. Since we are flying from Asia, we need the first day for some rest. The next two days we intend to explore the city, Rhine Falls and may visit Rapperswil 4-10 Interlaken : Will do day visits to Ballenberg Musuem, Launterbrunner, Murren, Lake Thun, Jungfrajouch, Zermatt (Matterhorn), Glacier 3000. Can one go to Bern on a day trip from Interlaken? Should we skip Glacier 3000? we are keen on doing the husky rides and is it available anywhere else closer to Interlaken so we could avoid the trip to Glacier 3000? 11-14 Lucerne: Mt Pilatus, Mt Titlis, Swiss Transport Musuem, Mt Rigi The attempt is to try doing what all visitors to Switzerland but at a slower pace. thanks a lot and look forward to your advise | 10 | |
I think doing Jungfraujoch, Titlis, Pilatus, Rigi is too much. Out of the 3 last ones, I would do max. two, if you only do one you won't miss much. You can definitely go to Bern on a day trip from Interlaken. By the way, Appenzell is also a very nice region. | 11 | |
Thanks special_k6 | 12 | |
Zurich - Rapperswil: go one way by boat. For the other way, take the train via Einsiedeln (famous baroque monastery): Rapperswil - Biberbrugg - Einsiedeln - Waedenswil - Zurich. As far as I know, the Lindt and Sprungli chocolate factory cannot be visited, only the factory chocolate shop. If you want to visit a chocolate factory, you must go to Gruyeres/Broc (Cailler). You may combine Ballenberg with Aar Gorge and/or Lake Brienz steamboat. The Jungfraujoch trip will cost you a lot with the Swiss Pass, as you will get only 25 per cent reduction. Zermatt - Gornergrat would be the better and cheaper solution. But it seems that money is no issue for you. There is nothing to see at Lauterbrunnen (unless you want to visit Trummelbach Falls); Grindelwald would be a better solution. Bern is just 47 min by train from Interlaken (trains every 30 minutes). As far as I know, there are no husky rides in May, neither at Glacier 3000 nor elsewhere in Switzerland. SWiTZERLAND WITH CHILDREN Check the Swiss Travel System Family Card Some ideas: historic steamboats on Lake Geneva: Swiss Vapeur Park Le Bouveret: Signal de Bougy: Blonay-Chamby historic railway: Chillon castle: Gruyeres castle, cheese diary and chocolate factory: Chatelard-Emosson (Mont Blanc area): Zermatt-Gornergrat: Entirely walled city of Murten: Medieval city of Bern: Swiss Village Park Ballenberg: Lugano and Swissminiatur: Seewen in the Jura close to Basel: Rapperswil: Rhine Falls Adventure Park Furka steam train You may have a look at | 13 | |
Thanks Neckervd. The links you have sent are very helpful. My son is so excited about Ballenberg Musuem, Swiss Transport Musuem and Rhine Falls. As suggested by you we are doing Grindelwald instead of Lauterbruner. Have managed to see 50% of the links and am working on the final list of things to do. We would love to go to Lugano but seems it looks like a long distance from Interlaken and seems a bit hectic...do let me know your view? Many thanks once again... | 14 | |
Visit Lugano from either Zurich or Lucerne: 2 1/2 hrs by train, trains every hour. | 15 | |
Thanks Neckervd. All set to visit Switzerland. Had one query on travel cards: do most places in Switzerland accept payment through travel cards which are in CHF? | 16 | |