Switzerland - September 2023

[PaunchyPirate]

Your itinerary looks good to me. Personally, I think you might want to plan some half-day or daytrip activities out of Luzern. The City itself is quite small and you can cover most of it in a day or less on foot. Once you have seen the ancient bridge and the downtown area and admired the fantastic mountain views across Lake Lucerne, you have covered most of it. Unless you want to take in the National Transportation Museum (which is nice, but unless you are a transportation nerd, there are better things to spend your time on). Day trips to Stanserhorn, Mt Pilatus, Engelberg (Mt Titlis), etc are amazing. For something unusual, consider taking a quick train or a slower boat to the Luzern suburb Hergiswil and visit/tour the pretty famous glassblowing shop "Glasi Hergiswil". Interesting museum, live glassblowing tours, shop.

You have a lot of amazing train rides planned - I wish you a fog-free, sunny and crisp Autumn! If the weather cooperates, you are in for a treat!
You may want to plan some alternative activities in case of bad weather. For example, in the Interlaken area, Swiss Open Air museum at Balenberg is really nice. Traditional buildings from all parts of Switzerland, trade and crafts demos, etc. Of course, lots of indoor things to do in the cities. Museums (Landesmuseum right next to the main railway station in Zurich, or visit some castle like Kyburg (outside of Zurich) or, as some other poster already mentioned Chillion Castle outside of Lausanne. There are many more, of course and all are readily reachable by public transport.

Thanks for the feedback. I probably should added that the specific activities for each stop on my itinerary aren’t fully nailed down. But, I definitely plan on getting outside the central areas in places like Luzerne. If there’s a funicular or cable car in the vicinity, you can bet I’m going to try and ride it. I’ll go to the top of anything for a good view! I’ll work on that next level of detail next after I pin down a decent plan for where to stay and for what duration.

 

[brett]

We went to Pilatus while we were in Luzern. A wonderful, clear afternoon. Highly recommend it.


I would caution about two things. First....don't try to jam everything in. There may be places where you want to spend an extra day.

Secondly, I would never make a schedule down to the last day or hour. We always leave some flux in our schedules and never tie ourselves down to accommodation reservations that cannot be changed.

Save some time just for walking about aimlessly and breathing in the atmosphere.

 

[DrRoy]

Generally looks pretty good.

 

[HarveyS]

I spent 2 months in Grindelwald in the spring 2022. I'd stay in Grindelwald over other villages in the area. More options for housing, dining, hiking. I'll recommend some non-strenuous hikes in the area: (1)Take the gondola to First. Explore first, then Hike downhill (mostly) to Grosse Scheidegg. You can take a bus from there to the hotel Wetterhorn for the best strudel in town IMO. (2) Ride the gondola to Männlichen and hike downhill (mostly) to Kleine Scheidegg. Take the train from here to Wengen/Lauterbrunnen/Grindelwald. (3) take the train to Lauterbrunnen. Hike to Stechelberg. Take the gondola to Gimmelwald, explore, then take gondola to Mürren. Hike downhill (mostly) to Grütschalp and take train to Lauterbrunnen. Look into a multi-day pass to save $.

 

[HarveyS]

download the 'SBB Mobile' app to see swiss train and bus schedules.

 

[DireWolf]

I really liked Gimmelwald and Murren. I stayed down in Lauterbrunnen, but wish I’d stayed a night in Gimmelwald. I was on a long bike tour, and took a rare day off from riding to explore on foot. Definitely a place I’d like to return to.

I also really liked Lucerne. Cycling along the lake on a beautiful morning was sublime

 

[Freedom56]

We visit every year (lately it has been every 9 months) due to visiting family. I would recommend that you buy a Swiss Pass for $477 good for 15 days. It includes all train and public transportation and many cable cars and funicular rails and all boats. It also includes admission to about 500 museums and castles. Certain mountain excursions are 100% covered by this pass such as Lucerne to Rigi by boat, cable car, and funicular rail or Mount Stanserhorn. The pass gives you 50% discounts on funicular rails and cable cars that are not 100% covered by the pass. Unless you like lugging your luggage around, I would just stay in Lucerne and do day trips to other locations in Switzerland. Lucerne in centrally located and you can cover a lot of the country with short train rides. Plus it is one of the nicest cities in Switzerland. The weather is very unpredictable as it normally rains quite a lot (last year was an exception) so your plans have to be flexible. Staying in a central location allows you to visit locations where the weather is the best on that day. For example Lucerne to Lugano is only 1 hour 40 minutes by train or Lucern to Berne is only 1 hour by train. Your longest run would be Lucerne to Zermatt which is 3 hours by train. Buying individual tickets for trains or boats or day passes can be pretty expensive.

https://www.swiss-pass.ch/swiss-pass/

 

[check6]

You have picked my favorite country in the world and Souschef nailed it in his post. I have been going to Wengen since 1976. The view from there overlooking the Lauterbrunnen Valley is not to be missed.

 

[Dgalmore30]

Suggestion for something to do

Switzerland is wonderful. I think one of my favorite things was taking the train to The Trümmelbach Falls. Such an unusual natural wonder. I also am a big fan of books so enjoyed the Abbey Library of St Gallen.

 

[53anddone]

Also will be there around 9/4 - 9/17. Have not bought the tickets yet but will soon. Like you I am thinking around $1500 for premium economy. Business for 4K not worth it.

I've reached the point where being paid to suffer in the back is not worth it.

 

[explanade]

If and when you look at the Jungfrau area. Don't catch yourself staying in Interlaken simply because it's a central location with a major train hub. Too many people make this mistake.

Nothing wrong with Interlaken itself, but you should be looking at staying in one of the beautiful nearby alpine villages such as Grindelwald instead. Not only are they more of what you came to Switzerland for, they're still a short train ride away from Interlaken for day trips outside the area.

I would agree that you want to stay in a village, like Wengen, at least once.

But if you want to hit all the mountain trains and ferries in the area, Interlaken may give you some flexibility.

I have bought the Berner Overland pass (along with Half Fare Card) and it's great for the ferry ride to Brienz, very scenic.

Definitely look at going to Jungfrau and Schilthorn but there are some great views up in Harder Klum and Rothorn as well, not to mention Niederhorn overlooking the lake.

From Harder Klum and Niederhorn, if the day is clear, you can see the three peaks (Jungfrau, Eiger, Monch) but they're often shrouded in clouds.

If you want to do mountain hiking, it's great to be in Wengen or Lauterbrunnen, to get to the hike to Murren along the ridge. But to do anything around the lakes, you have to spend extra time each way going back to Interlaken.

 

[explanade]

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and tips on what to see and where to stay. This is my first pass at an itinerary. What do you think?

About me: I will be 61 at the time of the trip traveling solo this time around. I like trains (especially European ones). I will do the math to buy the right rail pass, if appropriate. I think it probably will be. I like scenic viewpoints of any type and historical (old will do) architecture. I'm not usually one to eat fancy food or at formal places (especially when traveling solo). I like to get up and go early in the morning and keep myself busy thru the day. I like scenic walks, but I'm not all that physically fit, so strenuous hikes are not all that likely. Relatively flat or mostly downhill walks are fine. I was a geographer by schooling, so I can study maps for hours and I love to look at the geography in real life. This includes geologic formations (mountains, glaciers, valleys, rock layers, etc.). For this trip, I'm not looking for city activity all that much. However, quaint, "old town" type places are thoroughly enjoyed. I don't mind a bit of a touristy area, but am not drawn to it to buy things. I am not a souvenir person and I hate shopping in general.

Here's the plan:

Sept 13 Arrive Zurich 8:55 am
Train Zurich Airport to Lucerne
Explore Lucerne, lifts, hikes, viewpoints
Hotel Lucerne

Sept 14 Explore Lucerne, lifts, hikes, viewpoints
Hotel Lucerne

Sept 15 Boat/Train Gotthard Panorama Express (Lucerne to Lugano)
Explore Lugano
Hotel Lugano

Sept 16 Bus/Train Bernina Express (Lugano to Pontresina)
Hotel Pontresina

Sept 17 Explore Pontresina, St. Moritz and Samedan, lifts, hikes, viewpoints
Hotel Pontresina

Sept 18 Train Pontresina to St. Moritz
Train Glacier Express (St. Moritz to Zermatt)
Hotel Zermatt

Sept 19 Explore Zermatt, Hikes, Lifts, Viewpoints
Hotel Zermatt

Sept 20 Explore Zermatt, Hikes, Lifts, Viewpoints
Hotel Zermatt

Sept 21 Train Zermatt to Lausanne
Explore Lausanne
Hotel Lausanne

Sept 22 Train Lausanne to Montreux
Train Golden Pass (Montreux to Interlocken)
Train Interlocken to Lauterbrunnen
Train Lauterbrunnen to Wengen
Hotel Wengen

Sept 23 Explore Hikes/Lifts/Viewpoints
Hotel Wengen

Sept 24 Explore Hikes/Lifts/Viewpoints
Hotel Wengen

Sept 25 Train Wengen to Bern
Hotel Bern

Sept 26 Train Bern to Zurich
Explore Zurich
Hotel Zurich

Sept 27 Train Zurich to Zurich Airport
Depart Zurich 11:45 am

Just in general, you might want to prioritize some of the places you want to see, in good weather.

Lot of these mountain tops, it may not be worth the expense to take a train or cable car up if the weather isn't clear.

That is especially the case for Jungfrau, which is over $100.

In fact some days may be raining or clouded over. You have to decide if it's worth spending say 50 Swiss Francs on some of these excursions if it isn't very clear.

The pattern in the summer is often that it's clear in the morning but by early afternoon, the clouds roll in and block the views.

For instance, in 2021, I wanted to go up to Rothorn in Brienz. It's an hour trip up a cogwheel train and up there you see views of Lake Brienz below and beautiful mountain landscapes in the foreground and the background.

It rained for 2-3 days before so as soon as it cleared up, I took a 30 minute train ride from Interlaken to Brienz and by 9 AM or so, there was a long queue, other people with pent up desire to go somewhere once the weather cleared.

They added trains or else we would have waited an hour or two more. By the time we got up there, it was around 11:30 and the views were clear.

But within an hour, the clouds rolled in and you could no longer see the lake below.

Weather forecasts up in the mountains are difficult (get meteoblue and MeteoSwiss apps). So you have to play it by ear whether you are going to get enough use out of certain passes, which will run in the hundreds of dollars.

 

[explanade]

We visit every year (lately it has been every 9 months) due to visiting family. I would recommend that you buy a Swiss Pass for $477 good for 15 days. It includes all train and public transportation and many cable cars and funicular rails and all boats. It also includes admission to about 500 museums and castles. Certain mountain excursions are 100% covered by this pass such as Lucerne to Rigi by boat, cable car, and funicular rail or Mount Stanserhorn. The pass gives you 50% discounts on funicular rails and cable cars that are not 100% covered by the pass. Unless you like lugging your luggage around, I would just stay in Lucerne and do day trips to other locations in Switzerland. Lucerne in centrally located and you can cover a lot of the country with short train rides. Plus it is one of the nicest cities in Switzerland. The weather is very unpredictable as it normally rains quite a lot (last year was an exception) so your plans have to be flexible. Staying in a central location allows you to visit locations where the weather is the best on that day. For example Lucerne to Lugano is only 1 hour 40 minutes by train or Lucern to Berne is only 1 hour by train. Your longest run would be Lucerne to Zermatt which is 3 hours by train. Buying individual tickets for trains or boats or day passes can be pretty expensive.

https://www.swiss-pass.ch/swiss-pass/

You have more experience of Switzerland than I do but I wouldn't risk a lot of money on a pass, especially based on taking a lot of train and cable car rides.

The weather is unpredictable so a lot of trips and excursions may not be made.

I've always gone for Half Fare Cards, to use for the intercity trains and then if I stayed long enough, look at getting regional passes.

For instance, I think I got the Berner Oberland Pass in 2021 for 5-days, it cost like 250 CHF and probably only got 2.5 days use out of it because the weather wasn't as good as I'd hoped in July. So I made sure to hit some of the more expensive cable cars.

I've actually used a spreadsheet to compare HFC vs. some of these longer passes, trying to estimate how much I'd be able to use during my trip.

The OP has a very ambitious schedule but a lot of these short stays, he may not get good weather before having to move on.

 

[meridiver]

The last time we were in Switzerland was in late August about 15 yrs ago. We planned 3 days in Zermatt. It snowed (hard) on the mountain for 2 of those days. Luckily on the third day it finally cleared enough to actually see the Matterhorn and visit the high observation station, but we would have totally missed it if we hadn't been able to stay for 3 days. Also it was about 20 degrees up there with deep snow drifts so be prepared for that.

My point is that weather in the high Alps is quite variable, even in the summer and mid-September will be even more so. You might want to build in some extra flexibility around the places you really want to see.

Also, since you mentioned you are okay with flat or downhill hiking, you can take the Jungfraujoch train to the glacier, then take the train back down to Kleine Scheidegg and hike part way or all the way down the mountain (weather permitting). Hiking down the trails listening to the cowbells in the high pastures is pretty heavenly, but because it's all downhill I'd also recommend bringing a pair of hiking poles and comfortable boots with good grip.