Help selecting France > Switzerland itenerary: 11 days August

I think going straight to Lyon is wise, FWIW. From Lyon to Interlaken will take 5-ish hours. Research at www.sbb.ch/en.

Spend as many days as you can. We go every year for up to 4 weeks and usually stay in Lauterbrunnen. Any of the villages will be great. Go where you can find lodging. (It's later than you think to plan for this year.) There are endless possibilities for light hiking and day trips. Get a Berner Oberland Regional Pass, which will cover you from Bern to Wengen and again on your way to Zurich as far as Luzern not to mention almost all of the trains lifts, buses and boats in the Berner Oberland, even outside of the Jungfrau region itself.

We tried Annecy last year and the scenery, hiking, and transportation did not compare. (The food was good, though!) I would not go back, in fact,

Thanks @Laurel - do you think we should spend a day in lucerne or something instead of Annecy, or just stack more time in Jungfrau?

It depends on what appeals to you. Maybe 2 or 3 nights in Lucerne so you can experience that area, those mountains. You’d still have a nice amount of time in the Jumgfraun region.

I agree with @Laurel. I highly recommend adding Lucerne to your itinerary.

Among all the towns and cities I’ve visited in Switzerland, it’s my favorite. It has fairytale buildings surrounding a lake and is not as crowded as Interlaken.

You should spend at least one full day in Lucerne.

You can take the train to Jungfrau or even go to Grindelwald and catch the train there.

If you still want to add a day trip from Paris, I’d recommend Giverny for Claude Monet’s garden.

There are many day trips from Paris by train, depending on your interests. You can find more train trips here: https://happinessontheway.com/best-day-trips-from-paris-by-train/

Lyon is a surprisingly long way from Interlaken (5.5 hours or so).
To get from Paris to Switzerland, since you have limited time, I would suggest going to Strasbourg first, instead. It is a much shorter route. You skip Annecy for sure, but Strasbourg and its region are really lovely and full of cute corners. Strasbourg to Interlaken takes a little over 3.5 hours.

Thanks for the advice everyone, we've decided to skip Annecy and add a night in Lucerne instead. I think we'll spend one night in Paris to break up the traveling a bit. How's this daily breakdown look?

Arrive Paris 9am/Stay in Paris near train station
Stay in Lyon
Stay in Lyon
Stay in Interlaken
Stay in Jungfrau
Stay in Jungfrau
Stay in Jungfrau
Stay in Jungfrau
Stay in Jungfrau
Stay in Lucerne
Stay in Zurich
Depart Zurich 7:45AM

I assume by Jungfrau, you are referring to Wengen. Why spend one day in Interlaken when in just 40 minutes you will be in Wengen? One less pack-up-and-change-hotel process. If you want to do something in Interlaken, just go from Wengen.

Good point Sam! We'll take that advice.