Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

10 days in Switzerland

Posted by on

Hello all,
I'm travelling to Switzerland towards the end of June for 10 days with my mother. We've finalized this route.
Zurich > Lucerne > Zermatt > Grindelwald > ? > Zurich

I just made bookings for June end at these places at hostels using Booking.com. I wanted to know a couple of things from anyone who may have inputs based on past experience:

  1. Would hostels be okay if we are adults above the age of 30? (I have written to them but not heard back yet)
  2. Most hostels are away from the main town. Will there be public transport to get to them if not a train?
  3. Requesting suggestions for a place to stay after Grindelwald towards Zurich. Interlaken and Bern seem very pricey and touristy. Any ideas?

Thanks a ton!

Posted by
1450 posts

1 - Adults can hostel in Switzerland. I last did it in my 40s (that was [redacted] years ago). I don't think anything has changed.

2- There are always good public transportation options in Switzerland!

3 - Bern is not touristy in my opinion. It's a fine city to visit. It has an in-tact medieval core, a neat modern art museum devoted to Paul Klee, options for high culture, and a museum dedicated to Switzerland's most famous patent clerk. It also has a direct rail link to the Zurich airport (70 min away), so it's a good place to overnight before your flight home.

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you, @FastEddie
Since accommodation was too expensive in Bern and Interlaken, I found hostels in Zug for 3 nights before we fly out from Zurich.
I thought we could cover places around Zurich from there and include smaller towns like Appenzell if possible.
Thoughts / suggestions?

Thanks,
Nam

Posted by
1450 posts

I thought we could cover places around Zurich from there and include
smaller towns like Appenzell if possible.

I have not been to Zug but it looks central enough to explore any of those places easily. However, the drawback of staying in a smaller town to save money on lodging is that you now have to commute to Zurich, Luzern, and other places you want to visit. This could eat up those savings and more. How are you set on rail passes?

Posted by
4 posts

Hey @FastEddie,
I was thinking of buying the Swiss Rail pass for a period of 15 days to save on the multiple trains and buses we may need to use while in Switzerland. This is the link I was referring to: https://www.sbb.ch/ticketshop/b2c/artikelspezSTS.do
Is there a better option in terms of rail passes? I'm unable to find the Golden Pass for around 300 Euros/
Would love some help.
Thanks a ton!

Posted by
1450 posts

A Swiss Pass is a good option, but if you are on a budget also look at the Half-Fare Card. It is good for 30 days and yields a 50% discount on all transportation tickets. It costs 120 SF per adult. It usually is more economical than the Swiss Pass but it does not cover museums.

Posted by
4 posts

Hi @FastEddie,
Your comments are such a saving grace! There are so many ways to do this and every input helps.
I realized that I was doing too much of overlap/backtracking in the given route and am thinking of changing to this based on available hostels. What do you think?

Old route: Zurich > Lucerne > Zermatt > Grindelwald > Zug > Zurich
New route: Zurich > Lucerne > Zermatt > Lugano > Grindelwald > Zurich

Thanks,
Nam

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.