We fly in and out of Zurich. First day of arrival we head to Andermatt for 5 nights and ski 4 days. Then we want to venture to see more of Switzerland. I’m trying to book the remaining trip and need advice. I am thinking 2 days/nights in Zermatt (we are not skiing here, thought to stay in an igloo one night but seems like too much going on), and 3 days in Lauterbrunnen and 1.5 days/1 night in Lucerne before we head to the airport. I want to see cities like Grindelwald, Wregen, and Jungfraujoch. We have luggage. Thanks in advance!! *Updated - I added two more days to the trip.
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen is not worth it for just 1 night, so I would skip Zermatt and maximize my time in the Interlaken area. I suggest that you stay in Wengen, Grindelwald or Mürren, so that you can enjoy some Jungfrau-facing skiing!
And, unless your flight is earlier than 9.30 am, you don't need to stay the last night in Zurich. You can go to the airport straight from Lucerne.
Posted by
Atlanta
5196 posts
I want to train around to see everything we can...
Understandable, but you might want to rethink that. Your one night stops might not be worth the time lost getting from place to place. You want great memories of good food, meeting new people, relaxing and enjoying interesting places -- not blurred memories of train stations.
In addition, considering the stress associated with most weddings, you might need to just chill out and not be rushed. Just food for thought. Love long and prosper!
Posted by
Nashville, TN
612 posts
It’s unrealistic to do all 3 of those locations in 3 nights. Each of them take 3.5-4.5 hours by train to get to, which means you’d wake up, check out, train for half of the day to arrive in the afternoon only to pack up and do it again the next morning to a different place. In the winter the sun sets earlier, so you’d be basically seeing places for a few hours in the afternoon and then at night. For example, if you were in Lauterbrunnen for 1 night, it’s really not realistic to see Wengen, Jungfraujoch & Grindelwald before packing up and leaving again the next morning.
For 3 nights, pick one: Luzern is the closest and most convenient, but if you want to be more up in the mountains, pick Zermatt or Wengen. Whichever you pick, stay there all 3 nights so that you actually have time to enjoy the place and do something. Or if you’re insistent on seeing more, then 2 nights in Zermatt or Wengen and the night before departure in Luzern, since it’s only a 1 hour train ride from there back to the airport.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
I appreciate your replies. Seems I have some more research to do in terms of where we want to go because I am not familiar with any of the towns I listed.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
612 posts
You’ll get varied opinions on Zermatt vs BO Region (Wengen, Interlaken, Grindelwald, etc) — if you ask for the majority of people in this forum, the answer is almost always BO. If you ask the same question on another forum (such as TripAdvisor) you’ll probably hear votes for Zermatt.
They are different, so it is a good idea for you to do independent research to see what “speaks” to you the most. I always find that watching YouTube videos helps me get the best feel for an area aside from personal recommendations.
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
To give more nuance to my earlier suggestion, if skiing is your thing, then Zermatt is better than the Berner Oberland. Zermatt's scenery is very impressive, but not quite as varied as around Interlaken.