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12 nights in September

Posted by on

Hi, many thanks to all who replied to my earlier questions. I still have more, though. Here's our itinerary so far: 2 nights in Zurich, 2 nights in Luzern, 2 nights in Lausanne, and 6 nights in Murren. We don't want to spend less than 2 nights in a location. We're 2 adults and a 13yo. We want to do all kinds of walking, hiking, boat-riding, city-visiting, museum-going, etc. We will not have a car.

I don't know what our travel order should be. We're flying into Zurich and will be leaving Switzerland via train to Venice. Does it make more sense to leave Murren to last so as to take train to Venice from there, or is leaving all the high country hiking to the third week of September more risky because of weather?

Second question, what is the best train to take to Venice? Is there a direct one from Switzerland or do you have to change trains in Milan? About how long should it take? We need to be in Venice before 7pm on a Saturday.

Third question, we're two adults and a 13yo. We're only using public transportation. Since we'll be traveling almost every day by some kind of public method (or visiting a museum), I'm guessing the 15-day Swiss Pass would be best. The 6-day Swiss Flexi-Pass seems too constraining and complicated when it comes to last minute usage. I need to buy the Swiss Pass in the US ahead of time in order to add our child for free, correct? Also, can you help with trying to figure out if the Swiss Card would be better? It's much cheaper but covers less.

Again, thank you to all for your help.

Posted by
6898 posts

Your travel plan looks good. No guarantees on the weather. Even recently, there has been a late snow in Muerren. But normally, September is a very good month in Muerren. It can snow at higher levels, however. Muerren is at 5,200'.

For your travel to Venice from Muerren, there is no direct anything. The Alps are in the way. It will take you 7.5hrs-9.0hrs and 4-6 transportation changes to get to Venice from Muerren. In general, the routing is Muerren/gondola down to Lauterbrunnen/Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost/Interlaken Ost to Spiez/Spiez to Milan and finally Milan to Venice. On some runs, there can be more train changes at either Brig, Domodossola, Italy or both. A few runs take you back to Lucerne and then south to Milan via the Gotthard tunnel and Lake Como. You can see what I see on www.sbb.ch

If you intend to visit any of the higher mountain peaks (i.e. Mt. Rigi, Mt. Pilatus, Jungfrau or Schilthorn), be aware that your flexipass will only get you a 25% discount to these higher peaks. The Swiss 1/2-fare card will get you a 50% discount. If you do not intend to visit these peaks, your flexipass is just fine. If you purchase your tickets or pass when you arrive in Switzerland, you can request the free Swiss Family card at that time. You don't have to do this online. You can do this at any staffed Swiss train station.

Posted by
82 posts

Thank you for the advice. I think we're going to change our itinerary to 2 nights in Zurich (meeting friends), 5 nights in Vevey, and 5 nights in Murren. Many people have recommended spending time in French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland and this seems to fit. Many thanks.

Posted by
3391 posts

You will love Vevey! It's my favorite little town along the lakeshore...

Posted by
16893 posts

Sorry, Larry's description of Swiss Pass discounts is not correct. The rate is 25% off from Wengen or Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch, but pass gives 50% off the other high mountain lifts. There's no need to "backtrack" on your longer connections. Train connections from Interlaken to Venice are slightly faster than those from Vevey, but of course coming down from Muerren adds time, too.

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