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12 to 14 day Switzerland with Lake Como add on

Hi, Looking to visit early to mid June 2024. Both in late 60's. Interested in sightseeing, enjoying small town life and some hiking. Will be doing all by train with Swiss Travel Pass. Looking at using Alpenwild self guided train tour. Here is the itinerary I have come up with:

Day 1, 2 : Arrive Geneva in the AM. Train to Montreux and stay 2 nights at Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic. Get acclimated first day with walk around town and on Day 2 go to Gruyeres and/or boat ride on the lake.

Day 3 : Take train to Zermatt stay 3 nights at Resort Ginabelle ; explore Gornerschlucht and town.

Day 4: Take cog to Gornergrat and do some hiking. Also maybe Glacier Paradise?

Day 5: Take funicular to Sunnegga, then go to Blauherd and hike to Stellisee and back. Maybe go to top of Rothorn?

Day 6: Take train to Murren and stay 3 (or 4) nights at either Hotel Eiger or Edelweiss (kind of leaning toward Edelweiss). Explore the town and visit the Schilthorn

Day 7: Take cable car to Lauterbrunnen and train to Grindelwald and go to Bachalpsee

Day 8: Take cable car to Stechelberg and visit Trummelach Falls ; the proceed to Wengen and take cable car to Mannlichen and hike the Panorama trail.

Day 9: Take train to Lucerne and stay 2 nights at Hotel des Alpes. Visit Mount Rigi.

Day 10: Excursion to Mount Pilatus and then explore the town.

Day 11 : Take train to Lugano and transit to Lake Como area (Varenna or Bellagio or ?) and stay 4 nights before flying home from Milan

I have 2 questions: Should we stay in Murren or is it too much backtracking? Or should we stay in Wengen ?

Is early June too early to go?

We realize we may be at the whims of the weather so changes may be needed on the fly.

Any input or constructive critique would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Posted by
780 posts

The view from Murren is amazing, and we enjoyed walking the trail north a couple times to Grütschalp stopping at Winteregg along the way. But, I do understand the concern about the backtracking because after 4 straight days in Murren (2nd time visiting the area), I was a bit tired of the process it took to get back to our Murren lodging. The hike up the hill after the train ride was the worse part.

Posted by
921 posts

We loved staying in Lauterbrunnen……it was the heart off everything we wanted to do……..we also stayed at Hotel Balances in Luzern……incredible…….and stayed in Varenna but boated to Bellagio for the day. It was a great trip…….love love love that area!

Posted by
146 posts

We just stayed in Wengen for a week in an apartment. We were very happy with the choice. Views were incredible, town was relatively quiet particularly in the evening, and we had some very good dinners there. Lauterbrunnen is full of cars/buses/trucks on the main road through town and full of tourists and tour groups compared to Wengen or Murren IMHO. I prefer to stay in one place as long as I can and not change locations. It’s pretty easy to get to where you want from either location. It may take a little longer but you just have to plan that into your schedule.

As far as lake como we just completed a 4 night stay in Bellagio. I would stay in Varenna over Bellagio as you have both the ferries and the train as transportation options. Bellagio during the day in full of day trippers. The evenings do quiet down. We stayed in a hotel with incredible lake views about 10-15 minutes outside of Bellagio that had a shuttle to town, but you had to book a day in advance all of your trips to/from Bellagio - not sure I would recommend it.

Posted by
17 posts

Day 11 : Take train to Lugano and transit to Lake Como area (Varenna or Bellagio or ?) and stay 4 nights before flying home from Milan.
On our last trip in summer, on the way to Lugano, we stopped at Bellizona and visited a castle for a few hours. It was fun. At Lugano, we took a day trip to Lavertezzo,Sonogno,Morcote, all by bus or train.