We will be arriving Geneva on July 16 and departing from Geneva on August 1. That portion of our trip can not be changed. We are in our mid-50s and like easy/moderate walking and beautiful sites. We will be using public transportation. This is my first trip to Switzerland; my wife visited in 1970. This is what I have planned:
July 16: Arrive Geneva, transfer to Lausanne
July 17: Lausanne a.m., transfer to Luzern in p.m.
July 18-19 Luzern and vicinity
July 20: Luzern to Stresa, Italy
July 21-22: Stresa
July 23-26: transfer to Wengen
July 27-29: transfer to Murren.
July 30: transfer to Geneva with visit on the way to either Bern or Murten.
July 31: Geneva.
Aug 1 : depart.
Is there anything you would change? I do have two specific questions, assuming we stick with this itinerary. 1) What is the preferred (most scenic) train route to travel from Luzern to Stresa? 2) What is the preferred route from Stresa to Wengen? The Lotschberg Railway looked interesting; is it worth the extra time?
Thank you!
Posted by
11136 posts
We gen and Murren are not far apart so no need to waste time changing hotels.. Stay in Wengen and visit Murren as a day trip
Posted by
Washington DC
27063 posts
I think you can improve the flow of the trip. Bern and Murten are closer to Lausanne than to Geneva, and Bern is a connecting point on some of the routes between Lausanne and Luzern.
This is one possible routing that would be faster: Lausanne - Bern or Murten - Luzern - Stresa - Wengen or Murren - Geneva. That's not necessarily the optimal order; I'm no expert on Swiss trains.
I don't know what the most scenic routes to and from Stresa are, but I'm very fond of the Centovalli train linking Locarno (Switz.) with Domodossala (Italy). You could go that way on the Luzern-Stresa leg, but I think it would take quite a bit of extra time and mean extra transfers.
Lausanne and Geneva are close enough it seems sort of a shame to stay in both cities, potentially costing you an extra hotel change. I'd consider going straight to Bern or Murten on your arrival day, then picking either Geneva or Lausanne as your base at the end of the trip. Depending on the time of your flight out of Geneva, it might be workable to choose Lausanne, since the train time to Geneva Airport is just 45-55 minutes.
Posted by
OP
Peoria, IL
2 posts
Acraven, you made me relook at the itinerary and saw that I had made a mistake. We arrive in Geneva on July 16, overnight in Lausanne before moving on to Luzern on July 17. We are planning to just pass through Bern or Murten, not stay there. Bern may even be a day trip from BO on a rainy day! Thank you for your advice, and I am going to look closer at your comments later today.
Posted by
Houston, TX
219 posts
To help you manage your train schedules and connections, this Swiss Transportation website is very valuable:
www.sbb.ch/en
Also, for you to see how the Swiss transportation system links your desired destinations, here are some resources that Chris F. of Basel, Switzerland posted on some other people's inquiries:
Here is a rail map of Switzerland, which may help:
https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/karten/karte-sts-pass-gueltigkeit.pdf
And here is a map of the Berner Oberland, showing Mürren,
Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen etc.:
http://www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/assets/karte-und-partner/Regionalpass-Panoramakarte-2017.pdf
As Suki mentioned to you, Wengen and Mürren are close to each other. They overlook the same valley. You can stay in either one and easily visit both and their nearby areas. I like them both.
And here's my favorite weather app to use in Switzerland to plan for the rainy days:
http://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/home.html?tab=overview
Edit: I see now that it was Suki who mentioned that Wengen and Mürren are close together, and I've corrected my entry.