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3 nights in Switzerland please Help with Itinerary!

Hello! I am planning three nights in Switzerland at the end of August and would love some feedback. We are an adventurous couple from Canada who wish to see the lakes, and alps and love the outdoors but will also be travelling part of the time with my parents. We fly into Zurich at 3:00 PM and are flying out of Zurich in the evening of our last day to Amsterdam for a cycling trip. With so many amazing areas and such a short time we would love some feedback and advice on things to do or timing between places for travel or places to go not to go etc.

Day 1: Arrive to Zurich in afternoon and travel to Thun and enjoy evening here overnight (see castle etc.) Other option would be to go straight to Interlaken or Murren and skip Thun? But we heard the views into Interlaken this way are great and also don't want to travel too far after the international flight. OR - could just go to Lucerne?

Day 2: Travel to Interlaken in the morning (hang gliding perhaps?) and meet parents and travel to overnight in Murren. (Go to other mountain areas to explore for the afternoon (Schilthorn? Trummelbach Falls?) - any recommendations here appreciated)

Day 3: Travel to overnight in Lucerne. (timing depends on weather and if we should explore more here or get to Lucerne to see everything in Lucerne)

Day 4: Enjoy the day in Lucerne (trip to Mt. Pilatus?) and travel to Zurich Airport in early evening.

Thanks in advance for any advice! Much appreciated!

Posted by
2793 posts

As I see it, you have 2 1/2 days, not 4 days, so not a lot of time. I would spend it all in Murren. You are not guaranteed good weather every day, so the longer you stay, the better your chances for at least one great day. If you have good weather the whole time, you will be able to enjoy being in the Alps even more. Lucerne is nice, but can't compare to Murren.

Posted by
12040 posts

What Carroll said. You can't rely on the weather to cooperate with your itinerary, so your best option for such a short trip is to pick one spot, stay put and take advantage of every bit of sun you get.

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks for the replies! and yes, sorry it is only 2.5 days. Do you think it is not worth going to Thun overnight? I am leaning towards 2 nights then in Murren (or other town close) with only 1 in Lucerne. Very true that you never know what will happen with the weather. Thanks!

Posted by
11294 posts

"Do you think it is not worth going to Thun overnight?"

Correct.

"I am leaning towards 2 nights then in Murren (or other town close) with only 1 in Lucerne."

What Carroll and Tom said is what I would say too. Spend all of your nights in Mürren. You won't run out of things to do there, and Luzern is very nice, but can't compare to the Berner Oberland if time is short like yours is.

The point about the weather is important too. While there are things to do in Mürren when it's cloudy, there are more things to do when it's sunny; you really want to maximize your chance for at least one really clear day to do the Schilthornbahn, the Jungfraujoch, or both. Even the Allmendhubel will be much nicer on a clear day.

Posted by
4 posts

If we stay in Murren/or Wengen for three nights and have a flight at 8:00 PM out of Zurich, is it too ambitious to travel from Wengen to Lucerne and then the Zurich airport in one day? If there places to leave our luggage for the day in Lucerne?

THANKS!!!

Stephanie.

Posted by
7175 posts

Travel to Luzern late on Day 3.
It's about 2.5 hours by train.
This will let you enjoy Luzern.
And have you closer to the airport for departure.