3 nights in Lauterbrunnen from Colmar June 2020

Grindelwald, beautiful place! Stay in the mountains and skip Bern this trip.

You really only have two days in the mountains. You will want to be flexible in case of bad weather on the day you plan to go up the Schilthorn. From Lauterbrunnen, you could spend one day on each side of the valley. If your family would enjoy it, you might want to spend some time hiking/walking in the mountains for the spectacular views. I would also skip Bern.

From Colmar, I have 2 route options to Lauterbrunnen: through Bern (2.5hrs) or through Lucerne (3hours). I was thinking of passing by Lucerne because Bern would be on our way to Annecy. But now, reading other posts re: the BO and suggestions to skip Bern, maybe I should skip Lucerne too? to maximize our stay in BO.

Also, my kids are in competitive swimming so they need to preferably practice daily. I saw that Wengen has a big swimming pool. Anyone has experience with this? TIA

• Luzern is worth a stop, the highway passes close to the city so it's easy! And the road from Luzern to Interlaken is quite scenic. So I would recommend the stop.
• However, for Bern: another time. The river is sometimes dangerous to swim into, and the city is beautiful but that's not why most people come to Switzerland.
• No idea about pools in Wengen. I shudder at the idea of daily sports practice at a competitive level, congratulations to your kids :-)!
• You say "quick visit to Annecy on the way to Nice" : do you spend the night in Annecy? I hope you do, otherwise it's a very very long day and you'd better drive the other way around through Italy (Loetschberg rail shuttle, Simplon pass, then dead south to the Mediterranean).

Thank you for your input!

I originally planned to spend a night in Annecy, but now that we would spend 4 nights in colmar and 3 in lauterbrunnen, I don't want to have to unpack in Annecy. I plan to reach Annecy by 11am, have lunch and a quick look around, then by 3pm off to Nice.

Having planned that, but now I wonder if I overdo it with Annecy (maybe the kids would have it after all the lakes???). I know we will save time if we go through Italy (1.5 hours), but somehow, after this year's road trip in France and Italy, I prefer driving on the French side (and I am not even the driver =).
Should I even do Annecy? hmmm

If you can give Annecy the time it deserves then it is worth the detour.

If it is just a "look we're in Annecy" you waste an awful lot of time and you won't get a big return on that investment.

Bern is beautiful but June is pretty early for swimming and if the snow melt has been good it moves very fast. Good swimmers have been killed there, just this summer for most recent. Remember that the water in the Aare in Bern is the same glacier and snow melt in the Berner Oberland.

So yes, if you don't have the time for an overnight stop in Annecy, I wouldn't do Annecy.
Also the route through Italy is very scenic along the Riviera, and Simplon Pass from Switzerland into Italy is quite pretty too. I strongly recommend that Italian route, it's northern Italy, drivers aren't that bad. You could replace Annecy by a coffee stop in Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

Thank you very much, everyone! I will look into the route through Italy!

Murren has a big pool/sports complex that hotel guests can use (for free I believe): https://www.sportzentrum-muerren.ch/en/baths/