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4 days for Swiss by train or by car ?

This is our first trip to Switzerland and we have 4 days , please suggest the most beautiful places and the best way to cover those places - train or self drive. Will be entering Zurich from Germany and want to get by to Stuttgart through Austria.

Suggest the most efficient way to cover swiss in 4 days.

Posted by
11294 posts

Actually, that video covers Swiss cities, which are not the most beautiful places in the country.

He has an older video on the Berner Oberland; if I had only four days for Switzerland, I'd spend them all there, in Mürren or one of the other towns there. Here's that video: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/best-of-the-alps

You would take a series of trains from Germany to Mürren, and when you leave, you take a series of trains from Mürren to Salzburg. These rides may be long. It will always be a series of trains because due to the mountains, the special kinds of rail lines, and how they run, you will have to change trains several times. Don't worry - all the connections are coordinated.

To find train routes, use Swiss Rail: https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Don't try to "cover" the country - just stay put in one place. That way you have some protection against the weather. Mountains make their own weather, and mountain weather is both unpredictable and rapidly changeable. By staying in one place for 4 days, you maximize the chance that you will have clear weather for at least some of the time. The Berner Oberland area does have some cloudy day and rainy day things to do, but it's at its best when it's clear.

Posted by
8889 posts

Will be entering Zurich from Germany and want to get by to Stuttgart through Austria.

bsrblues, Q1: by what method of transport are you entering and leaving Switzerland (rail, car, air, bicycle, ...?).
Q2: Why are you going via Zürich (are you constrained by you method of transport (Q1)), where are you coming from)?
Q3: How far into and where in Austria? Stuttgart is north of Switzerland, Austria is East, wrong direction.

If you have only 4 days (3 nights) the most obvious answer is the Berner Oberland (one of Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Grindelwald). Another option is Luzern.
The simplest method of transport is train, This will leave you freedom to explore past where the roads end - Wengen and Mürren are not accessible by road, train or on foot only. Details will depend how (method of transport) you are entering and leaving Switzerland.