5/6 Days Feb 2018 in Switzerland

Posted by aggarwals on 10/12/17 04:29 PM

Hi,
My wife & I are heading to Switzerland in February 2018. We are gonna be there for 5-6 days. We are interested in trekking, good sigh seeing, romantic places, great food and good hotels.
We are interested in driving around if that's possible. We do not want to change hotels very quickly, so a hotel at a central location would be preferred.

We are thinking of doing the following:
Zurich
Berner Oberland
Bern
Zermatt
Montreux
Gstaad
Appenzell

Can I get help planning the transfer and the order in which I should visit? Also we are totally open for suggestions to change our plan.

Posted by Chris F

Basel, Switzerland

10/12/17 05:42 PM

8889 posts

aggarwals, 5-6 days: is that including arrival and departure days? What time (morning/afternoon), where and by what method of transport do you arrive and depart? This affects the order to do places and what is practicle.
How many nights will you have in Switzerland?
For this short trip, you want one hotel, maximum 2.
February is the coldest time of the year. The mountains will be snow covered, and also sometimes the valley bottoms and the plains. The mountain resorts will be focusing on skiing. Hiking will be restricted and through snow (at least ½ metre deep).

I would recommend the Berner Oberland as a base. For example Lauterbrunnun or Grindelwald. From both these places you can take cable cars up mountains. The two other places normally recommended (Mürren and Wengen) are only accessible by train.
I would do Google searches for these place names, and look at this "map" of the area (red is railways, black is cable cars): http://www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/assets/karte-und-partner/Regionalpass-Panoramakarte-2017.pdf

Scrap Zürich. It is a nice city, but not the best in Switzerland, and not in or near the mountains.
Zermatt cannot be reached by car, only by train. And is too far for a day trip.
Montreux, Gstaad, Appenzell are too far away for your short trip
Bern is a nice city for a day trip, if you want a break from the mountains.

And, I would seriously reconsider your decision to drive. All these places can be reached by train, and it will be easier to do it thta way.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

10/12/17 06:18 PM

28069 posts

I agree that trains would be better, but if you want to explore driving, use ViaMichelin.com to find distances and estimates of driving times. Be aware that folks here think VM tends to be a bit optimistic. It definitely doesn't build in any time for stops, getting lost, looking for parking, etc.

Distances in Switzerland may be short as the crow flies, but negotiating the mountains can add a lot of time unless you are driving through tunnels.

Posted by aggarwals OP

10/13/17 04:02 PM

10 posts

Hi @Chris F,
Thanks for your reply.

We have 6 Nights and 6 Full days. So here is what I have figured

Arrive in Zurich, and take a train to Lucerne.

2 Nights at Ennetbürgen/Lucerne: (Visit Brünig Pass, Meiringen, Interlaken)
2 Nights at Interlaken/Berner Oberland (Visit: Bern, Zermatt, Park unesco biosphere entlebuch, Jungfrau)
2 Nights at Zermatt (Stay here for 2 nights)

3 Nights at Ennetbürgen/Lucerne
3 Nights at Interlaken/Berner Oberland

Are we on the right track? Will we be able to get some nice sigh-seeing, trekking, places to just relax and enjoy the scenic beauty.

Please advise.