5 open days in Switzerland

You are probably already considering a rail pass for your time in Bern and Lucerne. I would just add more days and get a pass for the duration of your stay. Both the Bernina and Glacier Express are covered, though there may be small additional fees for reservations. Then you just have to decide if one or both are worth it to you, or if you would rather spend that time up in the alps vs traveling past them. You could head to the Berner Oberland area and spend time there.

With only five days, I wouldn't want to spend half your available time on a train or in a car. If it were me I'd skip Bern and Zurich and concentrate on the Berner Oberland and Luzern. I think it's better to be in the mountains than seeing them through a window. Or spending that time in a city.

Thanks for your reply. Travel4fun do you have a recommendation for a hotel in that area? Can we easily pick up a car if we want to explore on our own? This is what we would want to do but not sure how to go about it.

Thanks Stan. We have 4-5 additional days then our time in Bern and Lucern.

I've never heard of a "railbooker" but I find it hard to imagine you can total the two train trips on the Bernina and Glacier Express up to $4,400. wow. Is this for a large group of people?

I'm a fan of driving trips in general, but in Switzerland it is counterproductive--at least for these areas and for a first trip. The train (plus funicular and etc.) makes it so amazingly easy. Some villages do not even allow cars. I'd flesh out the plan a bit before deciding.

You don’t need a car for the Berner Oberland area. Trains and cable cars connect the villages. Several villages do not even allow cars. Look into Wengen or Murren if you want to stay up in the alps. If you want a car, you could rent in Interlaken and drive to Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald, where cars are allowed. But you’ll need a train pass to get on the cable cars anyway, so a car is just an added expense/headache.

Nigel,
The Railbookers trip for $4,400 includes lodging for 4 nights and a day going up to Jungfrau. I don’t think we want to spend 2 of those days on a train and can do this on our own cheaper.

Travel4fun. Thanks for your reply. This is great information for me.

A car is a bit of a hassle when exploring in the Alps. You often cannot drive where you are, and thus will take trains, cable cars and your feet quite often. And using a car means you are forced to return to where you left it each time.

The best way to explore these areas is to pick a base, buy a local pass, and then explore as much as you can using that pass.

For example, you can base yourself in Luzern for 5 days, get a Tell Pass, and just maximise the value you can get out of it by going on as many boat, train and cable car excursions as you can handle.

Another option is to base yourself somewhere in the Bernese Oberland and get the Berner Oberland Regional Pass. That one even covers trips to Bern, so you can do a day trip to Bern as a plan B for bad weather.

Although for May I would lean towards make Luzern the base.

Switzerland has a nationwide mass transit system that is better than what most cities in the US have. So just relax, enjoy the scenery and let someone else do the driving.