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6 Nights in Switz. What is the optimal # of nights in each town? Luzerne, Murren and Montreux

We (me, wife and kids aged 15 and 13) are flying into Zurich Monday June 24, landing at 10:40am and out of Geneva 6 days later on Sunday (headed to France). Our plan right now is:
- 2 nights Luzerne. (Hotel TBD)
- 3 nights Murren. (already booked Hotel Eiger)
- 1 night Montreux. (hotel booked for night before Geneva flight)

But now I'm rethinking. Would you recommend just one night in Luzerne or skipping it altogether and spending more time in BO?

If we stay in Luzerne, we'd probably do Mt Titlis or Pilatus. Or is the BO so much better that we should skip those and take the extra night in Murren?

We are big travelers and want to do lots of adventures with the kids and we HATE waiting in lines. We are more active travelers than museum visitors. We want to do lots of hikes, skydive, etc. We think tobogganing with the kids is a must and like the idea of the Trotti bikes - but could do Tobogganing in Luzerne (as Grindelwald seems far from our hotel). Thoughts?

Posted by
2063 posts

You can take trains directly from Zurich’s Airport (“Flughafen”) to Luzern— perhaps Switzerland’s most beautiful city— in as little as 63 minutes. The train ride up Mt. Pilatus is special as it ascends the steepest cogwheel train track in the world. The 2.5hr train ride from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen via the Brunig Pass is spectacular, and you’ll be taking that route. Three nights in Murren is essentially the time you have remaining, if there is no way to add more days to your trip. The season for most toboggan runs around Lucerne and Murren/Wengen ends during April, so the season may be over by the time of your trip at the end of June.

Posted by
2512 posts

Actually when we talk about "tobogganing" in Switzerland, we talk about a summer activity. There is a nice one in Grindelwald, and there is one on the Pilatus. Great fun for the family. Just don't make the mistake I see some tourists make, and dress in wide flowing gowns...

Posted by
2063 posts

For newbies trying tobogganing for the first time, leave the Big Pintenfritz to the experienced.
There’s also a toboggan run in Mannlichen near Wengen.

Posted by
33896 posts

by Tobogganing do you mean Sommerrodelbahn?

The term tobogganing in summer is new to me - I always tobogganed in the winter

Posted by
614 posts

With only 6 nights, skip 1 of your stops. If your flight is in the afternoon, skip Montreux and just go straight to the airport from Murren. If it’s not, then skip Luzern. Or if it were me, I’d be spending all 6 nights in Murren to maximize time for activities in the Jungfrau Region, of which there are a ton.

All the things you mention wanting to do are awesome from Murren/Jungfrau Region. Paragliding, via feratta, hiking, cable car adventures, mountain biking, canyon swing, trotti bikes, etc. etc. Even 6 nights isn’t enough there.

Posted by
21196 posts

I think your planned number of days are fine.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks all! I guess it comes down to doing a day trip from Lucerne to Mt. Pilatus (steepest cogwheel train & summer toboggan) vs an extra day in Murren / BO to do Grindelwald First). Thoughts on which is better / might be less crowded? We hate lines :)