7 days in Switzerland

The best of Switzerland is the Lauterbrunnen Valley but you need five nights to see it: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/switzerland/lauterbrunnen-valley. When visiting mountains, add an extra night because the weather is unpredictable. I say buy Rick Steves guidebook to learn more: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/switzerland-guidebook.
I also suggest going to the valley on arrival day and visiting Luzern after Lauterbrunnen. Otherwise the train from Lauterbrunnen to Milan will take all day.

thank you!

I was looking for one more place to stop en route to Milan

Lugano or Locarno are both good stops on the way to Milan.

In Lugano, I have stayed at Hotel Dante.

https://luganodante.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb_listing

I assume this is part of your trip to Italy, that you mention in a thread about Siena. Four adults and 3 kids, correct? Have you looked at the routes from Switzerland to Italy and chosen the route from Luzern?

If so, that is a good plan. You can take our favorite route between Switzerland and Milan, the scenic train or boat/train combo over the Gotthard Pass, avoiding the long deep tunnel on the fast route. These trains start in Luzern and end in either Locarno or Lugano, both lakeside cities in the Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino.

When we did this with our 11-year-old grandchildren (and their parents) in 2023, we spent 2 nights near Luzern, then rode the lake boat south the length of the Vierwaldstättersee to Fluelen, where we transferred to the Treno Gottardo scenic train over the pass. We went straight to Milan, as we were on our way to the Dolomites, but I will make a different suggestion, based on our trip this year.

Stay on the Treno Gottardo to the end at Locarno, and spend 2 nights there, in a hotel on the lake (and conveniently also close to the train station). Then use the full day between to visit the beautiful Val Verzasca, with its famed Ponti dei Salti bridge, a river with swimming spots, and a lovely stone village. Those who enjoy hiking can walk the trail from the bridge to the village of Sonogno (8 miles); those who would rather not hike can Stay on the Postbus and ride to the village for sightseeing, or stop at the bridge to see that, and then catch the next Postbus up to Sonogno. Lots of ways to do this, all facilitated by the excellent Swiss Postbus system.

Scroll through the photos on these pages to see the possibilities:

https://www.ascona-locarno.com/en/explore/valle-verzasca

https://www.ascona-locarno.com/en/explore/valle-verzasca/sonogno

And anyone who prefers to skip the excursion to Val Verzasca can enjoy the lakeside charms of Locarno. After the 2 nights in Locarno, you board the train to Milan, 2 hours away, and continue to your Italy adventures.

Backing up to your arrival in Zurich, and your other Swiss destination, you can do this easily by heading straight to the Berner Oberland from Zurich, spending 3 nights there. Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Grindelwald: there are four mountain villages you can choose from, and Inwill leave it to others to help you choose one. Whichever it is, you will go from there back to the hub at Interlaken Óst and change trains there to the scenic Golden Pass train straight to Luzern.

So my suggestion is 3 nights Berner Oberland, 2 nights Luzern, and 2 nights “Locarno.

Here is a good rail map of Switzerland, with scenic routes highlighted, if you haven’t seen it already.

https://www.travelswitzerland.com/en/download/swiss-travel-system-map-en-2023/?wpdmdl=14294&masterkey=63a023c8da36c

If you are using Swiss Passes or Half Fare Cards for your week in Switzerland (which you will want, in order to get free travel for the children), they will cover the whole way to Locarno and the Val Verzasca excursion, plus the boat across the lake if you choose that.

Hotel recommendations? I definitely recommend Hotel Geranio au Lac in Locarno; it offers lovely big lakefront rooms with balcony and a great breakfast, within a 5-minute walk of the train station. And they have free bicycles for guests to use; you can have a nice ride on the long lakefront path, past swimming beaches, boat rental depots, and picnic tables.

In Luzern Indon’t have a recommendation, as we stayed in nearby Weggis to have. Hotel with a pool for the kids.

Berner Oberland hotel recommendations will come from lots of forum members after you choose a village for your stay. Or you might consider an apartment, or apartment for 5 plus hotel room for the other 2 adults.

After spending four nights in Lugano, I don’t recommend staying there. When comparing the lake districts, Varenna and Bellagio are drop dead gorgeous compared to Lugano. What I do like about Lugano is you can take a direct train from there to Milan’s Malpensa airport that takes 1h 45m. Were going to spend time in Milan or fly out of MIlan?

Wow! Thank you for your thorough responses!!!! This is not part of another trip. This is a new trip. I want to end if Milan for 2 days - so was thinking Lugano was a good stop before Milan. I wanted 3 total stays in Switzerland. Lucerne, interloken area then another stop on the way to Milan. I'm so lost! I typically do Backroads to avoid planning.

My thoughts are if you have a spare day in Milan take a day trip to Lake Como. There’s a direct train from Milan’s central station to the Varenna-Esino station (1h 15m): https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. Hop on a direct ferry to Bellagio (15m) and explore Bellagio on foot. Afterwards take the ferry back to Varenna and walk along the path so you see it all. This is a good area to eat lunch.

Ok. I see your Italy trip is in July, so the two are not connected. How many are going on this Swiss trip? That will help people make recommendations for hotels and mountain villages.

If you prefer to end in Lugano instead of Locarno as I suggested, there is a scenic boat train route from Luzern that ends in Lugano, called the Gotthard Panorama Express.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/trains-boats/panorama-trains/gotthard-panorama-express.html

The difference from the Treno Gottardo to Locarno is that the GPE is all First Class, and only travels once a day in each direction.