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7 NIghts in Switzerland

My husband is going to be in Stans for a week for business in June or July. The plan is for me to fly over at the end of his business part and for us to stay an additional week. I know this isn't nearly enough time to see all of Switzerland, but we would like to get a nice overview. I have never been before, and my husband has been only to Zurich and Stans. I've searched the forum and it seems like many people choose Geneva/Lausanne, then the Berner Oberland and then Lucerne. This sort of itinerary would probably work well for us, but I'm unsure how many nights to allot in each place. Also, would like to utilize our Hilton Honors points if we can. The only Hilton properties in Switzerland are in Lausanne and Zurich.
The flight I will likely be taking arrives in Geneva early afternoon. My husband would likely take the train from Stans and meet me in Geneva and then train to Lausanne. My first draft itinerary looks something like:
3 nights in Lausanne, using as a base for day trips
2 nights in Wengen
2 nights in Lucerne or Zurich, then fly out of Zurich.

If it makes more sense to stay on the west side, we could spend all our time there and just leave out of Geneva. I would love some opinions on the plan and suggestions for the last 2 nights if we don't head east to Lucerne.

Posted by
7300 posts

Hi,
I wouldn't use Lausanne as a western base; Lausanne is good but Vevey is smaller and better. And 2 nights would do, because you need at least 3 nights in Wengen or that area (Mürren is an equally good base).

You could even skip the Lake Geneva region and head straight to Wengen for 4 nights, then 3 for Luzern and surroundings. There are lots of mountain excursions around Wengen, it would be a shame to miss out.

Posted by
1586 posts

Barbara - I would stay on the West side since you only have 7 days to play with. Don't cram too much cities in a week. I would do an itinerary like this:

Fly into Zurich, then from Stans go to Lucerne:

Lucerne - 3 nights (Day trip to Mt. Rigi)

Lausanne - 3 nights (Day trip to Montreux)

Geneva - 1 Night (Fly out to head home)

Posted by
907 posts

You suggest that you will be Switzerland for seven nights. Stans is closer to Zurich than Geneva. It might make more time-sense to have him meet you in Zurich and then you could stay in Zurich, or go on to Lucerne (Hilton Honors points for nights 1 and 2?). You can take boat tours on the lake in Zurich (afternoon 1), or on Lake Lucerne as well as visiting lots of other sites. Head to Lauterbrunnen/Wengen on Day 3 and spend nights 3 and 4 there. On day 5 head to Lausanne for nights 5, 6 and 7 using Hilton Honors points. Visit the wineries along the lake. It has a fabulous art museum too. Head the hour to Geneva on Day 8 to fly home.

Have a great time.

Posted by
1586 posts

A second option you have is, since you are flying into Zurich and meet your hubby there then I agree somewhat with poster NickB above with the agenda he proposed. You could have this itinerary:

Wengen - 4 Nights (Day trip to adjacent villages) ex. like Murren and Gimmewald

Lucerne - 3 Nights (Day trip Mt. Riggi)

You can take train directly to Berner Oberland from Zurich airport and take train from Lucerne to Zurich airport to fly out.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you all for your suggestions! Lots of different thoughts on where to visit, and gives us much to think about. It does probably make more sense to fly into Zurich and head west from there. Keep the ideas coming!

Posted by
2023 posts

If you plan to fly out of Zurich I suggest staying in hotel near airport. There are severiral options that are well priced.

Posted by
1586 posts

The train from Lucerne to Zurich aiport is just an hour. There are 15 trains per day for that journey. It's really not quite urgent to stay by the airport.

Posted by
483 posts

We took an early morning train from Luzern to Zurich Flughafen to catch our flight to the US. It was easy and fast. The only stress for us was to be absolutely sure our family of 5 packed the night before and woke up in time! We were able to enjoy one last breakfast in the hotel, walk to the station, and proceed to Zurich. We really enjoyed staying in Luzern.

Laurie

Posted by
7209 posts

There's no need to waste your precious last evening of vacation by staying in a boring old airport hotel. The train from the downtown main station directly into the airport takes about 10 minutes...and it drops you DIRECTLY in the airport.