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Advice for 15 day trip to Switzerland (first timers) September 2025

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Planning a trip with my wife for late September 2025 and I will appreciate expert opinions:
Arrive Zurich in the morning
4 nights (3 full days) Lauterbrunnen
4 nights (3 full days) Zermatt
3 nights (2 full days) Lugano
3 nights (2 1/2 days) Lucerne
Depart Zurich in the afternoon

  • We don't want to add more transits so are there any recommendations to replace any of the above places?
  • Should we adjust any of the durations for more/less time?
  • Have read numerous posts regarding Lauterbrunnen in the valley vs being up the mountain (Wengen, Murren, etc) and feel like it may offer the best mix of scenery, flexibility and convenience. Any recommendations on places to stay in Lauterbrunnen or areas to avoid?
  • Currently planning to take the faster train from Lugano to Lucerne (2-3 hours) but is the Gotthard Panorama Express (5 1/2 hours) a must do? We will likely take a separate lake tour while in Lucerne.
  • We will not have a car for any of this trip so recommendations on public transit. The obvious choice seems to be te 15 day Swiss Travel Pass.
  • We like to be active with easy/moderate hikes every day, sight seeing including mix of nature and cities. Not looking for events/bars/nightlife but like to have hotels near shops and restaurants. We may take the occasional tour or guided excursion but generally prefer exploring on our own. Will appreciate any recommendations at any of the above places especially if they might not pop out of guide books.
Posted by
17225 posts

Have you seen the posts about crowding and “overtourism” in Lauterbrunnen? It is something to consider. apparently so many cars stream into the valley each day the streets are clogged. I will try to find some information about that—-Thayer is a post about it here somewhere.

Your overall itinerary looks well-planned, with a good mix of towns, lakes and mountains. I will suggest you consider Locarno instead of Lugano, for 2 main reasons: lakeside hotels are scarce in Lugano, as are hotels convenient to the train station. But Locarno offers at least 3 options right on the lake just a block or two from the train station, offering both convenience and a lakeview from your balcony. Here is one we like:

https://www.hotelgeranio.ch/en/

The other reason is that from Locarno you can take the Treno Gottardo over the Gotthard Pass directly to Luzern, a 3-hour journey. The fast EC trains from Lugano to Luzern take only 2 hours, but you spend 30 minutes of that in a long deep tunnel under the Alps, and miss a lot of beautiful scenery with waterfalls, snowy peaks, hanging glaciers, and more.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for the advice. Will have to review Lauterbrunnen in late September. Hopefully less crowded then. Locarno sounds like a better option for us, so much appreciated.

Posted by
17225 posts

I missed the part about “late” September. You are probably fine with Lauterbrunnen then. At leasat it was OK when we were there last September, staying in Mürren but passing through Lauterbrunnen multiple times.

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