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Advice on planning second trip to Switzerland

Hello All,
Our family of three, myself, wife and son age 16 are planning for our second trip to Switzerland Sep 2023. We did our first Swiss trip this year in Sep and absolutely loved it. We did 3 nights Lucerne ( did the 6 hour lake cruise, Mt Titlis and the Chapel Bridge), 7 nights Wengen ( Top of Europe, Piz Gloria, Hardrer Kulm, day visit to Bern and little bit of interlaken and Grinderlwald), 3 nights Zermatt ( Matterhorn from Gornergrat station) ( glacier express to St. Mortiz), stayed 3 nights in St. Moritz, did the Bernina Express to Tirano returned same day and 2 nights in Zurich ( did not do much in Zurich only Glatt mall). Here is the tentative plan for the second trip and will appreciate any advice and changes on the itinerary and places to see this time. I did get the benefit of the Swiss family card for my son this year since he was 15 and know that will have to pay for him this time as he turned 16. I am planning to get the half fare card and the BO pass for 6 days.

Aug 27th Fly from Vancouver to Paris, 6 nights in Paris,
Train from Paris to Geneva, stay in Geneva for 4 nights ( visit Lausanne and Montreux)
6 nights in Grinderwald as base this time.
3 nights in Basel
3 nights in Lucerne
3 nights Lugano ( day trip to Lake Como, Bellagio)
3 nights Zurich and fly back to Vancouver.

Thank you !!
Romal.

Posted by
69 posts

Personally, I would not stay 4 nights in Geneva. I have been to that area six times and my favorite place to stay is Montreux. You can do a day trip to Geneva from there. Most sights are closer to Lausanne and Montreux. Queen (rock band) experience at the Casino in Montreux, day trip to Gruyere (cheese/castle) and Broc (chocolate factory), Olympic Museum in Lausanne, cruise on Lake Leman, Chateau de Chillon and the beautiful vineyards of the Lavaux.

Posted by
33819 posts

I agree with Lausanne over Geneva. I had a hotel (quite nice, Ibis near the airport) for a week before Covid and spent almost all the time elsewhere than Geneva. Very little to appeal to me. You of course may be different.

Posted by
5604 posts

Perhaps actually stay in Lake Como instead of so much time in Zurich and/ or Lugano?
Just an idea-
Also- stay in Murren, not Grindelwald? I love the village of Murren.
You are completely ignoring eastern Switzerland - Pontressina/ Chur/ St. Moritz area. But, you really can't go wrong in this beautiful country.
I also can't wait to return to Switzerland. Safe travels.

Posted by
464 posts

I would recommend staying in Lausanne rather than Geneva. We stayed in a hotel in the Port D'Ouchy area of Lausanne and had beautiful views of Lake Geneva. Lausanne has a promenade, Olympic Museum, lovely old town area and cathedral, and great train connections to Montreux and Vevey. The Lavaux Vineyards are a Unesco World Heritage site and the views from the vineyards are spectacular!

Posted by
34 posts

Thank you all !
Now need to decide between Lausanne and Montreux as a base. Also as Pat suggested to stay in lake como instead of Lugano. Which part of lake como you recommend? Bellagio seems nice. I have stayed in Wengen and really enjoyed but am thinking different place this time hence Grindelwald, I do like Murren but wife thinks its too much with the luggage. Any recommendations to places to visit on the eastern part of Swiss closer to Austria.

Thanks once again !

Posted by
682 posts

romalbajaj: I'd like to recommend staying in Pontresina for the 3 nights BEFORE your last 3 nights in Zurich. If you do a search on this Forum, Pat (who recommended Lake Como) and I both did Trip Reports on that area. With a three night stay, you get use of the Engadine Card, which entitles you to FREE transportation in the area on trains, buses, and even lifts. My husband and I stayed there after reading comments on this Forum (Check out the Engadine section of RS' Switzerland guidebook). There are numerous hiking trails, lifts that take you to mountain-tops...and you can even visit St. Moritz. We were there last September, when a cold front moved through the area. We were very, very cold!

Posted by
34 posts

Thanks Carol, I did stay 3 nights in St. Mortiz this Sep and visited Pontresina and also did the bernina to Tirano. Yes it was raining and cold in St. Mortiz in Sep, but Tirano was hot and Sunny.

Any recommendations on visiting Chur, Davos, Appenzell, St. Gallen .

Thanks,

Posted by
3125 posts

I was recently in both montruex and st. gallen. You can check out my trip reports if you’d like. I have them linked in my bio if you click on my name. Montreux was my June 2022 trip and st. gallen my Sept. 2022 trip. I see you mentioned basel. that was part of my Sept. 2021 trip. i also did a trip report on that. Wow, lucky me to have been in Switzerland 3 times recently. And i still can't wait to go back. 😊

Posted by
1043 posts

What are you planning to do in Grindelwald? If you are planning to to hikes then the special Grindelwald bus pass might be a better option than the Oberland pass.