Boston to Venice to Switzerland (Interlaken, Grindelwald, Zermatt) and home. Overwhelmed.

I will leave suggestions for your Swiss stays for others, other than to suggest you only pick one or 2 locations due to the very short time available, and the need to be in or near your departure airport on the evening before your flight home.

As for your flights, the most efficient booking would be a multicity option, not return. Book flights into Venice and home from Bern or Zurich ( which ever has the better flights to Boston). A good place to see almost all available flights is Google Flights. But actually book on the airline website. Also, I'd strongly recommend flying from Venice to either Zurich or Bern (whichever is closer to your chosen destination). Either will have multiple nonstop flights of slightly over an hour. And then you would have access to the excellent Swiss Rail system. Otherwise you are looking at a train ride of well over 6 hours or more.

With 8 nights and having to cover the wide distance between Venice & the alps, I'd be choosing 1 spot in Switzerland + Venice. Don't stay in Interlaken or prioritize it - it's just a transportation hub to the surrounding areas. Stay in 1 of the car free villages up in mountains, such as Wengen. There are plenty of nice hotels, as well as chalet apartment rentals via Interhome, chalet.myswitzerland.com, e-domizil, airbnb, as well as local companies like Alpine Holiday Services, Wengen Apartments, etc. Zermatt doesn't make as good of a base, as there is not as much variety of activities or easy connections to day trips from there.

This itinerary suggestion obviously have to be flexible for weather, but I just put specific activities on a day to help you sort out what's possible to combine in the area. Use MeteoSwiss, Bergfex and webcams while in Switzerland to determine daily activities.

Whether you'll benefit from a transportation pass depends on what specific itinerary you choose. If you go with something like I'm recommending below, then you'd likely benefit from a Berner Oberland Pass, which would cover the majority of your trains, buses, boats and cable cars in the area. If you decide to split your time in another spot in Switzerland, then potentially a Half Fare Card will be better. And no, they don't cover all the way to Venice. If you do the HFC, the discount kicks in at Domodossola. If you do the BO Pass, the coverage begins at Brig. If you did something like I'm suggesting below, then you'd get the 6 day Berner Oberland Pass and just purchase your ticket from Venice to Brig, at which point your BO pass becomes your ticket. You don't need to get off the train.

There is a bunch of train track construction going on around Milan right now and has been for the last couple years, so I'm not 100% positive that this is going to be the best option for you pending the construction dates and your dates, but right now the route from Venice to Wengen is Venice > Milan > Spiez > Interlaken Ost > Lauterbrunnen > Wengen

Venice Airport > Venice 2 nights > Wengen 6 nights > Zurich Airport

Friday - Boston > Venice
Saturday - Arrive Venice AM - afternoon to explore
Sunday - Venice
Monday - Venice > Wengen (8 hrs)
Tuesday - Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg walk + Grindelwald (optional Grindelwald First hiking)
Wednesday - Lauterbrunnen Valley, Murren, Schilthorn, Gimmelwald - optional hike Northface counterclockwise from Allmendhubel in the afternoon
Thursday - Day trip on Lake Brienz (waterfall hike or Brienzer Rothorn steam train) or Lake Thun (castles)
Friday - Schynige Platte (open air cog train + hiking)
Saturday - Wengen - weather buffer for all the above or additional day for the other lake or additional hiking from the area (See the BO Pass validity map to decide if you want to see something in addition to what I've listed here)
Sunday - Wengen > Zurich Airport > Boston (make sure your flight departs AFTER 12:00 pm)

If for some reason you can't find a good flight out of Zurich in the afternoon, then you could switch your itinerary to start in Switzerland and end in Venice. I just personally would prefer getting over jetlag and being a bit more tired in Venice and then being rested for your adventuring/hiking in Switzerland, but if you can't get an afternoon flight out, then it's risky to stay in Wengen the night before your flight. Another option is to keep the itinerary as is, but go to a Zurich airport hotel late Saturday night after a full day still in the mountains. It's not ideal, but perhaps better than switching the itinerary around.

Also, I'd strongly recommend flying from Venice to either Zurich or Bern (whichever is closer to your chosen destination). Either will have multiple nonstop flights of slightly over an hour

That is not good advise. Firstly there are no scheduled flights from Venice to Bern (or anywhere else for that matter). And it will not save time. For exampel, from Zürich to Zermatt is almost 4 hours by train. It is about 7 hours by train from Venice to Zermatt. With all the faffing about that is involved in flying you are not going to save time that way.

Train will also be cheaper, and you have the whole transportation chain under one contract.

You could for example do Venice - Zermatt - Bernese Oberland - Zurich, with a flight out of Zurich. If that flight is in the afternoon you could even directly go to the airport form the Bernese Oberland.

Our trip will be about 9 days in August, from a Friday even to Sunday, including travel from and back to Boston.

It sounds like we should fly Boston to Venice, take a train from Venice to one of our destinations in Switzerland, stay in the first place and take day trips from there, go to Zurich for the last full day, fly home from Zurich on an afternoon flight. Am I understanding correctly?

With all the destinations and activities listed, would we get around by a single train pass?

Would we move each day, or would we stay in the first location (to be determined based on advice) until Zurich on the last day, and travel to the other locations by train each day?

Given our destinations, are there any that are not practical due to travel times? Is there anything critical that we are missing, if this turns out to be our only chance to visit Switzerland?

We all like easy to moderate hiking (each of us can walk 5 miles / 8 kilometers or more without a rest, and we can do a few walks in one day. (We don't do extreme sports, so we won't be doing things hiking 4,000 feet / 1000 meters elevation on foot in one day.) We would love to have had the experience of some tourist-friendly walks and hikes to spectacular views. We don't do extreme sports. It is about getting onto the hillsides and tourist friendly trails and footpaths and activities to see the beauty of Switzerland. We've seen videos of cable cars up hillsides, walks to beautiful overlooks, and fun family activities that are outdoors and they look wonderful. And of course, we will sample the cheese and the chocolate along the way!

To get an idea of what we are hoping to experience, some videos that looked very appealing to us were:

-Grindlewald (First Cliff Walk, alpine adventure actives like gliding or rides and slides),

-Lauterbrunnen waterfalls,

-Interlaken,

-Murren/Zurmatt to see the Matterhorn,

-the funicular to Stoos and the walk along Stoos Ridge,

-Brienz Rothern Railway scenic open train ride,

-Triftbruck Suspension Bridge in Innerkirchen.

A couple of these can be skipped if they are not practical to get to on one 5-day stay in Switzerland. This will probably be our only chance to travel to Switzerland, so we have to choose the best destinations and activities. Should any of these be done together on one day?

The big challenge for me is figuring out the order to do these things, where to travel and stop by train from Venice when we arrive, the order to do things, and whether we stay in one place and do day trips until the last day when we have to go to Zurich, and if we get one train pass to get to Switzerland and to all of our destinations.

Thank you so very much for any advice you can offer!!

Confused - did you read my post to you?

you had some really good answers above so I didn't post.

You seem to have missed that you can get from the Berner Oberland to an afternoon flight easily. Why do you want to add a day in Zurich on such a busy and tight time? What time is that flight?

Are you aware that you could, if you are sick of the mountains - unlikely - take a scenic narrow gauge train to Luzern and spend the night there before your flight (just 90 minutes direct into the airport from Luzern)?

Do you know how far it is to Stoos?

I hear gentle hiking and then you throw in hang gliding!?!

You watch all those videos and you'll turn into a kid in a candy store.

You mention Interlaken (only one k) - what have you seen that caught your attention?

oh, and happy Anniversary to come ...

I hear gentle hiking and then you throw in hang gliding!?!

Pretty sure they mean the Frist Glider on Grindelwald-First. :-)

It will help a lot to look at a map while reading the advice here. You can also use the Swiss train website to check travel times between places.

sbb.ch

Zermatt is a wonderful destination, but it sits at the end of a narrow valley and is reached by a single train line (look at Visp - Zermatt on SBB. it is about an hour in/out). Because of this, every day trip requires traveling down the same route and back again just to get in and out of the valley. This adds two hours to any possible day trip destination.

It sounds like you want to see several places, that is why Wanderweg suggested Wengen as a base and provided a possible itinerary for your time there.

If you look at Wengen on a map, you will see it is very close to Grindelwald and Interlaken. There are many activities in this area, which makes Wengen a much better base for a five-day stay over Zermatt.

In your second post you listed Mürren and Zermatt together, but they are quite far apart, so I would remove Zermatt from this plan.

I would also remove:

• Stoos – too far away, and the hike is more difficult than what you described enjoying.
• Trift Bridge – also takes quite a bit of time to reach.

You will find the remaining places on your list, and more, in Wanderweg’s suggested itinerary.

If you want to walk around Interlaken, that is easy to add. You will pass through it anyway on the way to Brienz or if you take a boat on the lake.

For your flight from Zürich:

• If it leaves later in the day, travel from Wengen that morning. Check SBB: Wengen - Zürich Flughafen for travel times.
• If it is early in the day, travel to Zürich already the night before.

You can decide which train pass to buy after you finalize your itinerary.

Wengen makes a great base. I know, I live there :-)

Consider also what was mentioned in that other thread: Just going somewhere, and then "being there" is a great way to have a holiday. You do not need to plan every detail in advance. No plan survives contact with the Swiss Weather anyway.

Nigel - Thanks very much for your help!

"You had some really good answers above so I didn't post."

I did, and I appreciate all of the input very much. There are some suggestions that conflict with what others wrote, likely due to different experiences, plus my knowledge of Switzerland is very limited, so I asked more questions and gave more information about what I think we are likely doing in order to seek more clarification and input. I read and appreciate everything offered so far!

"You seem to have missed that you can get from the Berner Oberland to an afternoon flight easily. Why do you want to add a day in Zurich on such a busy and tight time? What time is that flight?"

I read that, and others said to fly from Zurich. Is Berner Oberland easier to get to than Zurich from the areas I am interested in visiting? To be transparent, I was unfamiliar with Berner Oberland. Some people mentioned "Bern." Is that a nickname for Berner Oberland?

"Are you aware that you could, if you are sick of the mountains - unlikely - take a scenic narrow gauge train to Luzern and spend the night there before your flight (just 90 minutes direct into the airport from Luzern)?"

No, I did not know that! Thanks! Can we get to that airport in 90 minutes by train, or would we need to find other transportation?

"Do you know how far it is to Stoos?"

Sorry, but no. That was one of the videos that looked nice to visit, but it can also be skipped if it would require excessive time to travel out of the areas we are visiting. I assume we will enjoy our experience in Switzerland more if we don't turn it into a mad race to do more than is manageable and enjoyable.

"I hear gentle hiking and then you throw in hang gliding!?!"

I don't mean real hang gliding. Though that is on my own personal bucket list, my family would probably not do that. I saw a video reel on Facebook of gliders in Gridelwald that look like hang gliding, but they are on cable. So, the riders are stretched out head-first and face-down, but it is more like a zip-line that actual hang-gliding. For hiking, I was trying to clarify that we are not looking for an extreme climb, though we are all in shape to walk more than 5 miles at a time with some hills.

"You watch all those videos and you'll turn into a kid in a candy store."

You are right, as that seems to have happened to me already! That is one of the reasons I am overwhelmed and looking for experienced guidance.

"You mention Interlaken (only one k) - what have you seen that caught your attention?"

My neighbor went there as part of a broader trip around Europe and she liked it. I saw some videos of tourists strolling through Interlaken with the view of the pretty village and the Alps. One person who responded in this thread suggested that Interlaken is not a priority. Would you say we can have a more manageable an enjoyable trip if we skip Interlaken and see similar views in Grindalwald where there is more to do?

And thanks very much for the anniversary wishes! Thirty years of family life together is something special for us to celebrate!

Swiss Nomad - Yes, when I mentioned the gliding, I was referring to the First Glider in Grindelwald, but did not know what it was called. It looks like hang-gliding but it is really more like zip-lining in a hang-gliding position.

Dear Wengen -

"Wengen makes a great base. I know, I live there :-)
Consider also what was mentioned in that other thread: Just going somewhere, and then "being there" is a great way to have a holiday. You do not need to plan every detail in advance. No plan survives contact with the Swiss Weather anyway."

That is very sensible advice, thank you. I have travelled only every year or two in the US, Ireland, UK, Guatemala, Canada, Paris, and Italy. Most of my trips have been about a 7-10 days because we don't get much vacation time in the US. I have learned that if we over-plan and try to squeeze in too many sights and activities, it becomes stressful. It is easier to fully experience and enjoy the highest priority destinations at a more reasonable pace than to try to do it all. That's really a main reason I am asking for help. Perhaps there are a couple of things on my list that are very similar to other things, so may be better skipped to keep the trip enjoyable.

And thanks for the caution about weather. To be honest, I was thinking that August would minimize weather issues. Leaving some room for weather was good advice, thanks.

Dear Wanderweg -

Thanks very much for your very thorough reply to my original post!

The reason I posted additional information a questions was just for clarification as I received responses. As I am gathering info, I am learning new questions to ask, an dI am trying to sort out which specific suggestions to put into my plan as some of the advice differs from person to person based on their experiences.

For example, in this thread, I learned that if why fly out of Zurich we should arrive the previous day or book an afternoon flight, and that Bern Airport (which I had been completely unaware of, is an option.

Swiss Nomad -

Yours was another very helpful reply. Thanks very much!!!
"It will help a lot to look at a map while reading the advice here. You can also use the Swiss train website to check travel times between places. sbb.ch"

Good advice. I found a map showing the trains, and printed it.

"Zermatt is a wonderful destination, but it sits at the end of a narrow valley and is reached by a single train line (look at Visp - Zermatt on SBB. it is about an hour in/out). Because of this, every day trip requires traveling down the same route and back again just to get in and out of the valley. This adds two hours to any possible day trip destination."

Good thinking! I was not aware of this. I see from the map that Wengen, Grindelwald, Interlaken, all appear easily accessible to each other and quite centrally located, while Zermatt is quite far south, practically in the Italian Alps. So, yes, we we will leave Zermatt out of the plan.

"It sounds like you want to see several places, that is why Wanderweg suggested Wengen as a base and provided a possible itinerary for your time there. If you look at Wengen on a map, you will see it is very close to Grindelwald and Interlaken. There are many activities in this area, which makes Wengen a much better base for a five-day stay over Zermatt. In your second post you listed Mürren and Zermatt together, but they are quite far apart, so I would remove Zermatt from this plan.
I would also remove: Stoos – too far away, and the hike is more difficult than what you described enjoying. Trift Bridge – also takes quite a bit of time to reach."

This is extremely helpful guidance! I see that now and I understand why this is being advised.

Now, to get to Wengen... Some information I looked up online says it takes 7-11 hours and 3-6 train changes to get to Wengen from Venice, while some people have told me it takes 6-8 hours. Some people in this thread suggest we fly from Venice to Zurich and then take a train, while others disagree.

Now that I am almost settled on Wengen as our home base in Switzerland, the best way to get there from Venice is the big question. I looked at a train ticket site and compared several options. It appears that flying is more expensive and won't save much time, plus we'll still have to add train(s) after the flight. If we can get a direct flight, that is a bit over an hour, but of course we'd need to arrive early for customs/security and lines and then take train(s) from the airport to Wengen.

"You will find the remaining places on your list, and more, in Wanderweg’s suggested itinerary.
If you want to walk around Interlaken, that is easy to add. You will pass through it anyway on the way to Brienz or if you take a boat on the lake."

Great! That also gives us a change to have some flexibility for weather. If we use Wengen as our primary place to stay, and make day trips to Gridelwald and other places, do you think there is any need to move to any other places to stay, or can we do most of our list (except those you explained are too far off) from our hotel or VRBO/Air B&B in Wengen?

"For your flight from Zürich:
If it leaves later in the day, travel from Wengen that morning. Check SBB: Wengen - Zürich Flughafen for travel times.
If it is early in the day, travel to Zürich already the night before."

Others have also suggested flying out of Bern. What do you think of that if we do make Wengen our base?

Berner Oberland is the name the of the region where Wengen, Grindelwald, Interlaken all are. When someone says the BO or Berner Oberland, they're just talking about the whole region.

Interlaken is not where the pretty village overlooking the alps is. Someone likely labeled it Interlaken, but the pretty villages are Wengen, Murren, Gimmelwald and Grindelwald. Interlaken is not up in the mountains, it’s between 2 lakes hence the name “Inter-laken” and it’s not where you want to stay. You’ll go through it regardless though, as you have to go through Interlaken to get to Wengen, as well as for a Lake Brienz/Brienzer Rothorn day and to leave to go to Zurich.

Bern airport isn’t an international airport for getting to Boston. Zurich is the international airport, of which you can get a direct flight via Swiss Air. They have a 1:00 pm direct to Boston and a 5:35 pm direct to Boston. Either of these would be fine to get from Wengen without switching to Zurich the day before. Personally I’d pick the 5:35 to give you a more leisurely morning. You wouldn’t need to leave Wengen until around 11:30 that morning, which would give you time to have a relaxed breakfast and check out without a rush.

Do not fly from Venice, as then you’ll still have to take the train for 3 hours, so it doesn’t save you time. You’re putting 2 locations in your trip that don’t really “go together” so you’re going to spend 1 entire day getting between the two, no getting around it. The 6 hour suggestion is not accurate. My time suggestions were based on specific times available on SBB. There is a lot of rail construction going on around Milan, so some of the time offerings may be altered for the summer and I'm unsure if they've come out with an official schedule. You can look on SBB and on TrenItalia.

Don’t move bases, the majority of your realistic list can be done from Wengen. You're already taking up one full day getting from Venice. Do the rest of your trip from one base and just enjoy the day trips without dealing with your luggage.

The suggested itinerary I already gave you has everything you wanted on your list except Stoos (not in the region), Zermatt (not realistic with your itinerary) and the bridge (better options)

Friday - Boston > Venice

Saturday - Arrive Venice AM - explore

Sunday - Venice

Monday - Venice > Wengen (8-11 hrs)

Tuesday - Wengen > cable car to Mannlichen > walk to Kleine Scheidegg > train to Grindelwald > walk or bus to the Grindelwald First valley station > cable car up to First > optional hiking (the adventure activities have 3-5 hr long lines EACH) > cable car Grindelwald > train Zweilutchinen > train Lauterbrunnen > train Wengen

Wednesday - Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > walk the Lauterbrunnen Valley (waterfalls) to Stechelberg > cable car up to Schilthorn & Birg Thrill Walk > cable car back down to Murren > optional hike Northface counterclockwise from Allmendhubel in the afternoon > walk or cable car down to Gimmelwald for dinner (wood fired pizza at the hostel) > cable car to Stechelberg > bus to Lauterbrunnen > train to Wengen

Thursday - Wengen > train to Lauterbrunnen > train to Interlaken > train to Brienz > Brienzer Rothorn steam train (reservations required) > Brienz > boat to Interlaken Ost (optional stop at Giessbach funicular to waterfall & historic hotel) > Interlaken Ost > train to Lauterbrunnen > train to Wengen

Friday - Wengen > train to Lauterbrunnen > train to Wilderswil > open air cog train to Schynige Platte (Panorama hike Daube Oberbergorn Laucherhorn) > Wilderswil > train to Lauterbrunnen > train to Wengen

Saturday - Wengen - weather buffer for all the above or additional day for Lake Thun or additional hiking from the area (See the BO Pass validity map to decide if you want to see something in addition to what I've listed here like a bigger day to Oeschinensee if you want to mess with it)

Sunday - Wengen > Zurich Airport > Boston (direct flight at 1 or 5:35 pm)

With the itinerary I suggested, get the 6 day Berner Oberland Pass starting on Tuesday. It will fully cover Interlaken, Wengen, Mannlichen, Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn/Birg, Murren, Gimmelwald, Brienz, Brienzer Rothorn, boat ride on Lake Brienz, Schynige Platte Grindelwald and additional options of Lake Thun, Oeschinensee, etc. On your departure day, it will also cover you all the way to Bern or Luzern, depending on which route you take to the airport. If you do the later flight, you'd have time to take the longer scenic route via Luzern if you want and stop there for an hour to see the historic old town (store your luggage at the train station). The pass acts like your ticket, so when people are checking tickets you just show your pass. The only supplement tickets you'd need to buy is a 50% off ticket up to Grindelwald First, your ticket from Venice to Wengen and the supplement of Bern to Zurich Flughafen OR Luzern to Zurich Flughafen on your way to the airport.

The 6 day pass is 350 chf per adult. See pricing and validity map on their official website - https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/prices-tickets/