We are planning for our family first Europe trip with our girls age 9 and 13. Our dates are fixed as we want to go during their Spring Break (first week of April). We are flying into Vienna, spending 3-4 days in Austria and Southern Germany and then head to Switzerland. We like hiking and ridding bikes. Can you please advise 3-4 days to have a good memorable experience with kids. Interlaken, Lucerne and Matterhorn or any cities you would considering the time of year. I would appreciate any advise on small trails and must do activities. Thanks in advance for your advice.
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Switzerland
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This is a time of year when you will have green grass, spring flowers and cows grazing at lower elevations and snow in the mountains. There will certainly be hiking and cycling options in and around Luzern and Interlaken. I would choose one (or both) of these locations. From there you can take a trip into the mountains to experience the snow as well.
Are there things your family enjoys doing if the weather doesn’t play along? Would they enjoy the Transportation Museum in Luzern? Having a few things like this in mind can be helpful.
Spring is a favourite time of year for me here in Switzerland, and if you get some beautiful sunny days it can be just stunning!
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for your kind reply and confirmation about early spring weather makes us really excited. Any specifics trails that we should look for hiking or riding bikes>?
Posted by
Switzerland
158 posts
Cycling in the Interlaken area:
Route #380, the Bödeli route, takes you around the Interlaken, Unterseen and Matten. I have done this with my street bike. 23km and relatively easy.
I also like to ride around the lake of Thun, but I use my e-bike for that. The easier side of the lake is route #8 seen here, but instead of Meiringen - Spiez I ride the Interlaken - Thun part.
Something much shorter and easier is to ride the Lauterbrunnen valley from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg, about 11km return and quite flat.
You could continue on from Lauterbrunnen down to Interlaken, about 10 - 12km one way, a slow descent of 250m or so (obviously it would be uphill on the way back).
If you want to just ride one way, not return, you can ask at the tourist info or bike rental place to see if you can pick-up the bikes at one location and drop off at another. I know this is possible with some train stations, for example. You can also take bikes on the train, check first to see if a reservation is needed and be sure to purchase a bike ticket as well.
I have not ridden anywhere around Luzern, so can’t give recommendations for there. Switzerland mobility shows bike routes in all of Switzerland, so you can look further on there.
Are these the kind of cycling routes you were thinking of? For hikes, what would be a good duration and difficulty for your family?
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks for this amazing details. This is exactly we wanted to get insights from someone who has done this before vs trying to explore with kids in new country. Thank you very much. Do you have any bike store that you recommend that we can rent bikes from?
In terms of the hikes, I would say the preference would be a scenic route up to 8-10 km. We would probably prefer low effort or difficulty route.
Posted by
Switzerland
158 posts
Many train stations rent bikes. Here is the link, choose “Reservation Daily Rental” and then you can enter the specific train station. This is the only rental option that I have personal experience with. A young adult visiting me rented a mountain bike and loved it. We actually went by the day before to look at what her options were, then reserved the one she liked the best.
https://www.rentabike.ch/en/home
Lots of sports stores rent bikes. You can just do a search by location. Here is what the Interlaken TI suggests:
Luzern TI has this link:
https://www.luzern.com/en/package/rent-a-bike-lucerne
Posted by
Switzerland
158 posts
For hiking, here are some ideas to get you started
Luzern has this link, you can set your parameters for length, difficulty, etc. Under ‘more’ you will see ‘best time of year’ this will help you see which hikes are usually good in April.
Interlaken Lakeside Paths and trails
https://www.interlaken.ch/fileadmin/pdf/flyer-uferwege-en.pdf
This is a favourite of mine: Interlaken Ost – Niederried, path #7 on the above link. Around 140 m total ascent. There is a portion through the forest and some along the quiet neighbourhood roads. Beautiful views of the Lake of Brienz and mountains behind and a castle ruin to climb around in at the end. You can walk back again, or take the bus or train.
Iseltwald – Giessbachfalls is nice, you can check at the tourist info if it is open when you are there. It might be muddy though. Along the shores of the Lake of Brienz and through forest to the waterfalls. There is a bus you can take back. Check the timing of this before leaving as it does not run as frequently.
This scenic hike in Mürren is easy and beautiful, open all year round, but could have snow or mud in April. You can check the Mürren village webcams to get an idea of what you might encounter.
Checking with the tourist info is always the best thing as they will know the current conditions. Many of the staff there enjoy the outdoors and will have recommendations of their own as well.
Swiss Family Fun is full of amazing ideas with lots of good information
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What a coincidence ! I am taking my family for the first time as well the first week of April 2025! I went for the first time solo last October and I needed to show my family how amazing it was !
I myself was a little nervous about the weather and things to do in April but reading through the comments on your post has eased my mind a little. I feel like Switzerland is one of those places that no matter what time of year you go, you will be amazed.
I really enjoyed traveling through the small villages and cities and just enjoying the scenery from the train. Thun was a very colorful, beautiful town that you all should explore. Zermatt is also awesome and has great views of the Matterhorn!
Depending on if it's open that early in the year, the Gornergrat Bahn actually takes you up to the top with incredible views and hikes of the Matterhorn. There are several hikes that vary from small and easy to difficult . I am just not sure if it operates in April or not. https://www.gornergrat.ch/en/
Lauterbrunnen is easily one of the most walkable, scenic towns in the country and makes excellent photos. How much walking you want to do is entirely up to you but the scenery is breathtaking with the church and the waterfalls.
We are flying into Zurich most likely and my kids are really wanting to see the Lindt Chocolate Museum, which includes a tour and endless chocolate tasting! Not sure if you have looked into that?
Depending on weather, I also read there is a nice gondola ride and a small , walkable hike to Lake Oeschinensee . https://www.oeschinensee.ch/en/