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Final Itinerary advice - April 2018

Posted by (Dubai) on

Greetings from Dubai!

We ( myself, wife and 2 YO kid) prefer relaxed travel focusing on sight seeing with little hiking.

Travel dates 13 to 21, April 18. Luzern 3n and Wengen 5n.

I'm aware of the fact that many mountain transports would be closed and its shoulder season during April.

Day 1 Dubai to Zurich. Arrival by noon, take train to luzern. Local sight seeing later in the evening.

Day 2 Mt.Titlis (if weather permitting ) or local city tour

Day 3 Mt.Rigi

Day 4 Check out, visit Stanserhorn and take train to Wengen.

Day 5 Jungfrau - If weather is bad, day trip to Bern

Day 6. Schilthorn. Planning to do Murren - Grütschalp hike while returning. Visit lauterbrunnen later in the evening.

Day 7. Full length Goldenpass route to Montreux, visit Chillon castle( guess it will be closed,but worth visiting from outside?) and back to Wengen. I understand it takes 7 to 8 hours of travel to complete this.

Day 8. Lake Thun cruise with castle (or) Lake Brienz with Giessbach falls. Need your suggestion. Again its personal preference but need expert's choice. Grindelwald first walk later in the day.

Day 9 Check out to Zurich. My flight is at 10.30 pm. Anything to visit in Zurich till we wait for our transfer to airport,other than Rhine falls.

I have purchased 8 days STP starting from 2nd day of my travel.

Booked accommodation -HitRental apartments in luzern and chalet Bluemewag in Wengen.

Kindly advice me for anything which can be included or excluded in my plan. Many thanks in advance!!

Excited about the trip.

Siva

Posted by
7209 posts

You go to Lucerne to visit the beautiful town yet you spend very little time there. You are already visiting several mountain tops while staying in Wengen...why not spend your time in Lucerne in the actual town as well as visiting some of the beautiful lakeside villages on Lake Lucerne via the boats? Personally Titlis, Rigi, Jungfrau, Schilthorn is just going overboard with mountain tops.

If you just absolutely must visit a mountain top while in Lucerne then choose Mt Pilatus which is much closer yet still a very nice roundtrip with train, bus, boat combination of travel.

I think the trip Wengen ->Montreux is quite far especially with a 2 year old. Why not do some additional sightseeing in Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald since you are already there while staying in Wengen.

Posted by
10 posts

Hi Tim,

Thanks a lot for your valuable suggestions. The reasons for choosing Rigi instead Pilatus are its covered fully in STP and cogwheel to Pilatus is under maintenance during my time of visit.

I dont know the number of "friendly weather" days during our stay in Jungfrau region. Probably I will do Schilthorn alone.

Montreux trip, yeah it will be difficult with a kid,may be we need to skip it. This is the plan as of now. I need to change now and then, based on my kid's tolerance to travel. I will consider and do some research on your suggestions to explore more nearby Wengen.

Many Thanks

Siva

Posted by
219 posts

Do be sure to allow time to explore the charming car-less Old Town (Altstädt) of Luzern.

Chillon Castle is open all year. https://www.chillon.ch/en/Z1428/timetable

Children are fine on Swiss trains. I don't remember what specific accommodations the Golden Pass train has for children, but many trains have little playgrounds in one of the train carriages, or a specially painted family train carriage. I think I vaguely recall seeing diaper changing facilities in the train restrooms (WC). Children can walk with a parent up and down the aisles all the time in a train. You can keep your child occupied just as you would at home, except you'll have things you see out the window and pass by to point out all along the way. And when that's not stimulating enough for your child (s)he can sleep while you and your wife relax and enjoy the views.

That said, be sure to save your Golden Pass trip to Montreux and Chillon Castle for a day without any view in your Wengen area, where you're staying.

Mt. Rigi has a playground near the Rigi-Kaltbad station. I love the Kaltbad area of the mountain best. Gorgeous views of the lake below and the snow-capped mountains across the lake from there--I prefer the views here better than the ones from the mountain top (Rigi Kulm), and easy, level, beautiful paths branch out from Rigi Kaltbad.

I don't know why you're spending time stopping at Stanserhorn. I think you should prioritize getting to Wengen, where it's most spectacular.

Giessbach Falls would be much easier with a 2-year-old than climbing hundreds of steps to reach the Thun Castle that's way up high above the town. From the Giessbach ship dock, take the funicular up to the hotel for the best view of the waterfalls. Here's a link to their web page:
https://www.giessbach.ch/en/giessbach-falls-nature-park.html

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