First Trip in Switzerland Itinerary Suggestoins

1. It doesn’t make sense to move to Luzern twice. That takes away precious time on a short trip.

2. With 2 weeks, skip Appenzell.

3. Stay in Montreux or Vevey instead of Lausanne, they are much better bases for the area.

   1. Add a night or two to the BO, you’ll want them.
   2. Reverse the order, as the later into May you can get for snow melt up in the mountains around Wengen, the better. Early May is still off season and some things will be closed.

Fly into Zurich > Lugano 2 nights > Zermatt 3 nights > Montreux 2 Nights > Wengen 4-5 Nights > Luzern 2-3 Nights

In Wengen, I can highly suggest the Hotel Alpenrose, which offers half board (with breakfast) and full board (with breakfast and dinner). The common spaces are very cozy and inviting, the food is excellent, and the staff is wonderful. Rooms are very well-appointed, and you can hardly beat the views. It's a steep downhill walk from the train station, but the porters are happy to run you back up to the station in the hotel vans, even if you're not checking out.

Another great hotel right on the main street from the train station is the Hotel Braunbar. It's directly across from the Mannlichenbahn, so a good spot for heading up to the Panorama Trail. They also offer breakfast, but you can grab wonderful pasties, hot chocolate, and coffee at a few places along the street. Good accommodations, a huge indoor pool, and they have a fondue gondola available!

Have fun on your first trip! I can almost guarantee it won't be your last (I'm currently planning trip number 5 for this September) :)

the later into May you can get for snow melt up in the mountains
around Wengen, the better.

Männlichen opens May 22, so it really doesn’t matter if you go to Wengen at the beginning of your holidays or not. There is no predicting the weather, it is entirely possible that the first week of May will be nicer than the second, either way Männlichen will be closed.

See operating schedule here

https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/live/operating-info/?srsltid=AfmBOor4EprA_NeVor4g22Ig6SbvbljikY0n-sDntKnypHFtY9klaJo8

It still matters, as there is more to consider than just Mannlichen. Namely snow melt on trails & shops/restaurants/hotels reopening from the maintenance season. The later you can go, the more likely you are to have more things open. A lot will still be closed, but it could matter. The first two weeks of May isn’t an ideal time to visit, end of May/beginning of June is much better, but if you’re stuck with the timing than a week can potentially make a small difference. If you can change your dates to the end of May/beginning of June, your experience up in the mountains will be very different. Most of the area opens around May 22/23 with more rolling out the first couple weeks of June.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/switzerland/best-switzerland-tour

RS’s tour takes this path:

Luzern - 2 nights
Appenzell - 1 night
Lugano - 2 nights
Lausanne - 2 nights
Mürren - 2 nights
Bern - 2 nights
(fly in and out of Zurich)

It is excellent. First tour in 2026 starts in mid-May. We took this tour last July. We found the pace to be good. We had folks in age ranging from their 30s to their 80s. We even had a repeat customer who brought her sister along for then 2nd go around.

You aren’t doing a tour so you’ll have to manage your own transportation and events— which is both better and worse. The trains/transportation options in Switzerland are excellent and you won’t have to always keep waiting for the group and potty breaks every couple of hours. But you’ll have to figure it out on your own.

Other posters here know the country far better than me and wise old hands typical recommend slower pacing. If this is your first and possibly last trip, I wouldn’t want to miss the great breadth of the RS style Itinerary. But do what works for you.

Either way you’ll love it! Happy travels

Männlichen opens May 22

That’s the date for the cable cars. The trail many like to take from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg opens in June. Early or mid-June depending on the weather.

@Carrie, exactly! The opening dates for gondolas and such are fixed, opening dates for trails are weather dependant. The Panorama trail is often not open until the second half of June, in my experience.

@Wanderweg, your advice was that @terry.west should reverse the order that they planned for their trip so that they could have better weather in the mountains

1. Reverse the order

In the mountains, spring doesn’t improve day by day in a smooth way. May 8 is not automatically better than May 7, and so on.

What usually happens is a general move toward spring over weeks, not days, with warm periods mixed with colder ones. In early to mid-May it’s common to have snow melting one week and then new snow falling the next, especially at higher elevations.

So while the second week of May can sometimes be better than the first, a difference of just one week doesn’t guarantee better weather or clearer trails. Conditions can easily go either way.

Incidentally Wanderweg, I have seen you say that you spend your summers in Mürren, I didn't realise you were here in May also.

@terry.west May is not off season, but rather shoulder season, you will still find a lot of things open and in fact it is one of my very favourite times of year here in Switzerland, lots of beauty but still very few tourists!

I have lived in Switzerland for over eight years now, and even during the 20+ years before that, we always came here for our family holidays in May. There is more than enough to do, spring is in full swing at lower elevations and the mountains still look absolutely amazing in the crisp air - summer is often very hazy and the experience is not quite the same.