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First trip to Switzerland Sept 2026

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Hello. I have been on these boards soaking up info. We want to come the second week of Sept 2026.
We will be 77 and 67 years of age. We walk 4-5 miles a day but not in mountains mostly flat.

Last year we spent three weeks 2 in Ireland and one in Scotland and we did two tours. I loved Ireland tour but not Scotland. The main reason is it was too much and looking back I would of spent third week in Ireland relaxing and doing some day trips

So with that knowledge I do not want to over book for Switzerland. This is most likely our first and only trip.

I know I am picking the most popular areas. But I want to spend a week in Wengen doing all ghe stuff there. 4 days in Zermatt and then want to go to Lake Brienz for three days and be on the lake doing stuff around there. My husband loves lakes and we will be tired. I am thinking of adding two days in Lucerne. Would love to do a couple of the mountains and the boat ride mountain trip my husband would really like

Do u think it matters the way we organize the trip. I was going to start in Wengen, then Zermatt and ghen the lake area head to Lucerne and have 1-2 nights Then we will heard to zurich to fly out. We have a free hotel in Zurich so we woll stay at airport hotel

We are going to stay at the Allpenrose. I have scoured the hotels and its been a hard decision. They offer half board as well as they give you the Jungfrau 6 day pass. in the package. I figure if we want to eat any where else we can and we have another ten days to pick restaurants. What are your thoughts on itinerary?
We will have about 16-17 days there. We can add or take away.

I want to see and do a lot of the mountain excursions in the BO and Zermatt. I have read many of your posts so have a good idea.
Do u think the order matters? Any hotel recs for Zermatt? Brienz or that area hotels on the water? I have a couple Im looking at.

Any great restaurants u loved in Wengen, Zermatt or favorite Swiss meals?

Love to heat thoughts and suggestions

Posted by
1122 posts

I answered some of your questions in the private message you sent me, so I'll repost the answer here in case you didn't see it:

Brienz is nice, it depends on what you plan to do. There isn’t a lot of lodging there right on the water, but if you’ve found somewhere you like, you can do a boat trip on Lake Brienz, as well as perhaps Ballenberg and/or a trip to Aare Gorge/Meiringen. Luzern has an actual historic center, so there is a lot more going on there, but it’s not a relaxing lake trip unless you stay in another town along the water. Luzern is more of a small city trip with great connections for day trips, whereas Brienz is quite a small little village, but not a lot of charm in the actual town. The draw there is the water. If you want to just relax directly on the water, perhaps Vitznau or Brunnen with a day trip into Luzern. Another place to consider is staying at Beatus Wellness Hotel & Spa directly on Lake Thun in Merligen if your budget allows. It’s a waterfront hotel with direct boat access for trips on the water to see the castles at Spiez, Oberhofen & Thun.

In regards to Wengen, the Alpenrose is a good deal, but you should be prepared that it’s a decent walk uphill to the train station, so every time you want to do something you’re going to have to hike uphill and then at the end of the day, back downhill. It’s around a quarter mile and 150 feet of elevation difference up/down. I wouldn’t call it steep, but it’s not a flat walk for sure.

Edelweiss is a shorter walk and around 75 feet of elevation change. Alpenruhe is a walk up to the back of the village at about .4 miles and 100 feet of elevation change.

The most convenient hotel with views in Wengen is the Maya Caprice. It’s very close to the train station, so an easy walk and has some of the best views in the village if you get a southern facing balcony.

Posted by
13 posts

Thank you. I did not see the response so thank you for answering me again. I have gone back and forth on the hotels. Esp between Edelweiss and Appenrose.

Some of the hotels I have looked have all these extra cost for example. 1. non refundable vs refundable and extra money. We are a little budget conscious and The Maya Caprice goes up 1000 for a week for half board. So it puts it above 550 a night and still have to get the travel pass. Then with tax and everthing its like 600 a night. We just cant do that. We could do meals on our own perhaps.I just keep hearing the cost of food is so high I tht one week of our trip bring half board would help.

The Edelweiss is less money and they do ala carte type dinner which gives us options each night.

The walks to the hotels have been why I have hard time deciding.

I could get a non view room but kinda defeats my purpose. We want to sit on balcony and relax with amazing views.

You think were better to choose Edelweiss?

Thank you so much.

I will look at the lake areas you have mentioned

Posted by
487 posts

I second everything Wanderweg said. Brienz is our favorite small town, it is right on the lake, convenient to trains/busses/boats. We love staying in the Weisses Kreuz. From a front window, it overlooks the train station, bus station, and boat dock, and then the lake. BUT they won't have balconies. Many years ago we used to stay at the Tearoom. It overlooks the lake and has balconies. It sits above their bakery/restaurant. Don't know what they are like now. If you take the boat across the lake to the Geissbach Falls stop, there are great hiking trails up to and past the falls. In Brienz, the Rothorne Bahn is a cog railway to the mountaintop. Beautiful views. Not sure if it's running at end of September, though. You could consider the Ballenberg Open Air Museum. You take the bus from Brienz to one entry and take another bus back from the other entry. It's a good bit of walking, but very interesting.

Regarding meals, Zurich is well known for Geschnetzlties Zurichoise (hope I spelled it ok). And in late September you may find wildgame dinners (venison/wild pig/etc...). In Bavaria, that's a big thing, I hope it is also in Switzerland. My favorite meal.

Posted by
13 posts

Thanks. We are looking forward to some time on the lakes and little towns there after 11 days in the alps

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