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How to split up 7 days in Switzerland

Posted by on

Hello fellow travelers!

My name is Susan. My husband, David and I will be visiting Switzerland this May (May 18-25), for 7 days. This will be our very first visit to Switzerland, and, most likely our only (our bucket list is long). We are an active couple in our 60's who live in the San Francisco, CA Bay Area. We enjoy the outdoors, hiking, sailing; we also enjoy visiting cities with sites of interest, both cultural and historical and scenic.

This is what I'm thinking: We will be taking a train from Heidelberg, Germany to our first stop at Lucerne (stay in Lucerne for 2 nights), then take the train to the Bernese Oberland area in the valley (stay 3 nights), then train to Montreux for 2 nights. From Montreux will take a train to Paris for our last stop (7 nights Paris). Is this split of 2 nights Lucerne, 3 nights OB, 2 nights Montreux a good plan? Is there another city we should consider instead of Montreux? Any tips and suggestions from all of you savvy, seasoned travelers to Switzerland will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by
7209 posts

Well, all of those destinations are beautiful for sure. But personally I'd rather stop by the little village of Gruyere or visit Bern. I might even be tempted to just add an additional day to each of Lucerne and the Lauterbrunnen Valley. The LV is a place that will knock your socks off. It's really like an idyllic fairy tale setting.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks Tim. Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Splitting the 7 days between Lucerne and L... Valley. Maybe 3 Lucerne and 4 L... V, skipping Montreux altogether. We need to be in a town for the 7th night which will allow reasonable train travel to Paris. Any suggestions there?

Posted by
32219 posts

susan,

I agree with the previous reply to add a day to Lucerne and the Lauterbrunnen Valley and skip Montreux. Two nights in a location provides only about one full day of touring, so doesn't allow time to see much. With three nights in Lucerne, you'll have an extra day to take a cruise on the lake, visit Mt. Pilatus or whatever. It's always a good idea to have lots of time in the Lauterbrunnen Valley to adjust for weather. You may encounter a rainy and overcast day, which doesn't really provide the best conditions either for hiking or taking the lifts to the Schilthorn or whatever. With an extra day, hopefully you'll get at least one sunny day (but of course no guarantees).

Have a look at the RS Switzerland guidebook for information on hotels, sightseeing, restaurants, etc.

Posted by
16363 posts

There are direct trains from Bern to Paris, journey time is 4:27. The train also stops in Basel. So you could spend your last night in either city and easily get to Paris.

If you buy the tickets around 90 days in advance on sbb.ch, you should be able to get a "special offer" price ( Sparangebot) as low as 65 CHF per person for the ride to Paris.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you Ken and Thank you Lola. Great info.

What tips can you give me on train travel from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen? Seems complicated.

Posted by
11346 posts

Thank you Ken and Thank you Lola. Great info.
What tips can you give me on train travel from Lucerne to Lauterbrunnen? Seems complicated.

Actually it is easy. Buy a ticket to Interlaken Ost from Luzern. When you get to Interlaken Ost, buy a Berner Oberland Regional Pass, which will cover your transportation from Interlaken into the valley and the lifts and trains throughout the region, with some additional charges for the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn. You might also benefit from a Swiss half-fare card. With the half-fare card all of your train tickets within Switzerland are 50% off, and the BO Pass is also discounted.

There is some excellent info in this recent post as well.

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