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Ideas for route planning in Berner Oberland

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Was in Switzerland earlier this year and absolutely loved it. I started in Lucerne and based myself in Wengen and at the end of the trip headed to Chur to take the Bernina express into italy. Of the 4 days there, i explored the surrounding places being Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Grindlewald, Männlichen, Interlaken. My only regret was i didn't spend more time in the BO area, so missed places like Zermatt, Montreux, the matterhorn......

So I'm looking for ideas on how I should do this part if I was to go back again and places I should hit in that area. Where should I base myself (I loved wengen when i was up there this year). This time round, I don't intend to end up in Italy as the Jubilee year next year and crowds will be overwhelming so looking for suggestions on where to exit - Geneva then into France perhaps? How do people typically do this route.

Would the point of entry be into Zurich and take the train to Zermatt? I like the flexibility of the berner oberland pass so I think I'll do that again but noticed that Zermatt isn't on the map (given this is one of the key destinations, does anyone know why it isn't covered out of curiosity?)

I did the Bernina Express this year, is it worth doing the glacier express? While I did enjoy the BE, I didn't think it was as good as what I had expected.

Thanks

Posted by
154 posts

I like the flexibility of the berner oberland pass so I think I'll do that again but noticed that Zermatt isn't on the map (given this is one of the key destinations, does anyone know why it isn't covered out of curiosity?)

The Berner Oberland is the mountainous region in the canton of Bern. The BO pass covers this area and also a bit more, into Luzern, for example, but it does not also cover the Valais, which is where Zermatt is, or the canton of Vaud, where Montreux is.

Posted by
3081 posts

For my last couple of trips, I flew into Zurich and immediately took the train to Montreux to start my trip there. One time I went from Montreux to Wengen then to Lucerne. This year I went from Montreux to Zermatt then to Murren and Wengen and Lucerne. I always get the Swiss Travel Pass because I do not limit my stays to the BO.

Posted by
287 posts

As mentioned, Zermatt is not part of the Berner Oberland region, so it’s not covered by the B.O. Pass.

I used a Swiss Travel Pass b/c I travelled in several regions outside the B.O.

Taking a train from the Zurich Airport to either Montreux or Zermatt would make sense if you don’t arrive too late in the day. You could spend several days there; then head to the B.O.

If you’re arriving later in the day and don’t relish a 3 or 3:30 train ride after a long flight, you could take the train to Bern or Thun (about 1:30) to spend the first night. Both are good places to walk around and enjoy sights as you recover from the flight. Thun also has great views of the Alps from the lakefront.

If your flight out of Zurich isn’t too early, you could spend your last night in Lucerne, Bern, or Thun and take the train from there to the airport.

Depending on how much time you plan to spend in Montreux/Zermatt area vs. B.O. you might get a Swiss Travel Pass for the first part, and a B.O. Travel Pass for the second part.

The Swiss Travel Pass is available for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 consecutive days.

The B.O. Pass is valid for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 10 days.

All the best,

Raymond

Posted by
243 posts

Thank you all for that.

I didn't realise that Zermatt and Montreux were not part of the bernese oberland. Thanks for clarifying. And thanks for pointing out the change in coverage on the BO pass. I learnt about that earlier and felt it was a shame they are downgrading the pass.

I don't think I will go back into wengen/murren/lauterbrunnen area but concentrate more in the Zermatt/Montreux area. What other spots should I include while I'm there and how many days do you think to do it justice? I guess the swiss travel pass is minimum 3 days so that will probably be where I'll start. I must admit I haven't done extensive research on the area yet, just teasing out the possibilities to see whether doing this is an option.

As for the Glacier Express, how comparable is the experience/views with the Bernina Express? I'm kind of on the fence about whether to include this or not or spend the day in the regions instead.

Posted by
202 posts

On our trip last month we did both the Bernina and Glacier Expresses. We did the Bernina in First Class and the Glacier in Excellence.

I thought that both were very good, but the Excellence Class on the GE was amazing, albeit very expensive. The service, food and matched drinks were incredible, very similar to a good quality business class flight. I highly recommend it if it is in your budget.

We spent two nights in St. Moritz before the GE (after getting off of the BE from Tirano, Italy). We then spent three nights in Zermatt, which we thought was probably enough, although if the weather had been better an extra night might have been handy. Luckily we had one perfect day for seeing the Matterhorn from Gornergrat.

After being in Wengen, we then had six nights in the Montreux area. Again could have filled another couple too. There are plenty of things to do. For us we visited Vevey, caught to paddle steamer from there to Chillon Castle. Another day we did an excursion to Gruyeres for visit its castle. There is also a chocolate factory and a cheese tour, but we didn't bother with those.

We spent some time wine tasting in the Lavaux area and also a day in Geneva before flying home.

A very enjoyable day was spent in Yvoire, on the French shore of the lake. We got there by train and boat from Montreux. We just had a half fare pass for this portion of the trip, but it would have all been covered with a Swiss Pass.

There is also a pass for the Montreux area but we didn't feel it was worth it to us, as we already had the Half Fare.

https://journey.mob.ch/en/stories/leman-alpes-regional-pass

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