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Input needed on itinerary from Wengen base--Sept. trip

Posted by (dallas) on

After countless hours scouring these (and other) boards gathering such helpful info, we are finalizing our itinerary for a mid-Sept two-week trip to Austria (Salzburg and lake area-4 days) and Switzerland. Could you comment on our Wk 2 schedule? As this is our first trip to this region, we aren’t sure of our choices and travel practicality via trains. We are two couples, excellent health, interested in great hikes/scenery with a few towns (?Murren, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen…?) to stroll through to break things up. We’d also like to do a couple of day trips to charming places maybe with an Old Town area, quaint shops, historic churches/castles (Montreaux/Gruyere, Appenzal, Stein Am Rhine ??).

Day 1: Train from Venice to Lugano (overnight)

Days 2-6: Wengen base (5nts??):
*Jungfrau peak *Schilthorn *Trummelbach Falls *Paragliding *Hiking *

Day 7: Lucerne—?Mt Pil. Cliff Walk? Chapel Bridge, Lion Mnmt, Old Town (overnight to leave from Zurich airport )

Here are some of our questions:

  1. Is this too much time in Wengen?
  2. Is it doable to do 1-2 day trip(s) (Montreaux/Vevey (Chillon)? Appenzal? Other suggestions?) from our Wengen base?
  3. Would you recommend purchasing both Swiss Travel Pass and BO Regional Pass?

We are so grateful for any input at all.

Posted by
7803 posts

I’m not sure why you’re starting from Venice since you mentioned that this trip is Austria & Switzerland. I would go from Venice to Stresa, and then from Stresa to Wengen. We did the Stresa to Wengen route in reverse, and the train was very nice.

For your activities in the Wengen area, five nights would be great. There may be some cloudy days, so it’s good to have sufficient time to work around the weather. For a cloudy day, Trum. Falls is a good activity. I can’t help you with your second question; we’ve always stayed in the Wengen area the entire time we were there on both trips.

Is this for Sept. 2018 or 2019? If 2018, move quickly on remaining lodging options.

Posted by
2775 posts

1) No. You may not have good weather every day, and even if you do, four full days is not too much for such a beautiful spot. You will have no problem finding fun things to do, especially if you enjoy hiking.

2) Why would you want to? I don’t recall exactly, but I think you’re at least a couple of hours from those spots. Unless the weather is dreadful, I would not consider any long day trips.

3) Buy both passes? That makes no sense. They are expensive and overlap a lot. If you meant to ask about buying one or the other, you need to do the math to figure out which is the better value. You might also look at the half fare card. It is often the best deal.

Posted by
768 posts

Wengen is a wonderful town with great views. However, it is not very efficient as a "base". Lauterbrunnen or Murren would be better for hiking, paragliding, and Trummelbach Falls.

Five days is not too long in the area. I normally shoot for 10 days, with the assumption that 3 of them will be rainy, misty, or low clouds. Still more than enough to do. I'll send you our dozen favorite hikes in the area, with maps and pics. It will show up in your forum private mail, accessed by the notice in the upper right of this page.

I normally get the Berner Oberland Pass, as it covers routes starting from the southern border as far north as Lucerne, and it covers all lifts and trains in the hiking area.

Posted by
14 posts

Thank you each for such quick and helpful responses. We will keep 5 nights in Wengen/BO region as per your suggestions Still trying to see if we can somehow work in a quick visit to Chillon Castle.

Jean— this is for travel for this September. We have secured lodging in the BO region but, as I’m sure you’re aware, have fewer options then we’d like in the other areas. Will look into Stresa (see below).

  1. We are rethinking our Venice/Lugano/Wengen route as it was pointed out that it might not be very practical route. Any other suggestions for a charming stop along the Ven-Weng route to overnight? Or (forgive my ignorance) is there a Scenic train that we could take to stop in Montreux and then head to Wengen late the next day? I understand it adds hours more to the trip but it might be more efficient use of our time overall as I’m hopeful about a trip to see Chillon Castle?

  2. Someone recently mentioned a Saver Day pass. In your opinion, is a Saver Day pass a good combination to have with a Regional Pass or Half Fare card?

Again, thanks for all your assistance. ap

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