Hi all,
This is my first post...please be kind! :)
My friend and I wore out Europe Through the Back Door when we backpacked in the summer of 1990. Thanks to that book, I fell in love with the Alps and especially Gimmelwald. My son is now getting ready to head off to college, so--Covid willing--he and my wife and I are heading to Switzerland for eight-ish days (7/6 through 7/14) for our big family trip. Of course, I picked up Rick's Switzerland book and have put together a rough itinerary and would be grateful for any advice/thoughts/tips/admonishment.
A few notes about us:
• My son is not big on museums, so we've picked out just a couple that we'd like to visit.
• We look forward to some light-to-moderate hiking in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and are trying to leave at least a little flex time to account for weather. I know a lot of people prefer staying in Mürren instead of Gimmelwald, but we're pretty set on staying in Gimmelwald for three nights.
• My thought was to take a train to Lausanne/Gruyeres when we land and then make our way east back towards Zurich. Maybe there's a reason not to do that?
• My son doesn't really enjoy fine dining, so we're thinking of trying to do picnics/cafeterias as much as we can, with a few decent dinners thrown in. But we're not really going out of our way for any specific foods other than some chocolate!
• In general, we're looking to stay either in booking.com apartments and/or clean, decent but not too-expensive hotels.
Again, thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.
Itinerary:
7/6 - Wednesday Fly into Zurich, take train to Lausanne/Gruyeres area
Rest, walk around Lausanne, stay in Lausanne?
7/7- Thursday l’Art de Brut (we think we'll skip Chateau de Chillon), to Gruyeres for Giger Museum, stay in Gruyeres?
7/8- Friday take Golden Pass from Montreux to Zweisimmen
or Luzerne to get to Lauterbrunnen Valley? Stay in Mürren for 1 night?
7/9- Saturday Lauterbrunnen Valley–Kleine Scheidegg hike, parasailing, Schilthorn, relax for three/four days
7/10- Sunday
7/11- Monday
7/12- Tuesday train to Luzerne
7/13- Wednesday Mt. Pilatus (including luge/ropes courses)
7/14- Thursday Train to Zurich Airport, fly home
My big questions are:
• I like the idea of heading to the west as we get off the plane. We can relax and rest on the train and start our trip in Lausanne. But if there's a reason to stay east and work our way west, please let me know. Are we leaving enough time in Lausanne/Gruyeres area? I can add a night but am trying to maximize time in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Should we base in Lausanne or Gruyeres or do one night in each? We'll need to get to Montreux to get the Golden Pass...
• If we're heading towards Interlaken to get up to the Alps, would we be better off taking the Golden Pass to Zweisimmen or continue to Luzerne?
• We'd like to do Mt. Pilatus, but aren't sure if we'd need more time in the Luzerne area. I think I've left us enough time...
I know this is a long post, so thanks so much for reading.
Cheers!
Mike