Itinerary and hotel support needed

Posted by Nancy (Ijamsville, MD, USA) on 09/29/26 08:10 PM

We are doing a river cruise in early September 2027 that starts in Basel. We are thinking of coming a few days early to see more of Switzerland. Below are my thoughts, looking for feedback and/or hotel recommendations.

Day 1 - arrive in Zurich, explore the area, stroll the Bahnhofstrasse, recover from long plane ride! Sleep in Zurich.

Day 2 - boat ride on Lake Zurich, walk along Limmatquai, visit Fraumunster church, walking food tour. Sleep in Zurich

Day 3 - scenic train to Lauterbrunnen Valley, through Lucerne. Explore Murren. Sleep in Murren

Day 4 - cable car to Schilthorn peak, wander around, hike down. Sleep in Murren

Day 5 - travel to Basel, explore the old town area, cruise starts next day. Sleep in Basel.

What am I missing? Do the times allotted look right? We’re active but want to relax and soak it all in at the same time.

We’re looking at Hotel Alpina in Murren, but could use some recommendations for Zurich and Basel, we don’t need 5 star accommodations, but a 4 star or nice 3 star would be great.

Thanks for your help!

Posted by Pat

San Diego, California

09/29/26 11:00 PM

7341 posts

We always go straight to Lucerne, once we land. Lucerne is much more charming and scenic than Zurich. It's an easy train, as the train station is in the Zurich airport,
Enjoy this beautiful country.

Posted by Sam

Green Bay

09/30/26 01:19 AM

23814 posts

Not to mention that a boat ride on the Vierwaldstaettersee (Lake Luzern) is much more scenic than a boat ride on the Zuerichersee (Lake Zurich).

Posted by SwissNomad

Switzerland

09/30/26 11:05 AM

577 posts

This is something that you will realise when you are there, but just to point it out ahead of time - the elevation difference between Mürren and the restaurant/viewing platform at the top of the Schilthorn is about 4,370 feet. Your plan of hiking down is quite ambitious and would require you to bring along some good footwear designed for hiking, and I would suggest using poles as well.

There are lots of other hikes in the area that you can check out as part of your planning process, if this route isn't exactly what you envisioned your one hike to be like.

Here is the Mürren tourism website list of hikes:

https://muerren.swiss/en/summer/hikes.html

Posted by Nancy OP

Ijamsville, MD, USA

09/30/26 12:25 PM

4 posts

Thank you for the tip on hiking, we’ll definitely want to chose an easier hike and take the cable car back down.

And it sounds like heading to Lucerne is a better option. Any “must see” things there I should be aware of?

Posted by Sam

Green Bay

09/30/26 01:23 PM

23814 posts

Day 2: Boat ride to Vitznau, then the cogwheel train to the top of Mt Rigi. Hike down for a portion to Kaltbad, then cable car down to Weggis and take the return boat to Luzern. That is a solid half day and covered by the Swiss Travel Pass or the Saver Day Pass.

The Hotel des Alpes is a popular choice for lodging, along the river next to the Chapel Bridge and an easy walk from the train station. A free local transport pass within the city is included with your stay.

Posted by wanderweg

Nashville, TN

09/30/26 04:26 PM

1468 posts

Hopefully next September is better for a river cruise for you than this September has been. We did Basel to Amsterdam in early September on Viking and ended up on a bus with ship swap, seeing a lot of commercial shipping yards, being docked next to literal trash barges and finished feeling like the marketing for river cruises is a whole lot better than the actual experience. It was an expensive bummer in our experience. In the past we've stayed along the Rhine & Mosel rivers in little villages and done day cruises on the rivers, which was a way better experience. Hopefully if the water levels are better next summer you'll have a better experience than we did.

In regards to your itinerary questions - There is no need for you to spend the night in Basel before the cruise. The boat doesn't leave until late that first evening (Night 6 for you), so you don't have to worry about missing your boat and Basel is not a highlight I'd spend too much time on.

With 5 days, I'd do something like this....

Day 1 - Zurich > Murren - explore the village, relax

Day 2 - Schilthorn, Birg, easy walk Murren to Gimmelwald

Day 3 - Northface hike counterclockwise from Allmendhubel

Day 4 - Walk or e-bike the Lauterbrunnen Valley, visit Wengen

Day 5 - Murren > Luzern - explore old town

Day 6 - Luzern > Basel to get on ship (can't get into your room until afternoon anyway and nothing is going on until 6 pm cocktail hour, so there is no need to just sit around on the ship) - If you really want to see Basel, then head from Luzern to Basel in the morning (1 hour direct train), store your luggage at the boat and go out to explore for a few hours.