Lauterbrunnen Valley & Zermatt in Early June?

Where are you going after Zermatt? Assume you will drive from Lauterbrunnen to Taesch and take the train from there to Zermatt. Is this a rental car or a personal car. Either way, you will need to purchase a Swiss Motorway Vignette for 40 CHF.

We will know when the Panorama hike is open when it is open. That path always suffers a lot in winter, and often whole sections of it need to be rebuild. And it is only after the snow has melted that they can start on that. But there are lots of other paths in the area.

You an always buy individual sections. So for example you can tell the ticket clerk in Lauterbrunnen that you want to go up to Männlichen, and return from Kleine Scheidegg, and you will get the correct ticket.

There is indeed construction going on at the Schilthorn, and it is quite fascinating to watch. It just means that you have to take temporary detours etc... in to account.

The Swiss Travel Pass is of no use for you. It covers public transport, which you do not plan to use (as you have a car) and does not cover the mountain railways and cable cars that you do plan to use. What could be useful is a local pass, like the Jungfrau Pass.

Swiss public transit is priced as such that occasional use is expensive, and regular use is cheap. This to encourage people to not get a car at all. Public transit here competes with owning a car, not just operating one.

@Sam - Thank you! Yes, we will be parking in Tasch and taking the shuttle train into Zermatt. Zermatt is our last main attraction on our itinerary, then we're heading back to Luxembourg and might stop in Bern or Basel if we need to spend another night and/or break up the 7 hour drive. My sister lives in Luxembourg and we know about the Swiss Motorway Vignette. We are also thinking about possibly flying in instead so we do not need to worry about that, tolls, or parking.

@WengenK - Thank you! Sounds like we'll just have to keep a close eye on the Panorama trail and play it by ear. We are more than likely going to park our car and use public transport once we get into Lauterbrunnen, since the places we want to go either do not allow cars or a train/bus/cable car is the only way to go. We'll definitely look into the Jungfrau pass and other local passes!

Via Michelin gives a route with no French tolls (on secondary roads) in 6 hours to Lauterbrunnen. Still need a Swiss vignette. Parking fees at Lauterbrunnen and Taesch. And more if you want to take the Loetschberg train ferry to save time and fuel.

You could also take a train in same amount of time with TGV to Mullhouse then to Basel then Swiss IC trains to Bern and Interlaken Ost, then the local train to Lauterbrunnen.

Luxair has nonstops to Geneva. But when consider arriving at the airport 1 1/2 hours before departure, and then 3 1/2 hours to Lauterbrunnen by Swiss trains, it is the same amount of time.

IMHO you are no giving yourself enough time in lauterbrunne. You are counting on having great weather or at least no fog both days. I would eliminate Zermatt and add that day to Lauterbrunnen. The BO is spectacular on its own. I've been to Switzerland 3 times ,all to Lauterbrunnen and never got to Zermatt. You are also counting on the one day in Zermatt being good smd not fogged in. I'll let others who have seen both weight in

Rebecca,
I once went on a 7-day trip to Switzerland in June (2011) It was so cloudy that we only saw the mountain peaks on our very last day. We were so disappointed! I do hope you have the best weather in June this year, as my daughter and her friends will be traveling to Switzerland during that time also. They are staying in Luzern and only going into the Mountains if the weather permits.

I made it to Zermatt for three days in July of 2017. We saw the Matterhorn for 1/2 day. That was it. We also did the Gornegrat railway and hiked down to the next station. Be warned, it's slippery shale most of the way, and halfway down the clouds rolled in. We were ill-prepared for sure. Just be careful if you decide to do it. It's a little longer than you think and the weather can change very quickly.

Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg is a great hike but again your trip is in early June and depending on weather conditions it may not be fully open. As for the top of Europe, it is very very expensive. Check with the TI office for tickets the day before when you have a good idea about weather conditions. There is no point in going up in the clouds. I personally would not go up there again. It was a little too commercialized for my liking and the price is just crazy.

I don't think you have the days to go all the way to Zermatt and back. I would just stay in the Lauterbrunnen Valley if you only have three total days.

Thanks everyone for the insight! We are thinking we'll push our trip into mid June (we really want to beat the crazy peak tourist rush), extend our trip in Lauterbrunnen another 1-2 days, and keep Zermatt as an option for our last day only if the weather is predicted to be good.

Does anyone have any hotel recommendations in Lauterbrunnen? We'll be sharing a room, so it would need to be a double with a bathroom, parking, and breakfast included would be a plus. We'd rather be in a more modern hotel vs. traditional chalet-type that might not have private bathrooms.

Also, how are the Airbnb's? I've been hearing not great reviews from guests in the US lately (hosts requesting guests to do a laundry list of chores before checkout, charging crazy extra fees, and canceling last minute on guests, also difficultly getting refunds for legit reasons, etc.). Is it the same internationally?

Lauterbrunnen has high demand and limited availability as far as AirBnB's go, so hosts can get away with a lot.