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Looking for some advice for my 9 day itinerary in Switzerland

Hello everyone,

Me and my wife will be arriving in Switzerland (Zurich) in the last week of July. We are doing 3 days in Copenhagen then flying to Zurich and taking a train to Grindelwald. We booked an Airbnb for 6 nights there. My wife will hopefully be in her first or second trimester by then so obviously we aren’t doing any extreme strenuous hikes or skiing etc. but we do want to see the major sights and some mild hikes. Tentatively we are planning to do a combination of the following: spend at least 3 days exploring the immediate area sights in Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and seeing some of the small towns such as Gimmelwald (hopefully there’s enough that my wife is able to actually do here for 3 days) then the last 3 consider some day trips. Possible locations are Lucerne, Stoos, Interlaken, Appenzal or Zermatt.

My main questions are

  1. Is my plan above reasonable for 6 days? Looking at Google maps train times between locations is about double that of driving. My place in grindewald has a parking spot so I’m thinking of just renting a car. I know generally people say to avoid it but if I can save half the travel time, it may be worth it for me

  2. I still have 3 days or so after my stay in Grindewald and I would like to see another region in Switzerland. Again me and my wife are not looking to do anything crazy especially since she will be pregnant hopefully. But we also don’t just want to sit in a chair all day and do nothing besides just eating and visiting cafes. What other location would you recommend we check out in Switzerland that isn’t terribly far away and we can stay for 3 days and have a good time with variety of activities? Tentatively I was looking at Ticino but I am open to other places. I would like to avoid staying in Lucerne as I’ve stayed there previously already though my wife hasn’t.

  3. I guess just generally speaking are there any obvious holes in my plan so far that I should be aware of?

Thank you very much in advance.

Posted by
14 posts

A lot of what you want to do depends on the weather. You do have enough to do around Grindelvald/Berner Oberland for 6 days - plus you could head to Lake Brienz or Thun if the weather is rainy.

Then I would spend the last 3 days in Lucerne or even go as far as Appenzel. Lucerne is lovely and then you can also head into the mountains there too via cable car to escape the heat.

Sure, renting a car has its appeal from an American car-based culture, but the roads tend to be much windier than a train car ride so they could make your wife carsick (especially in her first trimester).. just something to consider. I love being independent of a car in Switzerland as the public transit system is so good and you don’t need to worry about parking anywhere, which can be hard in the busy tourist time of year of July/August. Part of the joy of traveling by train is looking out the window at the landscape so you are not wasting time even if it “takes longer” to arrive at your destination.

Posted by
12 posts

Thank you. Looking at the weather towards end of July and early August in the Jungfrau region it seems to be cool. Between 65-55 F. Is heat really going to be much of an anticipated issue?

And thanks. I have to really see if the car will be worth it or not. Mainly I just want to save some time.

Can you recommend anything to do in Appenzal besides the obvious Matterhorn attractions?

And would you be able to recommend anything relaxation wise that may be suitable for a pregnant woman?

Posted by
813 posts

Day trips to Lucerne, Stoos, Appenzell or Zermatt from Grindelwald are not realistic and a car is a very bad idea. Places like Stoos are car free anyway and most of the best places on Switzerland you have to take public transportation to. Concentrate on the Jungfrau region for 6 days while you’re there and then go for 3 to the Luzern area to do Stoos, Rigi, etc. In Grindelwald you’ll find plenty to occupy you for 6 days (Look at a lot of my posts for suggestions).

The Matterhorn is not in Appenzell, it’s in Zermatt.

Weather in July/August is 50-90 depending on where you are. You have to pack and wear layers, as it could be in the 90s down on the lake and 50-60 up on top of a mountain.

Posted by
12 posts

Thank you. I tried looking through your post history but there’s no way to filter posts started by you compared to comments on posts. Can you please link me to a few of your posts? Thank you

Posted by
813 posts

1 day - Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Panorama Walk + Wengen

1 day - Schilthorn/Murren/Gimmelwald (optional walks - a nice easy one is Mürren to Gimmelwald)

1 day - Lauterbrunnen Valley (walk + Trummelbach Falls)

1 day - Grindelwald First + Grindelwald exploration

1 day - Lake Brienz (Giessbach, Brienz) OR Lake Thun (castles at Spiez, Oberhofen & Thun)

1 day - Schynige Platte

Additional options -Eiger Express, Jungfraujoch, Brienzer Rothorn, additional lake day, weather buffer for above activities

Plenty for 6 days with a mix of mountains, walks, villages, waterfalls, scenic train rides and optional things like castles, etc.

Posted by
12 posts

Thank you very much my friend. That’s very helpful. Random question I’m not sure you’ll be able to answer. But my wife may be pregnant during this time. Are any of all of these able to be done by her? Meaning not too strenuous