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Mt Pilatus or Bernese Oberland

Posted by on

We are going to Italy for 2 weeks but are flying in to Zurich at the beginning of the trip and staying in Lucerne for 2 days before making our way down. Our travel agent originally told us she was booking us on an Alps Full Day Tour on September 2, going through the Bernese Oberland, seeing Aare Gorge, Grimsel Pass, Dead Lake, Rhone Glacier, and a visit to the Ice Tunnel in the Ice Room. Our final itinerary moved our entire trip up one day, so the day in Lucerne for tour became September 1, and the tour she booked is a half day trip up to Mt. Pilatus on an aerial cable car and a boat ride on Lake Lucerne.

I feel like the better option would be the original tour to Bernese Oberland and I'm afraid I will regret it if I don't go. I'm not likely to go back to Switzerland, and I want to make sure I get the most out of our limited time there.

What would you recommend?

Posted by
1450 posts

Mt Pilatus is a fine excursion but the Bernese Oberland is exceptional. However, the "Alps Full Day Tour" you describe seems like a bus tour, yes? Personally, I'd rather spend a half day at Pilatus than sit in a bus that doesn't even get to the best part of the Bernese Oberland, the Lauterbrunnen valley. If I had only 2 days in Switzerland, I'd spend both days there.

Posted by
7209 posts

That's a no-brainer. Pilatus is NOTHING compared to the Bernese Oberland.

Posted by
93 posts

Another vote for BO! We were just in the area with Murren as our home base, and 5 days was not enough. The views are simply breathtaking!!

Posted by
318 posts

I agree that Mürren is amazing, but it doesn't sound like this full day tour is going to go anywhere near Mürren or include any high mountain lifts.

Posted by
7209 posts

I dear - didn’t realize a travel agent had booked tours for you to these places. That really limits your flexibility to go wherever you want for as long as you want. You know, you don’t need tours. You just walk to the ticket counter and tell them you want to go to Pilatus and they’ll sell you the correct ticket. It’s all just a part of the Swiss public transport system.

Posted by
32351 posts

pam,

Another definite vote for the Berner Oberland! I'm not clear if the trip to either Pilatus or the Berner Oberland is a day trip from Lucerne?

If you're confident on getting around on your own, you can easily travel to the Berner Oberland (Lauterbrunnen Valley) on your own. With some additional information, I'm sure the group here can suggest some possible Itineraries.

Posted by
28 posts

We did the BO a few years ago and used trains and buses which were all on the Swiss transportation system. We literally got off a train onto the next train or bus within minutes and had a great day.

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