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Need Help on City Selection & Train Pass

Posted by on

I have our trip to Switzerland in early October sketched out, with 4 adults for 14 nights. We want to take the train everywhere possible, and plan to "day trip" to smaller towns.

We are definitely planning to take the expensive trains/funiculars to get to higher elevations like Jungfraujoch, Matterhorn, etc. So wanted to get help on 2 things:

OVERALL AGENDA

How does it look? Any "hidden gems" we should consider?

We value nature, food, and history the most. Museums & shopping are lower down on our list.

  • Zurich Arrive 0 Nights
  • Lucerne 2 Nights
  • Lauterbrunnen 3 Nights
  • Zermatt 3 Nights
  • Montreaux 1 Night
  • Bern 2 Nights
  • Zurich 3 Nights (maybe a side trip to Bavaria)

TRAIN PASS

I am thinking just getting the Swiss Pass 15 Day Consecutive 2nd Class, since I think it has a 50% discount on some of the high elevation trains and free Schilthorn, among others. And have heard the 1st class probably isn't worth it ($500 vs $800).

Posted by
6888 posts

Good outline, here are my comments:
Bavaria is far from Zürich, difficult for a side trip. And I would not spend more than one night in Zürich, it is interesting but not that interesting. Depending on flight time, you could even head straight to Zürich airport from Bern.
Conversely, I would spend 4 nights rather than 3 in Lauterbrunnen, and 2-3 nights rather than 1 in or around Montreux (I prefer Vevey to Montreux) to better explore the vineyards, the lakes, Chillon castle.

Posted by
11315 posts

I agree with Balso overall. I would skip Bern as an overnight stop and add those nights to Lauterbrunnen making that a 5 night stay. Seriously worth it. Rent an apartment and save a couple of francs by cooking. You can day trip to Bern if you have a rainy day while staying in Lauterbrunnen.

Add 2 of the Zurich nights to the Lake Geneva area and stay those three nights in Vevey. There are some nice mountain train excursions from Vevey and Montreux. Forget Bavaria: CH is better.

As to passes, the 15 day pass should be fine. You can fully assess the various options by doing a spreadsheet of planned excursions and look at the HalfFareCard in conjunction with regional passes like the Berner Oberland Regional Pass, the Lake Geneva area pass, (info here) and maybe the Zermatt Peak Pass. Only way to know is to do the math but the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass is an easy option if you are not concerned with whether you will save some francs. Super convenient.

Posted by
3 posts

I appreciate all the input. I have modified the schedule accordingly, and will stick with the Swiss Travel Pass.

  • Zurich Arrive 0 Nights
  • Lucerne 2 Nights
  • Lauterbrunnen 5 Nights
  • Zermatt 3 Nights
  • Vevey 3 Nights
  • Zurich 1 Night

Thanks,

Chris

Posted by
8439 posts

chris, depending on when your flight arrives, and when your departing flight leaves, you might be able to put Luzern at the end of the trip, and head for the Zurich Airport directly from there. Its only 1+ hours with some direct trains. That would give an extra day to play with.

Posted by
3 posts

That is a good suggestion. Our flight into Zurich arrives at 5:30pm & departs at 1:00pm.

Everyone is suggesting that we don't spend even one night in Zurich, but I have 3 reasons:

  1. We would like to do some shopping the last day before we leave, rather than lug too many things around.
  2. Family does want to do a Lindt tour, though maybe there are tours elsewhere.
  3. I want to be a taxi ride away from the airport on the day of departure (call it paranoia from almost missing a flight out of Rome in a similar situation)

But I may still put Lucerne at the end, thank you for that idea.

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