Our itinerary - any feedback welcome

Hi! Thank you for sharing. Here's my feedback:

• Too much time in Zürich. Actually, you could skip Zürich altogether, in my opinion. It is a very pleasant city, but not worth more than a day in my opinion, and there are better places where to spend a day in Switzerland.

• You could add one of the Zürich nights to Lucerne, around which there is plenty to see and do.

• Interlaken is not the most scenic base for the Berner Oberland. I would pick Wengen, Mürren, Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, because they are in the mountains instead of at the foot of the mountains. And another one of the Zürich nights (bringing it 5 nights total) would be well-spent there, there is so much to see and do.

• Not staying in Interlaken would make a day trip to Kandersteg difficult, but to me that's really an optional day trip. Oeschinesee is beautiful if it's on your way (e.g. if you are travelling between Spiez and Zermatt), but perhaps not worth 2 hours of travel each way.

• I would spend a third night in Montreux and just one night in Geneva. A second full day in Montreux allows for a day trip to the Caillier chocolate factory in Broc, which the 11 year old could LOVE. Nearby Gruyères is cute too, and can be combined.

I second Balso's recommendations with one suggestion. Geneva is not worth your time for a first-time visitor to Switzerland.* Instead, consider that Montreux has a direct rail connection to the Geneva airport which takes 70-90 minutes and has frequent departures. Depending on your flight's departure time, you could spend your last few nights in Montreux. This would free-up two nights in your itinerary.

• I'd love to live in Geneva but I wouldn't want to vacation there.

Just FYI July is a big rain month in the alps, if you have not bought your tickets you may want to move your trip to early September or August. I wish somebody and let me know, a motorcycle trip in the rain sucks. As others have said, skip Zurich, good place to fly in and out of but not worth a "visit". I'm guessing an 11 year old would love animals: lots of goats, cows, and cats in Murren. Easy hikes there too. If you make it to Murren ask the gondola driver to drop you off at tower 5 and walk down to Murren. RS other pick of Appenzell is wonderful, luge rides, easy hikes, cows & goats with bells. If you go to Appenzell eat at Guest House Eggli, just tons of different animals and a view of the alps that is stunning. Will you have a car? There are many wonderful mountain passes that you could travel with a car. Unless you love cities I do not understand staying in a larger town/city? Enjoy your trip J

While May-July is indeed wetter than Aug-Oct, I do not feel that the difference between July and August/September is statistically significant enough. You just have to keep in mind that 1 out of 3 days is wet in Switzerland.

Another “ditto” for Balso’s suggestions ( no surprise there).

But if you really want to see Oeschinensee, I suggest you break your journey between your Berner Oberland village and MOntreux with an overnight in the mountain hotel by the lake. It is well worth the trouble. You can stow your luggage in a locker at the train station and ride the gondola up with just what you need for the night. Use the “overnight” button on this website to get to the booking area for Berghotel Oeschinensee, whichI recommend over the Arva hotel next door.

https://www.oeschinensee.ch/en/sommer/

I believe they have triple rooms, but f not, perhaps your daughter can share a room with her grandmother? We really like the rooms facing lake—-the

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lucerne-62eb4d28-60ab-4837-b4b4-91a2486eb732

The above is our Trip Report from Sept, 2021. Hopefully there are some applicable helpful suggestions. Please note that Swiss cities in the summer can reach 80 degrees; I had only my mountain layers, so I was a bit warm.

I agree with the above- more days in Lucerne, none in Geneva, 4-5 night in the B.O., sleeping in Wengen or Murren. Have a great trip in this beautiful country; I would visit every year if I could!

Safe travels!

Well, you'll see that experiences differ... here are my quick thoughts

• cut one day from Zurich and stay in Lucerne an extra day
• instead of Interlaken, stay in Grindelwald, Wengen or Murren if budget allows. Much of what you want to see is closer to those towns, and even if you want to see some of the lake sights by Interlaken, it is not difficult to get back to the mountain villages. Check the sbb app for train times and you will see they are frequent and efficient.
• Cut a Geneva day and stay an extra day in Montreux
• No Geneva stay at all unless you need it for your airport departure the next day (you lose so much time and energy changing accommodations so unless you have some special attraction you want to see in Geneva I would stay longer in your other destinations)
• summer rain can vary widely year to year. One year July is very rainy, another year relatively dry. On our last trip ( late June/early July 2019) we had only 1 partial day of rain in 3 weeks and instead hit a news-making European heat wave and sunshine day after day. The key is layers and try to keep your schedule flexible in each location to see what the weather holds. most attractions in Switzerland don't require advance reservations so you can decide each day what makes the most sense. Have some back-up plans for each day - one for sun, one for rain.
• Stick to a plan to travel by public transportation not a car.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, much appreciated.

I would agree with Balso’s suggestions, especially about staying in one of the villages in Berner Oberland. Being able to eat dinner while looking at the mountains, then strolling through a village enjoying the view instead of taking the train back to Interlaken adds to the enjoyment.

It helps if you can be flexible with your schedule while in the region and have some rainy day alternative activities as back-ups. See this thread for suggestions:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/rainy-day-cloudy-day-things-to-do-in-jungfrau-region

Without knowing you and your daughter’s interests, it is difficult to suggest activities, but there are plenty of scenic walks and short hikes in the Berner Oberland region, including walking the road from Murren to Gimmelwald; you can hike back or take the cable car. You can take the bus up the valley from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg and then walk back (there is a nice trail).

There is a children’s playground at Winteregg, which is the train stop between Grutschalp and Murren. You can also hike from there in either direction.

There is another children’s playground and flower park at Allmendhubel, just up from Murren, and several nice hikes begin there.

https://swissfamilyfun.com/allmendhubel-flower-park-playground/

All the best,

Raymond