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Parents in 80s need help with post-river cruise itinerary.

My parents are in their early 80s and taking their first river cruise in late April-early May. They end in Basel, and unfortunately this cruise date doesn't offer a post-cruise land package.

They will have 4 nights before they fly home from Zurich. Their main goal is to see the mountains. They really don't have much interest in seeing cities or museums or other sights most people would want to see. Just mountains. They are fairly active, but can't lift heavy things like their luggage and need to take things at a pretty slow pace since my dad has some health issues and needs to rest sometimes. I'm going to encourage them to bring hiking sticks, but he does need to be careful on slippery or ueven surfaces.

I am not even sure what I am looking for. Is there a travel agent that could put an itinerary together for them that would include all of their luggage transfers? They also aren't used to navigating public transit so might need some help there.

It seems from the Rick Steeves travel page that Lauterbrunnen might be a good place for them to go. Should they stay there? They are also hoping not to switch hotels too many times. They would really like a place where if it is a day they are tired and don't want to do much they can just sit and look at the mountains, or they can hike around if it is a day when they have more energy.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Normally I would spend a lot of time doing my own research, but my mom just sprung this on me that their travel agent really can't help with the post-cruise part of the trip and she is hoping to book her hotels soon.

Thank you!

Posted by
6556 posts

Lauterbrunnen in the Berner Oberland is in a lovely valley. Murren would be another option in Berner Oberland, and it is halfway up the mountains and fairly easy to get to.

Luzern would be another choice. It is on a big lake and surrounded by mountains. They could do an excursion to the top of a mountain. There is Titlus, Pilatus, and Rigi. To get to Rigi, we took a lovely boat ride to a cog wheel train. Luzern is a stunning town, and quite flat. There are beautiful churches to visit and lots of places to sit down and admire views and people watch.

Basel is beautiful. It is situated on a river. It is a colorful town, particularly the muenster and the square. No mountains are visible, however.

The train system in Switzerland is efficient and quite easy to use. They could just go to the station and purchase the tickets. I'm not sure a Swiss Travel Pass would make sense, but it'd be something to look at and I know people on the forum will advise. My recollection from the forum is that there is the possibility to have baggage handled??

Could they travel light? With a carry on size bag? That would help them a lot. I would suggest one of the three options, Basel, Luzern or the Berner Oberland.

I do not think you need a travel agent, people on the forum will help. Pick a city and then folks can recommend a hotel.

Posted by
618 posts

I’d have them go to Wengen and stay put. Plenty to enjoy in that region for the whole time. Stay at a hotel close to the train station with a south facing balcony so they can enjoy the mountain views if they are tired. Lauterbrunnen doesn’t have great Mountain Views, as it’s a deep valley.

If their flight is earlier on departure day, maybe move to Luzern for the last night. Or an airport hotel if it’s really early.

That being said, they’ll need to be able to transport their own luggage on trains in Switzerland. They can get help once they are in Wengen with getting from the train station to the hotel, but there is no help on/off trains, which they’d have to do a few times coming from Basel. If that’s an issue then they’d probably need to stay in Grindelwald and hire an expensive car service to drive them from Basel to Grindelwald and then back to the airport. Or drive them to Lauterbrunnen and then they’d need to be able to get with luggage onto one train up to Wengen (car free village).

Posted by
6556 posts

I'd be nervous about staying in Berner Oberland the night before a flight. Its 2.5 to 3 hours via train to the airport with changes. Luzern is a bit over an hour, With the reliability of Swiss trains, I'd be comfortable staying in Luzern the night before. I don't think I'd do Berner Oberland the night before.

Posted by
5472 posts

Lucerne makes for an excellent post cruise stay for someone who might be a bit frail. The train to Lucerne is less than 1 1/2 hours. And a bit less from Lucerne to Zurich. Have a look at the Man in Seat 61 website to see what he has to say about the train stations and trains there. If they can get their bags on and off the trains by themselves, they will save a boat load of money compared to a car service, which would likely be anywhere from €300-€400 per trip.

Posted by
9015 posts

I can understand that it's the luggage that's the issue. Trains don't have porters anymore. And if they dont have train experience it can be intimidating. They can take a taxi from the dock in Basel to Luzern. Ask the driver what it will cost. We took a taxi to the train station and the driver offered to take us all the way at a competitive price. Probably the same for getting to the Zurich airport. Taxis wont be cheap but it helps solve their problem.

PS when we did our cruise, ending in Basel, the crew on the boat asked ahead of time, who needed transportation (that is, people who weren't going on their shuttle to the airport). They had taxis waiting at the dock for the many people who were going onward, waiting by name.

Posted by
151 posts

Also look at daytrip.com, which might provide some customization options beyond what a taxi would offer. Yes, expensive, but under these circumstances, worth it.