Hi everyone,
I am planning my trip for September and am having some difficulty with the Switzerland portion for some reason. I hope you could help me decide where to go :)))
I didn't purchase plane tickets yet. My plan is to fly into Milan on Sunday, September 13 and stay 3 nights ( hotel is booked and so is the ticket for "Last Supper"), then take a train to Varenna and ferry to Bellagio and stay in Bellagio 3 nights (hotel is booked). Then I will take a Bernina express route ( a local regular train) to St. Moritz where will stay 2 nights and then continue on to Chur and Zurich, arriving on September 21. This is where my difficulty starts, as to what to do next. There are 4 nights ( 3 full days) left in my vacation as I plan to fly out on September 25 to Boston. Should I fly out of Zurich? I would like to visit Luzern as a day trip, and probably Bern. I would imagine that I would have seen alpine vista from the Bernina express and a day in St. Moritz, however should I try to get to Murren for some light hiking?
Please feel free to critique and suggest different itinerary, all my hotels are refundable, the only thing I need to keep is the ticket for Last Supper in Milan.
Many thanks!
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
For sure include murren in the berner oberland at least 2 nights. It is even more beautiful than the bernina route. Luzern for 2-3 hours walking can be seen on your way to murren .
Lodging can be tight in lauterbrunnen valley Murren so decide and bookmsoon.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4853 posts
the 2 major airports in Switzerland are Zurich and Geneva, and you won't be near Geneva so I guess that settles that.
Lucerne is an easy/good day trip from Zurich or Bern (check out Rick's suggested walking tour), and Bern is also a good day trip (also check the tour there). You'll see some Alps from Lucerne, but if you want the Lauterbrunnen Valley/Murren experience you're going to have to go to Interlaken and transfer to the little clicky-clack train to Lauterbrunnen. There are plenty of video resources on the web these days, look at the Bernese Oberland and decide if you must or want to go there. It's quite beautiful. In fact, I did a daytrip to the top of the Schilthorn and back from Bern so that is doable if you don't want to stay in the B.O.
Posted by
OP
Boston, MA
138 posts
Thank you very much for your suggestions. I now think that I'll include Murren for 2 nights, then go to Zurich for the last night and fly from there.
Another question of what to pack.
Is there snow in September in Murren? Should I pack hiking boots ( don't own them) or my walking/running Nike sneakers will be fine with wool socks? I am not a hiker, as you can tell, but I've read that there are "easy trails" like Bloomental trail and some are paved? I love beautiful scenery and like taking my time walking slowly, in general I can do flat surface about 6-8 miles with rest no problem, incline or uneven terrain is something I am worried about because I will be alone and in case I fall and twist an ankle, there will be nobody around:))).
Posted by
Green Bay
21139 posts
Snow in Muerren in September would be pretty unusual. October maybe.