After a visit in Northern Europe, my husband and I will fly to ZRH in early May and depart 8 days later. This is our working itinerary, and I have marked my major concerns with a *
Nights 1 &2 - Zurich (near rail station. Can we buy passes & tickets this late?)*
Nights 3 & 4 - Pontresina for 2 nights (Bernina Express is a priority, with Pontresina as our hub.)
Night 5 - Need advice on route between Pontresina (or Tirano) and Wengen.* Or we may decide to be spontaneous here.
Nights 6 & 7 - Wengen (opening the season at our favorite hotel there)
Night 8 - ZRH airport because of early flight the next day
We have been to Switzerland before, but I find the online purchase of tickets confusing and even risky--if any plans change. We have used the TI in the Zurich train station before--for advice and purchase of tickets--but will May 4 or 5 be too late to reserve 2 single window seats for the Bernina panoramic, or the red train?*
Thanks ahead of time!
Posted by
Green Bay
23306 posts
Nights 1 &2: Use the ZVV app. https://www.zvv.ch/en/service/apps/zvv-app.html
Or simply buy tickets out of the vending machines at tram stops or rail stations Anytime.
Seat reservations on the Bernina Express may be in short supply for your travel date. Go on-line to see. Otherwise, just us the regular trains. Same tracks, same scenery, less crowded, no seat reservation fees.
https://www.rhb.ch/en/panoramic-journeys/bernina-express/
Trains are considered mass transit in Switzerland. 95% of people just board the train they want and sit down, buying tickets with the SBB app or ticket machines.
There are a few strategies to save money, like Saver Day Passes that need to be bought well in advance to get an advantageous price.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
1342 posts
What time does your flight arrive in to Zurich? I personally wouldn’t want to be staying in Zurich twice. Have you thought about doing both the Bernina & the Glacier Express? If so, you could do Chur 1 night > Pontresina 2 nights > Zermatt 2 nights > Wengen 2 nights > Zurich 1 night
Day 1 - Zurich Flughafen > Chur
Day 2 - Chur > Pontresina
Day 3 - Pontresina > Tirano RT
Day 4 - Pontresina > Zermatt (Glacier Express)
Day 5 - Zermatt
Day 6 - Zermatt > Wengen
Day 7 - Wengen
Day 8 - Wengen > Zurich
Day 9 - Fly out from Zurich
I personally don’t like having a bunch of 1-2 nights stays, but if Bernini & Wengen are non-negotiable you probably don’t have much of a choice. Or if your flight gets in to Zurich in the morning you could go to Pontresina that day for 3 nights.
You will benefit from some sort of pass for this trip. Likely the Swiss Travel Pass + reservations for the 2 scenic trains.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks to both of you for your helpful input! Our (Night 1) Air Baltic flight will arrive at 630 pm after a long day in Lithuania and a long layover in Riga; thus we planned a full play/rest day in Zurich.
However, if the schedule allows, perhaps we could make it to Chur or even Pontresina for Night 2--or more in Pontresina. Thanks for input about the Bernina Express tickets; I think we'll use the regional trains, but try for 1 st class for that segment. We enjoyed Zermatt and the Glacier Express about 5 years ago, and thus decided to try Bernina E on this trip, but with the helpful input, I'll consider both. Like you, we greatly prefer at least 2-3 "sleeps" in a place.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
1342 posts
Hmm, well if you've already done Zermatt/Glacier, then maybe pick somewhere you haven't been on the route from Pontresina to Wengen. Luzern? Bern? Thun? The Walensee (Unterterzen)? The way to get from Pontresina to Wengen without redoing the Glacier is going back up to Zurich, so you're doing a bit of backtracking.
On your arrival night, what about getting over to the Walensee for a relaxation day on a lake. Unterterzen is on the way to Pontresina and you can rent a nice lakefront apartment for some R&R while still making your way towards your destination. It's a little over 1 hour from the airport. Or you could use it as your stop over on the way to Wengen. Regardless, I just wouldn't want to use up a day in Zurich when you could spend it somewhere beautiful.
Maybe....Zurich 1 night > Pontresina 3 nights > Walensee (or Luzern/Bern/Thun) 1 night > Wengen 2 nights > Zurich 1 night
Day 1 - Zurich Flughafen > Zurich
Day 2 - Zurich > Pontresina
Day 3 - Pontresina
Day 4 - Pontresina > Tirano RT
Day 5 - Pontresina > Walensee (Unterterzen)
Day 6 - Unterterzen > Wengen
Day 7 - Wengen
Day 8 - Wengen > Zurich
Day 9 - Fly out from Zurich