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Should we skip Zermatt?

Hello,

My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland for 9 nights in October. We are trying to finalize our itinerary. We are arriving in Geneva then going straight to Montreux for two nights, we are going to take a day trip to Gruyere on the first full day. Then going to Murren for 3 nights. We are trying to decide if we should then go to Zermatt for two nights or go straight to Lucerne.

If we went to Zermatt we would stay 2 nights and then go to Lucerne for a night and Zurich for a night. Will not be spending a lot of time in Zurich, just there for our flight out the next day. If we skipped Zermatt we would spend more time in Lucerene and take a trip to Bern and/or Appenzell.

My concerns with Zermatt is that maybe it wouldn't be worth the time if the weather isn't great. I also don't want our trip to be too rushed and might be nice to have more time to slowly explore Lucerne.

Wanted to see what everyone thought: is Zermatt a not to miss place or if we are already spending three nights in Murren and surrounding areas if it would make more sense to spend more time in Lucerne

Thank you!

Posted by
25 posts

Hi! My husband and I are just back from our 5th time to Switzerland, so I'll give you my thoughts on one part that you mentioned. If you're only going to spend a night in Zurich to catch your flight, I would stay in Lucerne that night before. There are trains every hour from Lucerne that go straight to Zurich Flughafen (airport) and take just over one hour to get there. This was suggested to us by the hotel on our first trip, and it has worked well for us every time that we've been in Lucerne the night before our flight home. Plus it saves you another "pack up and move" experience. Swiss trains are the best-so punctual and dependable! Just my two cents worth. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Lynette

Posted by
25 posts

Hi again Marcie-I forgot to add that we adore Lucerne! We are such regulars there now that the hotel managers know us by name and contact us during the year to see how we are! Now that's service. You will love it too I hope!

We have a trip planned to the Christmas markets in Germany and Prague this December, and my husband says he can't believe we're managing a trip that doesn't include Switzerland, and especially Lucerne!

Enjoy your planning!

Posted by
2 posts

Hi Lynette,

Thank you so much for the advise! We were actually wondering if we could just take the train right to the airport.

We were in Prague for New Years and the Christmas Market's a few years ago, it was amazing! I would recommend trying the restaurant U Dvou Sester, it is really close to the Astronomical Clock and wonderful. Have a great time and thanks for the trip advise.

Posted by
25 posts

Hi Marcie!

Thanks so much for the restaurant recommendation! I'm beginning my research on that part of the trip now. The "hinky" we have in our plans is that our 27 year old daughter is tagging along on this trip and she is vegan. It will make meal time a little tricky, but she knows that there will be times that her Dad and I will want to eat non-vegan.

When you look at the SBB schedule, look for the trains to Zurich Flughafen with 0 stops/changes. I hope this works out for you!

Lynette

Posted by
17427 posts

Zermatt is a good destination for hikers who have 3-4 days to spend there. But you do not really have time in your itinerary. I would skip the night in Zurich as well, since you can easily reach the Zurich airport from Luzern. Add a night each to Muerren and Luzern, and you still have a night to play with.