Swiss itinerary help!

I went to Switzerland last month. You need to say when you are planning to go instead saying you got a cheap flight as the weather plays a factor in whether or not you will enjoy it.

My bad

This is for early September around 4th - 5th September onwards

ok you are in luck. I have not been to Basel and never here about people spending a lot of time there. It is a transportation hub cruises, airport, big train station. Though from what I've heard there are great art museums there beautiful old town etc.. (Chris from Basel a contributor on the forum will probably chime in with some advice here). Most will say Lauterbrunnen, Murren, or Gimmelwald instead of Interlaken as towns to stay in so you can do all kinds of hikes and/or mountain excursion. (i stayed in Lauterbrunnen at the Hotel Steinbock and last trip did the Shilthorn which gives views of the Jungfrau Moloch Eiger). You could do a day trip to Bern from there. Luzern is worth a stay 2-3 nights after that. Zurich you can skip and just fly back to Amsterdam from there. Not sure Frankfurt is worth a stop not unless you are going to explore Bavaria on the way there. Frankfurt is more of a business town big transportation hub red light district. It is ok.

Oh there are two passes Swiss Half Price or Swiss Travel pass. You can read details of the benefits here:
http://www.swisstravelsystem.co.uk/?affiliateid=71&system=GB&affiliateid=71

I did not buy a pass because I bought all train tickets at Super Fare discount price. These are limited and go on sale a month in advance. These are non-refundable and only good for the time you pick to travel.

Ok so Basel I don't really care about spending a night in but that is where we will land but I guess we could just go on to Gstaad directly after landing in Basel?
then from Gstaad to lauterbrunnen/Interlaken
Then from there to lucerne and if time allows then maybe a night in Zurich and as for Frankfurt actually yes I am thinking of skipping it and going straight to Amsterdam from Zurich!

Thanks for the input!

Also what are the highly recommended activities in Jungfrau and Grindelwaald

Walking and hiking the valleys taking in the scenery stopping to eat here there or taking mountain excursions. The Jungfrau is the highest 16,000 ft. This will require a little more research to pinpoint what you are interested in. It is a get away from it all. No cars.

Jungfraujoch, where the train takes you, is 11,371. The peak is higher, but only climbers get there.

What is your interest in Gstaad? We have been there for a tennis tournament, and may be able to help with lodging suggestions if you do not want to break the bank.

Not sure Frankfurt is worth a stop not unless you are going to explore Bavaria on the way there. - Frankfurt is some way from Bavaria!

Basel is a really nice city (much nicer than Zurich) but given the cost of the travel, hotels and food in Switzerland the saving on the flight isn't a big deal. When you clear passport and baggage claim make sure you leave the airport terminal through the door marked Switzerland or you will be in France. Whereever you are going for the first night, buy a ticket at the airport exit direct to the place before getting on the bus. Unless you have a Swiss Pass, in which case don't even buy a ticket for the bus because it is covered.

To get back to London by train (not a mad idea, I'm doing it in October) you ought to aim for Brussels and then get a Eurostar. Theoretically you can do it in one day, especially from Basel. Leave at 7:13, change Cologne and Brussels in London at 16:05. But you don't have to rush. Leave later, have a night in Frankfurt or Cologne or any place in between and a night in Brussels.

Hey

No specific interest in gstaad it just looked like a nice little town so wanted check it out.
Can it be covered as a day trip instead? Or should I just skip it?

For lots of info about Basel, see the official tourist info site: https://www.basel.com/en

If you want to go from Switzerland to London by train, your route (Lucern- Zurich- Frankfurt- Amsterdam- London) does not make sense, that is way to looong, unless you actually want to stop off in Frankfurt and Amsterdam. The quickest route is Luzern - Basel - Paris - London, that is the route I always take. the only catch is you have to cross Paris from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Norrd by métro (actually RER line D).

For example:

08:54 depart Lucerne, 09:55 arrive Basel SBB
10:34 depart Basel SBB, 13:37 arrive Paris Lyon
16:13 depart Paris Nord. 17:39 arrive London St. Pancras

If you choose this, 4th September is only a few weeks away, the cheap tickets will be mostly sold. Book your tickets ASAP on: https://loco2.com/

To aid in your planning, here is a map of the Swiss rail network: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/pdf/freizeit-ferien/ferien-kurztrips-schweiz/internationale-gaeste/uebersichtskarte_synoptic_map_2017_low.pdf
All rail lines in Switzerland (all the red lines on the map) have at least one train per hour.

"get back to London by train (not a mad idea, I'm doing it in October) you ought to aim for Brussels and then get a Eurostar. Theoretically you can do it in one day, especially from Basel. Leave at 7:13, change Cologne and Brussels in London at 16:05. But you don't have to rush. Leave later, have a night in Frankfurt or Cologne or any place in between and a night in Brussels"

This sounds doable! I'll look into this

Hi Chris

Basically I didn't want to go back via Paris because I've already been there so I was trying to go a different route for example via Amsterdam as I would spend a night or two there as it's a place I haven't seen!

What's a good place to break journey midway from Zurich to Amsterdam?
Or should I just fly directly to Amsterdam from Zurich?

Hi guys I sorted my itinerary and everything out just one last thing that I needed to know was for my train travels within switzerland should I book ahead of time or the price is same if I even get the tickets same day?

As I mentioned earlier you can get SuperSaverFares on train travel 30 days in advance.
For example I paid half price 19CHF versus 38CHF Zurich to Luzern and my tickets Luzern to Interlaken to Bern to Lausaunne were similarly discounted.

Or you can either buy the Swiss Half Fare Card which costs 120CHF (128 USD) in advance and will get you 50% off regular fares and some other mountain excursions or the Swiss Travel Pass which start at 216CHF and gives you unlimited train travel for 3 days 4 days or 8 days.
You have to read the benefits of each
https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/half-fare-travelcard.html

https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html

You should add up how much your planned train travel would cost if you do not have a pass including if you intend to take a mountain excursion, in order to see how much you would save if you buy either pass.

Trains in Switzerland are always the same price, unless you want to try for Supersaver Tickets, in which case you are locked into a specific train and must purchase on-line in advance. But you can save up to 50%. Trains are unreserved, and normally you just buy a ticket and get on and go. One thing that could save some money is if you buy a Half Fare Card for 120 CHF, but that only saves money if you have more than 240 CHF worth of train, boat, mountain lift tickets.

Why do you want to go to Zurich? That is an expensive business capital and not particularly interesting place to visit unless you have some specific interest. And, of course, if you have opted to fly to Amsterdam, that is another excuse. But if your last stop is Luzern, you can get to Zurich airport in 1 hour on a direct train from Luzern in the morning. Otherwise you have better rail connections to Amsterdam from Basel. If you head to Frankfurt from Zurich, 90% of the trains will go through Basel anyway. Basel is also an hour from Luzern on frequent trains.

Edit- The tourist 30-day Half Fare card is 120 CHF. The 185 CHF Half Fare Card previously mentioned is a year-long card and renews automatically unless you cancel in writing. Stick with the 30-day card, if it makes financial sense.

Hi

So I tried to do a rough calculation of all my train tickets and doesn't look like the half fare card would be making much of a difference but does the half fare card give discounts on activities like the ziprider and toboggan run in grindelwaald and the Activties in jungfrau? then it would be useful for me

Go to the site of whatever activity and see if it is covered by Half Price Card.
Or look at this list Probably not
http://www.myswissalps.com/swisshalffarecard

This one is not; but it is not expensive anyway
http://www.pfingstegg.com/index.php/en/itemlist

Alright thanks so much all of you for being so helpful!
I did a rough total of my transports and looks like it's a good idea to purchase the half fare card

One last thing I wanna know is what kind of weather to expect in early sept?
I've checked the weather for now which seems pretty good but my trip is obv a few weeks from now so wondering what it would be like then?

From what I checked online so far looks like the weather will be pretty good but rainy at times and also obviously colder at the mountains so packing just one warm jacket should suffice?

few people in Swizterland trust weather reports earlier than previous evening!