We are planning a trip to Switzerlandin July 2017, for 17 days. Starting in Zurich we go to Luzern, Bern, Lausanne and Interlarken. From Interlarken we would like to go to St. Moritz and upto St. Gallen via Chur. We have 3 1/2 days available to us. How can we best accomplish this. We have to return to Zurich for our return flight home.
We will be buying a 50% off card and paying for trains as we go along. We like to slow pace all our sight seeing and enjoy the day.
Look Forward to some help, Cheers
Namli
Posted by
Chicago
8166 posts
you have done your research and spelled out where you what to go.
try with the group to go with what you have and subtract what does not seem realistic to you as you make reservations.
Posted by
OP
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
4 posts
Thank you for your reply, will take that in to consideration.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11778 posts
I do not understand. Do you have 3 1/2 days in Interlaken from which you want to go to St, Gallen and St. Moritz?
First, you should stay in Lauterbrunnen or Murren, not Interlaken. Secondly, you should spend those 3 1/2 days in that fabulous Lauterbrunnen Valley, enjoying the mountains there, from the Schilthorn to the Jungfraujoch.
How much time are you devoting to your other stops, i.e., how many nights in Zurich, how many nights in Bern, etc? You might benefit from this planning article written by Mr. Steves. If you can detail for us the number of nights you plan in each place and what you like to do (hiking, musuems, shopping) we can be more specific.
Posted by
OP
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
4 posts
Hello Laurel,
Thank you for your reply. I have tried to follow Mr. Steves' recommendations for the 14 day tour, making a few adjustments. I have to mention that my husband has a pace maker and unable to travel to very high elevations. His limit is about 6ooo feet. We are 78 and 70 years old and like to travel at a slower pace. That is the reason we have skipped Jungfrau and the area. Your recommendation to stay in Murren instead of Interlarken is welcome.
A brief itinerary of our plans:
1. We arrive Zurich on Jul 24th afternoon and will stay until the morning of 27th. We are committed to this.
2. Morning of July 27th we travel to Luzern and have planned to stay until July 29th (will cover Mt. Pilatus)and then head to Bern
3. July 29th to July 31st stay in Bern, and on July 31st leave for Lausanne.
4. July 31st to Aug. 3rd stay in Lausanne or Montreaux, and cover Geneva (day trip), Vevey, Broc, Gruyeres.
5. Aug. 4th head to Interlaken/Murren either overnight or 2 nights. Here we are not sure how much there is to see. As we will not be able to go up any of the mountains we need a plan/suggestion.
From Interlaken we want to head to either St. Mortiz or Tirano and return to Zurch by evening of Aug. 9th as we fly out the next day. We had heard that the scenic route from Tirano to Chur or St. Gallen is beautiful
We are still reveiwing the book by Mr. Steves' but if you have some recommendations we would be happy to hear from you.
Sincerely, thank you foryour help.
Naeema
Posted by
1 posts
Swiss national day is 1 August so consider where you want to be for it.
May not fit into your plans but on villages overlooking Lake Thun you can see the fireworks and the lake cruise ships parading over the lake.
Also consider a visit to Blausee:
http://www.blausee.ch/
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11778 posts
Mürren is a very cute village at an elevation of 5374 feet above sea level. From Mürren you can view the Jungfrau, Mönch, and Eiger, three magnificent mountains. You can ride the train between Mürren and Grutschalp as well as the gondolas down to the valley where you can explore the waterfalls if you like. I would suggest you spend 3 nights here and if you are so moved to take a cruise on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz, that might be nice for one of the two full days you would be there. It is very easy to get around the Lauterbrunnen Valley and between Mürren & Interlaken, but Mürren is so much more atmospheric.
Then you could go to Lugano - 5 hours by train from Interlaken - and spend a night. From there you have a choice of the Bernina Express or the regular train to Chur. From Chur, you should be able to make St. Gallen the same day, but check schedules carefully. Zurich is only an hour from St. Gallen for your final leg.