Hello,
My husband and I will be arriving in Zurich from Munich in July. We plan to bungee jump in Interlaken and stay in Gimmelwald. We are flying out of Geneva. We are looking for suggestions on which cities to stay in. Is it better to stay one night in Zurich or Lucerne, before heading to Interlaken for bungee jumping on our way to Gimmelwald? Is it worth staying in Interlaken one night to be close to the adventure activites? We are thinking of staying two nights in Gimmelwald and then one night in Geneva before flying out. We are looking for any suggestions. Thank you!
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Interlaken is in a wide valley, between two lakes (hence the name). Gimmelwald is further into the mountains, up the side of a valley.
See the "map" here (red lines are railways): http://www.regionalpass-berneroberland.ch/assets/karte-und-partner/Regionalpass-Panoramakarte-2017.pdf
They are about 1 hour apart by regular train. There is no point in splitting your trip between Interlaken and Gimmelwald, stay the whole time in one or the other. There is equally no point in staying in Zürich or Luzern for the first night. Unless your flight arrives so late you miss the last train, go straight to your final destination.
I doubt your bungee jump is in Interlaken, it is the bottom of the valley, it must be somewhere nearby.
Equally do not stay in Geneva unless you flight out is so early you cannot get to the airport in time.
This sounds like a very short trip, where are you going before and after?
You can look up train times and prices on the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) site: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8421 posts
Dont underestimate the time it takes to get from one place to another. Distances on the map are deceiving. It may take you most of a day just to get to Gimmelwald from Luzern or Zurich, leaving you barely any time actually being there. Two nights anywhere equals one day of actual time.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
It takes exactly 2hr 55min from Lucerne to Gimmelwald. No, you can't look at a map for traveling time so use the official Swiss Transportation website: www.sbb.ch
Interlaken is just a town with an exceptionally good train transport hub of connections. Interlaken is not where you want to be as it's not in the alps and you can't ski or bungee jump in Interlaken. Therefore it's best used as a place to change trains to head up into the Lauterbrunnen Valley and higher into the alpine villages including Gimmelwald.