Switzerland Itinerary Feedback

I make this 15 nights. What luxury! Most of the posters on this site are trying to do Switzerland in 5 nights, you have time here.

Normally I would say skip Zürich, just head straight from the airport to Luzern (only 70 minutes), but with your 15 nights you can spare one.
What are your 3 teenage boys interested in, are they outdoors who would relish a good hike? I hope so, because then you will have plenty to do.
Luzern, you can fill 3 days:
(1) up one of the local mountains: Rigi, Pilatus or Titlis. I vote Titlis, it is the highest and has a small glacier at the top with activities: http://www.titlis.ch/en
(2) A boat on the lake.
(3) ½ day exploring Luzern, ½ day in the transport museum (Verkehrshaus): https://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en

Wengen: Depends on how many walks and cable cars up mountains you can consume.

I have a radical suggestion. After Luzern, head south to Lugano (Italian speaking). Make sure you take the old route, not the new, faster tunnel. 1-2 nights, take a trip on the lake. Then go to Mürren via Domodossola and Brig (enter "Via Brig" in the SBB route finder to force this route). Squeeze the time needed from Montreux and Bern.
If you really want to, there are post buses which go over the alpine passes (Nufenenpass, Grimselpass). Adds time, but is a spectacular ride: https://www.postauto.ch/en/excursion-tips/central-alps-passes-grimsel-nufenen-gotthard-susten-pass-route

For a rail map of Switzerland which should help in planning: http://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/sbb/de/pdf/freizeit-ferien/ferien-kurztrips-schweiz/internationale-gaeste/sts-geltungsbereich_en.pdf

Overall, I think you're on the right track and should have a great trip. Four nights in Lucerne would be too much for me. Spending a day on a boat would bore me, and more importantly, it would have bored my boys even more when they were teenagers. They were always happiest if they were outdoors walking or hiking.

It's hard to answer your question about Montreux without knowing what you plan to do there. The castle (Chateau de Chillon) is great and the boys should love it. That's half a day. If they are Olympics sports fans, they might enjoy the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. It's not that great, but I found it a nice change of pace. We took the train to Gruyeres which we enjoyed, but it may not thrill the boys.

I thought Bern was a really nice town, but I'm not sure how much interest it will hold for the boys. We took a day trip to Muerten (sp?), which is like a miniature Bern, but you can walk down to the lake and walk along the town walls, etc. There are also some Roman ruins nearby, which unfortunately, we did not have time for. I would say two things about Bern: 1) If you need to cut something to add days elsewhere (such as Chris' suggestion on Lugano), Bern would be the place to cut. 2) If you do decide to go to Bern, don't save it for last. It is going to be a let down after the splendors of the mountains.

Finally, I see you are going in early June. Hopefully others will comment on how good the hiking is that time of year. I've only been to Switzerland in September.

Thank you both so much! The only reason I am putting Zurich on the first and last night is because we are getting in late the first night and want to be in place the last night before we take off (thought I guess I should look to see how far Bern is from Zurich).

I thought a lot about the Lugano area. I love Italy and so do my kids... I originally modeled my itinerary after Rick's two week itinerary but it started to feel way to ambitious and frenetic and It seemed like I would be rushing us along all of the time (I am doing this as a single mom, so without a partner to help rally the troops so to speak, it would be hard). My kids are probably up for a good combo of city walking, hiking, museums, sightseeing, and some just plain chillin' out when we start to feel tired.

Four nights in Lucerne was designed to give us time to do Mt. Pilatus, maybe boat and tour around city, and mt Titlis? Maybe we only need three?

I love the idea of Lugano, but it seemed so far out of the way (that is why I hacked Lugano/Tirano and Zermatt off the itinerary (I have read that BO is way better than Zermatt, and I don't need to stay in a resort town to look at the Matterhorn necessarily).

How would I get down to Lugano, and back to some of these other sites-- What would make a good "loop" so to speak?

Re Montreaux, I was just thinking about local sites like the Chateau de Chilean, Gruyeres, Also (they like science) a day trip to Geneva to see CERN.

I added Bern in because I heard it was a cool city, and seemed to balance out the things we were checking out but would be willing to bail on it. It just seemed to help close the overall "loop" of my plan. But having not been there-- maybe there is another way to approach that part?

Re: Wengen. I have read there is so much to do around the BO and that this is a great home base, and totally unique. I know it is not as central as the valley floor, but just seemed to provide a unique Swiss experience, so I think this feels right to me.

Thoughts?

So Carrol... Reading your post again, you would suggest:

Zurich for the first night
3 nights in Lucerne
3 nights in Lugano (totally open to that, heard it is 2 hours from Lucerne))
5 nights in Wengen (can I get to Wengen easily from Lugano on a train? How long would this take? this is the x factor I need to read about)
3 nights in montreaux
Back to Zurich.

(Sheesh I better add up the number of nights to make sure I have all these nights!?)

Michelle, look up train times on the SBB (Swiss railways site): http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
Titlis is way better (in my opinion) than Pilatus,
Luzern to Lugano can be two hours, but that is via the new Gotthard tunnel, 250 Km/Hr in a tunnel. Better to take the extra time to do the old route.

How would I get down to Lugano, and back to some of these other sites-- What would make a good "loop" so to speak?
can I get to Wengen easily from Lugano on a train?

Look up on the SBB website, and on the map I posted last time. But quickest is not always best. That is why I suggested taking the time (which you have) to go "over the top" on your way from Lugano to Wengen. I cannot emphasise enough that the high alpine passes are something you must experience (and which many visitors to Switzerland do not have the time or opportunity to experience), and which I am sure your boys will remember. There are many videos on YouTube.
For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshHGe3Zczw (the bus does not go quite that fast).

Thank you Chris and Carol.

Based on your feedback here are my two routes (and given that I over estimated by one day by accident!)

3 nights in Lucerne
5 nights in Wengen
3 nights in Montreaux
2 nights in Bern

or alternatively

3 Nights in Lucerne
2 Nights in Lugano
5 Nights in Wengen
3 Nights in Montreaux

Chris, If I go the Lugano plan.... I have been playing around on the SBB site, and I guess I am not quite familiar enough with the maps though I have tried to make sense of it. It appears that the "long way" from Lucerne to
Lugano to Wengen (via Brig) is about 6.5 hours. Does that route sound like what you are describing? And Lucerne to Lugano looks like 2 hours (not sure how to determine the route that is not in the tunnel? one option is 1:59 and the other is 2:09). I am still trying to get familiar with all of this and its a little overwhelming!

Basically I need to decide if I should swap Lugano for Bern. And determine whether a 6.5 hour travel day is worth it. Carol do you have any thoughts about this?

Note: My kids are traveling with their Dad after we finish our trip, so I am also trying to make sure to build in some time to chill as we go along.

THANK YOU BOTH, and anyone else who has some feedback. I appreciate it so much.

Michelle, I am not recommending Lugano. I have never been there. I just mentioned it in case you were going to take Chris' suggestion and go there. I would be really reluctant to go someplace for two nights if it was going to involve 6 1/2 hours of transportation time each way. But again, I don't know what's involved in getting there and back. Just something to think about.

I do agree that you cannot spend too much time in Wengen. (I have only stayed in Murren, but it's basically a little bigger version of Murren, and both are definitely superior to Lauterbrunnen, IMHO.) So I would not cut any nights in Wengen.

Your plan for Montreux sounds good. Lake Geneva is beautiful!

Good for you for taking your three boys to Switzerland by yourself. Switzerland is pretty easy thanks to their very efficient trains. I hope you have a fabulous trip!

Yea, I have given it some thought and the impact on the pace of the trip and think I am going to stick with ;

3 nights in Lucerne
5 nights in Wengen
3 nights in Montreaux
2 nights in Bern

I really want to explore Lugano and the alps in that region but think this will have to all for another trip with the boys sometime once I recover from this one (which will be a long time considering how darn expensive everything is! I think I am going to look into an apartment or vacation rental for Wengen since we are going to be there for so long and can make it like a little home for the duration.

I realize you guys have given me suggestions for the locations I mentioned... Any more you have experienced and loved would be greatly appreciated! It will help me narrow my options and optimize our experience. There is so much info out there which is wonderful. But can be overwhelming.

Have either of you ever had a guided hike or is it all easy to do on our own? Do you have any hotel or vacation rental suggestions? And finally, do you prefer Vevey over Montreaux? I have heard it is kind of a toss up but I chose Montreaux for proximity to day trips and also since it seemed a little bigger (and we will just have come off of five days in AWESOME nature).

Thanks again. I sincerely appreciate your time.

Wengen is great. Our last time there, we stayed seven days. I cannot comment on Bern vs Luganoa as I have not been to either. It may be a long train ride but is through the Swiss Alps.

I have not done a guided hike in Switzerland. Let's just say I was not looking for any more ways to spend money in Switzerland! The hiking is really easy; you won't need a guide. Do take a map with you just in case.

I stayed in Vevey and loved it. It's only minutes from Montreux and the trains run frequently, so don't let that worry you. I didn't spend enough time in Montreux to tell how it compares to Vevey. I just prefer smaller places.