Switzerland late March to early April - Help most appreciated! :)

As a long time forum poster and traveler, I think I'd be safe in saying why go to Paris at all? I think you'll need to explain so we can get a sense of why not fly straight to Switzerland?

Sure, happy to share - our tickets are redeemed as a round trip to Paris. Initially thought of doing Paris and then flying down to Nice to explore the south of France. However, it’s a sudden change in plans that we could consider Switzerland instead as we’d like to see the mountains etc. Logistically it woudlve been a bit more challenging to see the French alps. Hence, we can’t change our flight to and from Paris.

It sounds like you already have your flights but it would have made more sense to fly into Paris and out of Geneva or Zurich.

Yea, but that’s not possible now unforch. So making the best of the situation. How about the proposed itinerary?

Staying in Luzern sounds really good and is a match with what you want to do. You could certainly extend your time there and make a few different outings to mountains in the area, weather permitting.

Iseltwald is cute, but I would say certainly just a day trip. Add in Giessbach falls. Can go by boat if you like, scroll down to Brienzersee for schedule

https://www.bls-schiff.ch/sites/default/files/2024-12/timetable_bls_schifffahrt_2025_0.pdf

Interlaken - can actually be a very good base at this time of year because you can easily get to a wide variety of destinations and make your plans according to the weather. The higher up you stay the greater chance you have of snow on the ground, so it all depends on if you want that kind of experience or not.

No matter where you stay in the area (Interlaken, Grindelwald, Mürren, Wengen, Lauterbrunnen) all these are very close together and you only need to pick one location to stay in to explore the whole area.

You will be on a scenic train ride - Luzern to Interlaken. If you also go to Montreux from Interlaken area, that is another scenic ride (via Gstaad).

Thanks for your help!

Planned around the following so far:

22 Mar - Arrive Paris in the evening

23-25 Mar - Paris

26 Mar - Depart for Luzern in the morning. Luzern until 28 Mar at Hotel des Alpes.

28 Mar - Travel to Wengen which we will use as a base for the next few days. At Hotel Alpenruhe with mountain view and balcony. Check out 1 Apr.

Questions:

• As we head towards Wengen on 28 Mar, we’re carrying luggage and we’re wondering if Iseltwald still made sense or skip? If not for Iseltwald, any recommendations on place to stop or head straight to Wengen?

• For 1-3 Apr, should we look to spend time overnight in Zermatt or potentially extend our stay in Wengen and do Zermatt as a day trip? (Gornergrat)

• Depending on the above. 3-5 Apr in Montreux? We’ll have to heard back to Paris during the day on 5 Apr to catch the 11pm flight home, so Montreux will be accessible.

We’re trying to plan accommodation (reservations with free cancellation) for 1-5 Apr.

Thank you!

If you are traveling in such a way that you can be really open to last minute changes (Swiss Travel Pass, for example), then you can just make decisions as you go based on weather and what you feel most like doing in the moment. I think that Wengen is far more interesting than Iseltwald, and would head straight there, but if you want to you can:

• Put your luggage in a locker at the Interlaken Ost train station and take the bus from there to Iseltwald. You need to come back to that station to get to Wengen anyway, so it will not be an inconvenience.

• Get off in Brienz, catch the boat (check schedule ahead of time) and
  bring your luggage with you. Iseltwald is very small and you can walk
  around very easily with your luggage, then catch the bus to
  Interlaken from there (again, I would check the schedule beforehand).
  You could take time to eat something in one of the restaurants in
  Iseltwald, or on the boat. Also possible to continue on to Interlaken Ost by boat.

• Get off in Brienz and walk around a bit there before catching a later
  train to continue your journey toward Wengen.

Wengen to Zermatt would be pretty long for a day trip - 3 hours each way - but having said that, this is exactly the kind of thing I like to do because then you just watch the weather forecast and go on the day that seems the most promising. Such a long trip for one day is not for everyone though, so it just depends.

I think including Montreux is a good idea because it is quite different from what you would have seen so far. Take a look at what kind of things you can do there and see if it interests you.

I think there are several trip reports that cover Montreux and area that you can read for further information, and of course there is myswitzerland.com and https://www.montreuxriviera.com/en/

This is an update to our plan. Welcome any feedback or suggestions! Thank you.

26 March - Take 8am train from Paris to Lucern in the morning. Chill out and explore the town.

27 March - Mount Rigi via "classic round trip"

28 March - Wengen, where we’ll base ourselves till 1 April. First day here, perhaps Mannlichen?

29 March - Schilthorn morning. Taking first cable car up. Afternoon, well look to explore Murren, and Gimmelwald.

30 March - Grindewald First. Read about the winter hike to Bachalpsee. Reckon this is possible then? We were intending to do 1/2 activities - the flyer and the glider. Without the hike, should we plan for something else / another town to maximise time?

31 March - Day trip to Bern. Any suggestions on what else to do? We’re flexible with the days above and will use the day trip to Bern as a wet weather plan.

1 April - Zermatt. Gornergrat today or tomorrow.

2 April - Zermatt.

3 April - Montreux

4 April - Montreux

5 April - Depart to Paris.

One key question - Was initially thinking of purchasing the 15 day Swiss Travel Pass, and paying 50% discount for Mannlichen and Schilthorn, while getting free access to Mt Rigi. An alternative though would be to purchase the Swiss Half Fare pass, and a 4 day Bernese Oberland Pass. I’ll get free access to Mannlichen and Schilthorn, but half price for Mt Rigi. I’ve worked out a rough and dirty calculation and note that the latter option would be about CHF 97 cheaper. Though I’ll have to buy more single tickets. Any reason we shouldn’t go with the Half Fare + BO option - just afraid I’m missing something out.

We’ve managed to get accommodation too for the above!

Sounds like s good trip planned!! Just get your TGV train tickets now for your trip to and from Paris if you don’t already have them. A few years ago I waited until 1-2 days before to get from Bern to Paris and it got expensive and tricky fast! Have a wonderful honeymoon!
I think a rainy day activity could be to head to Lake Brienz and ride the boat from Interlaken. Your hotel should also give you good suggestions on what to do and where to visit and what the hiking conditions are.
Bern has a lovely Albert Einstein museum.

Thanks for the rainy day suggestion and for being so encouraging! Looks like the Swiss Travel Pass would offer us the most flexibility for our plans.

In Lucerne, don't forget about Mt Stanserhorn, which is delightful for a sunset, and is completely covered by the STP. You ride up in an open air Cabrio cable car, and the trip is about 45 minutes from the Lucerne train station.
We did Mt Rigi in the morning, and the sunset at Stanserhorn. There are drinks and food at the summit.
Oh, I didn't check if Stanserhorn is open for your dates .
In any case, once you have the STP, you find many other uses for it.
Have a great trip.