Switzerland Trip - 5 - 6 Days

Posted by getzje on 03/26/17 02:31 AM

I am taking my son and wife to Switzerland in late June as my son's graduation trip. Having trouble coming up with a good plan and places to stay. We currently do not plan on renting a car, but rely on train. We also will be flying into and out of Zurich.

Interested in seeing the alps by foot and train, along with the small towns. Would like to do some day hiking but we are not hard core hikers. Prefer to not spend too much time in the larger cities and experience the countryside.

When traveling in the US we typically visit national and historic parkes and scenic drives in the mountains and coast and tend to not spend too much time in the big cities.

Any suggestions of places to not miss and hotels is appreciated.

Posted by csu15269

Atlanta, Georgia

03/26/17 03:05 AM

451 posts

With your short time you are limited to two places. I would land and head straight for Wengen, great easy walking and mountain views staying in a car free town. Then catch a morning train to Luzern. You can travel directly to the Zurich airport from Luzern in a little over an hour.

It is better to count nights. Six nights, split between four in Wengen and two in Luzern. With five nights, three in Wengen and two in Luzern.

I love Wengen and Murren in the Lauterbrunnen valley. Murren is more touristy but it has better access to hiking. We loved the North Face trail from the top of the Funicular back down to Murren. It is an easy hike, grab sandwiches at the Coop grocery store in town before heading out.

Hiking trail info for adults with kids.
http://www.momstotszurich.com/search/label/Hiking/

Posted by Sam

Green Bay

03/26/17 03:09 AM

20032 posts

5 to 6 days? Just go to the Berner Oberland and be done with it. Stay in Muerren or Wengen. Go to the airport train station as soon as you get your luggage and you'll be there in about 3 hours. On the way home, stay 1 or 2 nights in Luzern and take a morning train direct to the airport (about 1 hour) for your flight home.

Posted by Harold

New York, NY, USA

03/26/17 05:43 AM

11294 posts

I agree with the above two replies - train from Zurich airport to Mürren or Wengen for a few nights, then train from there to Luzern for 1-2 nights, then train to Zurich airport on the morning of your flight. There is a train station right in the Zurich airport, which makes things easy.

For Swiss hotels, I had much better results e-mailing them directly. Their websites didn't show the rooms I needed (and I mean the booking engine on their own website, not a third party like hotels dot com), but by e-mailing, I got the rooms without difficulty.

In Luzern I stayed at the Hotel des Alpes: http://www.desalpes-luzern.ch/en/Hotel and in Mürren I stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss: http://www.edelweiss-muerren.ch/en.html. I'd stay in both again.

Do get Rick Steves Switzerland. He has all kinds of details and things to do to fill your time there, along with logistics of getting around, eating options, etc. One thing to know is that getting around the Berner Oberland is hard to describe on paper, so it sounds confusing, but it's all much easier once you're there and can actually see it in three dimensions.