Three weeks in Switzerland (April 28 to May 19). Please help with itinerary

We (2 couples) did a 2-week trip last summer, with some similarities to your trip, and the 2-week Swiss Travel Pass was not only cost effective but made the travel so easy. The Swiss Travel app (SBB mobile) is extremely useful for train and bus routes/schedules/connection info. We flew to Zurich and went immediately (by train) to Lucerne (2 nights; used the pass for boat, Mt Rigi cog train, cable car); train & cable car to Mürren (4 nights; cable car to/from the valley, funicular to Allmendhubel, cable car to Schilthorn), then train to Zermatt (3 nights; cable cars and cog trains); then Glacier Express train (need to reserve seats) to Sameden and bus to Pontresina (3 nights; bus to/from St Moritz, bus and funicular to Muottas Muragl, train (Bernina Express route) to/from Poschiavo), then train to Zürich (2 nights).

Thank you for your reply. When I booked hotels in Lucerne and Bern, I found that the hotels would provide transportation passes for the duration of the stay. Do you know what those passes cover? We would like to go to Stoos and Mount Rigi as well as the boat rides. The pass probably will not cover those rides. Wonder if it would be cost effective to get the Half Price Pass instead of the Swiss Travel pass for the 6 days when I have in Lucerne and Bern since the hotel will provide passes for bus/tram in the city?

When I booked hotels in Lucerne and Bern, I found that the hotels would provide transportation passes for the duration of the stay

These are just for local city transportation. Good for local sightseeing, but not for anything outside the city. A useful benefit nonetheless.

Note that the STP only covers transportation to Inhabited towns, so going from Muerren to Schilthorn will need a ticket, although the STP gives you a 50% discount. The STP does cover Rigi though.

BTW, we also plan to take the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Semdan and stay in Pontresina instead of St. Moritz. Thinking of staying at the Hotel Garni Chesa Mulin as recommended in the RS guide book. Was it easily to take the bus/train from Semdan to Pontresina? Seems like Pontresina is less touristy than St. Moritz and also seems to have more things to do around there. We plan to just make a day trip on the Bernina Express -- take the earliest train from Pontresina and then go back to Pontresina the same day since it is a shorter round trip ride from Pontresina to Tarino than starting from Chur. We will go up to Zurich the next day and still to decide if it is doable to have a side trip in the afternoon to see Rhine Falls since we only have one afternoon left on the day when we go back up to Zurich from Pontresina and before flying home the next day.

I highly recommend Pontresina as a place to stay in that area! Rick Steves is right, as usual. The AirBnB apartment that we booked was at the north end of town, which would have been a bit of a long walk with luggage from the Pontresina train station. Thankfully our AirBnB host recommended to us (in advance) to get off the train in Sameden, and take the bus from there to a bus stop in the north end of Pontresina just a few minutes walk from his AirBnB. It was very simple to know which bus to take and the schedule, using the Swiss Transport (SBB) app; the bus stop was just outside the door of the Sameden train station. Also, since we had the Swiss travel pass, the bus was free. The bus from Pontresina to St. Moritz was also very easy to do, using the app for schedules and bus stop info, etc. Speaking of St Moritz, we went there for an afternoon to just walk around, and then have dinner... we found the town to be very quiet and dull, and somewhat deserted after dinner (this was in July 2024). In contrast, Pontresina was quite charming, and the town was alive with people strolling the streets after dinner. We were very happy that we selected Pontresina as the place to stay for 3 nights.

As I mentioned above, we took the train from Pontresina on the Bernina Express route south to Poschiavo, and returned to Pontresina in the afternoon. Poschiavo is a nice little village, a 5-10minute walk from the train station to the main village square, By chance, there was a market going on in the village square, with lots of activity. We had a nice pizza and salad lunch at a cafe restaurant on the square. The Bernina train route was spectacular, with beautiful scenery and switchbacks. Don't bother taking/reserving the Bernina Express Train, just take any of the regular regional trains - you can open the windows, and there is an open-air carriage at the back end of the train which was fabulous! (I'm guessing the open-air carriage might not be used if weather is bad.) Again, even if you don't get a Swiss travel pass, get the Swiss transport app and get familiar with it before you go. It's excellent and the trains are on time just as listed in the schedule, even months in advance.

Thank you for all the information since we do plan to ride the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Samedan and then take the round trip Bernina Express from Pontresina to Tirano two days later.

Regarding the reserving seats for the Glacier Express. We plan to ride on June 7, 2026, hopefully 1st class. How did you manage to get the seat reservations? I read that it is almost impossible to get the seat reservations even if one was all prepared online at 1:00AM Swiss time 93 days ahead because the travel agency/tour booked it all up before that date. Any pointers? Are weekdays better than weekends in terms of getting seat reservations?

We had the Swiss Travel Pass, so for the Glacier Express (Zermatt to Samedan) we didn’t need to buy train tickets, but we did need to buy seat reservations. I purchased those online at the official website, well in advance, and I didn’t encounter any problems. According to my records, I purchased the seat reservations on April 13, for our Glacier Express travel on July 15, 2024.