Train Trip September 2025

If it were me, I wouldn't spend any time in Zurich, you could stay in Luzern, the night before your flight. I don't believe Appenzell is close to any of the cities you are considering. In Berner Oberland, I'd prefer Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen over Interlaken, and Grindelwald would not be a high priority over the other mountain cities. Bern is not in the mountains, but we enjoyed our day trip to Bern.

If you want to see Appenzell, why not skip Zurich altogether. The train from Munich stops in St Gallen on the way, so just get off there and it is short train ride to Appenzell. Spend at least a night there. There is an hourly direct train from St Gallen to Luzern, called the Voralpen Express.

What Sam said!

Skip Zurich and spend more time in Luzern.

Skip Bern, and replace Interlaken with somewhere in the Bernese Oberland...

Tray to spend three or even four nights in every place.

FWIW, I LOVE Bern AND Zurich. But, if you have a really short tine span ...

Appreciate the responses so far.

Would appreciate other people’s thoughts.

I will agree with the others—-you have all your time in cities and none in a typical Swiss mountain village. That is the best way to experience the culture and enjoy the scenery. So I suggest you substitute the car-free village of Wengen for Interlaken. It is just a bit further on the train, but so much more charming.

Sam has a great idea to stop in St. Gallen on your way between Munich and Switzerland. Spend a night here to experience Appenzell. Then take the direct train to Luzern for 2 nights, then the scenic Golden Pass railway to Interlaken and change to the train bound to Wengen (via a change in Lauterbrunnen). Two nights up there in a charming (but not all rustic) hotel such as the Maya Caprice. Maybe ride the cablecar up to Mannlichen and a gondola down the other side to Grindelwald to walk around there. No hiking required.

https://www.mayacaprice.ch/

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer.html

Of course there are other very nice hotels in Wengen (so that people have trouble choosing), and other activities on offer; I just mentioned these as a starting point.

People recommend Wengen over Lauterbrunnen for a short stay like 2 nights, because Lauterbrunnen is a very busy town down in the valley, full of traffic.

From Wengen head to Bern for a night or two, depending on your interests. This city has a lovely Oldtown area and we find it more appealing than Luzern (but we are in the minority). So maybe you will be convinced to spend more time in Luzern and less in Bern. It’s all good.

You can reach Zurich airport by train in just over an hour from Bern, so it is possible to skip Zurich altogether. But if you have the time you can make Zurich your last stop before flying out.

We had a trip in Switzerland and France in September that took this route: flew into Zürich, took train to Lake Brienz and stayed in Iseltwald for two nights. It was a lovely place to get over jet lag! Then we took the ferry to Interlaken and then a series of trains and cable cars to get to Mürren where we stayed for a week in an apartment. While we were up in the mountains. we used our Berner Oberland pass to explore all over the Jungfrau region. On one glorious day, we went from Mürren down into the valley and up through Wengen, to Mannlichen and on to Grindelwald First. Having the BO Pass made it so easy to just hop on and off, even taking us on a grand ride through a snowstorm to Eigergleitscher in mid September!

From Mürren, we went to spend some time in Alsace, all by train. Then we came back for two nights in Bern and planned enough time our last morning to go directly to the Zurich airport from Bern by train. We haven’t stayed overnight in Zurich at all, preferring the smaller towns.

On a previous trip, we explored Lucerne and also had two nights in Engelberg and went to the top of Mount Titlis. That was also a lot of fun, but this time we wanted to visit some different areas. Our favorite really was the Berner Oberland.

Switzerland is so beautiful…enjoy!
Laurie

Sounds like a really great trip! We appreciate your taking time tell us about your experiences in Switzerland.