Well, lets see if the third time is the charm

I will keep my fingers crossed for you. 😊

So, you are starting in Zermatt, does that mean you are flying into Geneva? Are you the one who was planning on camping in Lauterbrunnen? If not, others might suggest staying in murren or wengen instead. But honestly, I really liked Lauterbrunnen when I stayed there. I like the amount of time that you have there, but would it make sense to add a day to Zermatt?

I would stay in Lucerne instead of Zurich. You can get to Lugano from lucerne in 1.75 hours for a day trip. Zurich airport is a quick just over an hour train ride from lucerne.

Not sure how Stuttgart would fit in. If the goal is to see a part of Germany, we did a day trip to Freiburg, Germany from Lucerne and it was one of our favorite days.

I'm one that suggests Wengen (or Murren) over Lauterbrunnen and would probably cut one night from there unless you're hikers.

We are planning on flying into Zurich and will travel to Zermatt for 2 nights. We are thinking a home base in Interlaken, get an Airbnb near the train station. And Stuttgart would be a day trip at the end of the trip. Want to see the Mercedes museum.

“ We are thinking a home base in Interlaken, get an Airbnb near the train station.”

Sean, the Lauterbrunnen Valley is spectacular, so try not to stay in Interlaken. You will want to be at Lauterbrunnen, or even better is higher up at Wengen or Murren. We’ve been there twice and always sad to leave the gorgeous scenery as we’re leaving, heading towards Interlaken.

I agree that Luzern would be a more interesting and more scenic stay than Zurich. I’d also recommend that you stay in Murren or Wengen rather than Interlaken to eliminate transit costs and time from Interlaken to hiking sites.

I will look into places to stay in the valley. Zurich is more the end of the trip close to the airport. We want to visit Basel. I’m not particularly to interested in Zurich except Rhine Falls. Luzern (Lucerne, as I’ve seen in some places) is that the same place? Cause if it is, it is on my list.

Luzern (Lucerne, as I’ve seen in some places) is that the same place?

Yes. Lucerne is the English spelling and Luzern is the German spelling.

So, it sounds like with your short time in Zurich, do you fly out on day 10, you plan to see Lucerne/Luzern, Basel, the Rhine Falls, and Stuttgart. I think you’ll want to rethink that. Zurich to Stuttgart is 3 hours each way. So, 6 hours on the train.

Lucerne is also close to the airport as the train will take you from there right inside the airport in just over an hour. I prefer Lucerne as a home base over Zurich as there are some great options to get up into the mountains. I really loved the boat/train ride up to Mt. Rigi. But if you are set on seeing some of the places on your list, Zurich might work out better for you. Just be mindful of how long it takes to get to places. I always check the times on the SBB app to see how long it takes to get to places. Places always look closer on a map. Switzerland is such a gorgeous country you want to make sure you have the time to enjoy it without running around all over the place.

I should probably been more clear, lol. So day 1 is the day we arrive. So be close to a day in a half in Zermatt. The other days are just the area we plan on staying in. So we don’t actually leave till Day 11. So basically we have 1.5 days in the Zermatt area, 4.5 days in the Lauterbrunnen area , and 2.5 days in the Zurich area.

Lugano would be a day trip from the Lauterbrunnen area as well as possibly Lucerne. Stuttgart would be from Zurich area.

Plans are still developing. And could be changing. We do want to see Jungfrau and Shilthorn. And definitely Luzern.

Sean, to repeat what others said, Luzern is a much more interesting city to stay in than Zurich. There are plenty of mountain and lake excursions right there. And you can reach the rail station in the Zurich airport from Luzern easily, so its convenient to have that as your last place to stay.

I agree with others - skip Zurich and stay in Lucerne unless Zurich is necessary for travel (very early flight out for example). I would also say that 1.5 days in Zermatt is cutting it pretty close - in large part because some days are cloudy and you don't see the Matterhorn. If you are committed to trying to see it, I would put 2.5 days there to have a better chance. Alternatively, since your trip is not that long, and the travel to Zermatt will cut into your time seeing actual attractions, skip Zermatt for now (plan a longer visit later) and focus your time in Lucerne and the Berner-Oberland. Both are amazing and will give you a fantastic taste of Switzerland. Not sure when the Lugano and Stuttgart legs will occur - perhaps you can be more specific? Probably there is not time within your 10-day Switzerland window of time but if they will be scheduled before or after Switzerland I'm sure you can get good advice here.

OP mentioned earlier that Stuttgart would be a day trip from Zürich at the end of the trip. So, if this is still the plan, he needs to end in Zürich.

The reason to stay in Zurich is just ease of travel to the airport. Understanding the train system in Switzerland is great, I am also very untrusting of anything, lol. Always looking at what could go wrong.

But, reading what I have seen here, We might change our plans to be in the Oberland area, for the majority of the trip, and only go to the Matterhorn and Lugano on day trips. Or take a day out of Zurich and add it to Zermatt, and then skip Stuttgart.

We may try and go to Germany this winter if everything is open for the Christmas markets. We were one week from our trip to the markets last year, when everything started shutting down and restrictions started to increase. in 2020 we were trying to go for our honeymoon, and were supposed to go in May.

Lots of planning has been going into this for years, lol. Hopefully we get there this time.

If you are planning to go to Germany this winter, then maybe save Stuttgart for then? The Xmas markets in Stuttgart and nearby Esslingen (medieval themed!) are really good.
Saying this because a day trip from Zürich to Untertürkheim for the Mercedes-Benz museum is over 3 hours each way by train, which is rough!
The museum is fantastic, though.

I would suggest making reservations in Lauterbrunnen soon. Two weeks ago I booked an AirBnB for my husband and I arriving September 1 for 3 nights. There weren't a whole lot of choices that were reasonably priced!