Family Trip to Switzerland, June 2024

Arrival & Rothenburg ob Der Tauber: We arrived in Frankfurt after a pleasant, 9 hour flight on Condor nonstop from Anchorage. We could not believe how quickly the flight went by or how well the kids did. The only one who napped was our 4 year old, but if I had to pick only one I am glad it was him! We trudged through the airport, quickly passed through customs (the agents brought families with children to the front of a line), collected our bags and rental car, and were on our way to Rothenburg ob Der Tauber.

In Rothenburg o.d.T., we stayed at the Hotel Burggartenpalais off the Herrngasse. They were absolutely lovely to our family. We were able to request through booking.com to have an extra bed added to their Family Room so we had two bedroom spaces in our suite with a bathroom. The hotel also has parking available for 10 euros/day.

We arrived around 4 p.m, and were able to rally to explore the medieval walls and streets of Rothenburg. We walked the walls, up and down the many stairs and into the towers for beautiful views, found gelato on the Main Street, and took our pictures at the Plönlein street. The city was busy with visitors, but not overcrowded. We found a playground just outside the walls with some interesting climbing toys and let the kiddos run around to their hearts' content. Dinner was a döner kebab and currywurst for the kids, delicious and exactly what we wanted after such a long day. We turned in and slept soundly.

We felt much refreshed after our first night's sleep and awoke to a quiet town. Our room had views over the rooftops and we enjoyed our first cup of coffee there before heading down to the lovely (included) breakfast spread. The children enjoyed the first of many pretzels as well as scrambled eggs made to order, and I enjoyed apfelkuchen, chia pudding, and eggs as well. With full bellies we explored the quiet streets of Rothenburg, with a few other overnighters keeping us company but mostly shopkeepers and delivery drivers. We spied a stork on its nest and visited the castle playground right outside the city walls, then traipsed more of the city's walls that we hadn't gotten to the night before. My nine year old and I ducked into the Christmas shops and were awed by the pyramids, though I ultimately decided I didn't want to carry such a precious souvenir through 8 days of travel. We found some Christmas ornaments instead, and drove to Switzerland.

Gais & Appenzell: The way the Alps appear on the horizon as you approach Austria and Switzerland is just awesome. We went from the rolling hills of Germany to the stark cliffs of Austria and blue foggy mountains of Switzerland. We only nicked the corner of Austria (no vignette required on that small portion of road) before continuing on through Switzerland (vignette required, we purchased online with our car's license plate number). The small town of Gais, on the very edge of the St Gallen and Appenzell Aussrrhoden cantons, was our destination and where our next accommodation, an Airbnb, was located.

Gais is across the valley from Appenzell and our Airbnb had incredible views of Säntis. The weather was a little overcast when we arrived, with the mountains in and out of view. The hills were a vibrant green and full of farmers mowing and raking the grass, taking it into their barns for their cows for the winter. The cows were in their meadows, roaming up and down hillsides and clanging their bells. Idyllic, picturesque, peaceful, rewarding, quiet, lovely... I sighed each time I looked out the window at the beauty of Switzerland.

Sounds like all your planning paid off, a nice smooth, fun trip. Everyone always writes such beautiful reports about Switzerland and we have not been there yet. It has always been low on my list but I might have to revisit my list.

More on Gais and Appenzell Our Airbnb hosts were welcoming and hospitable. The accommodation was connected to their home, almost as a duplex unit. Our hostess welcomed us to use their beautiful backyard and sandbox, and the space was perfect for our family: a loft bedroom for the adults, a large bedroom with three twins for the children, a good sized kitchen and main floor area, and a washing machine and laundry. We decided to head to Appenzell for pizza at Little Italy and some groceries at Coop. The pizza was delicious and the Coop well stocked. We didn't find the prices too outrageous at either place, but where we live in Anchorage is expensive as well.

A little note here: We have found while traveling with the kids that it works really well to alternate eating out and eating in for dinner if we have access to a kitchen, as well as to have snacks on hand. We planned easy dinners that were simple to make at home with the numerous spices in our Airbnb's cabinet, as well as got some eggs and bread for toast for easy mornings. We also made our children peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each day for the trails and adventures, and that was a stroke of genius as it took them hardly any time to declare, "I'm hungry!" when we would start out in the morning. A sandwich and a piece of Swiss chocolate would usually tide them over. This also freed up some of our food budget for daytime snacks and beers at the gasthauses along the trails, truly one of the delights of our trip!

Back to adventuring... A travel card for the Appennzeller region is available through hotels and registered Airbnb hosts. Ours offered to arrange it for us when we checked in. Called the Oskar Karte, it covered our train travel around the region as well as a roundtrip ticket up the various cable cars in the region (Santis, Ebenalp, Hoher Kasten are the ones we did, but others are available). It cost us 153 CHF for the five of us for three days.

The first morning we woke up in Appenzell, the weather was perfectly clear and we could see to the top of Säntis from our Airbnb. We decided we would take the trip up there, parking at the train station in Gais (4 CHF a day) and riding the Appenzeller Bahn and Postbus to the Säntis cablecar. With our Oskar Karte this was incredibly easy though it took us about an hour to travel there via bus and train. We did not have to wait in line for tickets anywhere, simply scanned the passes downloaded to our Apple Wallets and away we went on cablecar! The conductors on the trains didn't really ask us for proof of tickets, though the Oscar covers those as well.

The top of Säntis had incredible views in all directions and approaching the mountain's imposing cliffs via cablecar was just amazing. I will say, the flimsy guardrails at the top of the mountain made me very nervous. The children were blissfully unaware of the sheer drop just past the rails, and my husband and I were quite vigilant. Still, we visited Hoher Kasten the next day and it was so much safer. The first Berggasthaus, the Berggasthaus Alter Säntis, provided us with a midday beer and Citron for the kids, as well as an incredible view of Seealpsee far below, many mountain huts in the distance, and a smattering of different trails. None of them looked approachable with our crew that day, though my husband and I vowed to return on our own or with older kids so we could try out some of them!

The next day dawned another clear, perfect weather day and we explored a different corner of the Alpstein. We took the train from Gais to Appenzell to Wasserauen, then walked a short way to the Ebenalp cablecar. Once again the ride up along the cliffs was just delightful! We walked down from Ebenalp to Berggasthaus Aescher, marveling at the caves, the Wildkirchli, and the way that the little house just appears as you round a corner.

I look forward to reading more!

Gais and Appenzell: Aescher was not quite as busy as we expected and we certainly could have gotten a table to enjoy a snack and a beer. It was windy up there, and I will say that the walk down from the cablecar was slippery with the gravel. Our kids were fine, but I know that others around us took it slow and were more nervous about the path. We found a little ledge with a bench overlooking the valley to feed the children a PB & J and debate the hike down to Seealpsee from Aescher.

In my research, I came across many opinions and horror stories about the Seealpsee-Aescher mountain path. Rick Steves calls it "rugged." Swiss Family Fun calls it "best for experienced hikers comfortable with risk." It is rocky, narrow, and steep, though shaded by beautiful forest most of the way down. Our kids managed it but we had a grip on the four year old the whole time, and encouraged the others to use the cable handholds when available and not stand near the edge. I think it would be treacherous in the rain, and I would recommend actually hiking boots to do it. You must be alert on this trail and you must be very careful near the edges of the trail as there are steep dropoffs. Mind your hiking manners and give way to uphill hikers as well! The reward at the end of this hike is Seealpsee, a beautiful mountain lake with a Berggasthaus and panoramic view of the glorious peaks surrounding you. The children waded, we enjoyed beers and a flamkuchen, and then we hiked a very steep mostly paved path back to the Wasserauen train stop. It is worth noting that if you want to visit Seealpsee but not take the path down from Aescher, you can hike up this steep path to the same lake and reward.

Hot and sweaty by this time, we decided we would traverse back to Weissbad and take the tram up to the top of the Hoher Kasten, another panoramic viewpoint of the Alpstein. A valley or two over from Seealpsee, Hoher Kasten has gorgeous views of Bodensee and you can see the Saxerlücke and other beautiful mountain peeks. I had written a Saxerlücke hike as a potential into our itinerary, but after our morning adventure we were all happy to explore the Alpine garden and signs, as well as enjoy the cool cave entrance from the cablecar to the mountaintop. I have mentioned that Hoher Kasten felt much safer with the guardrails than Säntis but it was also much easier to get around up there accessibility-wise.

On our way back down we had the most special of treats- a kind cablecar driver who allowed the boys to press buttons and taught them about braking before the towers based on what the winds were doing, and a group of local yodelers who sang as we descended. "For the younger generation," one of them told me. I couldn't have engineered a more perfect experience in the Alpstein if I had tried.

To end this lengthy love letter to Eastern Switzerland, we noted that we were surrounded by mostly Germans and Swiss tourists and only encountered one other American family. We did not assume people around us spoke English though some did. Most conversations were in German or Swiss German. The farms, the mountains, the lakes, the kindness of people in Appenzell made it such a lovely location to spend a few days.

Berner Oberland and Wengen: Next up in our Switzerland travels we drove to Lauterbrunnen with a detour to Brunnen, on the shores of Lake Lucerne. Why Brunnen you might ask? I had read at one point that there is a Victorinox store where you can make your own Swiss Army knives. You choose a few options for your knife and get to press it together and then it gets engraved with your name. My husband and two oldest sons did this, making one for the littlest to have eventually. While a fun experience, my husband says it's not really worth a special trip to Brunnen. If your travels take you that way, email the Victorinox store in Brunnen and they will schedule an appointment for you to build your knife. We also walked along the lake, ate doner kebab and pizza for lunch, and visited a playground to get some wiggles out before heading on to Lauterbrunnen.

A note: if you are driving, make sure your car's GPS is not "avoiding tolls." This means it is avoiding the highway in Switzerland, as the vignette is considered a toll. Once we had removed that option, the trip to Lauterbrunnen took less than two hours. ; )

In Lauterbrunnen we parked the car in the large parking garage adjacent to the train station. We had reserved and paid for our slot ahead of time, easy enough with the link sent by our accommodations. We had our Berner Oberland passes ready to go and loaded in our Apple Wallets, and so on up to Wengen we went on the train. We had an easy check in to our beautiful apartment through Wengen Apartments (great communication, easy to find accommodation and check in instructions), and then back up the hill to the giant chessboard for the kids and the Coop for Mom. This Coop is well-stocked but busy! I gathered supplies quickly and we made burgers, pommes, and hot dogs for dinner in our apartment. We marveled at the views and slept soundly in the mountain air.

The next morning we awoke to coffee in the clouds. The weather had rolled into the valley and rain was forecast for the day. We lazed about and cooked breakfast in the apartment, googling "bad weather options Wengen." Many suggested traveling to Bern (~2 hours by train), a boat trip on Brienz/Thun, Trummelbach falls, etc. We reasoned that since we had our BO passes, we might as well use them! So we headed up to Männlichen and took a very wet tour of the cow playground, then hopped on the cablecar down to Grindelwald. The big terminal was so busy with people and groups trying to get up to the Jungfraujoch. There is a Coop down there (pretzels!), and a Lindt chocolate store (the hot cocoa!). A quick snack and we checked the live cams at the top of Eigergletscher, Jungfrau, and Männlichen to see where we should head next. Eigergletscher looked like it was clearing up a bit, so we jumped on the gondola and headed for the top! The weather up there was slightly clearer than in Grindlewald, and we saw a good amount of the Eiger as well as across the valley to Mürren. We walked down from Eigergletscher to Kleine Scheidegg (easy, "yellow" trail), stopping to take photos and admire the wildflowers. There is a spot where lounge chairs are in a small pool and a button creates a foot massage for weary hikers! This cracked us up though it was much too cold that day to give a try. Back down to the apartment and dinner out at Pasta and More, preceded by poking around two of the shops on the Main Street in Wengen. Our fingers were crossed for better weather the next day, though we were grateful that we were not in the same boat as those in Zermatt.

Our second full day in Wengen saw us traveling down to Lauterbrunnen and up the other side to Mürren, specifically to visit the Allmendhubel playground. One of the most crowded experiences we had in Switzerland was waiting for the Grutschalp cablecar after getting off the train in Lauterbrunnen. The press of people trying to cram onto a small platform was not our favorite, and up until then we had no transportation crowds.

Berner Oberland and Wengen:We waited for 20-30 minutes before we boarded the cablecar, then traversed onto Mürren on a small, single traincar with all of our cablecar friends. We walked to the Allmendhubel funicular and were surprised to find it relatively empty and took the quick ride up to Allmendhubel, where a beautiful playground awaited our children. The views from this playground would be absolutely spectacular on a clear day, but alas, we were quite socked in with clouds. No matter, the children spent an hour running around with a newfound friend from California while my husband and I enjoyed a beer and the view! The restaurant at Allmendhubel has a great "family menu" where you can get a family sized salad, main dish, and liter of cola or water for 48 CHF. This is a pretty great value, in my opinion, as it is hard to feed my crowd at any restaurant for less than that! We enjoyed rosti and salad, especially the small veal sausages called chipolatas. After playing and eating, we took the easy downhill trail back to Mürren, admiring the cows and more wildflowers, as well as the beautiful waterfall coming off the higher mountain. Back to Wengen and a relaxing evening at our apartment with a walk around the town and searching for the Kugelbahns- marble runs.

On our last full day in Wengen we woke up to the same clouds and drizzle that had plagued our previous days. After some deliberation, we decided on a boat ride on Lake Brienz with a side trip to Giessbach Falls. Getting to the boat was extremely easy as it docks right at the Interlaken station (absolutely love the Swiss efficiencies and ease of public transport), and we settled onto our boat bench for a cloudy but beautiful ride to Giessbach Falls. The selfie patrol was out in droves on the boat, and we chuckled as we watched our fellow boaters take selfies with tripods over and over from the same spot. At Giessbach falls there is an option to take a funicular up to the hotel and falls, but we opted for the "Wanderweg" that takes you from the boat dock through the beautiful forest and up next to the falls. This was a highlight of our trip, walking up this beautiful path! The falls were gorgeous, the hike just right. The only thing that was missing was a beer and snack at the end (the terrace restaurant was closed). The hotel was really neat looking, and maybe on a future trip we will plan an overnight there! We caught the boat to Brienz (right on time), and it was the historic steamship, Lötschberg, that is still in service on the lake. It is worth trying to time your journey to this ship, as the old engines are on full display and there is an entire room dedicated to children at the front of the ship! It had toys, art supplies, and a kind attendant. My children only had a quick five minutes to check it out, as the journey from Giessbach Falls to Brienz is fast. In Brienz, much was closed (it was a Sunday), so we settled for the open restaurant with a gorgeous view of the lake and then a leisurely walk back to the train station. There was a lot of action across the lake at Giessbach falls with two Swiss search and rescue helicopters, and many of us on our side of the lake watched the action. I could find nothing later with regards to it, but feared someone had fallen into the rushing falls. Our train journey back to Wengen was uneventful, and we enjoyed a few leftovers as a late dinner and started to pack up to head to Zurich the next day.

Our last morning in Wengen dawned crystal clear and absolutely stunning. I am usually the first up in the family, and ran out the door in my pajamas to take photos of the stunning mountains towering over the valley. They were all on full display, with the sun reflecting off their snowy tops. I shook my husband awake and encouraged him to catch the first train to Kleine Scheidegg, so he could get photos he wanted (one of his favorite hobbies is photography). He agreed, and took our nine year old along.

Berner Oberland and Wengen: Little did we know, our Berner Oberland passes had expired that morning at 5 a.m. Oops! Luckily, my husband was able to pay for his ticket up to Eigergletscher on the way up and then he and our son hiked back down to Wengernalp after getting all the pictures they wanted. Meanwhile, I was frantically searching the various cable cars and routes that we could take to get to a lovely viewpoint while the weather was nice. This was a really good lesson learned for us- the Berner Oberland pass was absolutely worth it for our family because when we were searching for a way to get back to Mannlichen, or Eigergletscher, or Allmendhubel and were coming up with 100 + CHF r/t, we sadly concluded that we weren't willing to pay that much extra after already spending four days in the region. One thing I did come across in my searching was a family pass to Allmendhubel for two adults and up to four children, including lunch, for 87 CHF. So if someone is just dipping their toe in the Berner Oberland region or looking for a day trip from Bern, Lucerne, or Interlaken, that might be a great way to do it without a BO pass. I found it under tickets, "Family Fun", on the Schilthorn website. Alas, it was sold out for the day!

So very long story short, my husband and son came down from Eigergletscher and we admired the mountains from Wengen before taking the train back down to Lauterbrunnen (purchased with our half fare and family cards).

Luzern: We drove from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich for our last night in Switzerland, stopping in Lucerne at the lion monument. I wasn't sure what we would think of the monument but was so peaceful and moving, this beautiful lion with such an expression of pain in a shaded oasis in the middle of a bustling city. It wasn't too difficult to find parking nearby and we enjoyed a quick picnic with sandwiches from Coop picked up on our way out of Wengen, though there is a Coop and a few cafes right near the monument as well. If we had more time, we would have liked to visit the Gietschergarten Museum right next door. It looked very interesting but we were ready to get to Zurich and finish up our trip. Luzern was soooo busy, especially near the train station. People, scooters, bikes were everywhere!

Zurich: Our last night was at Hotel Glockenhof, in Zurich city, right near the Bahnhofstrasse. I chose this hotel for its central location and its family room, where my children had a connecting room outfitted with toys and a triple decker bunkbed. This hotel was so great to us- we were welcomed with cold water bottles and a beautiful fruit plate. We wandered the Bahnhofstrasse/Augstinestrasse area and did a bit of souvenir shopping, include Sprüngli for Luxemburgli (small macarons) and Globus for specialty chocolates to bring home. We found a shaded playground at Spielplatz Urania, a few blocks from Bahnhofstrasse and let the children get their wiggles out before continuing up the street to the Franz Carl Weber toy store across from the Bahnhof (wish we had skipped it, tbh). I loved hopping into Søstrene Grene on Rennweg for a browse at all of their beautiful, well priced household items and picked up a few souvenirs for myself and friends.

The concierge at our hotel directed us to Santa Lucia restaurant in Paradeplatz for supper, an Italian restaurant with outdoor seating (it was a beautiful day) that was an easy walk from the hotel. Santa Lucia has a fantastic deal for a children's menu where children could choose anything on the menu for 10 CHF... so our pasta lover had lasagna and our other two were happy with their pizza choices. The wine was good, the waitresses kind, and the tiramisu a big hit, and so we ended our Switzerland trip with a lovely summer evening. At that restaurant, we heard smatterings of Italian, English, French, and German, so truly a melting pot of all of the Swiss languages in one small space.

Finally, I want to end by saying that Switzerland was an absolutely perfect first country to introduce my children to the joys of European travel. They loved taking trains and cablecars, and they rose to the challenge of 16,000 step days. They handled the hikes we did very well, and appreciated the gelato rewards after. I have fully converted them to lemon being the best flavor of gelato. The playgrounds, "spielplatz," are perfect for wiggly little ones.

The Swiss people were so kind to my children, speaking German to them and asking them about school and their summer breaks. The cablecar driver in the Alpstein took real joy in showing them how to operate the car, and encouraged them to listen to the special yodeling. The hotel staff in Germany were so accommodating to our family, making us feel welcome and right at home.

We did have a budget for this trip. We were not surprised by the costs and were happy to have purchased the Berner Oberland pass and Oskar kartes. We balanced our accommodations between a more affordable Airbnb in Gais ($483 for 3 nights) versus a "splurge" in Wengen ($2200 for four nights) and Zurich ($444/night). Our hotel in Germany was $288 for one night. I only share those numbers to provide others with an idea of some of the costs, we certainly had options in each location and booked our accommodations very early (some in August/September of last year). We appreciated having kitchens in all locations except our first and last nights and know that that contributed to keeping our costs down. I will do my best to answer any questions, but hope that someone finds this helpful!

One of the most crowded experiences we had in Switzerland was waiting
for the Grutschalp cablecar after getting off the train in
Lauterbrunnen. The press of people trying to cram onto a small
platform was not our favorite

YES!!!!!! I just returned from my trip and this was a big negative for me for staying in Murren. I hate that cable car!!!

Thanks for a great trip report!!! Welcome to the "We love Switzerland" club. :-)

Thank you for writing such a thoughtful and informative trip report about this beautiful place.

And also thank you for pointing out that the Junior Berner Oberland passes you bought for the two older kids were redundant and unnecessary, as they were already traveling for free everywhere on the Family Card you requested with your Half Fare Cards. I am sorry you were confused and paid the extra for the JR. BO Passes,

Hopefully this will help alert others so they do not make the same mistake. The free Family Card is one reason the Half Fare Card is pretty much the default mode for parents traveling with kids 15 and under in Switzerland, with or without a BO or other regional pass.

Great trip report- thanks.
We have been to appenzell area several
times with teenagers and returning to Switzerland next year to explore the BO (staying in Wengen).
My kids will never forget having lunch at Aescher- it’s a favorite day trip from my German aunt and uncles’s home. If you have a chance to return when your kids are older I recommend!

I also just returned from a trip to Switzerland and enjoyed your very interesting report, both the parts that overlapped with our trip and the parts that were different. I'm glad it worked out so well for your family. We had three nights each in Wengen, Mürren, and Lucerne. I met a forum member in Mürren who told me that her favorite part of the trip was Appenzell, so I especially enjoyed reading your report on that part of the trip.

That Grutschalp cable car was awful! We were packed in like sardines the day we arrived. The other times we took it weren't so bad. I still loved Mürren, though, as a place to stay. In fact, if I could return today to any place I have visited in our 7 trips to Europe, it would be Mürren.

Edited to add: If you have any thoughts of returning, we visited two museums that I think could be great for a family: The Ballenberg Open Air Museum near Brienz, and the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne. We enjoyed them, and I kept thinking how much fun it would be to go there with our grandsons when they are older.