kellyOh

Hi, we are a group of three gals in our early 30s and will be flying into Zurich in the beginning of March for 71/2 days. No Skiing experience but would love to try some snow sledge. Planning on getting a 8 day Swiss card for my rough plan below. Please advice whether this is the best card for our itinerary below.

Day 1 (thu) Reach zurich airport at 1.45pm. Travel by train to Lucerne with our luggages. Estimate to reach Lucerne at 4.30 pm or 5 pm. Guess its gonna be dark at around 6.30pm in March. Dump our luggage at hotel and try to walk around the old town or visit the famous dying Lion or the kapell bridge. Anything we can do when it gets dark?

Day 2 (fri) Rise early to take the Golden Round Trip to Mt Pilatus (IF the weather is good). To go by boat. Then back to Lucerne to collect our luggage and catch the Golden Pass train to Interlaken.

Have not decided whether to stay at Interlaken or lauterbrunnen. Read loads of good review for lauterbrunnen but our concern is that interlaken has more choices and cheaper hostels/dorms.

Once decided on our base (interlaken or lauterbrunnen, much depending on the accommodation), we will be staying there for 6 nights.

Day 3-7 (5 days) No specific/ in particular order, pretty much depending on the weather.

1 day to Lake Thun, town of thun
2 days to visit Jungfrau, wengen, murren and grindelwald
1 day trip to zermatt, Gornegrat
1 day to Bern and Friburg

Day 8 Travel to Montreux, Vevey - Chateu of Chillon. Have not decided whether to stay at montreux or Vevey.

Pls advice as for Day 9, we will be travelling to London and ends at Paris for 6 days.

Will this Itinerary be too rush? And is it advisable for us to visit 3 mountains (Pilatus, Jangfraujoch and Gornegrat) since we don't know how to ski and we r not sure on the weather.

Ingo

As usual for first timers you try to see and do too much in too little time.

No Golden Round Trip in March - the cog-train from Alpnachstad to Mt. Pilatus doesn't run in that time of year (snow). So you're stuck with the bus/gondola/cable car optino to get to the top of Mt. Pilatus. Frankly, a trip to Mt. Rigi would be more rewarding in winter IMO. Boat or bus to Vitznau, cog-train up to Mt. Rigi, maybe with a break at Kaltbad or so, do some walking up there, then down to Arth-Goldau on the other side of the mountain, back to Lucerne.

Calculate one day alone for Bern. You'll want to see one or two museums, the Minster church, tour the parliament building, walk around the old town in general and do some (window) shopping under the arcades ... no time for Fribourg on that day.

I would skip Gornergrat/Zermatt since it's quite far from Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen. Better head up into the mountains of the Jungfrau region once more.

love_ch

Your trip is good, however I would suggest you to plan time to visit cities like Lucerne or Zurich as well, which are great cities and maybe do Bern and Fribourg is a bit too much if you really would like to enjoy it - it is depend to you how much would you go deeper in knowing a city/region.
To have good suggestions about where to stay, accommodation, detailed visits, etc you should contact the local tourist offices directly: they will provide you with very good information.
For general information about Switzerland and each region you can check www.myswitzerland.com
The Swiss (Saver) Pass would be probably the best solution to travel for you http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/...s-pass-en.html

nytraveler

You need to decide if you want to visit mountains for the view or if you want to take ski lessons. You don;t just go to the top of a mountain and ski - and neither Lucern nor Interlaken have ski schools - since they a rein the valleys. If you want to try skiing you need a school and a town immediately adjacent to the mountain that has beginner slopes. I can;t give specific advise - but you can;t do all of that touring around and larn to ski too. And if you want other snow activities - even sleigh rides etc - I think you need to be in ski resorts - higher altitudes and lots of snow.

The Jungfrau does have a ski school at the top - but I would not reco trying to learn at 12,000 feet - even if they do hve beginner lessons. And other activities there are limited (I would google Jungfrau to see.)

If you want to spend a couple of days in as ski resort I suspect it will be much more expensive - and you will have to remove some of your other activities (which look much more like a summer versus winter trip to switz).

PalenQ

Planning on getting a 8 day Swiss card for my rough plan below>

that would be Swiss Pass - a Swiss Card is a different chreture altoether and not what you want for travel plans - an 8-dau consecutive Swiss Pass (Saverpass with three names on one pass - cheaper than solo passes) would cover nearly all your travels including 100% up to Murren, Wengen and Grindelwald and Zermatt and all others.

For lots of goodies on Swiss trains, gondolas and the Jungfrau or Zermatt area transports check out IMO these superb sources - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seaet61.com and www.ricksteves.com.

as for day trips from gthe Interlaken area I would suggest including Lucerne in that in lieu of Thun unless you have a reason to go there - Thun is a nice city but Lucerne is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe - a few hours sees it all - the city's setting on lovely Lake Lucerne and its old covered wooden bridges make it dreamy to look at but not that much to do really except a few museums (400+ Swiss museums are free with a Swiss Pass)

Getting to Lucerne from Interlaken is great if you take the Bernina Pass scenic train route (part of the Golden Pass route) up and over the Brunig Pass and then down towards Lake Lucerne - one of the iconic scenic Swiss railways.

Montreux or Vevey can't go wrong - many however prefer Vewvey as it is a bit quainter and is located on a spit of land jutting out into the lake. Even in March boats on Swiss lakes will be running a few services - free with Swiss Pass so just flash the pass and hop aboard.

mokka4

Did you mean one day to see Both Bern AND Fribourg? Although they are just 35 minutes apart by train, Bern deserves at least a full day to appreciate it. I just returned from a nine-day stay in Bern, and discovered a new corner to explore each evening!

Dukey1

Be aware regarding Zermatt. The trip up by rail from Visp is scenic. Zermatt itself I don't find to be any more interesting and perhaps not as interesti8ng as Wengen/Murren.

The only problem and after going all that way is this: it is entirely possible that you can go up on the Gornergrat railway to the viewing area for the peak and the peak to be entirely shrouded in clouds. The views over the Monte Rosa Massif are great but all in all I think you will find the views in the Jungfrau area to be consistently the more spectacular.

Look, I am not saying don't go but it can be an iffy proposition. You might also consider taking the trip up from Montreux to Rochers de Naye...now THAT is both a spectacular trip up and down and the views over Lac Leman are wonderful. But again, the possibility of cloud cover but since you are going to visit Chillon anyway...

isabel

I think your plan sounds quite good. I disagree with some of the advice you are getting, but it's all just opinions so take them all with a grain of salt.

Bern is a great town but you can certainly walk around and see the highlights in half a day and so include another town close by in the same day if you wish.

Most people advise not to stay in Interlaken as it's quite "touristy". But it is a great base, especially given the things you want to see- Thun, Zermatt and Bern. Going up into the mountains is much better on sunny days so if you base there for five days or so you can check the weather each day and on the best weather days go into the mountains and other days go to Thun or Bern. A few years ago we did a trip where we based in Interlaken for five days and did two up into the mountains, one to Bern and Murten, and one to Thun and Speiz.

The town of Zermatt I found to be quite boring but getting up to Gornergrat to see the Matterhorn was spectacular. Apparently it is behind clouds quite a lot so it's only worth going if you get a forecast for a sunny day. I based in Lausanne last summer for six days with the plan to go to Zermatt only if I got a good day - on day five I finally did and it was wonderful. And even though it was beautifully sunny in the morning, by about 2pm it was cloudy so if you do go plan to go early. I was there in July so I don't know if you can hike the trails at all in March. Seeing what you can see from the train and the lookout station at the top is good but it was even better to hike part of the way day. I have no idea if you can do that in March.

I also had an eight day Swiss Pass and found it did save me money and certainly it was nice not to have to really think about where I was going and buy tickets - just hop on the next train going where you want. However, although it did cover the train as far as Zermatt, it only covers 50% of the Gornergrat train.

Here's my photos from both my Switzerland trips. www.pbase.com/annforcier/switzerland

kja

You've already gotten some great advice. I just want to add my voice to the chorus saying that you are being overly ambitious -- and many people think that I am overly ambitious! As examples, Berne deserves at least a full day and can't really be combined with Fribourg and you won't be able to find time to learn to ski while traveling around at the pace you suggest.

One other thing: Switzerland is expensive. Very beautiful, but very expensive. If your budget is limited, you might want to spend some time in other parts of the Alps.

PalenQ

Yes a problem with doing a day trip to Zermat just to see the Matterhorn, arguably the most famous mountain peak in the world after Mt Everest, is that yes it can always be shrouded in fog or clouds and thus a wash out - seeing the Matterhorn has always been a surrealistic experience for me - check weather reports - ubiquitous IME in this area on hotel TVs before setting out - if it is sunny at the Matterhorn go for it - if not do some other day trip in the Interlaken area.

kleeblatt

Just to throw a wrench into your laid out plans, there will be Fasnacht celebrations in Lucerne on Monday and Tuesday, March 3 and 4. It's quite a celebration.

kellyOh

Thanks Ingo, love_ch, nytraveller, palenq, mokka4, dukey1, isabel, kja and schuler for the reply.. Am really glad you guys did!

Ingo, thanks for the heads up on the Golden Round trip. Will change it to Mt Rigi if there's good weather. If not, we will visit the town of Lucerne instead.

Love_ch, we will be heading straight to Lucerne right after touching down from Zurich. Question now is whether to stay for 2 nights here instead of 1?

nytraveller, we will not be taking any ski lesson this round. Have not seen any real snow b4. So we will just play with the snow with loads of pictures. However, wish that we will have the chance to come back another round exclusively as a skiing trip!

Will travelling to Lake Thun by boat ok in March? Since its still winter, will it be too cold?

PalenQ, thanks for the links. Very useful and informative for a first timer like me.

Mokka4, agreed, probably a day in Bern will keep us pretty much occupied.

Dukey1, thanks for suggesting Rochers de Naye. Sounds interesting. Will include it in our itinerary.

isabel, your pictures are absolutely awesome. Hope we will get some nice weather during our stay there to enjoy the wonderful view.

kja, yes our budget is limited. So ski lesson will be a no-no for us this time. Kicking and throwing snows will make us very happy! haha will save the lesson for our next trip, hopefully!

schuler, our tickets are booked! Its a pity that we have to miss the Fasnacht celebration

To ease our travelling, will it be easier if we narrow our base to 2 places? We are currently planning on 1 or 2 nights in Lucerne, 1 night in Montreux or Vevey and the remaining at Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen.

Ingo

In March only one boat is running on Lake Thun: Departs about 10 am from Thun to Interlaken, back early afternoon. Check schedule here: http://www.bls.ch/d/schifffahrt/fahr...-winter-13.pdf

I suggest you explore Lake Thun by a combination of boat, bus and train. Trains run along the western shore, buses along the eastern shore. Unfortunately the castles at Lake Thun (Oberhofen, Spiez) are closed in winter. Ditto the churches, I guess. At least Castle Thun is open daily 13 - 16 h.

kellyOh

Oh no! I did plan to visit the Oberhofen castle Guess what i have in mind is really more suitable for a summer visit

PalenQ

Oberhofen still makes a sweet stop on the lake - nice town for say lunch - then take the bus to Thun or walk there like I did!

PalenQ

there are two classes on these boats - at least last time I went on them not too long ago - first class is up front on the top deck and IMO a much more better position than the lower covered deck or the outdoor portion at the rear.

If you have a 2nd class ticket or pass you can pay the upgrade difference on board to the conductor - is not all that much and if a nice day - IF in March is a big IF - well worth it.

kellyOh

Haha with your capital IF twice, I will assume that the chance of a nice weather is much lesser in March.. Thanks for the tips.. Will upgrade IF we get good weather..

So do u think we should narrow down our base to 2 bases instead of 3? Am afraid that it will be troublesome for us to haul our luggage..

PalenQ

Am afraid that it will be troublesome for us to haul our luggage..>

Swiss railways have a baggage service where you can send you bags - heavy bags ahead and will be waiting you usually in the station you go to - I think your 3 bases are nice and all very different - Lucerne is a lot closer for the day you land than Lauterbrunnen or Interlaken - and try to pack light - as they say pack everything you think you need and then take half of it out and leave it at home!

That said things in Switzerland are so so expensive so bring anything from home that you will need - toiletries, etc.

kellyOh

Taking half out? Wow..I really need to learn packing light! I may use those luggage with wheels, will there be escalator or elevator at the Zurich, Lucerne, interlaken and montreux station? Or should we use a backpack?

Another advice I need is the transport from montreux to London? Surfed n mostly are trains n they are expensive! Any idea if there are any overnight bus to London?

PalenQ

There are backpacks like mine that convert to wheeled luggage when you need it - most of the time I use it with wheels and have wheeled it miles at times or when having to go up and down stairs use it as a backpack.

If I recall correctly Luceren and Zurich stations are flat levels - meaning the platforms are all on the same level and the tracks dead-end - meaning when you have to go from one platform to another you have no stairs to navigate - Interlaken and Montreux - where trains continue through the stations have underground passageways to negotiate but just a short flight of stairs and wheeled luggage should have no problem with that -using the wheels to go up and down stairs is not hard.

At Interlaken-Ost if going to the hills the mountain train is usually right next to the mainline train coming in IME.

So no real problem with stairs in any of those stations I believe - and there may now be lifts at Interlaken and Montreux - were not as I recall a few years back last time I was there.