pgflorida

We plan to fly into Munich and stay there for four nights, doing a day trip to Salzburg and other places. Then plan on taking a train into Switzerland, eventually flying out of Zurich. We arrive on a Friday, leave Munich on Tues and plan to fly home on Sunday, so have four nights plus our last night in Zurich. Any suggestions on the Tue-Fri time frame? We want to stop in Innsbruck on the way to Interlaken. Maybe a day trip? Then stay near Interlaken for two nights, one night in Lucerne then onto Zurich. Does this sound feasible? Any suggestions?

PalenQ

Yes - Innsbruck is a good detour off the already long Munich to Zurich/Interlaken train ride - do it as a day trip from Munich better.

You may want to look into a 4-consecutive-day Swiss Pass to cover all your trains in Switzerland - very useful in the Jungfrau Region - stay in a neat mountain town like Grindelwald or Wengen and be eyeball to eyeball with soaring glacier-girdled peaks hovering above lush meadows. Passes cover trains in full to either one.

In Lucerne do a day trip on the boats on lovely Lake Lucerne if possible - to me the nicest of all Swiss lakes - Lucerne is not that far from Zurich Airport by train if your flight is not really early stay there the night before your flight. Many folks are not enthralled with Zurich though I always found it pleasant - but the lures of Switzerland IMO are the Alpine wonderlands and its lakes.

For lots of great info on Swiss trains and the Jungfrau Region in particular check out these IMO superb sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

greg

Are you staying overnight in Zurich because you have a compelling reason to visit something there or have you automatically assumed that because you are leaving from Zurich, you are obliged to stay overnight in Zurich?

Unless your flight leaving ZRH is super early, you can travel from Luzern to Zurich airport as early as 6:13am. Look at the train schedule, www.sbb.ch.

neckervd

Do you want to visit Switzerland or just the Bernese Oberland and Lucerne?

In which season will you travel? Some places are fine in summer and disappointing or even closed (like botanical gardens, open air museums, caves, adventure parks) in winter or not running all the year round.

How will you travel in Bavaria: Bavaria ticket, standard tickets? Cheapest transport from Munich to Lake Constance (Friedrichshafen, Konstanz, Bregenz), Zurich, Chur, Lugano, Bellinzona: http://meinfernbus.de/

Innsbruck, the castles of Ludwig or Zugspitze (Garmisch/Ehrwald) can easily be combined with the Glaciers and Lakes of Upper Engadine (Switzerland) from where it's easy to reach Lake Como and Lake Lugano, either via Bernina or via Maloja. All these routes are extremely scenic.

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

PalenQ

Between Interlaken and Lucerne be sure to take the Brunig Pass scenic railway which goes up and over the Brunig Pass and is infinitely more scenic and about just as quick as the mainline route Interlaken-Bern-Lucerne. Official Golden Pass trains ply this route if you want commentary en route and panoramic observation cars.

pgflorida

PalenQ would it be best to stopin Innsbruck just for a few hours, then continue on to Interlaken so we can stay there for three nights, or spend the night and do two in Interlaken. I am thinking it would be best to stay for the three nightsin Interlaken since we will have lots to see in that area?

pgflorida

We will be there the last week of Feb

neckervd

Spend more time at Innsbruck, if you like historic European cities (not touristy at all in February).
Spend more time at Interlaken if you like half empty faceless travel hubs.