ca_sj

Hi All,

Just got to know of this wonderful site and all you helpful ppl while surfing web.

Well i will be travelling to Switzerland with my wife in 2nd week of May for 6 days and i would like to your valuable comments to refine/update my draft itinerary which is currently as below:

Day 1 - 8th May: Reach Geneva airport around noon and post buying swiss flexi pass/swiss pass/ half fare card (yet to decide) ,we would like to see geneva city till late evening and leave for interlaken around 7:00 PM.(we will be staying in interlaken west for next 4 days and for some reason decided to make this as base camp.)

Day2 - 9th May: Start from interlaken west and see Jungfrauh , grindelwald and lauterbrunnen valley (I heard there are some water falls). i think this will take whole day and come back to see interaken town in evening.

Day 3- 10th May: Take the first possible boat to reach till thun (Not sure if should get down at speiz or thun and roam around) Post lunch at either of place we plan to take train to bern and spend rest of day to cover bern town and other monuments.(Do some shopping ..prob watches if cheap.) retrn back to I'laken by late evening.

Day 4 - 11th May : Take the second boat ride to breinz and/or visit lauterbrunnen again if we liked it much on day 2 and cme back to interlaken by 04;00 PM as we plan to do bungee jump (need advice..on this..!)

Day 5 -12th may: Leave early morning around 8 am to lucerne and spend whole day in lucerne sightseeing,include englerberg or mt titlis if possible and late by late evening around 08PM for zurich.

Day6 - 13th may: We have booked the only cheap hotel near airport so will travel to city back and spend whole day sight seeing zurich town,churches etc . We will leave for airport around 5:00 PM as we have flight late evening out of swiss.

....and now the queries..Starting with highest prio. to least...

1.Which travel pass we should buy ? I understand 4 day consecutive swiss pass is not valid base on time stamp i.e if we use on 8th noon, it will count 8th as one day and not base on hours? Which pass gives 50% on jungfrauh? We will always be travelling togthether.

2. We are more keen to see nature beauty ..so please advise changes ...Wengen/murren if possible and when?

3. Which place you suggest for shopping .(watches particular)...Lucerne,interlaken or zurich?

4.I did some reasearch on bungee jump and seems stockhorn bungee is not available till may last week.so plan to do glacier jump instead...do we need to prebook and book when we reach there..? is there any discount with swiss pass or card..

Your comments/suggestion are welcome..and we are open to change our itinerary...Only thing fixed is hotel and entry/exit from swiss.

Let me know if you need more info.

Regards,

ca_sj

Any one...........Please suggest

kja

ttt

neckervd

It's all feasible.

Day 1: May be you will be too tired for city siteseeing. The train ride via Montreux - Gstaad to Interlaken would be much more scenic, but longer, Geneva dp 14.33 or 16.42

Day 3: Some places to visit around lake Thun (have boat piers): Beatus caves, Spiez castle, Oberhofen castle and museum. Berne is an excellent choice. Have a look at the opening hours of the sites.

Day 4: Brienz: check Ballenberg open air museum, Aar Gorge and steam cog railway train to Brienzer Rothorn (if it's already running)

Day 5: After Jungfraujoch, Titlis will not bring you more. You could spend a whole day at Lucerne (old town, museums)or do a boat trip on Lake Lucerne.

Day 6: an alternative to zurich would be the Rhine Falls, medieval Schaffhausen with castle, a Rhine river boat ride to Stein am Rhein (very scenic small medieval town with castle) or even up to Constance. At least 2 trains every hour from these places to Zurich airport reailway station.

Swiss watches can be bought everywhere. For very luxurious one's (more than 1000 USD/piece) go to Geneva or Zurich Bahnhofstrasse.

catherinehaas

I would research the sbb.ch website for pass information. I am going to Switzerland in September. From what I understand, the swiss pass (unless you buy the flexible one) is only good for consecutive days. If you try to board a train without a valid pass, I would think big fines! Not recommended. I looked at buying the 1/2 fare card, which gives you 1/2 off on all fares and then buying Supersaver tickets which were point to point travel tickets. I am rethinking that idea because I want the freedom to get on/off the train wherever I want. I want to go to Spiez and Thun. If I get off the train in Spiez will I be able to get back on and continue to Thun??? Since I plan on taking the train everyday, I am buying the Swiss Pass and being safe. It is expensive. The pass provides a 25% discount on Jungfrau train.

For shopping, Zurich's Bahnhofstrasse has all the high end shopping options. For more interesting options, I am planning a trip to Bern to the market and flea market. Also, Old Town in Luzern. I don't need a $5000 watch. I am more into one of a kind items that I could only buy there made by the locals if possible.

Good luck and let me know how it goes...

ca_sj

Thanks neckervd!!! I have one more question-

Day 6: an alternative to zurich would be the Rhine Falls, medieval Schaffhausen with castle, a Rhine river boat ride to Stein am Rhein (very scenic small medieval town with castle) or even up to Constance. At least 2 trains every hour from these places to Zurich airport reailway station.

How far is rhine falls from zurich? We have our booking already done at zurich.....on Day 5 evening so will travel to zurich after lucerne sight seeing!...But if Rhine,Constance,Rhein are more scenic and feasible we would like to cover that..

bridget_from_oz

I agree with neckervd, when in Lucern, concentrate on the city of Lucern and the Lake itself - take a cruise the lake is beautiful. Once you have been up the Jungfrauh and anywhere in the Grindelwald area, Mount Titlis has nothing further to offer. Do it if you have time but don't make it a priority. We had a magical day up on the Schilthorn and were a little disappointed when we did Mt Titlis later, its not as high, and no-where near as spectacular.

Grindelwald in spring - there are miles of hiking tracks and yes the waterfalls are everywhere from melting snow.

Spiez is pretty !

Do consider the Rhine Falls as suggested by ca_sj. It is spectacular and easy to reach by regional train and a great day trip if you are in the area.

kenav

One thing though -

if the weather is not so good, then going up to the Jungfrau is inadvisable. Pilatus is easier to get to from Lucerne than Mt Titlis in Engleberg. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Mt. Titlis and I have been up to Schilthorn, etc. I thought Mt. Titlis was exceptional and does not have to take up the whole day like a trip to Jungfrau would.

If the Alpine Garden is open - Schnygge Platte - I would highly recommend that. Absolutely beautiful, lots of easy walking on top of the mountains, and very easy to get to from Interlaken. The cog wheel train to the top is spectacular - no tunnels so you will see everything as you climb through the Alps. 1/2 day excursion.

neckervd

Journey times (from Zurich main station):
Zurich - Rheinfall (Neuhausen): 50 min
Zurich - Schaffhausen: 40 min
Zurich - Stein am Rhein: 65 min
Zurich - Constance: 80 min

Boat Schaffhausen - Stein am Rhein: 2 hrs
Boat Stein am Rhein - Constance: 2 1/2 hrs

http://www.schaffhauserland.ch/en/index.cfm
http://www.konstanz.de/en/01800/01803/index.html

BTW: Schynige Platte railway and Alpengarten will most probably be closed until end of may

ca_sj

Thanks everyone for you helpful advice.I would like to one more thing.

I am interested in bungee jump while in interlaken, Can you please let me know:

1. How can i book the same?
2.Do i need to book in advance or i can first reach interlaken and than book or drop in? Is it safe meets safety standards..

We will be in interlaken from 8th till 11th..and plan to do bungee one evening while we do lake breinz in first half....(If its open in may 2nd week ?)

Any advice is welcome...

neckervd

You may have a look at
http://www.alpinraft.com/en/alpinraf...y-jumping.html

Lake Brienz boats run daily from April 27th (spring timetable). Summer timetable (more boats) from May 9th.
Around Brienz, check
http://ballenberg.ch/en/Info/Portrait
http://www.aareschlucht.ch/
http://www.giessbach.ch/history.html