n0carrots

Hey everyone,

I'm planning out a trip to The Netherlands and Switzerland in mid September, but need advice for the Swiss portion of the trip. There's SO much that I'd love to see in Switzerland that I'm having trouble trimming things down. This will be our first time in Europe so I may be over exuberant with planning.

If you all could take a look at my rough itinerary so far, I'd really appreciate it.

ROUGH OUTLINE:

Amsterdam to Geneva to Vevey
-----
- Flight to Geneva, 8AM (1h 25 m)
- Take train to Vevey (1h 9 m)
- Drop off luggage
- Mountains of Montreux
- Chillon Castle
- Sleep in Vevey


Vevey to Lauterbrunnen
-----
- Gruyeres
- Thun Castle
- Golden Pass Train
- Sleep in Lauterbrunnen


Lauterbrunnen Base
-----
- Jungfraujoch
- Schilthorn
- Dinner at Piz Gloria
- Sleep in Lauterbrunnen


Lauterbrunnen Base
-----
- Mannlichen
- Murren and valley view
- Blumental Panorama Trail
- Sleep in Lauterbrunnen


Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne
-----
- Check into hotel, drop off luggage
- Mount Pilatus (boat trip over to Mt Pilatus from downtown Lucerne)
- 40 minute Alpine ride at Mount Pilatus
- ???
- Sleep in Lucerne


Lucerne Base
-----
- Cogwheel train to Mount Rigi (???)
- Golden Round Trip from Lucerne (may be all-day activity)
- Sleep in Lucerne


Lucerne to Zurich
-----
- Lucerne to Zurich (1h away)
- Drop off luggage
- Spend day in Stein am Rhein (1h 5m away)
- Take boat down to Schaffhausen
- Train back to Zurich
- Sleep in Zurich


Zurich to San Francisco
-----
- Depart for home


I'm not super confident on the activities I have planned; if you can take a look and suggest additions or alternatives, or your personal 'must-sees', that'd be great. I was really hoping to fit in the Bernina Express but I'm having a hard time making it work.

What I envision for this trip is mostly breathtaking landscapes, quaint towns, and splurging on food (food centric suggestions welcome). Just overall a relaxing trip through the mountains but covering a lot of ground if possible. Not too interested in spending time in big cities since we're coming from Amsterdam.

I'll be traveling with my husband and sister, all of us in our late 20s.

Thank you so much for reading through! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

kja

I’m not sure I fully understand your plan, but I think I undertand enough to think you may, indeed be considering an overly ambitious option, particularly because weather might or might meet your needs.

I haven’t checked times, but think it would be difficult (at best) to see Gruyeres on the day you move from Vevey to Lauterbrunnen.

For this particular trip, and your stated priorities, I’m not sure that Stein am Rhein makes sense.

You’ll see lots of stunning scenery; no reason (IMO) to try for the Bernina route on this trip.

You might find some useful information in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...any-thanks.cfm

swandav2000

Hi nOcarrots,

You haven't given yourself any time to enjoy Vevey itself, and I think its intriguing and charming twisting streets deserve an hour or two, so be sure to make time for that.

I also recommend that you walk to Chillon castle rather than take the bus or ferry -- the flowered lakeside promenade is the main attraction and most beautiful feature of the town (imo), so it would be a shame to miss that. Walking to Chillon from Montreux takes about 45 minutes. Then it takes about 2h to see the inside of the castle.

I'm not certain what you mean by "mountain of Montreux," but will guess that you mean the Rochers-de-Naye. Imo, you don't need to spend time doing that since you're going to be seeing the truly big mountains at your next stop. It will take at least 2-3h to ascend & look around, and with only part of one day in Vevey, I don't think that's a good use of time. I think that the lake itself is so pretty and so stunning, that it would be good to concentrate on it while there.

It's rare for me to disagree with kja, but in this case, I do; it's quite easy to see Gruyeres while enroute from Vevey/Montreux to Lauterbrunnen. Gruyeres is a quick detour (maybe 20 minutes) from the Golden Pass route. I usually recommend doing this. However, there are NO luggage lockers in Gruyeres (or there weren't the last time I was there a few years ago), so you have to plan for that. You can send your suitcases ahead of you using the Express Baggage Service of the SBB.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-servic...s-luggage.html

I also think you have your activities in the Jungfrau area a bit jumbled. Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn lie in different areas, and it would be difficult to ascend both in one day. Also, Mürren lies on the Schilthorn side, so it would be best to see them on one day. Männlichen lies on the Jungfraujoch side, so it would be best to see them on one day. You may want to take a look at a map to visualize the area.

I do agree with kja that you don't have time to fit in the Bernina Express.

Have fun as you plan!

s

kja

I can see why my response about Gruyeres led swandav to disagree – it depends on what you hope to do there! I wanted to visit the castle and more; I couldn’t have done that without luggage storage and a chunk of time, more than I think reasonable given that you hope to reach Lauterbrunnen that day – and with soooo little time in Lauterbrunnen.... JMO!

n0carrots

Thank you both SO much for your responses! I'll make some changes and do some more researching according to your suggestions. I may be back.

PalenQ

You are traveling enough on trains to make a 8-day consetutive Swiss Pass IMO a no-brainer - for lots of info on Swiss trains and passes check www.sbb.ch -official site of Swiss Railways; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ

- Golden Round Trip from Lucerne (may be all-day activity)>

To where?

You will already have done all sections of it - Montreux to Interlaken and Interlaken to Lucerne.

cross that off your already full list

PalenQ

Drop Thun Castle - major detour from direct GPass route to Interlaken -you do go right by Spiez and its neat castle - nicer maybe to see from outside - you really have no time to stop if doing Gruyeres which is possible but I'd suggest just going Montreux-Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen as that will take much of the day.

I'd suggest a day trip - day 1 - from Vevey to Gruyeres and make it more leisurely.

suze

I also am curious what are "the mountains of Montreux"?

I've spent a bit of time there and never heard of that. And YES to spending more time in Vevey. It's quite charming.

PalenQ

"the mountains of Montreux">

Rochers de Naye?

joannyc

Maybe I missed it but I don't see your mode of transportation.

I drove from Interlaken (only about 13km from Lauterbrunnen)to Montreux. I had time to stop at Broc to tour (and taste!) the chocolate factory and then onto Gruyeres to tour the castle, town, and have a fondue lunch. I arrived in Montreux probably about 4-5pm (it was an hour or so before cocktail hour! LOL!).

kja

Much as I hate to disagree with joannyc, I’d strongly encourage you to take trains for this trip so that you can take full advantage of the chance to enjoy the stunning scenery.

PalenQ

Well I'm a train nut but that sounds like a pretty neat drive too - if you like to drive thrilling side roads you could get some pretty cool drives - the main autobahn would be a drag like any autobahn - but say to drive down thru the vineyards high above Montreux could be for someone who loves to drive - really sweet.

But for most trains are best but cars can be exciting -I drove all over Switzerland and had a ball - going up and over the San Bernardio Pass and the Gotthard Pass are still amongst my finest travel memories of all time.

swandav2000

Well ... about driving. In the summertime there is a greasy grey smog that hangs over the lake in Montreux. People are strongly encouraged not to drive and to take the town bus. I personally would not want to be part of the problem.

Plus, I also love trains.

s

PalenQ

Well you know I love trains but driving those Alpine passes in Switzerland eons ago is still a treasured travel moment -the burden of being green should yes apply to the one-time tourist I guess but not really as it is not the one-time motorist but habitual ones that are the problem.

PalenQ

Swiss postal buses are a great way to experience sinuous Alpine roads and still be green-

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...witzerland.cfm

n0carrots

Thank you all again. Please have a look at my modified trip (I've added one day). We don't mind our days being a bit packed since we'll have early starts.

Regarding the "Mountains of Montreux", sorry for the vagueness-- I must have seen it described that way on a forum. But I meant Rochers-de-Naye. And to clarify, we will be travelling by train (and/or bus) with the 8-Day Swiss Rail Pass.


MODIFIED ITINERARY:

(Day 1) Amsterdam to Geneva (1 hr 25 min) to Vevey (45 min)

* Flight to Geneva (1h 25m)
* Take train to Vevey (1h 9m)
* Explore Vevey
* Explore Montreux (20m away)
* Chillon Castle (exterior)
* Rochers-de-Naye
* Sleep in Vevey


(Day 8) - Vevey Base

* Day trip to Gruyeres
* Chocolate tour
* Fondue
* Sleep in Vevey


(Day 9) - Vevey to Wengen

* Begin Golden Pass Line
* ??? (need daytime activity en route to Wengen)
* Sleep in Wengen


(Day 10) - Wengen Base

* Jungfraujoch
* Mannlichen
* Trummelbach falls
* Sleep in Wengen


(Day 11) - Wengen Base

* Schilthorn
* Murren
* Gimmelwald
* Sleep in Wengen


(Day 12) - Wengen Base

* Spiez
* Thun Castle
* Hilterfingen and Oberhofen
* Sleep in Wengen


(Day 13) - Wengen to Lucerne

* Stop at Brienz en route to Lucerne
* Continue to Lucerne
* Explore Lucerne
* Sleep in Lucerne

(Day 14) - Lucerne Base

* Mount Pilatus
* ???
* Sleep in Lucerne


(Day 15) - Lucerne to Zurich (50m)

* Drop off luggage in Zurich
* Trip to Stein am Rhein, boat ride down to Schaffhausen
* Sleep in Zurich


(Day 16) - Zurich to San Francisco

* Depart for home

n0carrots

Oh, pardon the "Day" formatting... it carried over from my Amsterdam itinerary, I forgot to edit it. In any case, its 9 days in total.

suze

<<Chillon Castle (exterior)>>

You REALLY want to tour the interior of Chillon (!!!) not just look at the exterior. It's *incredible* and well worth the time and price of admission.

suze

I would also definitely tour the caste at Gruyeres while you are there as well. Much more interesting than chocolate or fondue (ha-ha). It's a completely different time period and experience than Chillon.