macksix

Good Morning Fodor's friends. My husband and I will travel to Switzerland and Paris in September. We are flying into Zurich and out of Paris. We have 12 nights (excluding travel time) and our plan is to spend the last two in Paris. We have been there twice, and this is just a nice add on while we are on the same continent. We love to walk, walk, walk, sightsee, and eat wonderful European food. We are moderate hikers and in good shape for our (almost) 60th year.

The current plan is as follows:
Land in Zurich and take the train to Luzern - 3 nights in Luzern
Train to Berner Oberland - 4 nights in Wengen
Open to suggestions! (1 or 2 nights)
Train to Zurich -1 or 2 nights in Zurich
Train to Paris - 2 nights in Paris

We are open to any suggestions or itinerary shuffling - with the exception of the last two nights in Paris. We don't necessarily need to return to Zurich to catch the train to Paris, but we do want to spend at least one night in Zurich. If we don't do the Zurich-Paris train, then it would make sense to stay in Zurich when we land on the first day.

Thank you for any advice!!

Melnq8

For your free two nights, you might consider Thun, Brienz , Rapperswill, Solothurn or Engelberg.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ations/thun-1/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ations/brienz/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...pperswil-jona/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ons/solothurn/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ons/engelberg/

jconway82

I had a good time in Lauteurbrunnen. We took a gondola then a train then a gondola up to Gimmelwald. This looks to be near Wengen so you might be able to day trip it or find similar activities were you are at. Lucerne was also a pleasant town. All the drives we took were pretty spectacular.

twk

When we did Switzerland in 2016, we did something similar on arrival day, traveling from the airport in Zurich all the way to Wengen (via Luzern, for better scenery), figuring that was probably the best way to spend arrival day, and then spent one night in Zurich at the end of the trip. But, if you are going on to Paris, I think I would take my night in Zurich on arrival, then proceed as planned, and use your extra couple of days for somewhere on Lake Geneva (we stayed at Grandvaux and loved it), then take the train from there to Paris.

macksix

Thank you Melnq8! I will do some research on those areas tonight. I am not familiar with them, but we are always up for an adventure.

macksix

Thank you jconway82! I agree that Lauterbrunnen will work for a day trip from Wengen. Can't wait to see all of the wonderful scenery!

macksix

Thank you twk! I had a similar thought about going south and then taking the train from Geneva. I will do some research and see what we find.

neckervd

There are also direct trains from Lausanne to Paris. No need to go to Geneva.

GinnyJo

We spent our first 3 nights in Zurich and were happy we did. Our plan was to spend most of the next day in Luzern on our way to Wengen; we found it so touristy that we were glad we did not have more time there.

For your extra nights, I'd consider Bern and Montreal. Based on posts here (I believe it was Adelaidian), we had a great a few nights at the Golf Hotel René Capt in Montreux on Lake Geneva, which might work well for you working your way to Paris. We found everything to be convenient by train and we then flew out of Geneva.

twk

Better idea.

macksix

Thank you GinnyJo!

That is an interesting comment about Luzern. Perhaps we can "borrow" a night from there and add to Zurich.
I appreciate your recommendations!