travelingtulip7

Hello! I am traveling to Switzerland with a friend in the beginning of May, and we would appreciate feedback or recommendations for our itinerary. My friend really wants to see Lake Como, but I'm not sure if it adds too much travel to our list even though we will be traveling light. I'm going after a well-rounded Swiss vacation with some beautiful lakes and mountain views.

Day 1 (Lucerne): arrive in Geneva in morning and take 3 hr train to Lucerne, explore Lucerne after arriving
Day 2 (Lucerne): free day, potentially do a cheese or chocolate tasting
Day 3 (Murren): 2 hour morning train to Lauterbrunnen then cable car up to Murren, maybe do some easy hikes upon afternoon arrival
Day 4 (Murren) : paragliding across the Lauterbrunnen valley
Day 5 (Zermatt): 2 hr 45 min train from Lauterbrunnen in morning, do some hikes or explore Zermatt upon afternoon arrival
Day 6 (Zermatt): Five Lakes Walk or other hikes during day, Gornegrat railway up to the Matterhorn (for sunset?)
Day 7 (Lugano): 5 hr train to Lugano in morning, explore Lugano in afternoon and stay the night
Day 8 (Bellagio): 1 hr 15 min train to Como then 45 min ferry to Bellagio, explore Bellagio in afternoon and see Villa Melzi
Day 9 (Bellagio): day trip to Varenna via ferry and see Villa Monastero
Day 10 (Bellagio): free day
Day 11: leave in morning to travel home

Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you!

travelingtulip7

Hello! I am traveling to Switzerland with a friend in the beginning of May, and we would appreciate feedback or recommendations for our itinerary. My friend really wants to see Lake Como, but I'm not sure if it adds too much travel to our list even though we will be traveling light. I'm going after a well-rounded Swiss vacation with some beautiful lakes and mountain views. I have created 2 itineraries - one with and one without Lake Como. Does anyone have any feedback? Thank you!

Day 1 (Lucerne): arrive in Geneva in morning and take 3 hr train to Lucerne, explore Lucerne after arriving
Day 2 (Lucerne): free day, potentially do a cheese or chocolate tasting
Day 3 (Murren): 2 hour morning train to Lauterbrunnen then cable car up to Murren, maybe do some easy hikes upon afternoon arrival
Day 4 (Murren) : paragliding across the Lauterbrunnen valley
Day 5 (Zermatt): 2 hr 45 min train from Lauterbrunnen in morning, do some hikes or explore Zermatt upon afternoon arrival
Day 6 (Zermatt): Five Lakes Walk or other hikes during day, Gornegrat railway up to the Matterhorn (for sunset?)
Day 7 (Lugano): 5 hr train to Lugano in morning, explore Lugano in afternoon and stay the night
Day 8 (Bellagio): 1 hr 15 min train to Como then 45 min ferry to Bellagio, explore Bellagio in afternoon and see Villa Melzi
Day 9 (Bellagio): day trip to Varenna via ferry and see Villa Monastero
Day 10 (Bellagio): free day
Day 11: leave in morning to travel home



Thank you for your feedback, valadelphia! I was going to plan outbound flights from Milan, but I'm thinking of switching and keeping us in Switzerland for the full trip now. What do you think of this updated itinerary? Thank you again!

Day 1 (Lucerne): arrive in Geneva in morning and take 3 hr train to Lucerne, explore Lucerne after arriving
Day 2 (Lucerne): free day, potentially do a cheese or chocolate tasting
Day 3 (Lucerne): free day
Day 4 (Murren): 2 hour morning train to Lauterbrunnen then cable car up to Murren, maybe do some easy hikes upon afternoon arrival
Day 5 (Murren): paragliding across the Lauterbrunnen valley
Day 6 (Murren): free day
Day 7 (Murren): free day
Day 8 (Zermatt): 2 hr 45 min train from Lauterbrunnen in morning, do some hikes or explore Zermatt upon afternoon arrival
Day 9 (Zermatt): Five Lakes Walk or other hikes during day, Gornegrat railway up to the Matterhorn (for sunset?)
Day 10 (Zermatt): free day
Day 11: leave in morning to travel home (friend will be going to Geneva airport with this itinerary, while I'll be staying)

Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you!

Moderator1

We merged your two threads

Melnq8

It is possible to save money by staying in 2 or 3 star properties or an apartment, self-catering your meals and limiting your train/cable car travel. You can also save money by investigating if the areas you're interested in offer guest cards that provide free transport within a given area. This can save a bundle. These cards are often only available for summer/fall travel.

You'll find that many restaurants offer daily lunch specials, with 2-3 options that include a main, sometimes soup or salad, coffee and/or dessert for a set price. These are very good value and enable one to have their main meal at lunch.

If I only had a week and was trying to save money, I'd book an apartment in a single location that offered a free guest card and plan on exploring that particular region, thus avoid traveling large distances within the country. Every time you change location, you run up the cost of your trip.

Melnq8

As for the OP, both of your itineraries are pretty full on. Of the two, I think #2 makes more sense.

FWIW, I plan my travel in nights, so your itinerary #2 looks like this:

Three nights Lucerne
Four nights Murren
Three nights Zermatt

Does you friend plan to return to Geneva from Zermatt on day of travel? What time is her flight?

BarbAnn

Your second itinerary looks good, but you might think about visiting Monteux at the end of your time in Switzerland. I like it better than Luzern. Montreux is located on Lac Leman about an hour by train from Geneva. Lakeside promenade with views of the French Alps. Great hikes through the vineyards of Lavaux that terrace down the hillside to the lake. Day trip to Gruyeres (walled town with castle, cheese factory) and Broc (chocolate factory). The band Queen had their studio in Montreux. It is where Freddy Mercury recorded his last song. It can be visited for free. Staying in Montreux would position your friend to catch their flight out of Geneva. As much as I love Zermatt (I have been visiting every few years for over 20 years.) I would stay only 2 nights in Zermatt unless you need to do more hiking or go up to Klein Matterhorn. Same to Luzern. I stay there on every trip to Switzerland I make, but unless you are visiting several mountains, 1.5 days in Luzern is OK. Use those 2 nights in Montreux. Just something to think about.

Melnq8

Please note that my response above (#4) was directed to a poster who was asking about the cost of travel in Switzerland. That post has now disappeared.

travelingtulip7

My friends flight leaves from Geneva at 2:00pm, and she would be coming from Zermatt which is a 4 hr train ride....

Should we take one night off of Zermatt (or Murren?) to go to Montreux for part of the day (or can plan to get there in evening) so she has an easier commute to the airport the next morning? Or should we just stay in Zermatt and she’ll catch an early morning train out? I’m thinking this could be a weather-dependent decision as well, but I would appreciate any feedback! This is what the modified itinerary would be:

3 nights Lucerne:

Day 1 (Lucerne): arrive in Geneva in morning and take 3 hr train to Lucerne, explore Lucerne after arriving

Day 2 (Lucerne): free day, potentially do a cheese or chocolate tasting

Day 3 (Lucerne): free day

4 nights Murren:

Day 4 (Murren): 2 hour morning train to Lauterbrunnen then cable car up to Murren, maybe do some easy hikes upon afternoon arrival

Day 5 (Murren): paragliding across the Lauterbrunnen valley

Day 6 (Murren): free day

Day 7 (Murren): free day

2 nights Zermatt:

Day 8 (Zermatt): 2 hr 45 min train from Lauterbrunnen in morning, do some hikes or explore Zermatt upon afternoon arrival

Day 9 (Zermatt): Five Lakes Walk or other hikes during day, Gornegrat railway up to the Matterhorn (for sunset?)

Day 10 (Zermatt/Montreux): 2.5 hr train to Montreux after breakfast and spend the day exploring (or can leave later in day, latest train at 9pm)

1 night Montreux:

Day 11: leave in morning to travel home (friend will be going to Geneva airport with this itinerary, while I'll be staying)

BarbAnn

I like your new plan. You can explore Montreux. Walk along the Lakeside Promenade. Sunsets can be beautiful. And, your friend will have an easier time getting to the airport in Geneva.

Don't know when you are going, but during the summer there is an opportunity to hike near Gornergrat and meet the Black Nose Sheep. They are so cute.
https://www.gornergrat.ch/en/stories/meet-the-sheep

Also, paragliding in the Lauterbrunnen Valley is very weather dependent. It is good that you are staying a few days and you have scheduled it for the first full day. I had booked to do it on my last day. It was cancelled due to weather. I had no flexibility to reschedule. Lesson learned!

Have fun.

Melnq8

I'd personally not add anymore to any already busy itinerary - two nights in Zermatt only leaves you one full day, and poor weather could put the kibosh on your plans for that one full day.

One partial day in Montreux will not give you time to "day trip to Gruyeres (walled town with castle, cheese factory) and Broc (chocolate factory)", you'd want the better part of a day to do both (long daylight hours will be in your favor but closing times will remain the same - 5 pm for Cailler chocolate factory). If you plan to stay on in Montreux for a few days after your friend leaves, then yes it might work well.

What are your plans after your friend leaves? How much time will you have in the country afterwards?

mokka4

Take a day away a day from Muerren.

neckervd

ZERMATT
How will you do the 5 lakes walk:
with crampons?
with pick and rope?
In any case you will need an excellent map in order to plan he tiinerary as you cannot see the path which will still be under deep snow.
The access hike from Zermatt (1600 m) to Findeln - Sunnegga - Blauherd (2600 m) alone will be very strenuous. In early May, there will run neither the Sunneggga rope railway nor the Blauherd gondola.

neckervd

CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE
It is not impossible to go from Lucerne to Lake Zurich to visit a chocolate factory and to the Bernese Emmental (Affoltern) to visit a cheese diary.
However, it would be much easier to visit the cheese diary and the chocolate factory close to Gruyeres castle, a aera that you will bypass anyway when going from Montreux to Lucerne,
either along the extremely scenic Golden Pass itinerary (side trip to Gruyeres from Montbovon) or along the rather boring itinerary via Berne that you obviously prefer (side trip to Gruyeres from Palezieux or Romont).