hi all...



we are planning to go on 4 days trip to swiss mid december and plz find our itinerary

and kindly let me know if its practically possible..to cover all these places in 4 days..



1. Arriving on Friday 16.20 @ zurich.

Taking panaromic train to Zermatt which is 3.5 hours journey , overnite @ zermatt

Plz suggest cheap accomodations if any..



2 On saturday,. Early morning 8 take train to mountain top @ zermatt (Gornergrat)and come back to hotel

Take train to interlanken by 1 afternoon.



Reaching interlanken by 3 and starting for jangfraugh,schilthorn staying there till 6. and reach hotel for ovenite @ interlanken.



3. On sunday,Early morning by 7 leave interlanken and reach lucerne.

take Train @ 11 am to engelberg..

and even boat cruise @ lake thun or lake breinz,overnite @ lucerne
transport museum..



4. on monday, leave early morning to m t titlis and go bk to lucerne hotel.

Leave for zurich in the evening by 7 , overnite @ zurich



4.on tuesday, board the flight to dublin...back home..



Plz let me know if this plan would work out...or do I need to start early to cover all these places and lemme know if we need to look for accomodations closer to these places...and suggest few names of the hotels...



Many thanks..

I think it's too much in too few days. I'm not sure if it's actually possible to even do all the things mentioned. If you happen to miss a train, which is likely on such a tight schedule, then your whole plans will be messed up.

You will also need to factor in time to get through customs in the airport and get from the airport to the train station.

For four days I would suggest travelling to Lucerne and staying there. Do some day trips from Lucerne.

Zermatt is nice, but I don't think you can fit it all in in 4 days. We stayed at the Testa Grigia Hotel in Zermatt, which was about 200m walk from the train station. Being ski season in December, Zermatt may be well booked by now.

Sorry but for only 4 days, a lot of running around, not my kind of travelling but it's not my trip.

1. Zurich to Zermatt by panoramic train ? Which panoramic train ? Perhpas you are mixing up with Glacier Express train ?

2. Tell me, are you doing Gornergrat in Zermatt, Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn on BO on the same day ? (Are you serious ? ;-) ). If it's not impossible, it would be too dark to enjoy the last part of it in this season. Personally I think doing two of the three would be too much (Gornergrat & Jungfraujoch or Jungfrau & Schilthorn ?

3. Boats on lake Thun and lake Brienz are probably not running for winter. I found time tables only for Spring/Summer/Autumn. Autumn ends at mid October.

Basically you are visiting three areas in 4 days. I would consider at least making it to two.

Hi madhukri,

Yes, finding a hotel in Zermatt will be very tough. In addition to the availability question, there is the problem of staying only one night. Most hotels in Zermatt require a minimum stay of seven nights at this time of year.

I would start looking right now and confirm a hotel if you can find one.

s

If doing all that zur-Zerm-Inter-Zurich in a 4-day period then the 4 straight day Swiss Pass may be a great deal:
4 straight days unlimited train, boat, most postal buses, city trams, etc. and free entry to over 400 museums
$165 p.p. in 2nd class
$247 p.p. 1st

that's a Saverpass - two names on one pass. Will take you to Zermatt fully but for cables and Gornergrat trains, etc. 50% off with the pass - 50% off everything in Switzerland that moves that isn't covered in full by the pass

most things are covered except gondolas and trains to mountain tops (25% discount on Jungfraujoch train from Wengen where the pass takes you in full - used to be 50% but now sbb.ch site says 25% off as of JIuly, 2007)

Anyway would cover all your basic travel airport to airport

Passes are sold at stations in Switzerland but currently are about 18-20% higher than exact same pass in U.S., marketed here by Raileurope, part owned by Swiss Railways - due to decline of dollar. Swiss pass prices in U.S. are set each Jan 1 and are guaranteed throughout the calendar year and readjusted Jan 1 - i would expect a substantial increase this Jan 1 to bring pass prices in U.S. and Switzerland in line - you are traveling in Dec - OK but for others planning trips after Jan if you buy pass at 2007 price you can activate it until six months later - thru the end of June and use it at old rates. Could save a lot i theorize but i do not know new prices. Passes bought thru RailEurope however incur a $18 mailing fee - but i always recommend Budget Europe for any Swiss Pass due to my long dealings with them - they are Swiss rail experts and also won't charge the $18 mailing fee on most orders. (www.budgeteuropetravel.com and request their free European Planning & Rail Guide which has a good chapter on Switzerland and Swiss trains including areas you are going to. www.ricksteves.com also has good info. www.swisstravelsytem.com has good info on scenic and panoramic-carred trains like Jungfrajoch and Schilthorn cableways.
To see if a Swiss Pass is a good deal for you go to www.sbb.ch for real fares in Swiss Francs (1 CHF= .90 cents U.S. about) and also compare to Half-Fare card which costs CHF 99 but then you must pay 50% for all train trips - the one to Zermatt is especially pricey so the 4-straight day pass may be best.

If you were just going zurich to Interlaken area and then staying there then the half-fare card may make sense

Not to be rude, but this plan is sheer madness. If you have four days, either stay in one area and explore it in more detail, or at most pick two locations for two days each.

I'm preaching here, but in my view, travel shouldn't be an endurance test like the Bataan Death March.

In addition to everything the others have already mentioned, your plan simply assumes that you'll have perfect weather conditions all the time. There is absolutely no guarantee for that. On cloudy days you won't see anything in the Alps.

1. The "panoramic train to Zermatt" (if there is any at all, which I doubt) on a December afternoon/evening after arriving in Zurich 16.20 is absolutely useless because it will be pitch dark. Got any idea when the sun sets in mid December in these parts of the world?

2. Train up Gornergrat, back to Zermatt and boarding a train by 1 p.m. won't work.
The train trip to Interlaken should take more than 2 hours.
Getting into the mountains even longer. Jungfrau and Schilthorn are not exactly in Interlaken. Again, it will be pitch dark after 4 p.m.

3. Engelberg, boat cruise and Verkehrshaus in Luzern in ONE DAY??? Sorry, this is either one or the other.

4. Titlis is above Engelberg, I suppose you mean Pilatus? If yes, this is the only one of your 4 day plans that makes sense.

Alternative: With just 4 days, I'd suggest picking one base that allows day trip options for good weather and bad weather and offers enough to do during the long dark evenings. That means staying at either Interlaken or Luzern and setting out from there. Forget about Zermatt, you won't fit it in this time.

The BOB Interlaken-Grindelwald-Wengen-Lauterbrunnen-Murren area to me is the one to head for for four days at this time of year - this is the highlight of Switzerland IMO - Zermatt is much farther and for the average tourists this region has a much more varied type of experiences to see and do.