4 full days / 3 nights in Switzerland, itinerary help please!
 

Hi,

I try to read many posts but mostly have 1 week or month in Switzerland. I (actually, we're group of 4 adults and 1 child) will visit Europe between Apr 10-16. We get open-jaw ticket by arriving in Munich and departing in Venice.

### 10/4 - 1st night in Munich ###
We'll arrive Munich at night, but too late to get night train to Switzerland.

### 11-13/04 - not sure on 2nd, 3rd, 4th nights, please help ###
Train to Swit. Zurich or Luzern? early in the morning and start City tour.
--> Here ..... my itinerary starts mixed up ??? We've a hard time figure out which city to stay at night for 3 nights. We want to visit Zurich, Luzern, Interlaken. We may take a boat ride in nice lake, hop on/off on tram, pleasure walk, take the scenic route train (Golden Pass or Gernina Express), snow, ice cave, etc. We aren't sure to add Geneva after Golden Pass or Lugano after Bernina Express.

### 14/4 - 5th night in Overnight train to Venice ###
Departure city depends on my final Switz. itinerary, but prefer to have direct route to Venice.

### 15/4 - 6th night in Venice ###
Arrive Venice in the morning. (flight leaves 16/4 13:25)

Hi sakullak,

Well of course, going to Switzerland will be a pretty big detour on your Munich - Venice route! I think the closest destination may be Chur (about 4-5 hours from Munich by train) or Scuol (about 5-6 hours by train), so it would make sense to go down to the St Moritz area and take the Bernina Express into Italy. You could overnight in Chur or in Scuol, then in either St Moritz, Sils, or Pontresina.

Do a text search here to see more activities in these towns, but there are lakes, mounain walks, and gondola rides in abundance here. This area of Switzerland is less touristy than other areas (like the Berner Oberland or Luzern); it has a unique Romansch character; and its wide-valley and towering mountain scenery is stunning.

s

If your air travel plans are not set in stone AND you really want to visit Switzerland, then don't fly out of Venice. Fly from Zurich. That way you could spend your first 2 nights in Munich, take a 5-6 hour train to Luzern and spend the rest of your time in that area.

But if your flight plans are already concrete, then just skip Switzerland and visit Venice for 2-3 days. The weather in Venice in April is wonderful and the crowds will be down compared to the crush of summer. Venice is a place to be savored, not blown through on the way to the airport.

I got this itinerary this afternoon. Let's see it:

10/4 - Arrive Munich late at night, so I plan to get hotel near airport or train station. (Night in Munich)
11/4 - Early departure to Zurich, just have simply city tour here. I'll check later about things to do in Zurich. (Night in Zurich)
12/4 - Early departure to Chur for Glacier Express from Chur to Zermatt. After arriving Zermatt in late afternoon, go to Interlaken. (Night in Interlaken)
13/4 - Jungfrau excursion from Interlaken. I think it takes a whole day. (another Night in Interlaken)
14/4 - Early departure to Luzern. Since it's lovely city and want my brother's family to visit. I plan to cruise in Luzern lake or other things to do. Late at night, catch overnight train to Venice. (Night in Overnight train to Venice)
15/4 - Early arrival to Venice. Do all must do & see things :> (Night in Venice)
16/4 - 1:30 PM, fly back home.

swandav2000, I considered Golden Pass, Bernina Express and Glacier Express. First I like Bernina, but the route ends too far. Anyway, it's closer to Venice but I still want other Switz sightseeing. So I picked Glacier Express.

Edward2005, I couldn't get departure fight from Zurich or any Switz. cities. First, I got Frankfurt round trip ticket, but tried to change until getting Munich-Venice ticket. I also wanted to stay 2 nights in Venice, but others want Switz too much. :P

Hi sakullak,

No no no no no. Sorry to be so blunt. But no.

Do you realize you have 12 hours of train travel in one day (12/4)?

Zurich - Chur takes 1h26, so let's say you depart Zurich at 07.12 and arrive in Chur at 08.43.

Chur-Zermatt takes 5-6 hours, so let's say you depart Chur at 9.16 and arrive in Zermatt at 15.24.

Zermatt-Interlaken takes 3h13, so let's say you depart Interlaken at 15.30 and arrive in Interlaken at 19.03.

So, departing Zurich at 07.12 and arriving in Interlaken at 19.03 makes 12 solid hours of train travel (10h47 actually on trains). you won't have taken five minutes to even smell the air at any of the stops or walked two feet away from the train station. What will you remember of this day? Nothing.

I got these times from the Swiss Rail website at www.rail.ch. You need to spend some time there.

I seriously suggest you expand your days in Switzerland or narrow your scope.

s

I'm planning a trip to Zurich in April and plan to spend about three days there. I think your 1/2 day is definitely pushing it: you will be missing out on a lot of the sights, museums, etc., unless those things don't interest you. I'm not familiar with the rest of your itinerary, but it seems like you are trying to do WAY too much.

Sakullak, I think you're trying to put 10 litres of water into a 1 litre container. You are trying to do way to much. WIth the itinerary you have, you're going to be exhausted and you will be on the train more than you will be seeing and experiencing things. Pick ONE area of Switzerland and savor it. Here is my suggestion:

Apr 10. Arrive and sleep in Munich.
Apr 11. 6-hr train to Luzern. Sleep in Luzern.
Apr 12. All day in Luzern. Sleep in Luzern.
Apr 13. Day trips from Luzern. Sleep in Luzern.
Apr 14. Glacier Express to Lugano (about 3hrs). Sleep in Lugano.
Apr 15. 4 hr train to Venice area. Sleep outside Venice. There's no point at all in paying high prices to sleep in Venice for only one night.
Apr 16. Fly home.

Just assume you will return to Switzerland in the future. Don't try to cram it all into one very brief and hectic trip.

Edward2005 has the right idea--but a cople of thoughts.

The Luzern-Lugano trip is the William Tell Express, not the Glacier Express. The boat part of that trip can be boring--it's quicker and cheaper to take the train the entire way. Breaking the trip up in Lugano (or, alternatively, Milan or Verona) is a good idea.

I DO recommend staying in Venice--not outside the city. It IS more expensive, and a bit of a pain to get to the airport, but I think it is worth it.

I can't help myself, I've never heard anyone call a lakeboat ride on Lucerne's blue-green water 'boring' before. But I have to agree with others that you will be exhausted. How about staying several nights in either Interlaken or Lucerne and daytripping from there? If you're in Brienz, for example, it's an easy daytrip up into the mountains, over to Lucerne, or even to Bern. You can still do the William Tell route down toward Venice through Lugano. J.

I would suggest getting to Venice with at least 2 full days to spend at the end of the trip.

I love the parts of Switzerland I have visited but am not familiar with the places you want to visit. But agree with the others that you are trying to go too many places. You'll be doing most of your site-seeing thru the window of the train!

JMW44--don't get me wrong--I loved the boat ride on Lake Lucerne--the scenery is beautiful--but the shorter version was more than adequate. Going all the way to Fluellen by boat is a long, slow trip versus the train when the poster is trying to get to Venice!

swandav2000, you made me realize how crazy I am. Edward2005, I like your itinerary. On Apr 14, I might take Bernina or William Tell to Lugano. But will check if there's night train from Lugano to Venice or not. I've only 1 night in Venice, so I want to arrive early. :>

Thanks for all advices, they are very helpful.