I will be solo in Switzerland and will probably buy a Swiss Travel Pass, although if the weather is fine I will be outdoors, not in museums. Alas, I will be in CH for six days, and the Pass only covers four continuous days.

I wish to do a good bit of scenic train riding as well as walking if weather permits. My proposed plan is:

Wed Oct 23: arrive BSL 10:45am, train to Luzern ( CHF 34). Sleep Luzern. Q: do Luzern hotels provide a card similar to the BaselCard?

Thurs Oct 24: Begin STP. trains by an interesting route to Wengen. sleep Wengen

Friday Oct 25: Explore Wengen, Schilthorn if weather permits. otherwise, Lake Thun, or day trip to Bern? Sleep Wengen.

Saturday Oct 26. Train(s) to Zermatt. Explore by foot if the weather permits.

Sunday Oct 27: Day 4 of STP. Head toward Montreux, riding scenic trains, from Zermatt to Montreux and thence toward Gruyere, Brice, etc. looping back in the direction of Heneva.

And then I have a problem: Sleep where on October 27? I do not need the city of Montreux and would prefer a small town on the rail system.

The following day, October 28, I will not have the STP, and I need to be at GVA airport by 7:00pm. I would like to be very conservative on how much I spend for travel that day, as Switzerland is already a budget stretcher.

Does Geneva have the equivalent of a BaselCard? If so, I might go all the way to Geneva on Oct 27 and sleep there, spending Oct 28 exploring Geneva and the lake.

Thoughts? Yes, i know this is a lot of moving around, but I like trains and I have so very little time in CH. And this is completely skipping the glorious east half of the country. :-(

or are there are perhaps just two places where could I base for two nights each and then have good access to scenic trains or rainy weather activity as well as walking if sunny? Say, Luzern 1N, Wengen 2N, ??? 2N, GVA 1N?

or skip Luzern and head straight for Wengen from BSL? Then start my STP on the 25th?, having the 24th in Wengen without a STP?

thank you

Thank you.

yes, I suppose that I should plan a few days put all of my rail journeys and make a spreadsheet and crunch the numbers, but so much depends on weather: if it is fine I might hike one day rather than use the train, but if it is wet I might make a rail trip to Bern, for example.

Were you Able to stack the CHF 120 half fare card on the super saver ticket, and this get the super saver at half the normal saver price? If so, that is remarkable value.

I have thought about the 8-day Pass, as it is not much more expenses be than buying single fares on the first and last days. And I might be able to arrive a day earlier than planned, so that makes sense.

What do you think of staying in Gruyeres? That might be a good place for the 27th.

I expect the weather to be VERY iffy in the last week of October. I may be hiking or I may be riding the rails...a lot!

Thanks again to all.

I *think* I will be able to get away from my meetings and fly to BSL a day early so that gives me 7 nights / 6.5 days.

If “ by bad weather” means if the weather is bad, then I have a problem: I have to book accommodations without knowing the weather. Hence wouldn’t it be wise to book accommodation — Wengen area or Zermatt or ??? — and have a “bad weather plan.” For example, if the weather is bad in Wengen, the is is easy to head to Bern for the day or Lake Thun. But from Zermatt the options are more limited?

i have just today today finally gotten two guide books from the library (I was third in line for holds) so my planning should improve dramatically. I will return here with a revised plan.

I have managed to shift a day away from the UK and add it to Switzerland, so I now have 7 nights / 6.5 days to plan. As I will be “in motion” for 7 days, an 8-day STP makes sense, especially as I will need flexibility to deal with weather, and I am a bit of a public transport junkie — and more of a outdoors person than a city/museum person.

So, heeding advice on this forum, I might do the following:

Day 1 (Oct 22): Arrive BSL from LGW at 10:45. Buy an 8-day STP (can I do that at the airport, or must I do that at the SBB station in Basel?). Go directly to Lucerne, and explore. <sleep Lucerne>
Day 2: explore Lucerne/area mountains. <sleep Lucerne>
Day 3: make my way in an interesting fashion to BO (lake steamer to Flüelen and then train and/or postal bus on a nifty route?) <sleep Lauterbrunnen>
Day 4: Weather dependent. Hike? Schilthorn? Rail trip to ? <sleep Lauterbrunnen>
Day 5: See day 4. <sleep Lauterbrunnen>
Day 6: Work my way slowly to Gruyeres <sleep Gruyeres>
Day 7: Head to Geneva — perhaps a combination of train and boat? Visit CERN or Museum of RCross/Crescent. <sleep GVA airport hotel for 0700 departure next day>

My choice of Lauterbrunnen rather than Wengen is that some here have noted it is a good transportation hub. Days 4 and 5 may see me doing a lot of rail riding if the weather is too poor for walking, and in any event I am likely go joyriding on trains/postal buses one of those days anyway!

I am still reading my guidebooks, but does this seem a good starting place for planning?

As always, thanks for your help!

BTW, hotels in Lucerne will be my splurge. Hotel Des Alpes is at the high end of my budget, but do-able if the location and experience are worth it. Suppose I could do three nights in Lucerne and two in BO if there is strong reason to do so. Other Lucerne hotel suggestions? Everywhere else I can get a reasonable mid-range room for about CHF 150 or less.

(Sorry for all the typos — I am doing this plannng on an iPad while traveling which utterly undermines my accuracy. Autocorrect garbles things even further!)

Ah, thanks. I will use the SBB office as I believe that if I purchase in advance I must print the pass. I am traveling and have no way of easily printing.