Do this short itinerary seem reasonable?
 

Hello all,

I (54F) am taking my mom (84) on a trip of a lifetime in March that involves one week in Switzerland. Can anyone advise if this itinerary sounds do-able...?

Fly into Geneva from London, arrive Saturday evening, March 16th

Stay in Geneva three nights. Do a city tour, enjoy old town take the train to Annecy.

Take train to Montreux on Tuesday - look around, see the castle. Stay there Tuesday night

Take the train to Interlaken then Grindewald on Wednesday. Stay in Grindewald Wednesday night.

Take train to Lucerne Thursday morning, Stay there Thursday night and Friday night. Hang out in old town.

Take am train to Zurich airport on Saturday, March 23rd for a 1:45 pm flight out.

My mom is very fit and mobile for her age and can easily walk around a lot to sightsee but we won't be skiing or hiking. Looking forward to museums, culture and food.

Would really appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you in advance and we look forward to visiting your beautiful country,

Your mom may be very fit and mobile for her age, but changing hotels nearly every night, schlepping bags to and from train stations and on/off trains, packing up each morning and checking out, then needing to wait until checkin time at the next hotels is not my idea of a trip of a lifetime experience.

I would pick max 2 places to stay and enjoy spending time where you are rather than all that schlepping around.

There are plenty of nearby day trips you can do out of Geneva and Lucerne.

Nope, not reasonable. Those two one night stays...what is the point of going there if you have no time to visit the place you're going to? You'll check in around 3 pm and have to check out the following morning by 11 (if you're lucky).

Welcome to Fodors. Look at this and decide for yourself:

Fly London > GVA Saturday evening. Stay 3 nights / 2 days. City tour, day trip to Annecy

Train > Montreux Tuesday - stay 1 night / half a day. Explore city and tour castle

Train > Interlaken > Grindewald Wednesday. Stay 1 night / half a day.

Train > Lucerne Thursday morning, Stay 2 nights / 1 day. Explore Old town.

Train > Zurich airport Saturday morning, 1:45 pm flight to London

I am decades younger than you mother and it would be too rushed for me.

While I enjoyed Geneva, it was not a highlight of my month in Switzerland. Consider moving on to Montreux ASAP.

One day (so two nights, if you go straight from the airport) is, IME, enough for Montreux.

I would not try to see Annecy on this trip. It's pretty and pleasant, but the time to get there and back doesn't seem, to me, worthwhile for the trip you are describing.

I would not recommend just an overnight in Grindelwald. Instead, depending on your interests, you might want to add a night or two to the area. perhaps staying in Wengen or Lauterbrunnen instead. BUT I don't know enough about visiting this area in March to offer wise input. Sorry! If the weather isn't great for the mountains, consider staying in delightful Berne..

IMO, Luzern has great charm and offers a range of options for enjoyable daytrips and in-town exploration.

Bottom line: IMO, you could see Montreax, Berne, and Luzern ... if you are comfortable moving every two or three nights, which, IME, is easy in Switzerland.

This comment makes no sense to me. It has certainly NOT been my experience -- and I've had a LOT of experience with one-night stays. Melnq8 seems to be referring to typical hotel check-in / check-out times; I never pay more than glancing attention to those times, because hotels are, IME, almost always willing to store luggage before or after those times. And in Switzerland, I found it easy to check baggage at train stations.

It DOES make sense that you should think carefully about when you would likely arrive and when you would depart and how much time you would have in between to see / experience what you want.

Geneva, Annecy, Montreux, Grindelwald, Lucerne
As laong as you we don't know why you chosed just these places and what you plan to do threre, it's difficult to give any advice.

To clarify for kja - one night stays don't even give a person a full day to explore a given area. Yes, you can drop off your luggage, and return later to check-in, but I personally consider the day moving from one location to the next as more of a travel day. Even if it's only a 1.5 -2 hour train ride from Geneva to Montreux, unless one gets a very early start, that only leaves about 1/2 a day to see Montreux.

Same for the Montreux to Interlaken to Grindelwald day - 2:15-3:15 to Interlaken, then store luggage for a few hours before taking 37 minute train to Grindelwald. This leaves very little time to see Grindelwald, before leaving for Lucerne the following day.

I'm much younger than the mom in question, and I'd find this itinerary too much moving about in too little time.

The OP asked for opinions, I gave mine.

Fit and mobile “for her age.” The last is key. What is fit and mobile for an afternoon is very different from the energy and stamina required for non-stop traveling with multiple hotel check-ins and almost daily travel of some kind. Are all of these places on your Mom’s “bucket list?” Is she fine with this itinerary? Is she up and at ‘em early every morning? DH is very fit, walks every morning for about an hour, but he would not consider that itinerary. Just my own experience, you might need to allow for the possibility that she would need a late morning start one day or an afternoon rest before dinner.
One other consideration which I have no clue about is weather in those places in March. Some people are more affected by cold weather as they get older.
BTW, it is lovely that you are doing a trip with your Mom. I hope it is a wonderful experience for both of you.

One can arrive early on one day and leave late on the next, giving one much more than a full day. I'm not saying that one-night stays work for everyone -- they don't! -- but there's a difference between one's opinions and one's assumptions.

Skip Annecy

I enjoy Lausanne which has excellent museums. Probably a better place to visit than Geneva.