Hello Fodorites,

While the kids are at summer camp, my husband and I will be jetting to Switzerland for five days in early August. We are in our mid-40s and will be flying in and out of Zurich (from NYC).

We will take the train directly from Zurich to Lucerne and want to stay there at least two nights. But after that, we are not sure what to do. Would it be feasible to go to Lausanne next? Berne? Should we spend the whole trip in Lucerne and do day trips from there? We are looking for medieval towns, gorgeous scenery and luxurious hotels. But we need to keep in mind that we are flying out of Zurich on day 5.

Thanks for any suggestions you can offer!

Want to see the Alps at their glory - head from Lucerne to Interlaken area- and then back to airport. The beauty of Switzerland to me is not its cities but the awesome Alps -trains are best to get around - Alpine areas do not often even allow cars in - for lots of info on trains and where to go by them check www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteeves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com.

"medieval towns, gorgeous scenery and luxurious hotels"

Vevey / Montreux

If you can change your plans, I would schedule Lucerne for my last two nights. Lucerne is close enough to ZRH that you can stay there on your departure night (and, given a choice between Zurich and Lucerne, I would definitely opt for Lucerne). For my money, if you want mountains, you can't beat the Berner Oberland (we stayed in Wengen, but Murren, and even Gridewald, would work as bases), but the Lake Geneva area has a lot to offer, too.

With five nights (I'm assuming that's what you mean when you say five days--if it's really just four nights, that's very little time), you can only do two bases without spending all your time traveling. Assuming you choose somewhere on Lake Geneva, I would take the train on arrival from ZRH to Bern, stow your bags in a locker, get lunch there and see the old town before getting back on a train and heading for your Lake Geneva base (we stayed at Abuberge de la Gare in Grandvaux, in the Lavaux vineyards, and loved it, but Vevey is a popular choice--no need to stay in Lausanne or Montreux unless you find a hotel deal there that you really like).

Then, if you have the time, for your trip to Lucerne, take the Golden Pass route from Montreux through Zweisimmen and Interlaken to Lucerne (not the quickest route, but more scenic than backtracking through Bern).

Of course, you could just spend the entire time in Lucerne and fill up your itinerary taking daytrips, but five nights would be enough to tempt me to want to see two different regions.

Thank you, everyone, for your wisdom! I love the idea of leaving Lucerne for the last two nights of our trip. Makes a lot of sense.

What do you think about flying into Zurich and going directly to the Bernese Oberland by train? I don't think we would want to stop anywhere for lunch, store our bags, etc. We'd rather just get somewhere and check into our hotel after a long flight from NYC. In that case, which would be good first stop -- Interlaken, perhaps?

My husband has already spent time in Lausanne, so if we can't get to that region on this trip we will survive.

We want to relax and not push ourselves like crazy on such a short trip.

Also, if we decide to stay in Lucerne the whole time, which day trips would you suggest? Definitely Mount Pilatus is on our list. Perhaps Mount Titlis?

Thank you so much for your help!

if you are music lovers, you may be interested in knowing that the Lucerne Music festival starts in August. We're going in to be there in the third week and have tickets for 2 concerts including Daniel Barenboim which we're very excited about:

https://www.lucernefestival.ch/en/

Thanks, Annhig. Looks like we will just miss the music festival. Darn! We would have loved that.

We'd rather just get somewhere and check into our hotel after a long flight from NYC. In that case, which would be good first stop -- Interlaken, perhaps?>

Yes it is just a few-hour train ride from Zurich Airport - Interlaken is a gateway to the high Alps - most would much rather stay in a Grindelwald or Wengen and be eyeball to eyeball with the soaring peaks which are just a distant vision in Interlaken.

Grindelwald is just 20 minutes by train from Interlaken (Ost station).

that's a shame, brook. We were very pleased to discover that we could arrange our trip so as to be there when it was on, as we don't get many top notch orchestras where we are.

After a night at Geneva Airport because we arrive late, we are spending 4 nights in Interlaken, 3 in Wengen, and 4 in Lucerne. Yes, we know that Interlaken and Wengen are very close together but DH loves boat trips and also wants to be in the mountains so we thought that this was the best way to achieve that. Sadly you only have time I think to choose one of them, so were I in your shoes, I think I would say to myself - do I want lakes or mountains? if the latter, IMO it's got to be Wengen.

Wengen has the awesome Alps close up and that for many is the key plus much better situated for day trips - like the fantastic Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Ridge Walk (few miles very easy) and Jungfraujoch trains -annhig has it right for doing both but you with limited time chose a mountain town.

For lakes Lucerne's can't be beat.

Thanks, everyone. Wengen does sound fantastic. But I'm wondering how to make it work. It would mean flying into Zurich and getting directly on a train for two and a half hours to Wengen. Have I become a tired old lady (at 44!) if that sounds rough to me after a long, overnight flight?

Of course, I could be overthinking this. It's been known to happen.

Well maybe stay in Zurich a night - not a bad town with a pleasant old town and lake front or Lucerne

then take the scenic Brunig Pass railway (part of Golden Pass scenic train) to Interlaken when ready to move on.

Instead of Wengen, you might look at Lauterbrunnen. It doesn’t have the drop-dead views that Wengen has, but it is easier to reach and has better train connections. (You go through Lauterbrunnen to get to Wengen or Murren).

Hi brook33003,

When I was in my 50s, I did that routinely -- travelled from the east coast, landed in Zürich, and took a train immediately to my first destination. Usually I would be so excited and happy to be in Switzerland that I woke up enough for the train ride -- and of course I would always grab a cup of steaming, strong Swiss coffee to help with that.

I always thought of arrival day as simply a travel day, the day I have to get through in order to get to my actual destination. I think you lose more time by forcing in an overnight stop (getting to the city, then checking in, then unpacking, then packing up again in the morning and checking out, and making your way to the train). I far prefer being able to wake up on day #2 in my chosen destination with the logistics and travel behind me.

And today, I live south of Munich, about 2h or 3h from the airport (depending on connections). I'm 62 years old, and after visiting the USA, I don't find it that difficult to get from the airport to the train and take the train home.

Anyway, have fun as you plan!

s

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful responses!

Please report back after your trip!