srinivas123

hi
my wife and i (ages 62 and 72 respectively) are planning a 10 day tour the rough plan is

1 day in Zurich ( we arrive and leave from Zurich)

2 days in Lucern mount Titlis and mount Pilatus

2 days in interlarken------ we plan to stay at Unterseen,orWengen or Grindelwald. plan to visit Schlithorn,niederhorn, a bot cruise on Brienz

1 day Montreux -- is one day enough? what are the sights not to be missed?

1 day at Zermatt- for matterhorn

2 day at chur - for ride on glacier express bernina express ,lake como

1 day for lake geneva
could you please tell me if i miss anything or is this too hectic i welcome any change you may want to suggest we are fond of nature and are very avid hobby photographers
thanks in advance
best regards
srini

kja

I've been planning a longer trip to Switzerland; you might find some of the comments on my proposed itineraries of interest. There are 2 separate threads, which you can find by clicking on my name and then looking under the 1st section, "recent topic activity."

swandav2000

Hi srinivas123,

Unfortunately, I find such short stays to be counter-productive. Yes, you'll be able to say that you set foot in each spot you mention, but you won't remember much about it. This is one of those itineraries where you forget if the lake you saw was in Luzern or in Lausanne . . . You won't really have time to get off the main streets to explore and discover the place for your own.

Also remember that every time you move bases, you lose about half a day of "outside" time because of the chores of packing up and checking out, then checking in and unpacking again. I think this takes even longer for folks with infants (who have lots more stuff to pack up) or folks who are in advancing middle age (who may enjoy a slower pace).

With 10 days (9 nights??) I would have at most three destinations, with the last one at or nearby Zürich. So that means two destinations -- and I would make it one in the mountains and one by a lake. So I would do something like: Wengen, Montreux, Luzern or Zermatt, Montreux, Luzern.

Alternately, you can base yourself somewhere central and stay there for one week, then go to Zürich for a few days before the flight out. From Bern, Thun, or Spiez, you can reach all of your destinations comfortably, within 2h.

Have fun as you plan!

s

asps

The itinerary look unrealistic, it looks like you are not factoring travel times. You are planning, for example, a train Montreux-Zermatt (2.30 hours) in the morning, then going up the Matterhorn in the afternoon, then train to Chur the next morning (that's 5 hours), I do not know how you plan to fit lake Como into it (that would be 4 hours including a bus leg for going and 4 hours for coming back), and the following day the Bernina express is nowhere close to Chur (it is 4 hours from Chur to Tirano, and 4 hours back to Chur). Chur to Geneva would be 4 hours again (but you have already seen lake Geneva at Montreux).

Another reason making hectic plans unrealistic is weather, that is very variable in mountain areas. Trips up to mountains, even with trains, are better started in early morning, hoping the weather is good - and if the weather is not good it is better to have a backup plan as looking clouds from the inside becomes tiring after a while. If you have, say, 3 days in a place, you can hope one of them is good enough to make the trip. If you have a single day - and, again, you must factor travel times - 1 day in a place it is really just a few hours in the afternoon - you are taking your chances about the weather.

bobthenavigator

Totally counter productive!
Pick 3 and have fun.

msteacher

Check the prices of all the train travel you plan to do. Switzerland is very expensive and your tickets will add up quickly. Reducing your number of locations will save you significant money, as well as give you the time to actually enjoy each place you visit.