How many days good enough for Switzerland
 

Dear fodors members,

I am new to this forum and have read some of travel suggestions for my honeymoon vacation. We have 3 weeks vacation , still to book tickets but dates look like from 28 Sep- 19 Oct. We mainly want to explore Switzerland. Here is rough plan draft till now.

Flying from US to Luxembourg. Spend around 3 days there and then train journey starts towards Switzerland. I read Swiss is full of options to explore and which central place to stay. Need to know if 10 days are enough for Swiss or do I need more?

What other place I can include in my itinerary probably train journey from Lux to Paris? All depends on how many days I should keep for Swiss and then if I have 4-5 days extra I can spend either in France or Spain? Yuor 2 cents please??

Thanks a lot in advance.

You could spend the entire 3 weeks in Switzerland and not see it all, it really depends on your interests. Mountains? lakes? cities? museums? shopping? hiking? biking? scenic trains?

We spent 2 full weeks in 3 different regions: Engadine, Bernese Oberland, and Ticino. We only scratched the surface in these areas (all different, different scenery, language, food, etc.) and there is a lot more to see in the rest of Switzerland.

You need a guide book, and use that to decide what matches your interests.

Thank you xyz99. Main interests are Mountains, lakes, Scenic trains and then come cities.

You could go to what many think is the absolute highlight of Switzerland - the fabulous Jungfrau Region - the Swiss Alpine wonderland perhaps etched in your mind's eye - only a few places will be so dreamy and IMO the Interlaken-Jungfrau Region is the best for some days stay because it offers a panoply of wonderful varied things to do:

Toy-like trains impossibly climbing mountain tops;

Thrilling aerial gondolas doing the same

Treks to summits like the Jungfraujoch - the highest train station in Europe - walk to glaciers - explore the ice caves - a Top of the World scene as they call it

Or to the Schilthorn, of James Bond's On Her Majesty's Service fame - the film was filmed here in many parts - a really long aerial gondola swings you up there;

Boat rides on the lovely lakes bookending Interlaken;

Hiking for all degrees of energy;

and on and on

IMO the finest place in Switzerland to go for a novice visitor.

then take the Golden Pass scenic train from Interlaken to Montreux on Lake Geneva - spend some days there and then hop the TGV from Lausanne to Paris.

For lots on Swiss trains (and passes that can benefit you even on a short trip) check out these IMO fab sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com.

Thanks PalenQ for providing above details and about TGV hopping from Geneva to Paris.

as we are flying into Luxembourg Airport, how many days shall we spend there?

thanks for the thanx! TGVs go both from Lausanne and Geneva, via two different routes to Paris - I would search www.voyges-sncf.com - French Railways online site - for schedules and to book - book far enough in advance and you may nab nice discounts, which however are train specific and have restrictions on changing and refunding and as they are sold in limited numbers must be booked weeks/months in advance to guarantee

So I'd see which fares are best and take the TGV from there but if nearer to Lausanne or Geneva then factor in the cost of getting to one or the other.

Depending on how you figure out your itinerary it does not take many train rides to make the Swiss Pass or Swiss Card or Half-Fare Card to pay off - check em out after determining where you want to go.