Itinerary Help - 14 days in Switzerland
Dec 25th, 2020, 02:35 AM
#22
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St. Beatus caves, Spiez, Oberhofen castle, Thun castle and Bourbaki panorama can all be done in a daytrip by boat from Interlaken.
The trip to Zermatt is much more scenic via Kandersteg.
The village of Zermatt isn't that interesting for itself, but as a base for railway and cableway trips into the high mountains:
Gornergrat, Oberrothorn, Kleinmatterhorn (Matterhorn Paradise).
5 full days for Lake Geneva area is rather too much compared with the time you allow to the other places
The trip to Zermatt is much more scenic via Kandersteg.
The village of Zermatt isn't that interesting for itself, but as a base for railway and cableway trips into the high mountains:
Gornergrat, Oberrothorn, Kleinmatterhorn (Matterhorn Paradise).
5 full days for Lake Geneva area is rather too much compared with the time you allow to the other places
Dec 25th, 2020, 04:56 AM
#23
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I don't understand why you'd make a day trip from Lucerne to visit Lauterbrunnen and the Schilthorn, then return to Lucerne for two nights, just to return the same area (Wengen) for three nights.
This involves too much back and forth - just visit Lauterbrunnen when you're in Wengen or vice versa. Maybe add a night to your Wengen stay if you feel you need extra time to visit the Schilthorn.
I suspect you're not understanding the geography - to reach Wengen, you go right through Lauterbrunnen. Same with Murren.
Lastly, I am also curious if this itinerary can ever work in December, if I am based at Wengen on Day 6-8, but Day 7 is changed to a day trip to Grinderwald and Day 8 changed to boarding the Aerial cableway Wengen-Mannlichen, or day trip to Kandersteg?
Yes it can work in December. We visit in December all the time. Just take a look at the operating schedules for the Mannlichen and make sure you're there when it's open (December 5 this year). You can also get from Mannlichen to Grindelwald via the gondola, also from December 5 this year.
https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/winter...timetable.html
You're pushing your luck with Kandersteg though, not much to do there in the winter and as mentioned upthread, the cable car to Oeschinensee may not be operating.
https://www.kandersteg.ch/en/s/timetable-oeschinensee
This involves too much back and forth - just visit Lauterbrunnen when you're in Wengen or vice versa. Maybe add a night to your Wengen stay if you feel you need extra time to visit the Schilthorn.
I suspect you're not understanding the geography - to reach Wengen, you go right through Lauterbrunnen. Same with Murren.
Lastly, I am also curious if this itinerary can ever work in December, if I am based at Wengen on Day 6-8, but Day 7 is changed to a day trip to Grinderwald and Day 8 changed to boarding the Aerial cableway Wengen-Mannlichen, or day trip to Kandersteg?
Yes it can work in December. We visit in December all the time. Just take a look at the operating schedules for the Mannlichen and make sure you're there when it's open (December 5 this year). You can also get from Mannlichen to Grindelwald via the gondola, also from December 5 this year.
https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/winter...timetable.html
You're pushing your luck with Kandersteg though, not much to do there in the winter and as mentioned upthread, the cable car to Oeschinensee may not be operating.
https://www.kandersteg.ch/en/s/timetable-oeschinensee
Where would you recommend me to be based at Zurich for 3 days instead since I really want to check out Stein am Rhein & Rhine Falls in Day 2, and then I could do a day trip to Lucerne? Day 4 would be us moving to Brienz area so that we could spend three days to go to Lake Brienz (Day 4), Lauterbrunnen (Day 5), and Day 6 is dedicated to either Mt Pilatus or Mt Titlis. Judging from pics available online, I am very keen with Mt Titlis, but it seems quite far from Brienz, so I am stucked at where to be based at.
Day 7 - Move to Wengen. Free & Easy.
Day 8 - Day trip to Spiez Castle and Lake Thun/Oberhofen Castle.
Day 9 - 3.5 hour train ride to Zermatt the iconic matterhorn view, and stay 1 night.
Day 10 - Stroll along the village at Zermatt.
If we do not go to Zermatt on Day 9 and 10, I could most probably fit in Grindelwald for a day and additional day at Wengen. However, the whole purpose of Zermatt was about the matterhorn view. Do you have any idea where else can we catch a glimpse/pics with the matterhorn?
Day 11 - Get a train ride (Rail Europe?) in the morning to Montreux for 3 nights. Go to Chillon Castle and stroll along the Montreux Lakeside.
Day 12 - The Lavaux Vineyard Terrace and Vevey Promenade.
Day 13 - Lausanne Cathedral; Palais de Rumine; The Olympic Museum; Place de Palud; Chateau Saint-Maire; Sauvabelim Tower.
Day 14 - Move to Geneva for two nights before departure. Free & Easy with some nearby attractions
Dec 25th, 2020, 05:07 AM
#24
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St. Beatus caves, Spiez, Oberhofen castle, Thun castle and Bourbaki panorama can all be done in a daytrip by boat from Interlaken.
The trip to Zermatt is much more scenic via Kandersteg.
The village of Zermatt isn't that interesting for itself, but as a base for railway and cableway trips into the high mountains:
Gornergrat, Oberrothorn, Kleinmatterhorn (Matterhorn Paradise).
5 full days for Lake Geneva area is rather too much compared with the time you allow to the other places
The trip to Zermatt is much more scenic via Kandersteg.
The village of Zermatt isn't that interesting for itself, but as a base for railway and cableway trips into the high mountains:
Gornergrat, Oberrothorn, Kleinmatterhorn (Matterhorn Paradise).
5 full days for Lake Geneva area is rather too much compared with the time you allow to the other places
Mt Titlis
Lucern
Lauterbrunnen
Brienz and its lake
Spiez & Oberhofen castle
When I was young, having the Toblerone chocolates was a major treat for me and my siblings as it was costly for my parents. So, being able to catch pics or a glimpse of the iconic matterhorn would be an added bonus. Sigh.... I really do not know how to go about this.
Dec 25th, 2020, 06:58 AM
#27
neckervd is our resident train specialist and will be of more help than myself on specific train journeys, but Zurich does seem to make sense as a base for seeing Stein am Rhein and Rhine Falls, assuming you still want to visit the falls in the winter (quote from neckervd: Rhine Falls will not have much water in December. The boats don't run in winter and the Schloss Laufen restaurant will be closed.)
Lucerne can be reached from Zurich by train in about 52 minutes. To get to Titlis, you need to get to Engelberg, which is a 43 minute train ride from Lucerne or a 1:50 train ride from Zurich.
Brienz can be reached in 52 minutes by train from Lauterbrunnen, so easily done as a day trip from a Lauterbrunnen base.
<and Day 6 is dedicated to either Mt Pilatus or Mt Titlis>
This should be done from Lucerne, not Lauterbrunnen. This is what I mean by backtracking. Do this earlier in the trip. Lucerne and Lauterbrunnen are almost three hours apart by train.
https://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus
Consider something like this:
Zurich - 2-3 nights - base for Stein am Rhein, Rhine Falls
Lucerne - 3 nights - base for day trips to Mt Pilatus and Titlis
Lauterbrunnen 4-5 nights (base for Wengen, Mannlichen, Brienz- one hour train ride, Schilthorn, Spiez - 58 minute train ride, Thun 1:09 minute train ride). You have a lot on your wish list for this base, so keep that in mind when deciding how many nights to stay)
Zermatt - 2-3 nights
As you can see, you've run out of nights. So, time to pare down what you want to see the most.
Lucerne can be reached from Zurich by train in about 52 minutes. To get to Titlis, you need to get to Engelberg, which is a 43 minute train ride from Lucerne or a 1:50 train ride from Zurich.
Brienz can be reached in 52 minutes by train from Lauterbrunnen, so easily done as a day trip from a Lauterbrunnen base.
<and Day 6 is dedicated to either Mt Pilatus or Mt Titlis>
This should be done from Lucerne, not Lauterbrunnen. This is what I mean by backtracking. Do this earlier in the trip. Lucerne and Lauterbrunnen are almost three hours apart by train.
https://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus
Consider something like this:
Zurich - 2-3 nights - base for Stein am Rhein, Rhine Falls
Lucerne - 3 nights - base for day trips to Mt Pilatus and Titlis
Lauterbrunnen 4-5 nights (base for Wengen, Mannlichen, Brienz- one hour train ride, Schilthorn, Spiez - 58 minute train ride, Thun 1:09 minute train ride). You have a lot on your wish list for this base, so keep that in mind when deciding how many nights to stay)
Zermatt - 2-3 nights
As you can see, you've run out of nights. So, time to pare down what you want to see the most.
Dec 25th, 2020, 07:56 AM
#28
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Your itinerary is perfectly feasible all the year round
(with wiinter adaptions already mentioned above, as
no Rhine Falls boat
Rigi instead of Pilates
neither Lake Brienz boats nor Brienzer Rothorn
no Lake Thun caves and castles, but day trip to Berne instead
Kleine Scheidegg instead of Schilthorn
neither Blausee nor Oeschinensee)
but for a 3generations group, I would rethink the whoe thing by adding:
fun parks, playgrounds, historic railways which may interst the kids
Swiss Vapeur Park Bouveret, Lake Geneva
(with wiinter adaptions already mentioned above, as
no Rhine Falls boat
Rigi instead of Pilates
neither Lake Brienz boats nor Brienzer Rothorn
no Lake Thun caves and castles, but day trip to Berne instead
Kleine Scheidegg instead of Schilthorn
neither Blausee nor Oeschinensee)
but for a 3generations group, I would rethink the whoe thing by adding:
fun parks, playgrounds, historic railways which may interst the kids
Swiss Vapeur Park Bouveret, Lake Geneva
Dec 28th, 2020, 10:08 PM
#39
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Your itinerary is perfectly feasible all the year round
(with wiinter adaptions already mentioned above, as
no Rhine Falls boat
Rigi instead of Pilates
neither Lake Brienz boats nor Brienzer Rothorn
no Lake Thun caves and castles, but day trip to Berne instead
Kleine Scheidegg instead of Schilthorn
neither Blausee nor Oeschinensee)
but for a 3generations group, I would rethink the whoe thing by adding:
fun parks, playgrounds, historic railways which may interst the kids
Swiss Vapeur Park Bouveret, Lake Geneva
(with wiinter adaptions already mentioned above, as
no Rhine Falls boat
Rigi instead of Pilates
neither Lake Brienz boats nor Brienzer Rothorn
no Lake Thun caves and castles, but day trip to Berne instead
Kleine Scheidegg instead of Schilthorn
neither Blausee nor Oeschinensee)
but for a 3generations group, I would rethink the whoe thing by adding:
fun parks, playgrounds, historic railways which may interst the kids
Swiss Vapeur Park Bouveret, Lake Geneva
Thank you for the lovely photos and recommendation! I have decided to look at Spring, August or mid-Autumn to fully enjoy the country.
Mont blanc seems to require more travelling to do after Geneva, so I don't think there is any energy left after Geneva.
Last edited by LYC; Dec 28th, 2020 at 10:12 PM.
Dec 28th, 2020, 10:10 PM
#40
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I had adapted (with some changes) what Melnq8 had advised:
Zurich - 2 nights - base for Stein am Rhein, Rhine Falls.
Lucerne - 3 nights - base for day trip to Mt Pilatus or Titlis (I will choose only 1).
After check out from Lucerne in the morning of Day 6, I will drop by Brienz before sleeping at Lauterbrunnen for the next few days.
Lauterbrunnen - 4 nights (base for Wengen + Mannlichen in 1 day, Spiez in 1 day) What else can I fit in here?
Bern - 2 night (old town/free & easy) Stumbled upon this and saw how pretty it is.
Montreux - 3 nights for Chillon Castle and Montreux Lakeside in 1 day, The Lavaux Vineyard Terrace and Vevey Promenade in 1 day, and Geneva in 1 day.
Return light departs at Geneva. No Zermatt
. Please let me know your thoughts.
Zurich - 2 nights - base for Stein am Rhein, Rhine Falls.
Lucerne - 3 nights - base for day trip to Mt Pilatus or Titlis (I will choose only 1).
After check out from Lucerne in the morning of Day 6, I will drop by Brienz before sleeping at Lauterbrunnen for the next few days.
Lauterbrunnen - 4 nights (base for Wengen + Mannlichen in 1 day, Spiez in 1 day) What else can I fit in here?
Bern - 2 night (old town/free & easy) Stumbled upon this and saw how pretty it is.
Montreux - 3 nights for Chillon Castle and Montreux Lakeside in 1 day, The Lavaux Vineyard Terrace and Vevey Promenade in 1 day, and Geneva in 1 day.
Return light departs at Geneva. No Zermatt
. Please let me know your thoughts.
