Please help with best way for 5 days in Switzerland
 

Hello all and thank you in advance for your help. Husband and me traveling, late 40s/30s, active, love walking around, outdoor activities/or just seeing landscapes, architecture, history (but selective with museums), hidden gems, adventures in general. Embarking on a long trip so really need to keep the costs as low as possible.

Really need help with this part of the trip... trying to decide how to approach the few days we have in Switzerland. Would love to have more, but... Below is the most current itinerary:

3/7 Athens - Berlin flight land at 7:10PM
4/7-6/7 Berlin
7/7 AM bus or train Berlin to Dresden - Short day visit to Dresden - 6:45PM bus to Prague
8/7& 9/7Prague
10/7 Prague to Basel flight 7:20PM (Stay in Basel)
11/7 Basel during the day - Evening train to Luzern (Stay in Luzern)
12/7 Luzern (Stay in Luzern)
13/7 AM Luzern to Lauterbrunnen (Stay in Lauterbrunnen)
14/7 Lauterbrunnen (Stay in Lauterbrunnen)
15/7 Basel or Luzern to Munich
16/7 Munich
17/7 - 24/7 Germany drive
25/7 4:30PM Flight Cologne - Dublin

I have been looking at prices in Switzerland and they are definitely outside of our ideal budget, but I really want to see the two areas listed so want to try to make it work. One of the big items in our list is driving around the German countryside, so we are definitely getting a car there. Initially I had thought taking a bus or train from Prague to Munich, getting the car and heading to Luzern and Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen during the drive. I started doubting that plan after reading many posts about not driving in Switzerland and changed to what I listed above. I actually found a flight Prague - Basel for 32 Euros and we are looking at a hostel in Luzern and one in Lauterbrunnen.

The only transportation already booked are the flights arriving to Berlin and departing from Cologne. Looked at quotes from Autoeurope and driving costs from viamichelin, and seems that the "added" costs to the driving that we are already going to be doing (extra days/ extra car consumption) are around 250E (aware that this is not exact). I don't have a good idea on travel pricing via train in Switzerland yet (have to keep reading,) but I wanted to reach out and see if you thought I was correct in discarding the idea of driving into Switzerland since I am going to have the car anyway. Maybe you have input based on having already been there.

If it's not too much to ask, would also welcome input in the Switzerland days...even if it's only 4....

Thank you very much and really appreciate your help.

Sandra

I'd strongly look at Swiss Travel Pass for those Swiss plans - see www.sbb.ch; www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Look at Grindelwald or even Interlaken was cheaper hotels though staying right in those hills like at Grindelwald or Wengen is great. Lauterbrunnen is in a deep gorge - IMO better views from Grindelwald or Wengen.

Are you sure that you can see and experience what you want with this plan in this time frame? This plan sounds unpleasantly ambitious to me – too much time in transit for far too little time to actually see or do anything while in any of these fascinating places. And planning on a trip this fast-paced gives you little if any room to manage bad weather. For example, what if yoru one day in Lauterbrunnen turns out to be rainy or fogged in? If you haven’t already done so, I strongly recommend that you plot your trip – and the places you hope to visit – on a calendar.

Since budget is a concern, note that moving around as often as you are will likely add to the cost of your travel. And remember that taking a flight from Prague to Basel will mean adding time and cost to get to / from airports….

Good luck!

Lucerne offers many neat excursions - especially lake boats (covered in full Swiss Pass) - agree with kja about pairing down.

JMO, but I think you're not spending enough time anywhere. If keeping overall cost low is a priority, move around less.

At a minimum, I'd look for a "cheap" flight from Prague to Zurich rather than Prague to Basel, then continue immediately to Luzern. Unless you can tell me why you want to go to Basel for a reason other than the cheap flight...

For me, this would be a terribly rushed, and terribly expensive, trip, but perhaps this is the way you like to travel, which is fine. Moving around like that, though, doesn't square at all well with keeping to a budget, especially when Switzerland is in the mix.

As much as I love Switzerland, I think you are giving seriously short shrift to Dresden - why even stop there if you don't plan to spend even a full day? There's loads to see in and around Dresden.

You have only four full days in Switzerland - the fifth (15/7) I consider a transit day, and yet you're trying to visit three cities?

As mentioned above, the more you move around, the more expensive it gets.

I like your original thinking, getting the car in Munich and heading to Switzerland. Skip Basel, add a day to Lauterbrunnen and add a day to Germany drive. Substitute Grindlewald for Lauterbrunnen if budget allows.

3/7 Athens - Berlin flight land at 7:10PM
4/7-6/7 Berlin
7/7 AM bus or train Berlin to Dresden - Short day visit to Dresden - 6:45PM bus to Prague
8/7& 9/7Prague
10/7 Prague to Munich by train or Bus (Stay in Munich)
11/7 Drive Munich to Lauterbrunnen
12/7Lauterbrunnen
13/7 Lauterbrunnen
14/7 Drive Lauterbrunnen to Lucern
15/7 Lucern
16/7 -25/7 Germany drive
25/7 4:30PM Flight Cologne - Dublin

go by train in Switzerland as Alpine areas don't even allow cars in - beyond Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald and have to pay to park. Pick up car when you go back to Germany.

Hello all and thank you for your thoughts! I really do appreciate it
I do tend to jam a lot when planning our trips… I actually thought this leg of the trip (the overall not only Switzerland) was kind of ok jajaja... will take another look. Thank you.
We do like moving around a lot... or up until now we have, and I do know that a big part of our budget goes to transportation. We focus on savings on hotels for example, as we just sleep there, we don't usually go to restaurants and we don't really drink or shop.

Been reading and reading past posts and trying to apply past advise onto my overall itinerary. Melnq8, the thought about that stop in Dresden came up because I would like to see that city and I see it being recommended repeatedly as a day trip from Berlin, so thought that would be a good idea.

As far as Switzerland goes specifically, I thought we would be okay with a quick stopover because of the expense, and also because on the different forums I have seen a lot of posts about "long weekends" (4-5 days) trips to the same area, so I figured we could do that. I have been dying to see Luzern and the Berner Oberland area for years. The Prague-Basel flight specifically was significantly cheaper (it’s about a third) than Prague-Zurich. I added Basel to the itinerary because I was landing there anyway.. But you guys are right so I’ll definitely skip Basel this trip. When I was thinking about driving, Basel was not in the itinerary at all. Dugi_otok, thank you, that’s about what I was thinking if we drove.

If you guys don’t mind and it’s not too much to ask, can I bug you to bear with me and help me identify if I’m missing something related to the transportation costs so that we can compare?
I quoted the rental and looked at viamichelin.com and for what I can see if I were to decide driving through Switzerland, the additional rental days (€100), consumption (viamichelin €110,) the cross border fee (€18) and the vignette (€40) would be about €270.
The two hostels I’m looking at in Luzern and Lauterbrunnen include parking. I wanted to stay in Wengen, but know that would be impossible with the car.

I also looked at raileurope.com, bahn.de, myswissalps.com and it looks like moving via train would be about €540 for both of us…? I know this is an estimate, I could select July pricing for some journeys, but not for others. This is based on point to point tickets... neither the 4 day swiss pass, nor the half fare card give me a better rate for all the trips. These are the journeys I’m looking at: Prague to Basel airplane (€64), then trains Basel to Luzern (€62), Luzern to Lauterbrunnen (€82), Lauterbrunnen to Basel (€150), Basel to Munich (€180) all prices for 2 passengers.

Of course I am not asking you to invest much of your time in looking at everything separately… but I know some of you have experience with this rail system and perhaps could tell me with a quick look if my search is completely wrong or if it sounds about right?
I hope this is not too long…. Thank you so very much for your help!!!

Sorry, I won't compare the costs. I'll just say that whoever drives doesn't get the chance to see much of the scenery, and isn't that part of why you're trying to cram this part of the world into your trip?

I took a look at the SBB site and entered your planned itinerary using arbitrary dates and got these numbers, which I haven't converted to Euro - I'll let you do the math.

Basel-Luzern - 34 CHF each
Luzern-Lauterbrunnen - 40.30 CHF each
Lauterbrunnen-Basel - 68.80 CHF each
Basel to Munich - 104 CHF each (I'd suggest looking at the DB site for these as well, and perhaps looking at bus options - we found a great bus rate travelling from Chur to Munich last month, faster and cheaper than by train).

One thing I think you've overlooked is the cost to get to places in the BO that most first timers want to see - Jungfrau, possibly trip up to Murren and Schilthorn, etc. You'll need to add these to your transport costs. So, that car you've paid for will probably spend all of its time parked in Lauterbrunnen while you travel the region by train.

You could still stay in Wengen - you could leave your car at the public car park in Lauterbrunnen (I have no personal experience with it, but there will definitely be a charge) and then train to Wengen - 6.80 CHF each one way.

You'll definitely be spending a lot of money on transportation - the money you save on accommodation will all be spent on transport + some - IME, the longer you stay in any one place, the less expensive it becomes, but if this is the way you choose to travel, so be it.

The Half-Fare Card may be a good deal for you if taking Jungfrau Train and all other trains or if driving even just trains or boats around Lucerne or Lauterbrunnen, etc.

Oh buy Half-Fare Card at any train station in Switzerland. Costs about $130 p.p. but Jungfraujoch train alone costs over $200.

Hi travelover.....OK here is a suggestion, get the Rick Steves travel book and check out Grindelwald, which is near, Murren, Wengen. I don't know when you are traveling but it sounds like 3 weeks, right? There used to be a hostel in Grindelwald, is it still there????? I read and hear that this is a gorgeous area, much like Wengen and these 3 villages are accessible to each other, if you stay long enough to see them, lifts, hiking and awesome vistas. I've been to Murren and Wengen. Tell us what month you are traveling so others can have input on weather. This is gorgeous in July, esp in Wengen, but it is probably more expensive in Wengen than the a hostel in Grindelwald. There are videos by Steves on Grindelwald and this area of Switzerland, check it out. might be a nice lovely solution for Switzerland if still there/the hostel that is.....I love this area was there in July/17. Train from Basel to Zurich one hour on fast train. Sue

Also, There is a COOP grocery store in Wengen, right by the train station. Sue

IMO, the views from Grindelwald are not particularly similar to those from Wengen, Mürren, or Lauterbrunnen, which is not to say that they aren't worth seeing. Personally, I found Grindelwald unpleasantly full of tour buses and tour groups, but I can't speak for others.

OK, if I read your tour dates and list of places you hope to go...if it is July when you are traveling, and you are 5 months ahead now in Feb, you could try to find accomodations in Wengen, use the grocery/COOP for your food/meals right at train station. You might find some bed/breakfast sort of rental in Wengen, and that village is amazing. Personally I would use train in Switzerland, as cars are not allowed in many villages, such as Zermatt/Wengen/Murren. Maybe someone on this Swiss site might know how to direct you to a less expensive rental in Wengen??? I have read that others did like Grindelwald a lot, such as Rick Steves, but have not been there. Been to Wengen, Murren, and Zermatt. If you stay in one spot in Switzerland and use the grocery, I think you could figure out how to do this, but narrow down your places that you want to visit. Sue

Grindelwald has as nice a views as anyplace but is muich busier and bigger in terms of stores and night spots - which some like and others don't. You cannot go wrong in any base IMO but many here love Wengen and its isolation (not transportation wise though - great connections.)

OK here is another idea skip Luzern, I've been there, nice but.... (depends on your interests here, I love mountains/nature, gorgeous scenery, lovely villages, not into night life except good restaurants) get train from Basel to Zurich /one hour on fast train......Zurich to Wengen train about 4 hrs as I recall...find a B and B in Wengen. and spend all 4 nights there, find a good deal,must be some less expensive housing there? Do not deal with car in Switzerland. Get a Swiss Rail flex pass for the days that you travel only...good for discounts on lifts/mtn trains, etc. Use grocery store in Wengen for food. Go up the Mannlichen to see gorgeous area. Jungfrau, Monch and side of Eiger are over village, awesome sights. Sue