Revised Itinerary with 2 kids
 

16 - May:
- Arrive in Zurich
- Travel to Solothurn; Stay @ Solothurn

17 - May
- Visit Bern
- Travel to Interlaken;Stay @ interlaken

18- May
- Local site seeing interlaken; Stay @ interlaken

19 - May
- Travel from interlaken to Montruex; stay @ Montruex

20-May
- Ride the cheese and chocolate train; stay @ Montruex

21- May
- Travel from Montruex to Zermatt
- Lcoal Zermatt siteseeing; stay @ Zermatt

22- May
- Ride on Glacier express from Zermatt
- De-board at Chur; Stay at Chur

23- May
- Local Chur site seeing
- Travel to Zurich from Chur; Stay at Zurich

24- May
-Fly out from Zurich airport

I'm sure some will say rather rushed with much of the time on trains but I like to travel fast - most do not - so it is subjective - how old are the kids? If under 16 they get a free Family Pass (ask for one if you buy a Swiss Pass or pick one up at train stations in Switzerland) and gthey never pay a penny for any transportation that a parent (much be a parent not grandparent technically I think) pays for or uses a pass for.


And if doing half of that by train a Swiss Pass is a no-brainer IMO and IME - an 8-consecutive-day Saverpass (two adut names on one pass - cheaper than solo passes) would be nice as you will be taking trains (and perhaps boats, buses, trams, etc also covered by the pass as is free entrance to 470 or so Swiss museums).

Due to the sudden jacking up of the Swiss franc be sure to compare passes bought in the U.S. or Canada (if from North America) as a recent check showed very significant savings in light of the dramatic appreciation of the Swiss Franc vis-a-vis the U S $.

For lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes, rail lines, etc chekc out these IMO superb sources: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com - compare passes in Swiss francs from the latter site with pass prices in U S dollars on the other two to see what the price differential is and if it is wide buy now as pass prices could well go up anytime too.

What do you mean with "local sight seeing Interlaken"?
You should have a FULL day at Zermatt, otherwise you cannot explore the area (although there will still be snow above around 2000 metres).
You don't need more than half a day for Chur sightseeing (13.34 until evening). That means that you will have almost a full day at Zurich. Do you know what you will do there?

I stayed overnight in Chur once and though a niace town not exceptional - you can do some neat excursions from Chur but in a half-day that possibility is rather mute.

- Local site seeing interlaken; Stay @ interlaken>

The classic trip goes up to the Jungfraujoch and a World of Ice and glaciers - ice caves - marvelous views of the Aletsch Glacier from its tip down along The Alps' longest glacier (I believe not sure) - but this train trip is expensive - Swiss Passes only get 25% discount but it is the most popular thing for tourists by far to do in the Interlaken area. (I'm not saying it's the best IMO but it is the most popular and world famous.)

From the OP's other thread, the kids are 5 and 3.

From my point of view this is far too many destinations for a family with young children on an 8-day trip. I would do 2 or 3 bases.

Look at 2 or 3 days (3 or 4 nights) in Lucerne at the end of your trip. It's a 1-hour direct (no-change) train trip from Lucerne to Zurich's airport. There are several nice excursions from Lucerne both on the lake and up into the mountains. No need to go to Zurich, which has relatively little to offer your kids.

Have you traveled like this with these kids before?

Hi again,

I agree with Mimar above; as I mentioned on your other thread, this is still to many stops. I would have only 2 or 3 bases.

Whoever is going to do all the packing & unpacking for the children is not going to get much of a vacation imo.

s

Yes base cities are great - you can take day trips by train to nearby places sans luggage - re-locating yes takes a few hours packing, unpacking, etc.

In Lucerne be sure to take a boat ride on lovely Lake Lucerne, to me the finest of many fine Swiss lakes - and even kids that age can find it fun I would think - at least for an hour or so.