Seeking help on my 12 days trip from Switzerland to Austria
 

Hi,




I am travelling with my wife from 16th Jul 2015 to 29th Jul 2015. I am seeking for comments on my itineraries.




Day 1 : Fly in to Zurich at 0800am and take train to Zermatt (Matterhorn)


Day 2 : Zermatt (Gornegrat)


Day 3 : Interlaken (Any scenary or attractions)


Day 4: Lucerne to Engelberg (Mt Titlis) / Jungfraujoch / Mt Pilatus


Day 5: Lucerne to Engelberg (Mt Titlis) / Jungfraujoch / Mt Pilatus


Day 6 : Lucerne to Engelberg (Mt Titlis) / Jungfraujoch / Mt Pilatus


Day 7 : Zurich


Day 8 : Zurich


Day 9 : Salzburg


Day 10 : Salzburg


Day 11 : Vienna


Day 12 : Vienna


Day 13 : Take flight to Zurich Airport and fly back home




1. Please on which train ride has the beautiful scenery along the way. What kind of pass should I be getting for the entire trip?




2. If prefer scenery and mountain area, any attractions that I should visit for Switzerland?




3. Please advice on the train ride to Austria. Where should I set off from? Eg. Zurich or Lucerne?




Sorry for the poor planning. Really appreciate someone can give me a general advice. I will research more in depth once I get a rough idea in travelling around that will save more time for enjoying my trip.




Regards,




Ander
My message...

Two general comment:

First, it is hard to comment without knowing your interests. What do you hope to see and experience while in this part of the world?

Second, for any of your mountain experiences, I recommend leaving time for the possibility of bad weather. For example, with only 1 day in Zermatt, there's a risk that the weather won't permit you to see it. So if a mountain area is a priority, you would do well to plan on extra time.

Hope that helps!

Hi Kja,

Thanks for your comment. Appreciate that.

I want to get more relax in enjoying the beautiful mountain areas/scenary around switzerland.

Being a first timer, i would like to know what are things that i need to visit. If not, it will not be considered visiting Switzerland. I feel going to a country , i have to get to feel the culture and the scenary that one country can gave.

1 or 2 day shopping will be just good enough to store up for souvenir to be bring back to share with love ones.

Regards,

Ander

Well, Switzerland is a country with distinctly different regions -- some parts are strongly influenced by their French history, parts by their connection to Italy, parts by their Germanic traditions, and parts by the secluded valleys that preserved Romansch and unique traditions. So I don't think you can get a feeling for Switzerland as a whole in a short visit. Just my opinion.

That said, the Bernese Oberland provides an experience that I think many would consider quintessentially Swiss -- gorgeous mountain scenery in an area with lots of hikes of all difficulty levels (from basically flat to very challenging) and reasonably easy access to some interesting cities should the weather prove incompatible with enjoyment of the scenery. For this part of Switzerland, you might consider staying in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen.

Lucerne is another great option for visiting what many consider prototypically Swiss. Its a lovely city with lots of interesting squares and streets and bridges (etc.) on the edge of a gorgeous lake (well worth exploring) and surrounded by some wonderful mountains.

I enjoyed Zurich, but it is decidedly urban, so might not fit your highest priority list. Have you already booked your flights? If not, consider your options for an "open jaw" flight -- flying into one city and out of another (e.g., Vienna). And when you price it out, consider the cost of backtracking to your city-of-origin and the time you will lose in backtracking. If you do decide to return to Zurich, then consider putting ALL of your time in that city at the END of your trip, so you don't need an extra change of hotels.

Vienna is another city that I loved, but that is decidedly urban. If you enjoy art and museums, 5 days in that city could seem too little -- but then, you didn't mention art or museums....

With the interests you mention, Salzburg seems like a good choice to me.

I hope that gives you some direction. But really, you need to get some good guidebooks (always a worthy investment, IMO) or consult some at a local library, as ONLY you can decide what you most want to see and experience -- and your options far exceed the time you have to spend!

Enjoy!

Kja,

Really appreciate your inputs.

It really give me a good summary and i will relook into my itinerary. I had booked the flights to and fro from Zurich.

Apologise for not putting details in each day. I definitely will visit the art and museums in vienna. At least the whole trip is not just about mountains area instead of mixture.

How will you advise me on the train transport around?

"I definitely will visit the art and museums in vienna." -- Well, you might visit SOME of them! I spent 5 full days in Vienna, and didn't see all the museums I would have liked to visit! FWIW, the Kunsthistorisches Museum is superb IMO. If you like Klimt, the Belvedere and Secession would be excellent choices. I could keep going ... but again, you need to do your research and decide what YOU want to see.

Hi

We were in Switzerland last year for our first time and loved it, especially the scenery. We based ourselves in Lausanne but found travelling around by train very easy and enjoyable.

We did a day trip to Zermatt and it was great. There was very little snow (Sept) but we still went up the mountain and admired the view. The town was gorgeous too and we found the train ride very beautiful.

One of the most scenic train rides we did was on the Golden Pass Panoramic train (we did this twice to Lucerne and then Gruyere/Broc. The Gruyere trip was probably our favourite, but might be a bit far from Zurich).

We used a Swiss Pass for our trip as it worked out much cheaper than buying individual trips.

We're heading to Switzerland/Austria again next year and like you we will be flying into Zurich and plan on doing the Mt Rigi trip near Lucerne (as I think this is inc in the Swiss Pass whereas the Mt Pilatus trip only has 50% covered - double check that though). I'd like to hear about your final itinerary once you've done it as I'm still working on the Austria part.

Thanks for all the comments. I will do a much detailed itinerary and awaiting comments prior my trip.

1. Use sbb.ch to get your train itineraries
2. I personally would skip Zürich unless there's a personal reason to stay there.
3. Skip Zürich and the days to Interlaken.


Have fun!

Attached is the brief itinerary I have.

Day 1 : Fly in to Zurich at 0800am and take train to Bern. Explore the Bern or explore Zurich and set off to Zermatt the next day and skip Bern. Any recommendations?

Day 2: Morning -Train to Zermatt (Matterhorn) , Lotschberger to Brig to enjoy the scenery along the way
Afternoon - Go to Matterhorn Museum, getting around Zermatt town. Night - Any recommendations?

Day 3 : Morning go to Zermatt (Gornegrat) for sunrise. Afternoon : Any recommendations?
Night at Matterhorn Glacier Paradise for sunset

Day 4 :Train to Wengen via Interlaken , Aerial Cable Car in Wengen Village to go up to Mannlichen, Hike Route 33 to Kleine Scheidegg , Train to Lauterbrunnen Village , Bus to Trummelbach Falls , Back to Wengen Village

Day 5: Train to Interlaken OST, Cruise on Lake Brienz to Brienz Town, Steam Engine Train up to Brienzer Rothorn, Cruise back to Interlaken Town, Back to Wengen Village.

Day 6: Take train to Jungfraujoch, Sphinx Observatory at Aletsch glacier, Jungfraujoch Ice Palace, Train to Grindelwald Village and Back to Wengen Village

Day 7: Lucerne , Explore around. Any recommendations?

Day 8: Lucerne, Either go Kriens to take Cable car or go Alpnachstad to take cogwheel train to Pilatus and explore Lake Luzern , Chapel Bridge , Old Town Lucerne

Day 9 : Train to Salzburg via Zurich , Explore Salzburg

Day 10 : Salzburg

Day 11 : Vienna , Explore Vienna and shopping

Day 12 : Vienna

Day 13 : Take flight to Zurich Airport and fly back home

1) Which train pass should I get? Half-fare or Swiss Pass?
2) Please advise on the portion for Switzerland. Is it too rush ?

You are taking trains about every train so an 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass IMO would be a great deal for you - covers not only trains but lake boats, postal buses, city transports and gives free admission to 470+ Swiss museums and attractions - just hop on any train - full flexibility. Gives 50% off on nearly all gondolas and trains to mountain tops. For lots of great info on Swiss trains check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Good move dropping two days in Zurich which is a nice but modern city that underwhelms many - a nice place but time on a short trip is better spent in the Switzerland of Alps and lakes. Lucerne is a neat base - be sure to do a boat trips on Switzerland's most gorgeous lake IMO.

salzburg to Venice - the quickest route is via Innsbruck of course but there are two ways between Innsbruck and Salzburg - the quickest route via so-called Corrdiro Zugs that go thru Germany and the inland all-Asutria route via Zell-am-See (which makes a cute place on a cute lake to stay actually) - this route is a lot prettier than the via Germany route - as it goes thru a lovely Alpine valley and by cute places like Zell and its lake - but takes about an hour longer - but well worth it if you want to see the beautiful Austria in the Alps.

Look at the train travel times on SBB and get a realistic idea of how much time each day you will actually be a tourist or a train rider.

For example, you start Day 4 in Zermatt and train ride from Zermatt-Interlaken OST-Wengen which is quite a time consuming trip! Even taking the train from Zermatt to Visp feels interminably long because it is a mountain train ride!

Sunset may be all you see in Wengen let alone hike Mannlichen to Kleine! (I exaggerate - but not much!)

In other words, having done these same areas last summer, your daily schedule is unrealistic, IMHO.

Day 9---Luzern to Salzburg---have you looked at the travel time? That is a long trip.

And, why back to Zurich? Can you not fly home from Vienna?

Really appreciate all your inputs.

PalenQ, thanks for your information and advice for austria. I will go as your advice.

Toucan, i will try to relook into my plans again. Thanks.

Bob, I booked a round trip to and fro from Zurich. My wife wanted to buy luxury products in EU countries and we need to do a VAT refund in EU countries only. That why we end our trip at Vienna airport and claims the VAT and fly back to Zurich. By the way, my flight back home is 11am. The last day is left for flights only.

Understanding is a long ride from Lucerne to Salzburg. Either i do the long ride or stop by Innsbruck and next to Salzburg. That is why Day 9 onwards are still not detailed plan.

There is also an overnight train between Vienna and Zurich - save on the cost of a hotel and daytime travel time over flying.