Hello people!
We plan on visiting Switzerland from the 15th till the 21st of April 2011. I need your feedback on our intended itinerary and suggestions if any.
We're thinking of the following route:

15th: Zurich (1 Day)
16th: Leave for Basel (1 Day) via train from Zurich.
17th: Basel to Lucerne (2 Days) via train. Spend 1 day exploring the city and second day visiting Mt. Pilatus and/or Rigi
19th: Lucerne to Interlaken ( (1 Day) via train
20th: Interlaken to Bern (1 Day) via train
21st: Bern to Geneva (1 Day) via train

In all the rail transports, I'm thinking of purchasing a one way ticket as from what I checked on www.raileurope.com, purchasing one way tickets for the above destinations is much cheaper than purchasing the Swiss Passes. (Would that be true or am I missing out on other transports)?
Total cost of one way trips in total comes to 165CHF.

Please advice if the day allocation for each location is appropriate and also if we've missed out on any place that we could substitute for an existing place!

Thanks!

Syd, My husband and I were in Switzerland in Sept. We spent 13 days and toured almost the entire country. We flew into Zurich and left from Zurich. We spent the first night there and then drove to Lucerne. If I had it to do over again, we would drive straight to Lucerne. It is lovely - 2 days there is good. We traveled around the lake to Brunnen which was a lovely little town. We left Lucerne after 2 days and went on to Bern. What a lovely city with a great view of the mountains. We spent one day and one night there and ventured on to Fribourg and a must see - Grueyuers! A charming town with a castle and sweet shops and restaurants with the most beautiful views in every direction. We finished the day ending up in Lausanne and stayed 3 nights, using this as a home base while visiting Geneva, Chillon, and Lausanne. The next morning we drove through Gstaad on our way to Interlaken. The views are terrific any where you travel in Switzerland. While in Interlaken, see the Jungfrau - the towns of Murren, Lauterbrauten and Wengen. You can take a cable car to Murren and the cog wheel train to Wengen and continue on to the Jungfrau - the "Top of Europe." The views are spectacular! This area has the most dramatic views in all of Switzerland, in my opinion. So, we spent 2 nights there and continued on to Ascona in the south of Switzerland and on the border of Italy. Here the weather is more tropical and it is located on Lake Maggiore. We spent two wonderful days there. We saw the Valle Versaszca which is a series of towns in a valley between several mountains. Each town was so quaint and beautiful - especially Lanertezzo which had gigantic rock formations that have been worn away overy many years and the rocks are etched of many colors by the crystalline turquoise waters of the glaciers. It took most of the morning to see all of the little towns while driving the steep climb up the mountain. We decided to go into Italy on our way back and we ended up in Stresa, which is a lovely town on Lake Maggiore. We took a ferry ride to Isola Bella, an amazing island with a Castle and beautiful gardens. The next night we drove back to Zurick and spent our last night there before flying out. I know the train systems are easy to maneuver, but we enjoyed driving everywhere, even though going through some of the mountains was a bit dicey. It was an amazing 13 days and the beauty of that country will be forever etched in my mind. I truly hope you enjoy every minute of your trip. Take warm clothing because it will be cold there at that time with snow on the mountains all year long.

Syd,
All of yout train travel times run less than 2 hours, so that certainly helps.
Unless you plan to go up into Murren or the Jungfrau, I would not stay a night in Interlaken. Instead stay a third night in Luzern and daytrip from there, OR consider a night in the wood-carving chalet village of Brienz (my personal choice). Brienz has an outdoor/open-air museum (Ballenberg Freilicht)over several acres in the woods above, where representative houses and shops from all the cantons of Switzerland are on display. Take a picnic and spend 3 or 4 hours. One can also take a lake Brienz steamer to many of the small towns.
Bern is also quite nice (underrated on this forum). Many arcaded shops and cafes. Walk to the Rosengarten above town for great views of the river Aar, and have a beer (or two).
Finally, Zurich is great for a 2-3 day visit of its numerous museums/cathedrals/cobbled lanes/boat rides or trip up to the 'local' mountain Uetliberg.
Happy travels!

oops! Just noted that you're traveling in April. Will check into what might be in service at that time of the year!

You would be better off IMo checking rail prices using the Swiss Fed railways site: SBB.ch There is an English version.

Passes become more economical the more you use them and yes you can buy any sort of Swiss Pass or Swiss Card or the family pass at any rail station once you arrive (including the one at Zurich airport.

Have you also looked into the possibility of visiting Engleberg and Mount Titlis from Lucern. I find that entire trip a little more interesting than the one up to Pilatus but that's a personal thing for me.

The Lucern-Interlaken-Bern segment...if you are going to the Berner Oberland I would stay at least as high as Lauterbrunnen as opposed to Interlaken.

I'd skip bern altogether and spend the night elsewhere such as Vevey or Montreux or even Lausanne. Getting to the Geneva airport from ANY of those places along Lac Leman is a breeze by rail including very early in the morning.

I would also second the Luzern-Engelberg-Titlis trip (open)over Rigi Kulm (Rigi's timetable seems to indicate an opening of May 1st, but I could be wrong).
The Engelberg trip ascends through Truebsee, which is a beautiful mountain lake with lovely reflections on a clear day. That said, I have never done the Pilatus trip myself (open on your dates), although the Rigi trip was nice in a smaller way.
The Freilicht Museum Ballenberg opens April 15th.

I've always used passes in Switzerland because it gives me total flexibility to do things besides what I originally planned - and you may figure that say you have an 8-striaght day Swiss Saver Pass it would cover virtually everything that moves in Switzerland, except cows, from get there to get go - city trams and buses, postal buses and lake boats and also, something you will not get with point to point tickets 50% off on all mountain lifts, cable cars, funiculars (25% on Wengen/Grindelwald to Jungfraujoch) - like if you go to the Schilthorn from Murren - having a Swiss Pass will save you about $40 I'd say - and in Lucerne, Interlaken and Geneva taking one of the fabled Swiss steamers on those lakes is also 100% covered by the pass - and it is really nice IME to do these relaxing boat trips and you may not have planned in your original price estimation. Plus the Swiss Pass gives you free entry to over 400 Swiss Museums (popular Ballenberg overlooking Lake Thun near Interlaken costs about $20 as many museums do - such as the popular new Paul Klee Museum in Bern.

So I would not just judge a pass from comparing it to point to point ticket but also what a pass can do for you once in those destinations.

Personally for your itinerary I'd say a Swiss Pass is a no-brainer that would for the average tourist save a lot of money (and time not ever having to wait in lines at train station ticket windows.)

Anyways for loads of great stuff on Swiss trains, passes (and things like the Half-Fare Card, Swiss Transfer Ticket, Swiss Card, etc.) check out these IMO fantastic sites: www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. Swiss passes are sold at Swiss stations but for the past several years have often been signficantly cheaper if bought in North America so check prices both in dollars and Swiss francs - and figure in things like 3% many credit cards charge for foreign transactions, etc. A Saverpass is for two to five people traveling together on one pass and thus cheaper than two solo passes. It can however be used by only one person say if you get to Geneva and one person wants to do a lake boat excursion and the other does not. If you have kids under 16 they get a free Family Pass and never pay a dime for anything transportion in all of Switzerland.

Spend 1 day exploring the city and second day visiting Mt. Pilatus and/or Rigi>

example of where the Swiss Pass would pay 50% of the cost of the expensive trip up and down Pilatus

and would pay the lake boat to get to Rigi area and also the cableway or mountain train 50% up there.

Indeed you could take a boat to Alpnachstad and have it 100% covered to catch one of the world's most thrilling mountain railways and then one of the world's most scintillating aerial cable car rides back down to Lucerne itself - pass would pay 50% off each and then 100% trolley bus from where cableway comes down - Krens I believe - to Lucerne centrum.

Can't comment on trains since we always drive - but you should be aware that early April in Switzerland can still be quite cold and snowy in the mountain areas (the earlies we've gone is end of May). You should be fine in the citie - but for cablecars ot trams up mountains - or steamers on the lakes - I would check how often things run that early in the year.

Syd:
Boats on Lake Brienz start April 22nd (4 per day), BUT Saturday/Sunday?holidays only at that early in Spring.

You haven't stated what your sightseeing priorities are (ie: cows and spring meadows, quaint old towns, shopping, historical sights or mountain vistas), so its hard to say whether one day in these towns would really be "enough". It would be a nice 'sampler' though (I still vote not to eliminate Bern!)

Boats on Lake Thun, one of the lakes that bookends Inter-laken run all year I believe and to be on the lake on a clear day when the Jungfrau Massif is out in all its glory hovering majestically high above the lake is awe inspiring!

Mokka, thanks so much for your info on Brienz! Sounds very
interesting! Will definitely consider it strongly
Also I'm quite keen on Bern. Thanks for the tip on Rosengarten. Will definitely do that. Also thanks for checking out the timetables for Rigi and Engleberg. So appreciate it. Also, our sightseeing priorities lie in quaint old town, historical sites and mountain vistas!. Ofcoruse, thruogh in a bit of shopping but not much!

Touringlady, thanks so much for your tips on travelling around. You've definitely given very good insight!
Grueyuers sounds just amazing!

Dukey, I'll have a look at SBB.ch. I'll check out the entire "package" offered by the passes and not just to look at the rail travels so will definitely check out it's suitablility. I haven't checked out Engleberg and Mt. Titlis. Will check up on that. Thanks.

PalenQ, thanks for the info on the passes. I could not find the complete list of advantages of the passes and the links you've provided will definitely be a great help!
Also thanks for the tip on Lake Thun!

Nytraveller, thanks for the tip. Will remember to check the
rail/tram timetables.

I so appreciate all of you taking out time to assist. Thanks all for this valuable information!

Syd - If doing a Lake Thun steamer a sweet place to stop off for a few hours is Oberhofen, on the northwest side of the lake, near Thun. It is a cute lakeside town with a dreamy castle brooding perhced over the lake - a nice place for lunch or a cafe before boarding the next boat - they run about every hour or so in season but in early spring check schedules - you can also take a bus from Oberhofen to nearby Thun another really nic town but bigger and get a train or boat from there back to Interlaken-West train station, behind which the boats dock.

OR consider a night in the wood-carving chalet village of Brienz (my personal choice). Brienz has an outdoor/open-air museum (Ballenberg Freilicht)over several acres in the woods above, where representative houses and shops from all the cantons of Switzerland are on display. Take a picnic and spend 3 or 4 hours. One can also take a lake Brienz steamer to many of the small towns>

agree wholeheartedly with mooka on this - a day trip on Lake Brienz is superb from any base in the Jungfrau Region - from Interlaken-Ost's train station - behind it - steamers leave and cruise around Lake Brienz - stopping at several intresting places - like the neat town of Brinz mokka mentions. From there you can take an old-fashioned steam train up to the top of a mountain for great viewsd (I did a nice walk down from the summit) - another case where a Swiss Pass would save you 50% of this trains to mountain tops and the pass also covers 100% the boat ride on Lake Brienz as well as the $20 or so entry fee to the fantastic IMO Ballenberg Open-Air museum mokka mentions - all in all aspects of the Swiss Pass you do not get just by comparing ordinary fares between your base cities like in the OP. A Swiss Pass (or Half-Fare Card) can save you tons of money in ways you may not imagine!

One of the highlights to me of a Lake Brienz boat tour is to get off at the Giesbach See boat dock and take the antique-looking funicular or hike up to the famous Giessbach Falls - a roaring rocky torrent that tumbles into the lake here. There is also the august and fabled Giessbach Hotel up by the falls for refreshements or lunch, etc. If you like to do an easy hike do like we did and hike down to Meiringen - just a few miles along the lake - Meiringen is home to the fabmous sweet delicacy meringue.

Giessbach Falls (Brienzersee, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland)Giessbach Falls spills into light blue Lake Brienz and is accompanied by a historic hotel. It's said to tumble 500m in height over serveral tiers, ...
http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/e...ach-falls.html

Giessbach Falls, SwitzerlandGiessbach Falls, Switzerland, tourist attractions, information, pictures, maps.
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