Hi. I am heading to Switzerland with my three teenage boys in early June. I have read a lot on this forum and others, and have used this information to formulate the itinerary below. I am just wondering if this seems sound to those who have visited? I want to "dig in" a little in each space we visit, rather than be on the move the entire time (don't want the kids to burn out!).. I'm curious if four nights in Lucerne is too much? Do we have enough time in Montreaux Region? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

First night in Zurich (we arrive late)
4 nights in Lucerne
5 nights in Wengen
3 nights in Montreaux
2 nights in Bern
Then back to Zurich where we end our trip.

Thank you for your help!

Yes, it sounds good to me. 3 nights in Montreux is enough, unless you want to do some day trips from it. 4 nights in Lucerne - depends on what you want to do. It has mountains and a lake, so plenty of attractions, not to mention day trips.

Yes seems swell - and if going by train the 14-day-consecutive Swiss Pass should be a great deal -ages under 16 traveling with a parent get a free Family Pass and never pay a cent for any transport- even when adults pay 50%- for lots on Swiss transports and passes check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Yes lots of easy day trips from Lucerne - boat rides - Mt Pilatus; Mt Titlis at Engelberg and its famous rotating gondola; Mt Rigi, etc.

In Jungfrau area kids can do special organized action activities like para gliding - well adults can too.

While based in the Montreux region called Swiss Riviera (taking lodgings could be just as nice in Clarens, Vevey, or up in Caux or Glion) take the mountain-goat of a train up to the wildflower paradise of Rochers de Naye (www.myswissalps.com/rochersdenaye) with splendid views across the lake onto the Swiss/French Alps (Mont Blanc) etc.

Also visit the castle Chillon (by bus or short train hop, or even a good walk from Montreux) www.chillon.ch/en/index.cfm

Or take a public boat - see www.cgn.ch/en

While in Bern, take tram 9 to Wabern-Gurtenbahn, the stop where you take the funicular up onto the Gurten, where you can have great views of the alps after a short walk along the golf course, and a splendid lunch in either the self-serve restaurant (lower level) or the uppercrusty restaurant upstairs.

Walking up and/or down is, of course, also an option.

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/g...-mountain.html

Also while in Bern, if you want to see the full action of all the figurines of the clocktower ("Zytglogge"), go there just before 12 noon. And don't leave too soon, there are some artistic (or mechanical?) pauses...
At other times only a few figurines move.

At the lower end of the historic center are two bridges, the old (lower, also called Untertorbrücke) and higher "new" Nydeggbrücken. (In a city that dates back to 1191, "old" and "new" are relative terms...)

At the Eastern end of the upper bridge is a tiny restaurant in a cute little "hut" adjacent to a sandstone building, the Brasserie Bärengraben - go there for a very good (but not cheap) meal, only during lunch or dinner hours.

Just down the incline (heading north) is the Music venue (sometimes Jazz) Mahogany Hall and a cozy typical "Wine Café" (an oxymoron, but that's what it calls itself), the Klösterli Weincafe. Rarely full of tourists, sip a glass among locals

a nice boat ride on Lake Geneva goes to Evian-les-Bains, for a taste of France and Evian water from the source- Swiss Pass fully valid even into France. Evian is a spiffy spa=type town with casino.

Thank you for those suggestions PalenQ and Michael. If I keep Bern on my itinerary I will put those down as a priority for sure! And the Montreaux suggestions are great (I considered Vevey as my base for that area too).

I had one poster suggest Lugano instead of Bern and I'm still uncertain about this. It is exciting but a little overwhelming not to bounce this off of anyone, so I appreciate your weighing in!

Lugano is fine, but for this trip it is A) a bit too far (south of the alps) for the little time you have before getting back to Zürich, and B) its main attraction is that it is situated by a lake. You have two splendid lake situations in Lucerne and Montreux already. Besides, Bern is about 75 minutes from the airport, Lugano more like 2 1/2 hours.

Bern is a historic city (also the capital of the Swiss Federation) where the historic center is also the fully modern and active commercial and government hub - the Federal Parliament is in the middle of it. There are too many worthwhile targets for your short stay, so read up on it and pick and choose.

www.bern.com/en
www.bern.com
www.myswitzerland.com/en/bern.html

In Bern you could rent kayaks to shoot the rapid flowing river that swishes right thru town. Maybe for the kids!

http://www.bern.com/en/activities/aa...s-kayaks-tubes

Personally, I think I would spend one less night in Lucerne and add it to Montreux. There are mountains and the lake at Lucerne, but if you're going to spend 5 nights in Wengen, you'll see mountains and lakes there, too, and somewhat grander (the mountains).

I would also suggest that you could do Bern as a daytrip from Wengen, and add nights in the Berner Oberland. We were there last June for a week, and had bad luck with the weather--only really having 3 days that were decent for high mountain excursions. Trips to Bern, Brienz (and the Ballenburg open air museum), or Thun are great ways to make the best of a rainy day in the Oberland. Doing Bern as a daytrip from Wengen gives you more flexibility on what to do while you are in Wengen.

If you want to see more of what I did on my two week trip last June, you can check out my trip report. https://tinyurl.com/zudqgtj

Should be a great trip!

You’ve already gotten some great advice, but for what it’s worth:

You might want to stay just outside of Montreux, perhaps in Vevey.

I agree that Lugano, while charming, is a bit far afield for your plan.

I think your proposed division of time could work very well. In contrast, I wouldn’t want to shift time to the Bernese Oberland, as that could mean adding a lot of transportation time for getting into and out of the valley. JMO.

I’m no expert on weather in Switzerland, but think you might want to push your time in the Bernese Oberland out as far toward the end of your trip as you can. My thinking, which could be wrong, is that the later in the month of June you go to that region, the more likely it is that you will have good weather and / or avalanche-free walks. In contrast, there’s a lot to do in Lucerne, Montreux, and Bern that wouldn’t be contingent on weather. Just something to consider….

If you haven’t already seen it, you might find some helpful information in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...any-thanks.cfm

Hope that helps!

Lugano is a nice city but never excited me as much as other places - and excursions by boat or post bus IMO are not as great either.

Some good advice already given including forgetting Lugano on this trip. Even on a later trip I would forego Lugano in favour of Ascona which I consider far better.

I don't see where you have said what your teenagers are interested in. That might generate some more specific attractions to consider.

How old are the 'teens' - teens or young adults?

http://www.interlaken.ch/en/excursio...imwehfluh.html

Interlaken has an 'all-weather' summer included bobsled run -plus there is a model railway up top - take an antique funicular up there-kids may like to try the bobsled!

SWiTZERLAND WITH CHILDREN

As public transport is rather expensive in Switzerland, study carefully the sites about Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flexy and Swiss half fare card: http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/home.html

Check the Swiss Travel System Family Card
The Swiss Travel System Family Card is issued at no cost to parents who wish to take along their children under the age of 16 at no cost. Please note that at least one parent has to travel with the child/ren.

Some ideas (check opening periods, some places are closed in winter)::

historic steamboats on Lake Geneva:
http://www.cgn.ch/horaires/pdf/AffA2-ete-10.pdf
http://www.cgn.ch/eng/flotte

Swiss Vapeur Park Le Bouveret:
http://www.swissvapeur.ch/en/index.php

Signal de Bougy:
http://www.parc-aventure.ch/Signal-de-Bougy/
http://www.signaldebougy.ch/

Menhirs at Yverdon
http://www.yverdonlesbainsregion.ch/...menhirs_clendy

Blonay-Chamby historic railway:
http://www.blonay-chamby.ch/index-en.php

Chillon castle:
http://www.chillon.ch/en/

Gruyeres castle, cheese diary and chocolate factory:
http://www.chateau-gruyeres.ch/e/mul...spectacle.html
http://www.la-gruyere.ch/en/navpage-...FR-120085.html
http://www.lamaisondugruyere.ch/inde...=142&Itemid=56
http://www.lamaisondugruyere.ch/inde...=142&Itemid=56

Chatelard-Emosson (Mont Blanc area):
http://www.chatelard.net/english/pages/descr_e.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emosson
http://www.emosson.ch/PublicEN/default-en.htm

Zermatt-Gornergrat:
http://www.gornergrat.ch/home/index.php
http://www.klein-matterhorn.ch/photos/
http://www.zermatt.ch/en/index.cfm

Entirely walled city of Murten:
http://www.murtentourismus.ch/en/nav...nFR-99305.html
http://www.murtentourismus.ch/en/nav...-MurtenFR.html
Medieval city of Bern:
http://www.berninfo.com/en/page.cfm/Information
http://www.kleinbahn-gurten.ch/

Swiss Village Park Ballenberg:
http://ballenberg.ch/en/Welcome

Lugano and Swissminiatur:
http://www.lugano-tourism.ch/en/291/default.aspx
http://www.swissminiatur.ch/

Seewen in the Jura close to Basel:
http://www.bundesmuseen.ch/musikauto...x.html?lang=en

Rapperswil:
http://www.zuerichsee.ch/en/page.cfm...FamilyDRZ/1230
http://www.knieskinderzoo.ch/
http://www.zuerichsee.ch/en/page.cfm/SightsRZ
http://www.zuerich.com/en/page.cfm/r...gion_zuerich_x

Rhine Falls Adventure Park
http://www.rheinfall.ch/Attraktionen...ark?lang=en-US

Furka steam train
http://www.furka-bergstrecke.ch/eng/train/timetable.php

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/interests/family.html
http://www.takethefamily.com/where/s...ays-and-breaks
http://www.eparenting.co.uk/family_h...tzerland.shtml
http://www.reka.ch/en/rekaferien/Pages/default.aspx
http://littletravellers.com/destinat...y-switzerland/

Actually, thinking about the 3 teenagers, I know where I would take them if it were me making the decision.

I would take them to Davos-Klosters. Here's why:
http://www.davos.ch/en/davos-kloster...al/guest-card/

As a parent, one thing you would know if you rode on the local postbuses and looked around you, is that children as young as 7-8 ride the buses and train too and from school on their own. What does that tell you about the safety concerns of parents?

From the link you will see a wide variety of activities listed for which the guest card provides discounts. The point is not so much the discounts as simply a list of what your teenagers could choose to do. And, all their transportation costs are FREE with the card.

They can rent a mountain bike, take it up in the cable car from Klosters, ride across to above Davos and take a cable car down again to the valley and ride the train back to Klosters (or vice versa). They can go hiking anywhere in the area by riding to a start point and back from their end point. They can go to the lake in Davos and sunbathe (meet girls), have lunch, rent a sailboat or paddle boat. They can go to the sports centre to play tennis, visit the public swimming pool (meet girls), etc.

You do not have to be with them when they are doing this and you do not have to worry about their safety. If an 8 year old can safely travel around the area on his/her own with confidence, so can your teenagers. I don't know any teenagers who want their parent with them all the time when they are on vacation and the less time they were with you is probably their ideal scenario.

What's more, it leaves you free to do what you want as well. You can take advantage of the guest card just as much as they can.

You go to one location where there is more than enough choices of things to see and do and the guest card provides all of you with huge freedom of movement for free. I think this would be a simple and ideal choice for a parent and 3 teenage boys. You don't have to try and find things for them to do that interest them, all you have to do is turn them loose!