Switzerland Itinerary
 

Hi,

We are planning to be in Switzerland for 6 nights as per the following programme:
2 nights at Lucerne (arriving from Stuttgart, may be spend a few hours at Bern on the way)
2 nights at Lauterbrunnen
2 nights at Brig (to cover Zermatt, and from here leave for Milan on the 7th day)

I have a Eurailpass to cover me for day 1 and day 7, and I am planning to have a 4-day Swiss flexi saver pass (covering 4 out of the remaining 5 days)

have booked the hotels and need to tee up the train timings but here are my specific questions:
1. I don't particularly like the fact that I am moving hotels thrice, especially with reasonably heavy luggage. Can I instead stay at Lauterbrunnen and cover Lucerne via day trip?
2. The main reason of staying at Brig on the last 2 days is because it would be efficient to go to Milan from there. Can Zermatt be covered from here? Am I missing much by not staying in Zermatt
3. For the day I am not covered by the rail pass, can I keep it for Lauterbrunnen? I.e., does the ride up consume a day of the flexi pass?

Would really appreciate some guidance on the above. Many thanks in advance.

The route from Stuttgart to Lucerne goes nowhere near Berne - my suggestion is to spend a few hours in Schaffhausen.

1) Yes, you can cover Lucerne as a day trip but I wouldn't do that. Lucerne has its own charm and I'd rather add a lake cruise or a walk at night in the old town.

2) You do not miss anything by not staying in Zermatt. Brig's accommodations are less expensive, it has a much nicer old town and a castle. You can easily cover Zermatt from there. Also, check the weather - if it is cloudy/rainy or so you can skip Zermatt entirely and see something else in the Rhone valley (wine tasting in Sierre/Salgesch? castles?)

3) You get 50% discount on rail travels on the day you're not totally covered by the Flexi Pass. Don't know exactly what you plan to do there, but yes, you can keep it for Lauterbrunnen.

Thanks Ingo, I guess in that case I will stick with my bookings.

I realized Bern is not on the way. Perhaps it could be Zurich or Basel? Any suggestions?

At Lauterbrunnen, my plan was to cover one of the peaks: Jungfraujoch and /or Schilthorn.

Thanks again

As I said, Schaffhausen is on the way. Zürich is also an option, of course. My recommendation would be Schaffhausen since it is smaller/more compact and the sights are in closer distance to each other.

For Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn you just have to do the math if it is economical: One of the full coverage days of the Flexi Pass would give you free rides up to Wengen or Mürren, above that 25% discount. If you don't mark the day as one of the validity days you get 50% discount up to Wengen or Mürren and 25%, too, above them up to Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn. At first glance I'd say it is a waste to use one of the 4 validity days for that trip.

Ingo, thanks. I went to schaffhausen per your suggestion and quite liked it.

Thanks again.