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Switzerland: need help planning!
We are planning to go with 3 young kids and 2 senior citizens to a 9-10 day tour of Switzerland. We are trying to have the following:
1) customized travel that include travel involving Lucerne, Inerlaken, Montreux, Bern, Zurich, Jungfraujoch, Mt. Titlis, Bernina Express and Golden Pass Express. Any recommendations on possible planning of the tour to minimize any redundancy in travel, and to add ease for traveling with kids, please? 2) With 9 family members, we don't want to spend a fortune on cab/taxi rides etc. and so would need suggestions on family-friendly 3 star hotel locations (with complimentary breakfast availability) that are not more than 5-10 minutes walking distance from train stations. 3) We are having a difficult time finding group tours on our dates in April, if people suggest that some of their recommended group tours, are better options, I will be interested in knowing. Look forward to absorbing all the travel knowledge and guidance from this forum! |
Hi Travelingwith3kids,
I'd recommend a route something like this (assuming arrival and departure from Zürich): arrive and go immediately to Montreux, stay 3 or 4 nights. Take the Golden Pass Express to the Interlaken area, stay 4 or 5 nights. While in this area, take a day-trip to Bern and also visit the Jungfraujoch. Go on to Luzern for 2 or 3 nights; take a day-trip to Zürich and to Titlis. You can get to the Zürich airport in an hour by direct train from Luzern, so it eliminates all the hassle of a move if you stay in Luzern the night before your departure. Going on the Bernina Express is just not a good idea with your current plan -- it will take a day just to get to the eastern side of the country, then a day to do the trip, then a day to get back. I would make sure to limit the number of times you move bases -- with each move, you'll lose about half a day just to the chores of packing up and checking out, then checking in and unpacking again. When I travelled with my 70-year-old mother, I was surprised to see that she unpacked EVERYTHING and placed everything as if she were going to stay forever -- so it may take even longer for you for each move. The children will also not be able to move quickly, so that's another reason to limit the number of times you move base. I know Montreux best, and I can tell you that there aren't really any wonderful 3-star hotels close by the train station -- the train station is up on a hill, and the hotels and the town are down by the lake. You could check on the Hotel Splendid or the Hotel Bon Accueil, which would be close. The 4-star Grand Hotel Suisse is just across the street from the train station, and you may find a good bargain there if you look now. Have fun as you plan! s |
The only problem is that itinerary is 12 plus days when the OP has said 9 or 10 - which may count arrival and departure days.
For hotels - what budget - in francs - are you looking for - and how many rooms for what seems to be 7 people? |
No it's not, nytraveler.
It could be: Montreux 3 nights Interlaken 4 nights Luzern 2 nights or Montreux 4 nights Interlaken 3 nights Luzern 2 nights or Montreux 3 nights Interlaken 3 nights Luzern 3 nights The number of nights at each one would depend on whether the OP wanted more time nearby the mountains, in a city, or on a lake . . . that's why I framed the itinerary as "3 or 4 nights." s |
Many thanks, swandav2000, nytraveler and neckervd, for very thoughtful replies.
Here are some follow up queries---please see how this kind o itinerary looks, and if this is workable: We plan to arrive in Zurich on an early AM flight, and stay there---do some sight seeing, and go to Rhine falls. We stay in Zurich overnight. Next morning, we go to Lucerne (Mountains and sightseeing) and stay there for 2 nights. We catch the Golden pass express to Interlaken and stay there 2 nights (Jungfrauch etc.). Then, since we plan to go on Bernina express, we either go to Chur or St. Moritz and stay there a night. We catch Bernina express and go to Poschiavo (don't want to go to Tirano, Italy). We take lunch and roam around for the couple of hours there and then catch Bernina from Poschiavo to Chur or St. Moritz, and stay overnight. Then go to Zurich and come back. Does that sound reasonable? My concerns and questions---the only reasons we would stay a night in Chur or St. Moritz is so that we don't have to carry our luggage on Bernina (remember, we are traveling with 3 young kids and 2 senior citizens; total passengers 9, to answer your question, nytraveler). Any better alternatives? How can we incorporate Montreux in this itinerary? Thanks again! |
Have you done a trip like this before with little kids? I ask because it sounds really difficult to me...too much moving around and too little time. I know for me, arriving in Zurich after an overnight flight, I'd be lucky to get 2 hours sightseeing in the afternoon, no way I'd get to Rhine Falls, and see some of the city, and leave first thing in the morning for Lucerne. So I wonder if you are overestimating how quickly 9 people can move around? I would do less. And I don't even travel with kids. But that's me...I'd rather spend less time on trains and see more of an area, even if it means missing out on some things.
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A train ride from Interlaken to Poschiavo takes 7 to 8 hrs via Bern - Zurich, 8 1/2 hrs via Milan and 9 1/2 hrs via Brig - Disentis.
But I cannot understand why you plan to do this long train ride if you don't want to visit any place along this itinerary, obviously not even Poschiavo. There is no doubt that such a long train odyssey will be the hell for your kids, but what's your personal benefit of it? |
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