denisede

I've finally gotten our air in place for next year so now I can go on to our Switzerland itinerary. This is for late April/early May.

To preface, these days are to be prior to a Mediterranean cruise, and we will not have a lot of cold weather clothes, boots, etc. with us. We will plan on wearing layers along with a fleece jacket, and athletic shoes. That, and the fact that we enjoy trains in Europe is why I think the following may work even though it is a lot of time on the trains. I have read that late April/early May in Switzerland may not have the best of weather (be prepared for the possibility of rainy, cold and wet) so being inside a train may be the best way to see scenic Switzerland during this time frame. We arrive in Milan and will stay there overnight, storing our larger luggage either at the hotel or the train station.

Day 1 - leave from Milan to Tirano (via train) and then on to Chur for overnight. partial Bernini Express route

Day 2- Chur to Brig (overnight Brig) partial Glacier Express route

Day 3 and 4- Brig to Lauterbrunnen,
overnight Lauterbrunnen for 2 nights in order to take trips to Murren and Wengen

Day 5 - Lauterbrunnen to Brig (overnight) possibly on to Zermatt during the day and back to Brig

Day 6 - Brig to Milan

Critiques? Ideas? I think this route gives us a good cross section to touch on some highlights, but of course I've not been there yet so can only guess at the logistics! For those that have been in these areas, is this still too much even though riding the train may be beneficial if rainy weather?

I have not yet figured out which train pass will work best for us, but that will come once I can get a better grasp of our route and timetable. I also don't know whether or not we will take some of the "Official" scenic routes or just follow them on regular trains.

I have already learned a lot from those that post here and have at least given me a ballpark idea of the time we'll need. Thank you all.

D

swandav2000

Hi denisede,

Yes, I think you are doing too much in too many different places. While I agree that the scenery from the trains is terrific -- it is a hundred times MORE terrific from an Alpine trail or a mountain restaurant. With six days, I would have maybe two destinations. Believe me, wherever you decide to stay, there will be plenty of local trains and cable cars to explore, leaving you much more time to soak up the views. There are also lots of rainy day activities, and in any case, the rain won't last all day long.

You can look at the train schedules at the Swiss rail site,

www.rail.ch

Good luck!

s

denisede

swandav,

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you have suggestions as to where we choose as the 2 destinations? Five nights total. Round trip from Milan. My husband wants to see Mountains! (He lived in Wyoming, US for a few years a while back and misses the views and expanse terribly.)

d

swandav2000

Hi again,

Yeh, I've been musing on which two I would pick. Here are some thoughts --

You can still come up from Milan through Tirano and over the Bernina Pass on the Bernina Express. That's an incredible ride, and I've heard a LOT of folks say it's their favorite "scenic" train. I would stay there in the Engadin Valley for 2-3 days, either in Pontresina or a town around St Moritz (Sils or Silvaplana, Samedan, etc).

Then you can take the Glacier Express over to Zermatt, and stay there for 2-3 days before returning to Milan.

Or you could go to the Engadin, then on the GE as far as Brig and hang out there for 2-3 days.

I don't think the trip all the way to Wengen/Mürren will be a good idea. It's simply too far in too few days -- if you were flying out of Zürich it would be easier, but returning to Milan makes it a pretty long haul. So I guess you basically should make the tough choice: either see some scenic trains OR only go straight to the Berner Oberland and back again. Also remember what lots of folks say -- the BO doesn't have the best mountains, just the best PR!

It's a tough choice, but happily, there are no wrong answers!!

s

Connie

It only took us 5 hours from Milan to get to Interlaken Ost, which is the jumping off point for the Berner Oberland. We love the Rockies and try to go there every year. If Switzerland were closer to home (Texas), I would go to the BO every year instead.

denisede

I guess I have some more research to do. I'll look deeper into the Engadin area to see if there's a place I'd like to stay. But I really kind of had my heart set on the Berner Oberland area as a top choice. I planned the original routing to get a quick overview of more of Switzerland, perhaps some different types of scenery, with fairly easy train connections in relation to towns/cities in which to stay. Thanks to both of you for your input. Back to work for me!

d

BarbAnn

Hi denisede,

I am doing something similar in October before our Med cruise. DH and I have been to Switzerland several times before. We are flying into Zurich then on to BO, to Zermatt, Locarno ending in Venice for our cruise.

We have taken the Glacier Express before. It was OK, but I would not do it again. We have spent the night in Chur. While it is a cute town, there are other places I'd rather visit. We love the mountains. My husband LOVES the BO and I LOVE Zermatt. We keep going back to both places.

There will be snow in the higher elevations. Our last visit was second week of June and we had rain. There was even skiing at the top of Klein Matterhorn. I will be taking a pair of study water repellant walking boots. I took them our last trip and wore tham all the time in the mountains.

We have found incredible mountain views by taking the cable cars, gondolas and rack trains. I too, would suggest less time on the trains.

denisede

Thanks everyone. I think I'll look into concentrating on the BO and Zermatt/Brig areas.

We live in Florida and I will have to see what type of waterproof walking shoes/boots would be available here. I also don't know if we'd have room for this extra in our luggage - so we may have to forego the extra footgear. We try to keep it as light as possible, even considering we have a cruise after this side trip.

Connie

We were doing carry on only (sooooo glad we did) so I didn't take my hiking boots. I just wore my rubber bottom walking shoes (I took Privos--friend took Easy Spirits) and was just fine. We weren't doing any major, difficult hiking trails.

There are lots of trails that are pretty level with awesome scenery. A great one is from Mannlichen (a gondola takes you up there from Wengen) to Klein Schedegg.

You will run into a little snow with snow melt but my shoes did fine on those rare spots.

bob_brown

The time period from late April until mid - late May is not the best time to visit the Berner Oberland. Some of the cable modes of transportation are often out of service for maintenance.

For example, the Grindelwald to First gondola began the summer season on May 10th this year.

The Wengen - Männlichen cable lift was out of service most of May.

The same is true of the gondola line from Grindelwald Grund to the Männlichen. (The Männlichen is that towering ridge above the Lauterbrunnen valley. From the Grindelwald side it rises less steeply.)

The trains usually are operating up to Kleine Scheidegg, which is the first station on the Jungfraubahn that goes to the Jungfraujoch.
Passengers change trains at Kleine Scheidegg for the Jungfraubahn.

The train to Schynige Platte, a high ridge overlooking the whole area around Interlaken, does not begin operation until about May 24.

Many hotels in Wengen and Mürren are closed during May.

Temperatures at those higher altitudes are still cold in early May and snow is often deep.