Hello,

We are planning a trip to Switzerland at the beginning of September for 8 days. We’ve got an 8 day travel pass.

Our current route is as follows:

- Fly to Zurich
- Train from Zurich to Interlaken (2 nights here)
- Interlaken to Zermatt (2 nights here)
- Glacier express to St Moritz (1 night here)
- Bus to Lugano (1 night here)
- Gotthard panorama express to Lucerne (2 nights here)
- Back to Zurich for flight home


What does everyone think of this? Anything you would do differently?

Thanks!

I'd skip Interlaken and head to Wengen or Murren instead.

I'd also not travel so much in so few days. A two night stay only gives you one full day, a one night stay gives you very little time to see the place you've traveled to.

Sounds like a train/bus riding trip to me. Is that what you want?

What would you like to do while you're in Switzerland? Do you plan to hike? I'm a bit allergic to one night stops myself so would cut them if looking to reduce the number of hotel stops. I agree that you are probably trying to cover too much ground in the time you have available unless your preference is to enjoy the scenery from a vehicle. Certainly it's doable but as I like to be out in nature it's not what I would choose.

The itinerary covers a lot of ground and hits a couple of iconic towns and routes, but there isn't enough time anywhere for me. If you're just wanting a quick trip to see a bit of Switzerland, it's ok I suppose. It just doesn't appeal to me.

You should do some investigation into the Palm Express bus from St. Moritz to Lugano. Since it dips into Italy, which has different entry requirements re Covid, there might be an interruption of service or route change that impacts the timing and the route. Pre-Covid, the bus took 4 hours and arrived Lugano around 2:30 p.m. which doesn't give time to explore much beyond the town of Lugano. If the route is changed to avoid Italy, the scenery will obviously be different, and you'd be repeating the segment between Bellinzona and Lugano the next day.

Don't worry about the Palm Express. As it transits only throug italy, you don't need the Italian Passengers Location Form.
If you travel via Bernina Express, however, you must be able to present all documents needed for entry into Italy (although there is usually no check by Italian authorities).
But it doesn't make any sense to travel all the way to St. Moritz if you don't stay in this mountain area at least one full day.
Same remark for Lugano.

A quick second vote for staying in Wengen versus Interlaken! It was very easy to travel by train, gondola, and foot in the region. If you enjoy hiking -- easy or harder -- you could spend many days in Wengen exploring the various hikes and taking in the spectacular views.



Kleine Scheidegg

And from beautiful Lucerne you could enjoy the city and take a part of the day to travel up Mount Pilatus.



Mount Pilatus

Have a great trip!

"If you enjoy hiking -- easy or harder -- you could spend many days in Wengen exploring the various hikes and taking in the spectacular views"
The same is true for St. Moritz and Zermatt too.
The highest mountain peaks of Switzerland and the longest glaciers are all around Zermatt. In the St. Moritz area, you can reach more than half a dozen mountain peaks by cableways.... or cross Lake Sils (6000 fett above sea level) aboard of sheduled passenger boats.