Mt Pilatus is really famous and the train from Alpnachstad to the summit is one of the most thrilling in Europe and the aerial cable way back down to Krens, in suburban Lucerne and a short bus ride from the town center is also awesome.

But in my many many sojourns in Lucerne it seems Pilatus is very fickle in often being enshrouded by clouds or fog - so if in your plans hop on the first good weather day as it could be your last chance.

And a nice way to get to Alpnachstad, besides by train, is to take a lake boat there from Lucerne's train station front. Railpasses are valid on the boats 100%- but 50% Alpnachstad to summit and cable way to Krens - then 100% valid on bus back to Lucerne.

Thank you for your tips and advice. Will let you know how it goes.

Also - Any advice on which one to do - Lauterbrunnen loop (Murren/Schithorn/Gimmelwald/Lauterbrunnen) or the Jungfrau loop?

IMO the Lauterbrunnen-Murren-Schilthorn-Gimmelwald-Stechelberg-Trummelbach Falls- Lauterbrunnen loop is a much more varied and overall interesting full day excursion where each component is different and awesome.

Jungfraujoch train goes mainly thru tunnels to emerge in a sea of ice - a great experience once up top but a few hours at most for most folks tops.

And Jungfraujoch is a lot more expensive to boot

This is my opinion but the Lauterbrunnen-Murren Loop is my favorite excursion in the Jungfraujoch region.

Hi Manisha,

Would you mind sharing your trip details? We are looking to travel with our 27 month toddler in a week's time...I know it sounds kind of crazy doing such last minute planning but didn't want to miss the oppourtunity.

Thanks!!

tt to see if Manisha is still around.

Oops I see on Minasha's profile she hasn't been around in over a year - gone gone gone!

Manisha, would you mind sharing your itinerary? We're looking to visit with a toddler and would hear your experience/travel plans. Thanks in advance!

Hi Frapsicumm,

This is what we ended up doing.
Day 1 - Land in Zurich morning/afternoon time
Day 2 - Zurich
Day 3 - Zurich (Visited Rapperswille castle this day)
Day 4 - Train to Lauterbrunnen. This was the Golden Express, I think that's what the name was and was beautiful. I can't exactly remember how long but it was a couple of hours and just the perfect amount of time for our very energetic toddler. We checked into our hotel, then went for a walk around Lauterbrunnen
Day 5 - Lauterbrunnen-Murren Loop. This was amazingly beautiful, however in hindsight, I woud not do this with a toddler. Too much go-go-go and not enough stopping to smell the roses (or playing with random grass/snow along the way)
Day 6 - Train to Lucerne
Day 7 - Day in Lucerne
Day 8 - I think we either headed back this day or maybe spended another day in Lucerne. Train to Zurich. Overnight in Zurich.
Day 9 - Flight back home.

In hindsight maybe we should have just skipped Zurich, headed straight to Lucerne and used that or Lauterbrunnen as a base camp for a few days. Maybe 3 days each and used the time to really go slow. Lucerne is a wonderful wonderful city - very family friendly and pretty.

Hope this helps, sorry my memory is so fuzzy. Do let me know if you have any specific questions! I'd be happy to answer.

I would say that it was actually quite a tough trip. After that, we referred to the 2 year old mark as the "Switzerland age" in our household as in ...the age we took DD1 (yes, we now have two daughters!) to Switzerland and it was quite a challenging trip. We were up all of the first night due to jet-lag. And the second night, we slept great but slept in all the way until noon the next day (including DD) which means we pretty much spent most of the daylight hours sleeping. DD1 had lots of tantrums, so that made it "fun".

I say this not to discourage you but just to encourage you to REALLY keep it slow. And not move around so much. I will say though that after the Switzerland trip, going out and about locally felt like a breeze. We even made a trip to India a couple of months after we got back from Switzerland and it was easy peasy.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Sorry on Day 1, we landed in the evening actually. By the time we got to our hotel, it was dark.

Hi Manisha,

I am planning on taking a trip to Switzerland with my 13 month old but it'll just be me and her. Any itinerary suggestions? I don't mind taking things slowly and staying in a city for a couple of days. I am a bit nervous as it'll just be me and my toddler. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!!

Going in a weeks time with our 14 month old highly energetic toddler. We will stay in interlaken town.

We plan to do the Lauterbrunnen-Murren-Schilthorn-Gimmelwald-Stechelberg-Trummelbach Falls loop as recommended above, will it take full day?

Next we want to do Jungfrau top of europe tour, again will it take full day?

For our third day would appreciate any suggestions, do we go to wengen, grindlewald etc.

The boat rides across the lakes in interlaken, any suggestions to those will be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Farooq Zuberi

For our third day would appreciate any suggestions, do we go to wengen, grindlewald etc.>

Not as destinations because they are nice pretty towns but nothing to see in them especially, especially tiny Wengen.

Yes on third day you could do a lovely boat ride on either lake bookending Interlaken.

I think Lake Thun makes a prettier ride but Lake Brienz has more interesting things to get off and explore.

Lauterbrunnen-Murren-etc loop will take a full day.

Jungfraujoch train need not take a full day- a half day could be enough if you do not care to trudge thru the perpetual snow up top and walk to the glacier but just take in the awesome views from the main building's sun terraces.

For our third day would appreciate any suggestions, do we go to wengen, grindlewald etc.>

I think on the other thread you started you said you were going to do the Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg Ridge Walk - an easy easy few-mile stroll really - but that can be done in conjunction with the Jungfraujoch train since it goes thru Kl Scheidegg.