lslotsve

I have to say, of all the European countries I have planned trips too, for some reason this seems to be the hardest. I think I am intimidated by all the modes of transportations and timetables.

1. Can someone please provide input on the order that would be best to do the following activities. I have included a sample Itinerary. We are starting in Lake Como and Ending in Montruex (where we will spend 5 days but that part has already been figured out)
2. Would Wegen be the best home base or should we do 2 days one place and 2 another? We don't mind moving but want to maximize our time.

3. This is where I need help. I would like to do the following things
*Boat Cruise Lake Thon see the 5 castles
*Grindelwald Cliff Walk (preferably earliest it opens one morning)
*Jafragan Top of the World (do I need a tour or can we do this alone)? Also is it likely to "sell out?" or can I watch weather and buy day of? was hoping to have flexibility when we got there to swap a day if it is cloudy
*Harder Klum
*Lauterbrunnen‎ waterfalls
*Bern for a 2 or 3 hour walking tour
*anything else I must see? I put in days of week if that matters



Thur Day 1: Evening train from Lake Como to Lucerne - overnight Lucerne - is Lugano to Lucerne on Gotthard Panorama Express the quickest or an express train through Zurich?)

Frid Day 2: explore old town Lucerne, take Lucerne Interlaken Express to BO Region. (OVERNIGHT SOMEWHERE - INTERLAKEN? WEGEN?)
Q: how long do we spend in Lucerne - when would be a good time to head to the BO Region.


Sat Day 3: One or two excursions - Overnight somewhere (should we plan ourselves in Wegen/elsewhere for 4 nights or do 2 days here 2 days somewhere else based on what we want to see

Sun Day 4: One or two excursion - (same overnight questions

Monday Day 5 same as above. Are there better days of the week to do better excursions.
Tue. Day 6 - Can I do Bern this Morning and still take the Golden Pass scenic train from somewhere to Montreux. End of services (in Montreux). I need to be to Montruex by about 2:00 pm.

Thank you so much for any and all input and help.

lavandula

Sorry I can't help with your itinerary but you should tag your post with the countries you plan to visit. People won't necessarily click on your title if there are no tags. You may still be able to edit, but if you can't ask the moderators to help you out.

Lavandula

KayF

Agree that you need to ask the Moderator to tag your thread with Switzerland.

I'd recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen, not Interlaken. We did a day trip by train to Thun from Lauterbrunnen, did a couple of long walks, visited Murren, Schilthorn and Wengen. I think we had four nights, may have been five. For Lucerne, two full days would be good but it depends on what you want to see from there. If you are only visiting Bern to do a guided walk, why not add that day to somewhere you are already visiting. Moving on all the time is tiring and you lose at least half a day each time.

Moderator1

Added tag and modified title to include Switzerland

neckervd

Trains Lake Como - Lucerne:
Varenna - Lucerne: 4 hrs trip, trains every 1-2 hrs until 19.35, change at Monza and Arth-Goldau, sometimes at Lugano too.
Cono - Lucerne: 2 1/2 hrs trip, some direct trains, otherwise change at Arth-Goldau and sometimes aat Lugano too.
Menaggio - Lucerne: 3 - 3 1/2 hrs trip, change from bus to train at Lugano.
The Gotthard Express is a slow panoramic train stopping at the boat pier of Fluelen from where you can go on to Lucerne by historic paddle steamboat.

twk

We used Wengen as a base to explore the Berner Oberland and made daytrips to Bern and the open air museum at Ballenberg on Lake Brienz. We had a 15 day rail pass, and using the SBB app, this made it easier to change our plans on the fly and go where they weather dictated. You definitely want to be able to do that when it comes to choosing a day to go up the Jungfraujoch. So, if I understand your thinking correctly, maximizing your time in Wengen (or Murren, or Grindewald, or Lauterbrunnen) with a short stopover in Lucerene just prior makes sense to me.