Hi everyone,

Thank you to everyone who helped with my earlier Switzerland planning post. My original plan was to travel with my 80-year-old parents so I was planning around comfort, minimal walking, and slower pacing.


Unfortunately, my parents are no longer able to join due to health reasons. So I am now resetting the itinerary almost from scratch.

**Fixed details*

* Arrive in Geneva: **June 12**
* Depart from Geneva: **June 20**
* Flights are fixed in/out of Geneva
* Hotels and internal transportation are not booked yet

The trip will now likely be either:

1. **Solo**, or
2. **With my 16-year-old son**

I would love your advice on how you would structure the trip now that I no longer need to plan around elderly-parent mobility limitations.

A little about me/us:

* I am active and enjoy hiking, scenic walks, and physical activities.
* I enjoy local culture, cafés, casual local bars, meeting people, cute towns, and scenic places.
* I am not especially interested in snow just for the sake of snow.
* I do not want every day to feel like “another cable car to another mountain viewpoint.”
* If my 16-year-old son joins, I want the trip to be fun for him too: activities, trains, light adventure, interesting towns, and not too much passive sightseeing.


Given the fixed Geneva arrival/departure dates, I would really appreciate your thoughts on two versions:

**Option A: If I go solo**
What route, bases, and activities would you recommend? It will be all in train/bus (no car rental)

**Option B: If my 16-year-old son joins**
How would you change the route, bases, and activities?

I am especially interested in:

* How many bases would you choose for this length of trip?
* Where would you stay overnight?
* What activities would you recommend for an active traveler in each places?
* What would be fun for a 16-year-old?
* What would you skip?
* Would you include any nearby non-Swiss stops such as Chamonix or Annecy, or focus fully on Switzerland?

I have read about places like Lucerne, Bern, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen/Mürren, Interlaken, Montreux/Vevey, Chamonix, Annecy, and the GoldenPass route, but I am very open to different suggestions.

Thanks again. Since the situation changed, I would love to hear how you would plan this trip from scratch for either a solo traveler or a father traveling with a 16-year-old.

Hello!
sorry to hear your parents can no longer join you.

I traveled with my family 2 years ago (in June) to Switzerland for 13 days. We also flew into/out of Geneva. Here is my trip report if you want to take a look and get some ideas.

my son (he was 11 then) enjoyed the boat rides, zip line on top of junngfraujoch (we lucked out with weather that day), the hiking, the cable car / cogwheel train / gondola rides, chateau chillon.

yk+family 13 days to Switzerland & French Alps; June 2024

"Neverrrr mind!"
-Roseanne Roseannadanna

Your questions are all over the place, so it seema you don't know what interests you most about Switzerland, let alone what your son would enjoy. Are you actually leaving in less than three weeks?

I hope your parents are OK.

I really think you'd be better off deciding who is going on this trip - just you or you and your son - and then decide what to do and where to stay. You can make all these plans for the two of you, then he doesn't go for whatever reason, and you are back to the beginning again.

Yes I am actually leaving in less than 3 weeks

Sorry, but you didn't listen to anyone's advice on the other thread, why would this one be any different?

If you are traveling in less than 3 weeks, it may be more a question of where you can find places to stay rather than where you might want to stay . . .

+1

Posts #2, 5 and 6 were moved from the original topic (traveling with your elderly parents) to this new, more current thread.

Do you have a US passport or an Indian one? If you have an Indian passport there is no way you will get a Schengen visa in time to travel in three weeks.

Why did you choose Switzerland in the first place? What is it that attracts you to the country? Consider this and decide what you want to see and do there. Make a list, look at a map to see a logical order and get on with it. Use Booking.com to find accomadation in your chosen places, and in your price range.
If you haven't booked flights, or can cancel them to give you more time to plan then do that, and maybe take your vacation closer to home this time.
Or visit your ailing parents instead, with your son. You only have them for a short time now - make the most of it.

You know your son the best. If outdoor pursuits and lake/mountains do not interest him now, it is doubtful he will be on vacation.

I don't want to pile on, but despite the travelers changing, in the end, you seem no closer to a plan than you were a couple of weeks ago when you first posted. You chose Switzerland for a reason. And it's those reason you build a trip around. With this late in planning, you have no time to dither