| Lucerne | 2 days | Mount Titles, Mount Rigi |
| Interlaken** | 3 days | Jungfrau, Montrex & Vevey, Trümmelbach Falls |
| Zermatt | 1 day | Gornergrat |
| St Mortiz | 1 day | You will have to stay here since scenic train takes 8 hours from Zermatt |
| Zurich | 1 day | Rhine falls |
(I have written about each destination in details which are mentioned in front of each cities)This tour plan covers all scenic train routes, important mountains, falls, fort, museums. I was able to cover almost all things except one or two, but that’s fine since I spent quality time on each destination.
** at Interlaken I suggest you to select hotel at Interlaken West rather than Ost, since the major market is near West station, although the distance in these two stations is not much, you need not wait for bust to travel back to hotel
Scenic trains (Which run on different routes, as well as run slow with commentary in headphones on some scenic points, specifically this facility is available in Glacier express)
- Lucerne to Interlaken (Golden Pass )
- Interlaken to Montrex (Golden Pass )
- Zermatt to St Mortiz (Glacier express)
(I traveled on all the three scenic trains & strongly recommend to travel through all the routes … read all above post to see scenic train photos, snaps on the way etc)
Swiss Travel system
Buy Swiss 8 days unlimited travel pass which will provide you single ticket travel through all trains, rope ways, buses & ships as well as provide concession on mountain excursions. Also family pass allows 2 children to travel in the same cost.
When to travel to Switzerland
I selected summer season (July-August) to experience the beauty of flowers all around. Also it gave me advantage of more useful travel time from 6 am to 10 pm & I could travel light due to normal temperatures like Pune
Best is to travel on your own
My previous tour to South East Asia was a group tour with a travel company, covering each destination taking care of food and travel, however it was just touch and go, and did not gave me any satisfaction in terms of time spent around each destination, hence I decided to go on my own spending quality time on less number of destinations instead of covering lot of things.
This time we spent hours in wondering roads, window shopping in each city, simply moved around in buses through the city which we could never do in a group travel. Spent hours on mountain tops 🙂
cheers !!
How feasible is it to take children along for these trips? Say you have a 3 year old and a 5 month old. Any no go areas for children?
For children, safety point of view no issues at all. Only you need to see how they can sustain with cold. Also if you are planning to goto Top of Europe then due to height children can have slight issue. But with due care I don’t see any issues.
Rgds,
Mahesh
Hi Mahesh
Arrived at your site quite late but in time looks like. Thanks for clarifying all that we wanted to since we are in the midst of planning our trip. We are three of us which includes my teenage son. Both me and my wife are photographers and this schedule of yours work for us the best. However I will be two days short for this which ones of the above would you give a miss. Was thinking of St. Mortiz and Rhine falls for some other time. Is that a sensible option. Also any tips for getting the right spots for photography
Best for photography I would say is interlaken and top of Europe… Also lake views on journey from luzern to interlaken are fabulous… Do not forget to visit churches.. They are as good for photos… And I got an opportunity to get in the farm fields which was the most memorable moment in my trip.. Check if you get chance to do so with photography at countryside house (for house and garden photos best is when you get down from mount Rigi… Wow fantabulous house garden it was) … Feel free to call me (get my number by dropping mail from blog using content me option or use mail mahesh (at) trekbook.in
Hi Mahesh
Thanks for your response and your blog has been super useful in drawing up an itinerary for us. I am writing to you with my planned itinerary and I would be thankful if you can critique my plan and propose modifications if any. We are planning Swiss and Spain. Swiss for our photography needs and Spain for my son.
Day 1 – we reach Zurich by noon and explore the city ourselves for a few hours and stay at Zurich in the night
Day 2 – Do Rhine falls and Schaffhausen and get back to Zurich. At Rhine falls we would like to do the boat ride which will take us to observation desk up close to the falls.
Questions – Is this both doable in 5 odd hours from Zurich so that we could get some quality time in Zurich in the evening ?
The boat ride tickets can they be bought from India itself ?
Day 3 – Move from Zurich to Lucrene city as early in the morning as possible. Do Lucrene city the whole day
Question – Want to photograph the wooden bridge in twlight light ? is that possible
Other than lion statue, country side farmhouses is what I thought we will do ? anything specific that would be of photographers interest this day
Is boating at Lake Lucrene worth it ?
Day 4 – Mount Titlis from Lucrene, we have kept a whole day for this. stay back at Lucrene
Questions – Mt. Titlis at the top offers great views and also some adventure like Ice flyer. Will the cable car ticket to Mt.Titlis automatically cover the gondola, ice flyer ?
Assuming that we do this place leisurely soaking into the place well, how long will it take ? If there is ample time which other place would you recommend to visit ?
Day 5 – Do Jungfrau the whole day. Start the day early by 5 so we get the whole day there both the peak the trummelbach waterfalls area.. Night halt at Lucrene
Questions – Just the Jungfrau ticket would do for us or any other tickets that we need buy from India ?
With an early start to the day would we be in the position to do justice to both places ?
Day 6 – Only Glacier express – Lucrene – Interlaken – Montreaux – Interlaken. Stay at Interlaken
Is this possible ? If yes, how long will this whole trip take ?
Is the first class ticket worth it for better experience of the scenery and any other reason ?
Day 7 – Leave for Zermatt in the morning. Do Matterhorn the same day. Stay at Zermatt
How long with the Matterhorn excursion take ? I have seen some fabulous pics of the mountain in the twilight, would like to do that ?
Primary interest to do Matterhorn other than getting to the peak to photograph it from multiple points ? With that is it possible for us to do a bit of Zermatt village
Day 8 – Leave Zermatt for our destination of Zurich or Bern onward to Barcelona. Take Glacier express from Zermatt to Churn and from there faster train to either of these destinations
Questions – How long is this complete train journey ?
I hope we have covered most of the must see places ?
Once again thanking you for a great blog
Cheers
Ganesh
Hi Ganesh, Sorry for the delayed response, I was bit busy in #CleanMyIndia drive in my residential area which was quite successful 🙂
Day 1 – Zurich exploration, try to goto malls to see options/prices of chocolates/souvenirs, after 6 pm when shops are closed .. you can roam around the city in bus (since you have swiss pass)
Day 2 – It takes about an hour to get there, so a quick visit is possible in 5 hours. Boat tickets are available locally. As per my estimation both are doable and you will get some time in evening, however plz note malls/shops gets closed early & not like India where you can shop till 10 pm
Day 3 – wooden bridge in twlight- as per me it is possible, plz discuss with some local shop owner in front of bridge to get precise time for sunset
country side farmhouses – read my blog and goto that side using bus service, you will see nice farms and houses outside city limits (half an hour drive)
best thing to shoot is farmers on horses, farm houses, children, cows and Alps in background
Is boating at Lake Lucrene worth it ?
Day 4 – The ice flyer is available at an additional cost, around CHF 12. Some retailers sell combined tickets, for example: http://www.swissrailways.com/en/products/excursiontitlis?affiliateid=23¤cy=CHF
Here do not forget to get photographed in traditional Swisss costume, later you will not find this studio facility.
Also as you get down to the base village, roam around in the beautiful village, take horsecart ride if time permits
Day 5 – Just the Jungfrau ticket would do for you. Honestly if the time permits you should do some trekking off the railway track 🙂
with beautiful flowers around it will be great experience, doing both seems difficult
Day 6 – Please see http://www.myswissalps.com/glacierexpress and http://www.myswissalps.com/goldenpass
First class tickets would not add any value, since all other comparments are equally clean and no crowd at all !
Day 7 – Matterhorn excursion will take at least half day. for twilight snaps do consult your hotel owner, they are very co-operative & happy to provide guidance
Zermatt village – there is beautiful church in this village which you must visit.
Day 8 – train journey timeline, http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable
Hope this helps, Cheers !! Thanks to Arno from myswissalps to support the answers 🙂
Hi Mahesh,
I must say you have made a wonderful blog, got lot of information.
I was going through the 8 days itinerary you had posted but in that I dont see St Mortiz 1 day
(You will have to stay here since scenic train takes 8 hours from Zermatt).
Can you let me know if you did cover , as it looks very far from our place.
I exited at Zurich, but I suggest you to go till end since I missed the beautiful portion of trip till St mortiz…