We made a trip to Switzerland & Italy during July 2010. We did a lot of study, invested lot of time studying about places, collecting information made our own itinerary and we loved the plan. Want to share to the world about the plan we did after hours of googling and discussion.
Here we have discussed about our travel in Swiss..
To know about Italy Click here Italy in one Week.
High Level Itinerary:
Day 1: We landed in Zurich around 8 am. Took train to Interlaken. Stayed in Interlaken
Day 2: Visited Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe). Came back to Lucerne and stayed in Lucerne.
Day 3: Lucerne City Tour and stayed in Lucerne.
Day 4: Mt. Pilatus.
Detailed Itinerary:
Day 1:
• We landed in Zurich around 8 am.
• Activated our Swiss pass in Zurich train station, also we booked the Golden Pass from Lucerne to Interlaken.
• Took regional train to Lucerne, following that we took golden pass with panoramic view to Interlaken. Reached Interlaken at 1 pm.
• After a small nap, we roamed around the streets of Interlaken namely Bahnhofstrasse. We took chocolate tour at Schuh Chocolate show at 5 pm. After that we caught the last cruise on Lake Brienz which was 90 mins cruise.
• We reached our hotel and we hit out bed in Interlaken.
Day 2:
• We left our hotel at 8 am to Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe). We took the trains, went up the Jungfraujoch. We went up through Grindelwald and came down through Wengen.
• We came down to Wengen around 3 pm. We took train to Schyinge Platte. The ride to Schyinge Plate was good, on the top there is a restaurant and a botanical garden. Took great pictures. You also get view of three mountains of the alps region.
• We took the train to Lucerne (2 hours) and stayed in Lucerne.
Alternate: You can spend the whole day at Jungfraujoch and enjoy the rides there and skip Schyinge Platte.
Day 3:
• We took walking tour of historical Lucerne. The main being Chapel Bridge, lion monument followed by other places nearby.
• We took a ride to Mt. Rigi in the afternoon. (*You can skip this if you need some free time)
• Had dinner at one of the best Lucerne restaurants and crashed to sleep in the hotel.
Day 4:
• We left in the morning to Mt. Pilatus. We took the boat ride, stopped at Hergiswil and visited Hergiswil glass factory. It was a good tour and eyes on experience on glass making. Then we continued our boat ride to Alpnachstad, took the train up the mountains and enjoyed Mt. Pilatus. Way back we returned the other way via Frakmuntek. We did the activities in Frakmuntek and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
• We reached Lucerne in the evening.
If you have some extra days here are my suggestions.
1. You can stay one/two more days in Interlaken. Visit Schilthorn , small villages near Interlaken. Enjoy the nature and scenery.
2. You can stay 2 more days in Lucerne and visit Mt. Titlis, Mt. Rigi, Castle Tour and enjoy all mountains.
3. If you love hiking ,there's plenty of options in Swiss.
Things to Consider:
1. Swiss Pass: Buy Swiss Pass before you leave from http://www.raileurope.com/. This gives you freedom of hop on and hops off.
2. As we did backpack it was easy for us to walk through the cities. If you have heavy luggages, all train stations we went had luggage storage. It was convenient as well.
3. We didn’t have language barrier in Swiss. If you know English you can manage well.
4. Check weather before going to mountains. There will be webcams in Hotels and tourist info centers at train stations.
5. All trains run time. We never faced any delays.
6. Even if you have swiss pass, you have to buy separate tickets to the mountains (except Mt Rigi). Check the weather before buying the tickets, as the tickets are valid only on that day.
Download Files:
1. Mt. Pilatus
2. Interlaken
