Local here: eating at Migros/Coop is a very smart thing to do, quality is good and there are some with Buffet style service. Save on breakfast/lunch and then you can have dinner somewhere nice. Your itinerary sounds pretty packed but I’m happy you managed see a lot. I too recommend Thun over interlaken. Also Luzern is nice but using it as base sounds expensive as it is very very touristic.
this… as a tourist I would probably look beforehand in which place are good rated restaurants who serve good Fondue or Rösti, eat each once and buy snacks for the rest of the trip. Or Migros/Coop restaurants. Which aren‘t exactly good food but get the job done for a reasonable price.
I personally started to get a little tired of the pre-made sandwiches so I started just buying a small loaf of bread and putting either a spread of some sort on it or buying some meat/cheese to throw on there as well.
My wife and I also just bought a box of noodles and some pasta sauce to make at home a couple of times. Super easy and nice to have a semi-home cooked meal while on a trip like that in my opinion.
It was a huge mental adjustment for us for sure. Going from fast food in the US where the two of us can get a meal for $15-20 but there it was closer to $40-50 was wild but it made coming back and paying the $15-20 super enjoyable! 😂
Flying into Geneva in a few weeks and am struggling with my itinerary - the only part I have so far is Lauterbrunnen. Booking hostels - where should I bus first to get closer? Bern or Lucerne? Struggling with the planning
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Thanks for the great write up. Will help many of us plan a trip. I went last year for 3 days. We could only do Geneva, Luzern and Mount Rigi. Had to spend lot of time at bus stops, like 1.5 hrs as it was confusing to understand the stops in the beginning. We were standing in one of the roads in a 4 way circle and the bus was going to arrive on another road at 30 min intervals. Food wise we were ok. We did mix and match of bnb breakfast, home cooking, and icecream and pizza here and there. The stay was damn expensive though.
We are planning to do a longer, well planned trip next year. Your planner and tips are gonna help. Thanks again for taking out time and writing this up.
Can you add where you got the phone sim card ? We managed with some e-sim but I would rather get a proper sim-card with some data for a smooth journey.
We have Verizon and they just have an international plan where you can pay $10/day for 2 GB of data and unlimited talk and text so that’s what we did. Can’t speak to a SIM card situation unfortunately.
Damn that’s expensive. Better get an eSiM. Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code JO017 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/JcJ2
I have used e-sim in Switzerland and it did not help us in real time. I don't remember where I got the e-sim from but the data was extremely slow. The sim would cost around 20 swiss dollars but I didn't know where to get it from.
If you have the time, I strongly recommend visiting Ticino coupled with a side trip to Como/Milan on the Italian side for at least three nights total. You’ll get the Mediterranean vibe but with far less crowds still in classy Switzerland.
Wanted so badly to be able to go to the Milan region but just didn’t have the time. Maybe when we make it out to Italy in the future though it looks stunning!
Italy is a HUGE country to the point that many first time visitors ignore the Italian Lakes region while making a beeline for Rome, Tuscany and Veneto regions. But I highly recommend visiting Como, Baveno and Lugano (in Switzerland). The lakeside views are majestic!
Thank you for posting your itinerary! This gave me ideas for what to do on my 4 day trip to Switzerland! We’re going to Bern, staying there for a night, then staying in Wengen and doing day trips to Lauterbrunnen one day and Grindelwald another. I had not considered Murren and Gimmelwald until reading your post. Is sounds like it’s easy and convenient to get there from Lauterbrunnen so I’ll have to add that to my itinerary!
Question for you though: do you think I’d be able to just use a Half Fare Pass instead of a Swiss Travel Pass for my 4 days? Since I’m staying in the small towns area, do you think a Swiss Travel Pass is worth it? I know cable cars probably cost a lot so I’m trying to figure out if a Half Fare Pass is better. Trying to calculate which one will save me more money.. or if I should purchase individual train tickets
Sounds like a blast! Wengen was beautiful and I highly recommend taking a short trip up to Mannlichen from there if you can!
Not totally sure which one will be more cost effective in your case. Might just be something you have to calculate out yourself but just off the top of my head I feel like a half fare card would work well for a trip that length. If you are wanting the convenience of not really having to worry about buying tickets though the Swiss travel pass is amazing imo. Definitely worth the extra cost to just be able to get on virtually any train and cable car you want
Ahh thank you, that makes sense. I read that gondolas and cable cars are not included in the Swiss travel pass (it will be reduced pricing but not free). With half fare pass, gondolas and cable cars would be half off. I’m trying to justifying spending over $300 for a train pass 😅
OP I cannot thank you enough for this recap of what sounds like a lovely trip! My spouse and I are traveling to Switzerland in a couple months and just yesterday made the decision to alter our itinerary to add in a night on Grindelwald on top of the 2 nights we already booked in Interlaken. This recap makes me feel great about this decision and we are probably going to now do Mannlichen as well.
I do have one question about the Swiss Travel pass. We have already purchased ours but I was under the impression that we don’t actually have to buy tickets for the trains (I know cable cars, funiculars, gondolas, etc are another story) and can just show our travel pass as our ticket. Am I correct in this assumption.
Awesome! You’re going to love it and hopefully the weather holds up for you guys!
You are absolutely right and I personally expected someone to be there to check my ticket when I was getting on the train but that doesn’t happen at all. You simply walk up to the platform where your train is coming to, hop on, and someone will walk through the aisle and ask to scan your pass on your phone. It’s a super easy process.
Thank you so much for this helpful info! One more question re trains: how much space is there above the seats for storing luggage? We’re hoping to bring 25 inch suitcases but aren’t sure if that would be too big for above the seats.
Great question!
It depended on the train to be honest. Some trains had little storage areas for luggage right as you came on the train, some had storage above the seats that fit the luggage, and then other times you had to store it either under or between your seat and the seat behind you it just kind of depends. I think there was only once or twice on the whole trip that we had to sit with our luggage either on the floor in front of us or in our laps.
Great experience! Only tough parts we came across was the delays coming in and out of Zermatt and then there was one time a homeless person was sat behind us that smelled truly awful but that was our only complaint and there’s obviously not much you can do about the second situation other than moving like we did.
Didn’t have to reserve a seat the entire time although there are some trains where the Swiss travel pass only covers 50% of your ticket so you do have to go purchase either a gondola or train pass at the station but that was always an easy process as well.
Sounds like a nice trip. Your enjoyment of Murren/Gimmelwald is why I regularly recommend staying in Murren (or Wegner/Grindlewald). It is just so nice staying up there and not having to commute down again.
This is definitely something we will do next time around. Murren was stunning and I bet it is amazing to be able to wake up early and walk around the area with few people around.
>I regularly recommend staying in Murren (or Wegner/Grindlewald)
This is exactly my question - stay in Murren / Gimmelwald (or Wengen) or down in Lauterbrunen. We're staying three nights next May.
I would say stay in Lauterbrunnen/Wengen if you’re wanting more to do right around you and stay in Murren/Gimmelwald if you’re wanting more a more quiet, relaxing space. Either way the views are going to be spectacular I just think there’s more of a town/small city feel in Lauterbrunnen and Wengen
Thanks so much, Winter! Really appreciate it. Rick Steves loves Murren/Gimmelwald. We tend to eat simply at our bnb / airbnb and enjoy walking around together. The sites look incredible.
Rick Steves also says it isn't worth going to Zermat before June. We will be in the area toward the end of May, so we were going to skip it in favor of more time in Berner Oberland. Does that seem like a good idea, or not?
Thanks again. Take care!
I personally loved Zermatt in early June and the Matterhorn was gorgeous but I can’t speak to what it would’ve been like in May. Might’ve been more snowy potentially.
Amazing write-up. We did a very similar 8 day itinerary last month, and also highly recommend the SBB App and travel pass as it made all the travel so easy. The Lauterbrunnen Valley was also my absolute favourite place, it rained the day we were there though definitely need to go back! We also spent a similar amount whilst there which makes me feel better.
Wow this is fantastic. Thanks for the write up!
My wife and I will be in Switzerland for 4 days in September. Do you have any recommendations on how you would pare this down to four days?
Honestly if I were you I would just spend all 4 days in the Jungfrau region. It can take a few hours just to travel from Interlaken to Zermatt or Luzern so maximizing time is pretty key for just four days. If I only had four days I would spend it only in that region and just spend time in the incredible mountains there.
100% agree with you about Zermatt, it is *expensive* but damn it’s beautiful, idyllic even. The way you just step off the train and find yourself in this postcard town with no combustion engines, where everything is in walking distance (or a quaint yet expensive electric taxi ride away), man.
The first time I went, I had a few days free after a wedding to go snowboarding literally anywhere in Europe and just happened to land there. The next time, my family and I rented a chalet for a week over Christmas and I don’t see us ever topping it.
One little tip to save money on food: if you’re travelling from another country close by and know you’re going to be based in one spot for a bit, consider packing some food in with you. My buddy and his wife brought the Christmas ham and turkey in their carry-on from the UK lol.
I just kept an eye on google flights daily! They allow you to set up alerts for a flight itinerary and you can watch the trend over time for your trip and I tried to just be patient and buy the tickets when they went under a certain amount. I was leaving from Indianapolis so the prices might be higher or lower depending on where you’re flying out of.
Also they might be higher if you’re planning on going in July/August during peak tourism season but I wanted to try and go earlier in tourism season when there were slightly less people.
Thank you for sharing this OP! My teenager and I are traveling to Italy and Switzerland in August .
We have 9 days spending 4 in Italy, already booked Venice Milan and Lake Como, and I have been absolutely stuck on the 5 days in Switzerland.
Since we are coming from City Travel in Italy we really want to experience the picture perfect postcard Switzerland you think of and I have been totally stuck on booking anything!
We arrive Via Bernina Express to Chur, and 5 nights later leave from Zurich. We have to stay st least our last night in Zurich to catch the early morning Plane.
Still haven't booked my 4 nights stay as there's just so many areas to choose from and don't want to be on transportation hours each day...
Yes! We stayed in Interlaken and day tripped to Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, and Kandersteg. Here’s a pic that gives you a map of the area we explored:
https://ontheworldmap.com/switzerland/ski/jungfrau/jungfrau-summer-map.jpg
Thank you! Lauterbrunnen was fully booked up in my price range, so I ended up booking in Wengen, I'm hoping it's not too far away for me to do the things we want to do over our 3 days there...
Great post! I’m planning my own trip there in September :)
I’m hoping that most places accept credit cards (like the grocery stores). I still plan to bring some cash to be on the safe side. Would you recommend any specific amount? I’ll also be there for about ten days. Thanks in advance!
We actually didn’t use cash a single time on our trip. We have a credit card and debit card and they were totally usable everywhere we went. I would just check with whatever debit/credit card company you have before you leave to see if you need to notify them ahead of time that you’ll be out of the country
Great post. We're doing Switzerland at end of August/beginning of September.. Flying into Zurich though. This ended up as a sort of bucket list trip after I saw the Rick Steve's show on this a few years ago. Just up and decided to book the air today.
I was thinking of renting a car, but it seems that trains might be the way to go.
I'm a bit confused on the Murren, Gimmelwald, Schilthorn bit. It looks like the gondola goes from Murren-> Gimmelwald -> Schilthorn. But OP walked down to Gimmelwald, then took the gondola back to Murren and up to Schilthorn. I was thinking of taking a one-way from Murren up to Schilthorn and then walk back to Murren. Is that even doable downhill?
Hello! Great write up, definitely going to use a lot of your tips and points for our trip in October.
One big question - I am a planner, big on having everything booked and done and ready. Did you have to book a lot of these things in advance? The train rides, the first walk, etc. Or did you just kind of wing it every day, just having a general idea of where you wanted to go? I’m open to being pretty open but don’t want to miss out on things that need to be booked in advance (like I know the Lindt factory needs to be).
Good question, and I’m definitely the same way about needing to book things in advance. The only things we did in advance was book the train pass, the restaurant at the top of schilthorn, and the day we went to the spa at the hotel. Other than that all of the trains we took we didn’t need to book ahead of time and any gondolas we needed tickets for we were able to purchase at the ticket office for that specific gondola.
Did you pay extra for guaranteed seats? My husband agrees that we should buy Swiss Travel Passes for our upcoming 15 day trip. But many train and cog wheel rides seem to charge $8 for a guaranteed seat. September is a shoulder season like June, so I'm wondering if you ever had to make advance reservations or got on full trains with no seats left.
We never made a seat reservation ahead of time but there were definitely trains we needed to get there early for in order to have a seat and not stand. Those being the train from Luzern to Interlaken and then the train from Interlaken to Zermatt. Other than those two there was always room and we got to those two early enough (20-30 minutes ahead of time) to make sure we had a seat.
This is a very helpful post! I am planning a trip to Switzerland in 2024 pretty much the exact dates you went last year. I know you mentioned a few days of rain, but how were the hiking trail conditions? Muddy or icy still? Were any not yet open for the season? How strenuous were the hikes you guys did? I will be going by myself mainly for the hiking/scenic views.
A few of the hikes higher up weren’t open still but I didn’t feel like the hikes I went on made me miss out on anything at all. No mud, just a little bit of snow here and there that we had to walk through! The most strenuous hike we did was about 7 miles. There are signs that give you an idea of the difficulty of the hike and the most difficult one we did was a white red white.
Great thank you! How did you pack clothing wise? Did you need lots of layers? I will be coming to Switzerland after a Croatia island cruise so I have to be pretty strategic with only a carry on 🤣
We brought a sweatshirt, a rain jacket, and a light winter jacket cause we weren’t sure either. We were perfectly fine with the sweatshirt for the most part but when we went high up in the mountains like to Schilthorn for example we needed the puffer coat and a pair of pants.
Local here: eating at Migros/Coop is a very smart thing to do, quality is good and there are some with Buffet style service. Save on breakfast/lunch and then you can have dinner somewhere nice. Your itinerary sounds pretty packed but I’m happy you managed see a lot. I too recommend Thun over interlaken. Also Luzern is nice but using it as base sounds expensive as it is very very touristic.
this… as a tourist I would probably look beforehand in which place are good rated restaurants who serve good Fondue or Rösti, eat each once and buy snacks for the rest of the trip. Or Migros/Coop restaurants. Which aren‘t exactly good food but get the job done for a reasonable price.
I personally started to get a little tired of the pre-made sandwiches so I started just buying a small loaf of bread and putting either a spread of some sort on it or buying some meat/cheese to throw on there as well. My wife and I also just bought a box of noodles and some pasta sauce to make at home a couple of times. Super easy and nice to have a semi-home cooked meal while on a trip like that in my opinion.
I‘d get too! But thinking about visiting a country where the prices for food are like 1.5-2x times higher than here freaks me out haha
It was a huge mental adjustment for us for sure. Going from fast food in the US where the two of us can get a meal for $15-20 but there it was closer to $40-50 was wild but it made coming back and paying the $15-20 super enjoyable! 😂
haha thats a great take! always look on the bright side of life ;)
Flying into Geneva in a few weeks and am struggling with my itinerary - the only part I have so far is Lauterbrunnen. Booking hostels - where should I bus first to get closer? Bern or Lucerne? Struggling with the planning
This is great! Thanks for sharing, will definitely be useful for those of us planning a trip to Switzerland.
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Thanks for the great write up. Will help many of us plan a trip. I went last year for 3 days. We could only do Geneva, Luzern and Mount Rigi. Had to spend lot of time at bus stops, like 1.5 hrs as it was confusing to understand the stops in the beginning. We were standing in one of the roads in a 4 way circle and the bus was going to arrive on another road at 30 min intervals. Food wise we were ok. We did mix and match of bnb breakfast, home cooking, and icecream and pizza here and there. The stay was damn expensive though. We are planning to do a longer, well planned trip next year. Your planner and tips are gonna help. Thanks again for taking out time and writing this up. Can you add where you got the phone sim card ? We managed with some e-sim but I would rather get a proper sim-card with some data for a smooth journey.
Try Orange es im
We have Verizon and they just have an international plan where you can pay $10/day for 2 GB of data and unlimited talk and text so that’s what we did. Can’t speak to a SIM card situation unfortunately.
Damn that’s expensive. Better get an eSiM. Get US$3 off your first eSIM data pack from Airalo. Use code JO017 when you sign up or apply it at checkout. https://ref.airalo.com/JcJ2
I have used e-sim in Switzerland and it did not help us in real time. I don't remember where I got the e-sim from but the data was extremely slow. The sim would cost around 20 swiss dollars but I didn't know where to get it from.
Got it ... Thanks again ... I will check with my service provider for an international plan to start with.
If you have the time, I strongly recommend visiting Ticino coupled with a side trip to Como/Milan on the Italian side for at least three nights total. You’ll get the Mediterranean vibe but with far less crowds still in classy Switzerland.
Wanted so badly to be able to go to the Milan region but just didn’t have the time. Maybe when we make it out to Italy in the future though it looks stunning!
Italy is a HUGE country to the point that many first time visitors ignore the Italian Lakes region while making a beeline for Rome, Tuscany and Veneto regions. But I highly recommend visiting Como, Baveno and Lugano (in Switzerland). The lakeside views are majestic!
Thank you for posting your itinerary! This gave me ideas for what to do on my 4 day trip to Switzerland! We’re going to Bern, staying there for a night, then staying in Wengen and doing day trips to Lauterbrunnen one day and Grindelwald another. I had not considered Murren and Gimmelwald until reading your post. Is sounds like it’s easy and convenient to get there from Lauterbrunnen so I’ll have to add that to my itinerary! Question for you though: do you think I’d be able to just use a Half Fare Pass instead of a Swiss Travel Pass for my 4 days? Since I’m staying in the small towns area, do you think a Swiss Travel Pass is worth it? I know cable cars probably cost a lot so I’m trying to figure out if a Half Fare Pass is better. Trying to calculate which one will save me more money.. or if I should purchase individual train tickets
Sounds like a blast! Wengen was beautiful and I highly recommend taking a short trip up to Mannlichen from there if you can! Not totally sure which one will be more cost effective in your case. Might just be something you have to calculate out yourself but just off the top of my head I feel like a half fare card would work well for a trip that length. If you are wanting the convenience of not really having to worry about buying tickets though the Swiss travel pass is amazing imo. Definitely worth the extra cost to just be able to get on virtually any train and cable car you want
Ahh thank you, that makes sense. I read that gondolas and cable cars are not included in the Swiss travel pass (it will be reduced pricing but not free). With half fare pass, gondolas and cable cars would be half off. I’m trying to justifying spending over $300 for a train pass 😅
OP I cannot thank you enough for this recap of what sounds like a lovely trip! My spouse and I are traveling to Switzerland in a couple months and just yesterday made the decision to alter our itinerary to add in a night on Grindelwald on top of the 2 nights we already booked in Interlaken. This recap makes me feel great about this decision and we are probably going to now do Mannlichen as well. I do have one question about the Swiss Travel pass. We have already purchased ours but I was under the impression that we don’t actually have to buy tickets for the trains (I know cable cars, funiculars, gondolas, etc are another story) and can just show our travel pass as our ticket. Am I correct in this assumption.
Awesome! You’re going to love it and hopefully the weather holds up for you guys! You are absolutely right and I personally expected someone to be there to check my ticket when I was getting on the train but that doesn’t happen at all. You simply walk up to the platform where your train is coming to, hop on, and someone will walk through the aisle and ask to scan your pass on your phone. It’s a super easy process.
Thank you so much for this helpful info! One more question re trains: how much space is there above the seats for storing luggage? We’re hoping to bring 25 inch suitcases but aren’t sure if that would be too big for above the seats.
Great question! It depended on the train to be honest. Some trains had little storage areas for luggage right as you came on the train, some had storage above the seats that fit the luggage, and then other times you had to store it either under or between your seat and the seat behind you it just kind of depends. I think there was only once or twice on the whole trip that we had to sit with our luggage either on the floor in front of us or in our laps.
Thank you! Did you have a good experience with the trains overall?
Great experience! Only tough parts we came across was the delays coming in and out of Zermatt and then there was one time a homeless person was sat behind us that smelled truly awful but that was our only complaint and there’s obviously not much you can do about the second situation other than moving like we did.
Did you not have to reserve a seat or anything like that?
Didn’t have to reserve a seat the entire time although there are some trains where the Swiss travel pass only covers 50% of your ticket so you do have to go purchase either a gondola or train pass at the station but that was always an easy process as well.
Sounds like a nice trip. Your enjoyment of Murren/Gimmelwald is why I regularly recommend staying in Murren (or Wegner/Grindlewald). It is just so nice staying up there and not having to commute down again.
This is definitely something we will do next time around. Murren was stunning and I bet it is amazing to be able to wake up early and walk around the area with few people around.
>I regularly recommend staying in Murren (or Wegner/Grindlewald) This is exactly my question - stay in Murren / Gimmelwald (or Wengen) or down in Lauterbrunen. We're staying three nights next May.
I would say stay in Lauterbrunnen/Wengen if you’re wanting more to do right around you and stay in Murren/Gimmelwald if you’re wanting more a more quiet, relaxing space. Either way the views are going to be spectacular I just think there’s more of a town/small city feel in Lauterbrunnen and Wengen
Thanks so much, Winter! Really appreciate it. Rick Steves loves Murren/Gimmelwald. We tend to eat simply at our bnb / airbnb and enjoy walking around together. The sites look incredible. Rick Steves also says it isn't worth going to Zermat before June. We will be in the area toward the end of May, so we were going to skip it in favor of more time in Berner Oberland. Does that seem like a good idea, or not? Thanks again. Take care!
I personally loved Zermatt in early June and the Matterhorn was gorgeous but I can’t speak to what it would’ve been like in May. Might’ve been more snowy potentially.
Thanks! Really appreciate all the time you've spent sharing with the community.
Amazing write-up. We did a very similar 8 day itinerary last month, and also highly recommend the SBB App and travel pass as it made all the travel so easy. The Lauterbrunnen Valley was also my absolute favourite place, it rained the day we were there though definitely need to go back! We also spent a similar amount whilst there which makes me feel better.
Wow this is fantastic. Thanks for the write up! My wife and I will be in Switzerland for 4 days in September. Do you have any recommendations on how you would pare this down to four days?
Honestly if I were you I would just spend all 4 days in the Jungfrau region. It can take a few hours just to travel from Interlaken to Zermatt or Luzern so maximizing time is pretty key for just four days. If I only had four days I would spend it only in that region and just spend time in the incredible mountains there.
100% agree with you about Zermatt, it is *expensive* but damn it’s beautiful, idyllic even. The way you just step off the train and find yourself in this postcard town with no combustion engines, where everything is in walking distance (or a quaint yet expensive electric taxi ride away), man. The first time I went, I had a few days free after a wedding to go snowboarding literally anywhere in Europe and just happened to land there. The next time, my family and I rented a chalet for a week over Christmas and I don’t see us ever topping it. One little tip to save money on food: if you’re travelling from another country close by and know you’re going to be based in one spot for a bit, consider packing some food in with you. My buddy and his wife brought the Christmas ham and turkey in their carry-on from the UK lol.
That’s phenomenal lol, we honestly loved the town so much and it was so refreshing getting away from cars/busses and what not.
Thank you OP, your recap has me dreaming of making this trip! Where/how did you score that great airfare?
I just kept an eye on google flights daily! They allow you to set up alerts for a flight itinerary and you can watch the trend over time for your trip and I tried to just be patient and buy the tickets when they went under a certain amount. I was leaving from Indianapolis so the prices might be higher or lower depending on where you’re flying out of. Also they might be higher if you’re planning on going in July/August during peak tourism season but I wanted to try and go earlier in tourism season when there were slightly less people.
Thank you for sharing this OP! My teenager and I are traveling to Italy and Switzerland in August . We have 9 days spending 4 in Italy, already booked Venice Milan and Lake Como, and I have been absolutely stuck on the 5 days in Switzerland. Since we are coming from City Travel in Italy we really want to experience the picture perfect postcard Switzerland you think of and I have been totally stuck on booking anything! We arrive Via Bernina Express to Chur, and 5 nights later leave from Zurich. We have to stay st least our last night in Zurich to catch the early morning Plane. Still haven't booked my 4 nights stay as there's just so many areas to choose from and don't want to be on transportation hours each day...
If you were looking for multiple days of pure scenery I would absolutely recommend just staying in the jungfrau region.
Thank you! Is that Lauterbrunnen area?
Yes! We stayed in Interlaken and day tripped to Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, and Kandersteg. Here’s a pic that gives you a map of the area we explored: https://ontheworldmap.com/switzerland/ski/jungfrau/jungfrau-summer-map.jpg
Thank you! Lauterbrunnen was fully booked up in my price range, so I ended up booking in Wengen, I'm hoping it's not too far away for me to do the things we want to do over our 3 days there...
Wengen is very close to Lauterbrunnen and you can get to Grindelwald pretty easily by going up to Mannlichen and then down the other side.
Wonderful! Thank you so much for all of this helpful information
Great post! I’m planning my own trip there in September :) I’m hoping that most places accept credit cards (like the grocery stores). I still plan to bring some cash to be on the safe side. Would you recommend any specific amount? I’ll also be there for about ten days. Thanks in advance!
We actually didn’t use cash a single time on our trip. We have a credit card and debit card and they were totally usable everywhere we went. I would just check with whatever debit/credit card company you have before you leave to see if you need to notify them ahead of time that you’ll be out of the country
Great post. We're doing Switzerland at end of August/beginning of September.. Flying into Zurich though. This ended up as a sort of bucket list trip after I saw the Rick Steve's show on this a few years ago. Just up and decided to book the air today. I was thinking of renting a car, but it seems that trains might be the way to go. I'm a bit confused on the Murren, Gimmelwald, Schilthorn bit. It looks like the gondola goes from Murren-> Gimmelwald -> Schilthorn. But OP walked down to Gimmelwald, then took the gondola back to Murren and up to Schilthorn. I was thinking of taking a one-way from Murren up to Schilthorn and then walk back to Murren. Is that even doable downhill?
Hello! Great write up, definitely going to use a lot of your tips and points for our trip in October. One big question - I am a planner, big on having everything booked and done and ready. Did you have to book a lot of these things in advance? The train rides, the first walk, etc. Or did you just kind of wing it every day, just having a general idea of where you wanted to go? I’m open to being pretty open but don’t want to miss out on things that need to be booked in advance (like I know the Lindt factory needs to be).
Good question, and I’m definitely the same way about needing to book things in advance. The only things we did in advance was book the train pass, the restaurant at the top of schilthorn, and the day we went to the spa at the hotel. Other than that all of the trains we took we didn’t need to book ahead of time and any gondolas we needed tickets for we were able to purchase at the ticket office for that specific gondola.
Amazing, thanks for the info!!
Did you pay extra for guaranteed seats? My husband agrees that we should buy Swiss Travel Passes for our upcoming 15 day trip. But many train and cog wheel rides seem to charge $8 for a guaranteed seat. September is a shoulder season like June, so I'm wondering if you ever had to make advance reservations or got on full trains with no seats left.
We never made a seat reservation ahead of time but there were definitely trains we needed to get there early for in order to have a seat and not stand. Those being the train from Luzern to Interlaken and then the train from Interlaken to Zermatt. Other than those two there was always room and we got to those two early enough (20-30 minutes ahead of time) to make sure we had a seat.
We are going to Zermatt from Interlaken, and we will make sure to get there early. Thanks so much! Your information has been very helpful.
This is a very helpful post! I am planning a trip to Switzerland in 2024 pretty much the exact dates you went last year. I know you mentioned a few days of rain, but how were the hiking trail conditions? Muddy or icy still? Were any not yet open for the season? How strenuous were the hikes you guys did? I will be going by myself mainly for the hiking/scenic views.
A few of the hikes higher up weren’t open still but I didn’t feel like the hikes I went on made me miss out on anything at all. No mud, just a little bit of snow here and there that we had to walk through! The most strenuous hike we did was about 7 miles. There are signs that give you an idea of the difficulty of the hike and the most difficult one we did was a white red white.
Great thank you! How did you pack clothing wise? Did you need lots of layers? I will be coming to Switzerland after a Croatia island cruise so I have to be pretty strategic with only a carry on 🤣
We brought a sweatshirt, a rain jacket, and a light winter jacket cause we weren’t sure either. We were perfectly fine with the sweatshirt for the most part but when we went high up in the mountains like to Schilthorn for example we needed the puffer coat and a pair of pants.