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First timers in Switzerland

Tony

New Member
We are first timers in Switzerland and we will be traveling in September 2026. We will be flying into Venice and staying 5 days then taking a train to Interlaken. Our plan is 9 days in Switzerland and we really want to explore the Jungfrau region. We will not have a car, so all travel will be public transit. What is the best base town to explore the area. While not huge hikers, we do not mind walking trails. We want to see the waterfalls, mountain ranges, cable cars, trains and just want to take in the beauty of this area. Any suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you for your time and I am looking forward to your recommendations.
Tony
 
There are several good choices for a base in this area. We’ve stayed in Grindelwald several times. From there you can get a mountain train to Wengen and Lauterbrunnen, they are not far. From Lauterbrunnen you can get another mountain train to Murren. You can also take a gondola from Grindelwald to Wengen. You could choose any of these towns as a base.

You can also travel by train from Interlaken to Grindelwald and the other towns.

People like to stay in Interlaken and travel out from there. Interlaken is a larger town situated between two lakes. But I prefer to stay in the mountain towns.

You may want to branch out from the Jungfrau region and go a bit west to Kandersteg. Or go east to Meiringen.

This is a fantastic area. My husband and I have been traveling regularly to the Berner Oberland for years. You can easily explore the region by public transportation. Look into train passes and the cost of gondolas and mountain buses. The Swiss Tourist Office websites are very good. You can email them questions too.



I am happy to answer any questions and there are other Switzerland lovers on these forums. Have a look through the trip reports to get some good ideas.
 
Thoughts and any suggestions on my itinerary. Base is Wengen and no car.
Day 1 - land in zurich, golden pass train, spend a couple hrs in Lucerne, on to our rental in Wengen finish exploring Wengen.
Day 2 - Lauterbrunnen, Staubbach Falls, Trummelbach Falls, Murren, Gimmelwald.
Day 3- Männlichen, Jungfraujoch
Day 4- Harder Kulm, St Beatus caves ( days 3,4 may swap depending on viewpoint in Jungfraujoch)
Day 5 - Blausee and oeschinensee.
Day 6 - Schynige Platte
Day 7- Rent car and drive to Gelmerbahn.
Day 8 - Grindelwald, First and Bachalpsee
Day 9 - Depart for train to Venice
Thank you
Tony
 
My comments:
For day 3 will you take gondola from Wengen to Mannlichen then walk to Kleine Scheidegg for train to Jungfraujoch?
Day 4, I’ve not done either of these.
Day 5, train to Kandersteg. If you want to delete one of these, don’t do Blausee. The gondola to oesschinensee is right in Kandersteg and is more beautiful. Blausee is outside of town and not so beautiful.
Day 7, isn’t there a public transport option? I wouldn’t go to all the trouble to rent a car just for this funicular. Instead a day in Interlaken and on the lakes.
 
Pauline,
First of all, thank you for the response. Secondly, yes to the Day 3 question, Day 5 I have heard and read similar comments, so a decision I have to make, Day 7 there is public transport but car rental was recommended. The lake cruise we may do day 4. I really do appreciate your response and this will give me an opportunity to look at the itinerary again and maybe move some things around.
Tony
 
On Day 7, if you already have a car, consider driving up to Grimselpass and parking at the Grimsel Hospiz: the entire alpine area there is simply out of this world.
 
Wow! I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up. Amazing and beautiful!!! Getting added to the itinerary for sure. Thank you for the insights.
Tony
 
Wish I'd seen your original post back in December. We have visited Switzerland 3 times over the past 10 years. Of great help is another forum My Swiss Alps https://www.myswissalps.com/
I have used their advice extensively. The Swiss transportation system is second to none - mostly trains but buses too. The SBB website and app have all the info you need about train schedules. You should consider a Swiss travel pass of some sort - the My Swiss Alps website has a page devoted to figuring out which one is best for your planned activities.

I can't imagine why you would rent a car in Switzerland. If you can't get a train or bus to Gelmerbahn pick another vista that is more accessible - around Lauterbrunnen or even as far as Luzern. Everywhere else on your itinerary is doable from your base in Wengen. We stayed in Wengen for a week on our first trip to Switzerland. It is a car-free quiet town, so every trip to/from Wengen involves a short tram ride to Lauterbrunnen in the valley or to Grindelwald. It is prettier than Grindelwald which is bigger. Lauterbrunnen in the valley might be an alternative. Some people stay in Interlaken which is just a flat medium-sized city with very convenient train options.

One suggestion - after a long flight, just go directly to Wengen. Choose a route with the least number of transfers or shortest time (looks like you will have at least 3 transfers). Then use one of your free days to travel to Luzern for a whole day - it's a lovely city with lake and mountains. But if you do stop in Luzern on your way to Wengen, my understanding is you can leave your luggage in the Luzern train station while you walk around.

Enjoy Switzerland! It's a terrific country to visit!
 
Fantastic input. I just thought renting a car would be quicker, plus we can make site- seeing stops along the way back, but I appreciate your input because I really am trying to go car free. So, you have given me food for thought. Your opinion, would Gelmerbahn be repetitive to other stops on my itinerary and would you consider it a must see/do? Thank you in advance again
Tony
 
We've never been to Gelmerbahn, but it looks like the attraction is that it is the steepest open funicular railway in Europe. Driving is certainly shorter, but you can get a train from Interlaken to Meiringen, then a bus the rest of the way (2+ hours total). Meiringen itself is a popular destination, famous for Reichenbach Falls, a waterfall that was the setting for the final showdown between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. Consider the cost of a car rental vs train, especially if you have a travel pass. And the cost of parking along the way if you stop.
 
When we stayed just up from Meiringen, and had a car for the whole trip, we parked at the Gelmerbahn on our way to the pass just to have a look. For me it did not look interesting but I’m not a roller coaster fan. You are going to ride so many interesting gondolas and mountain trains on your other days. I wouldn’t rent a car just for this.
 
Pauline, thank you for replying. It seems based on the feedback I've received, that while unique, it's not a must do/see and our time would be better spent doing something else. I have a little bit of time to solve my dilemma for a replacement option. Thank you again, much appreciated!
Tony
 
Itinerary looks kind of busy. For one thing, once you return from an excursion to a mountain, you may find not enough time before the trains or the cable cars stop running for the day, usually the cable cars go up until 4:30 or 5 PM.

Also, double check that if you're going in late September, some of the services may shut down in the second half of September.

I bought the Berner Overland pass on some trips. You have to be fortunate with the weather. I remember one 5 day stay, there was sunshine for a day and a half. So it got sunny on my last day and I set out to go up to Brienzer Rothorn, on the cogwheel train.

The place was packed when I arrived at the train station at lake level, because there was a lot of pent up demand from other travelers who waited for the rain to stop. I think they ran an extra train off schedule to handle the demand.

It was spectacular up there but about an hour after I arrived, which was between noon and 1 PM, the clouds started to roll in and you couldn't see Brienzersee below any more.

In fact that's what I find about Jungfrau, the last couple of times, I couldn't go up because it clouded over by late morning or early afternoon. So unless you set out early in the morning, it wouldn't be worth going up.

Same is true of Schilthorn. The one time I went up to Schynige Platte the trains were packed, I think there was a one waiting to board as trains become available.

So the amount of ground you can cover may be limited.

I've stayed in both Wengen and Grindlewald. They're nice but if you want to see other places near the lakes, staying in Interlaken saves you some time because there are transport links for everything.

So besides Rothorn, I liked Niederhorn, Niesen and Oeschinensee. I've been up to Harder Kulm more than once as well.
 
I'll arrive on the 11th of September and we'll leave on the 19th. I'm hoping the weather holds, but if not then at least it's in a beautiful country. But, I'm concerned that you believe it's too busy. My objective was to start out everyday that included trains and lifts around 7-8 a and finish by 4-5p. Then just relax with dinner and drinks. Am I being too naive? I scaled it back. I have a tendency of over planning and then pick the must see/do of each day. Sometimes we can do it all sometime not.
 
I over plan.

But the idea is to have information about things or tours handy, knowing that I won't book or cancel if I booked already because of weather or other unforeseen factor.
 

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