Okay, so I am by no means an expert on Switzerland, but I wanted to share with you guys an itinerary so that you can see the most of what the country has to offer in 7 days! Usually I am a huge planner, but we decided to book a spontaneous trip to the land of fondue about 2 weeks before we went. If you know my OCD self, it was a big deal! I struggled to plan a trip to a country that I knew nothing about, but luckily I was able to get a lot of great recommendations from friends!
Day 0: Arrive in Zurich! You may explore Zurich or head straight to Lucerne. We opted to skip Zurich because I heard the other cities are worth spending more time in.
Day 1: Lucerne
Mount Pilatus: Go to the train station and get tickets for the Golden Round Trip which takes you to the top of Mount Pilatus. I would recommend a whole day for this excursion, although you may be able to do it in half a day if time is tight. Many hotels provide you with a discount card, so use that to decrease the cost of your tickets [see more cost saving tips at the bottom of this post]. From the main station in Lucerne, take bus 1 to the gondola which takes you to the top of the mountain. We did all of the hikes at the top (they don’t take very long) and then had lunch at the restaurant at the top of Mount Pilatus. Take the cogwheel (a very steep train) down the mountain and then catch the boat back on Lake Lucerne to the main town.
Make sure to have Fondue and watch the traditional Swiss music at Stadkeller restaurant. It started raining so we ran into this restaurant without any idea of what it would be like, but it was the perfect way to start out the trip. The show was so much fun to watch as well!
Walk over the famous chapel bridge and wander around Old Town. For rainy days, there are various museums around the town as well. You can also take the cogwheel up to Mount Rigi or Mount Titlis on alternate days if you plan to spend more time in Lucerne. We ended up staying for 2 nights, but we decided that it would be better to allocate another day to seeing another place with more to do.
Day 2: Head to Interlaken. I would recommend staying in one of the little mountain towns and not actually in Interlaken. Stop in Interlaken on your way to your hotel though and take a chocolate making class! We had a little bit of extra time, so we also stopped at the Trummelbach Falls. We decided to stay in Wengen, a cute little town in the mountains with gorgeous views. Wengen is only accessible by train. If you have a car, you can park at the Lauterbrunnen train station and take the train from there. You could also try staying in Grindewald or Lauterbrunnen itself (a little bit larger than Wengen and has more restaurants). If you stay in Grindewald, take the tram up to the Piz Gloria on Mt Stilts. You can have dinner at the rotating James Bond restaurant at the top.
Day 3: Wengen
Go to the top of Jungfraujoch aka “The Top of Europe”. The train brings you to this gem in the Bernese Alps. We bought tickets for this right at the Wengen train station. I would suggest going early because it can get pretty crowded at the top. Dress warmly, it is FREEZING up there. Also, there was a blizzard basically going on at the top, so our views were a bit limited. I would suggest asking the locals what the best day to go is (depending on weather) once you arrive in Switzerland.
Day 4: Head to Zermatt
Zermatt is a chic little ski town that is only accessible by train. If you do happen to have a car, then you are able to park easily (there is a large parking garage) in the town of Täsch which is only a very short train ride to Zermatt.
Once in Zermatt, go check out the famous mountain that you see on the Toberlone chocolate wrapper. You get an amazing view of the Matterhorn by taking the lift up if you don’t want to hike the whole way. Also feel free to check out the town itself, there are great little shops and restaurants all over.
Day 5: Head to Chamonix, France from Zermatt. Stay at Chalet Whymper. It was one of my favorite hotels that we have stayed in. It was the cutest bed and breakfast. They served the best breakfast filled with all of the french pastries that your heart could desire. They also had afternoon tea/coffee available in the common area, which was perfect after a long hike. Some of the ski lifts were closed, so we did the Lac Blanc hike from the F line.
Day 6: Chamonix
Take the day to explore the town of Chamonix (there is plenty of shopping) or go hiking. I highly recommend going to Chalet Whymper for dinner! I don’t eat seafood, but apparently the fish was out of this world. The atmosphere is adorable too!
Day 7: Take the train (or drive if you have a car) from Chamonix to Geneva. Spend the day wondering around Geneva and shopping. The waterfront is where a lot of the locals bring blankets and wine for happy hour. The sunset on the water is AMAZING. Have dinner at Café Bon Vin if you want to end your trip with some great fondue. Get the fondue with the champagne in it and then chocolate fondue for dessert.
Depart Switzerland
A few tips:
I would recommended taking trains throughout the country. We ended up renting a car because we thought it would allow us more freedom and it was a cheaper cost upfront, but it ended up being more expensive than the trains in the long run. We found parking to be pretty expensive in a lot of the cities and a lot of hotels do not have parking included. Also, the drive from Interlaken to Zermatt involved many steep roads in the mountains, so if you aren’t a confident driver, trains are highly recommended.
This itinerary is based on flying into Zurich and out of Geneva. If you want to only fly out of Zurich, you can just take the train back there on your last day. Also, some towns in Switzerland shut down for a few months at a time in between seasons. Late October and early November are not ideal times to visit as the towns close in preparation for the winter ski season.
P.S. I heard great things about Bern as well, but we didn’t have time to make it there. Our trip already involved a lot of traveling because we wanted to see the whole country, but you can always choose to cut out some of the locations I mentioned if you want to spend more time in each place.
P.P.S. Switzerland is an expensive country, so be prepared. The train tickets are pretty pricey, especially for the excursions. A lot of the trains/gondolas for the excursions end up being $100 per person roundtrip. Buying the Swiss Travel Pass ahead of time can save you some money on train tickets between cities.
Hope you all enjoyed this post! Please feel free to comment on the post with any questions!
XO,
G
