Guy86

Hi,
Im planning to travel with my partner to Switzerland between the 10th of September to the 17th this year. Our itinerary involves;
10th of sept: landing in Geneva and train to montreux for the day
11th: from montreux going to Gruyere and broc then back to montreux for the night.
12-14th: Leave montreux and train to wengen for 3 days (1 day for Jungfrau)
15th-17th: 3 days in luzern (1 day for mt pilatus)
17th: fly out from zurich to munich

I was wondering if this itinerary sounds manageable. Also with all the travelling involved, if getting the Swiss pass is the most feasible way of doing it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

PalenQ

Yes for your travel plans a 8-day consecutive Swiss Pass will be golden - covers trains to Wengen in full and all other trains mentioned except 1/2 off the Pilatus train from Alpnachstad - a thrilling train!

for lots of great info on Swiss conveyances and passes check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Your itinerary looks wonderful! I would not change a thing - too bad you don't have more time but you have a great Swiss sampler of some of the finest things in Switzerland.

Dukey1

Why are you flying from Zurich to Munich? You can be from city center to city center with no changes in a little over four hours. You realize, of course, you are going to have to take rail or a taxi or a bus between both airports and their downtown areas, right?

I am not against flying, especially if you can get a really cheap fare but wanted to be sure you know all the possible options, that's all.

Guy86

thank you so much for the advice guys its a place i can imagine going back to a few times as it looks amazing.
We have not confirmed the flight out of zurich just yet, as we would like to do the romantic road and neuschwanstein castle and munich. If we could we would ideally rent a car from black forest and drive toward munich.

Guy86

on another note, is it worth doing a tour to gruyere and broc farbique or is it cheaper and easier to train it up by ourselves and look around?
thanks

swandav2000

Hi Guy86,

You can find out if the Chocolate Train is cheaper or if it's cheaper to do it yourself by pricing out the cost of the train travel and the entrance fees and comparing to the CT. I bet the CT will be more expensive, but not by much. If you don't mind about going first class, doing it yourself will definitely be cheaper since the CT is first class.

But I think it would be far more enjoyable to do it yourselves. You can ride on the very same trains as the CT, and you can set your own schedule at the cheese factory in Gruyeres and at Cailler at Broc-Fabrique. You may want to take the time to go inside the castle at Gruyeres, for instance, or just to visit more shops in the village than the tour would allow.

Have fun as you plan!

s

neckervd

There is no need to turn back to Montreux. Put your luggage into the lockers at Bulle railway station.
Bus to Broc: 30 min after train arrival from Montreux
train to Gruyeres: 40 min after train arrival from Montreux

Bulle - Wengen via Gstaad: 4 hrs journey, departures every 2 hrs
Bulle - Wengen via Jaun Pass: 3 1/2 hrs journey, Bulle dp 14.48 and 16.48

Bus fare Zurich - Munich (4 hrs journey): 15 EUR if you book well ahead; if you have a Swiss Travel pass, you board your bus at Konstanz and pay 11 EUR

Guy86

Hi thank you so much for the great advice we will be looking into bus or train now from. The only reason we are going to Zurich is to depart to Munich. Perhaps we can leave from Luzern to Munich instead.

PalenQ

Yes Lucerne to Munich is about an hour more - you go via Zurich and probably change trains there.

PalenQ

; if you have a Swiss Travel pass, you board your bus at Konstanz and pay 11 EUR>

Well if you have a consecutive-day pass you have a day to waste on or a flexipass with a day to waste - only in those cases would you use the pass.

but I guess we'd have to compare the pass use to full price on the bus if you did not pre-book - any idea what full-fare on the bus would run?

PalenQ

Bus may be quicker and cheaper but I'd take the comfy Zurich to Munich train any day over it -can get up and move around - check www.bahn.de/en for tickets as low as 29 euro or so.

suze

So you've really only got 1 day in Montreux?

PalenQ

For Montreux itself that is enough but yes there are many neat things in the area.

Guy86

Hi Suze yes only one day in montreux unfortunately.

PalenQ

between Montreux and Interlaken you can take the Golden Pass scenic train - a little longer than the mainline route via Lausanne and Bern but more scenic - panoramic cars on part of the route.

PalenQ

The Golden Pass train also runs between Interlaken-Ost and Lucerne up and over the scenic Brunig Pass- regular trains too run this and the Montreux-Interlaken routes but the GP is a bit faster I think because it does not stop as much as the local trains - but same scenery of course just not the posh observation cars on the GP as well as commentary en route (I believe - was when I did it).