Considering a vacation in Switzerland? We followed a condensed version of this itinerary in early May 2024 and have lots of tips and tricks to share!
- Day 1 – Arrival (Zurich), Lucerne, Trubschachen, Bern
- Day 2 – Interlaken, Lake Thun/Lake Brienz, Jungfrau/Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen/Schilthorn
- Day 3 – Interlaken, Golden Pass, Montreux, Lavaux vineyards, walk back
- Day 4 – Gruyeres, Broc, Zermatt (via Bern and Visp)
- Day 5 – Zermatt, Locarno (via Visp, Domodossala)
- Day 6 – Locarno, Zurich
- Day 7 – Departure
Key travel considerations:
- Swiss Travel Pass: I strongly recommend getting the Swiss Travel Pass, which gives you unlimited train/tram/bus trips on most routes (although for some funicular/gondola routes, the pass will give only a 40-50% discount) as well as museum admission. This is extremely convenient in particular for flexibility on train travel, so you don't have to think about what tickets to get on what routes and at what times, in advance. The Pass comes in lengths of 3, 6, 8 days, or longer – but is also quite expensive (we chose the 6 day, which was about 425$ per person).
- Baggage lockers: We traveled light and tried to find lockers to store our bags for the days when we had multiple stops – it usually costs around 8-12 Francs, depending on the locker size.. Not all stations have luggage lockers though! You can check here.
- Restaurant reservations: These are strongly recommended, though you don't need to do it too far in advance – day of is usually fine. If possible, try to get your hotel to call and make the reservation for you.
- Costs: Switzerland is really expensive, make sure you are prepared for this!
- Languages: German and French (especially in Montreux) are the primary languages, though most people also spoke English everywhere we traveled – except Locarno, where the official language was Italian and little English was spoken.
- Weather/Timing: Make sure to check what the average weather is before you go -- it turns out on average it rains half of May (though for us, it rained 5 of the 7 days), so it wasn't a great time to go. And if you are going up into the mountains, check to see if things you want to do (like hiking) are actually open for the season. On the other hand, the more in the middle of the summer you go, the more it is high season with tons of tourists, so there are definitely pros and cons to shoulder season vs. high season.