Tour Switzerland in 8 Days by Train

We just had an epic 8 day trip in Switzerland in July with our family of 6 and I want to share with you our itinerary and travel tips. This is high season in Switzerland but a great time to visit since just about all the hikes are open and the weather is manageable and pleasant. We did a no car trip, all trains, public transportation and walking. In my opinion this is the way to go because you don’t want to miss out on the legendary views from the train rides, which is what Switzerland is known for, plus its a lot of fun! Another thing to consider is that a lot of the cities we visited did not allow cars. Trust me, do all trains ,you won’t regret it. We traveled with a family of 6, two adults, two teens and two kids and visited 5 cities. For 8 days in Swizterland, plan for 10 day trip to include travel days. (Btw, this post is completely non-sponsored.)

Good to Know

The first thing to do is to download the SBB app for your train schedule while in Switerland. You can not function the train systems without it. This app only works once you are in Switzerland but download it ahead of time to have it ready right when you land.

We bough a Swiss Travel Pass (for trains) for our family of 6 from https://www.swissrailways.com/en/buy-swiss-travel-pass three days before our trip started. This site is made by the trusted SBB, and in USD, (made for visitors). It allows you to buy 6 passes at a time which is not the case with the official SBB website.

Some tips for traveling to Switzerland… Keep in mind that most shopping stores are closed on Sunday except for some souveiner shops and train station shops. Before going up a mountain lift, check the weather conditions on the mountain. Your hotel can help with this with web cam apps. We learned this the hard way and ended up at Mount Pilatus with rain and low vissability. I’ll go into details below. It is important to check the times of when the lifts close at your destination. Lastly, pack light. Some packing tips…bring one rolling small size luggage per person and one backpack per person. This is best for going off and on trains. Bring one warm waterproof jacket. Even though it’s summer, bring a small umbrella, it rains here and there quite often, but don’t let that stop you.

About us

We’re a family of 6 that loves to travel. Half of us love nature spots and half of us love the city destinations more. This trip combines both, amazing nature views and interesting medieval cities in Switzerland. Something about us, we love to save money on hotels by using our Bonvoy and Hyatt points when we travel. We build up for it all year. It really helps! (not sponsored).

Day 1: Luzern

Right when you land in Zurich, immediately take the train to Luzern to spend your first night (45 minutes away).

For that first day, take a walk across Chapel Bridge and explore around Old town. Have a nice dinner by the Lake. You’ll see all the eateries as you cross Chapel Bridge. Note that old town shops close early and you should check with your front desk for closing time for that particular day.

Hotel: Renaissance Lucerne Hotel (Bonvoy).

There were no rooms at this hotel that were connecting for our family of 6, but they placed us near each other. It was a convenient location 2 minutes from Chapel Bridge and 5 minute walk from the train station. I liked the convenience of the location and the nice breakfast buffet. I would have preferred to have the hotel right inside old town but it’s still close enough.

Day 2: Luzern

As early as you can, take a day trip to Mt Pilatus. Although our trip to Pilatus trip was still beautiful, I learned from my mistakes and if I were to go to Pilatus Summit again, this is what I would do instead.

1. Check the weather for the top of Pilatus that day, this would set your expectations and perhaps even change your plans for the day. I totally understand that sometimes, there is only one day to knock this day trip out.
2. Take the train or boat (slower but scenic) to Alpnachstead and take the Cogwheel train (steepest in the world) up to the top on the south side of the peak. Sit in the row facing down for the best views. After seeing all the sights, return to Lucern by Gondola/cable car combo ride down. (This can be reversed). This way you can see views from both sides of the mountain. In my opinion, the wait for the Cogwheel at the summit is longer when descending, that’s why I would go up this way first.
3. On your way down on the Gondola, perhaps you want to stop off at Frakmuntegg for rope courses or for Toboggan ride. You would feel that time was better spent seeing the summit views first since that is the primary highlight of Pilatus. For us the Toboggan ride did not work out. Right when we arrived there, rain was coming and they closed it. It was a major bummer. Check the status of rain beforehand is the theme of a Pilatus side trip.

When you return to town. Visit the famous Lion monument and walk through of old town one last time.

Hotel: Renaissance Lucerne Hotel Continued

Day 3: Luzern to Wengen (Berner Oberland area)

1.Finish exploring old town and say good bye to Luzern.

2. Take Luzern-Interlaken Express train to Interlaken (about two hours). This is a panoramic train and has gorgeous views. You’ll see waterfalls, lakes and charming villages. The views really are spectaular and worth it. Reserve seats for the right side and preferably facing the direction of the train at https://www.zentralbahn.ch/en/experience/leisure/luzern-interlaken-express. From there, transfer to Lauterbrunnen (20 min). Use your SBB app to navigate which platform. At Lauterbrunnen use your SBB app again and transfer to Wengen (10) minutes. Wengen is a great base for exploring the Berner Oberland area and it’s a beautiful mountain village. (from Luzern-Interlaken express train to all the connections to Wengen are all covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. Quite a lot of transfers to get here, it can’t be helped but it is 100% worth it.

Hotel : Check into Grand Hotel Belvedere (Hyatt)

Wengen is a cute little town with a lot of eateries and it has gorgeous views. The best I have ever seen, I still dream about it. Our family of six stayed in two rooms right next to each other. They did not have connecting rooms to fit us. Remember to book the room with the view. It is stunning and you wont regret it. If there is anywhere on this trip to spurge for a view room, this is it. This hotel had our favorite pool and spa experience and kids were allowed too (10/10 loved it!). It is 10 minute walk from the train station uphills which can get tiring towards the end. You can call the hotel to pick you up in their vehicle when you arrive.

Day 4:Wengen, Lauterbrunnen Valley (Berner Oberland area)

Follow your SBB app to navigate the trains to Lauterbrunnen. (10 minutes)

Explore Lauterbrunnen valley using the bus system PostBus #141, stopping at Staubbah Falls, Trummelbach Falls and Schilthornbhan.

1. Staubbach falls- This is an easy waterfall to walk up to and take pictures. You can also walk up the stairs and go behind the fall.

2. Trummelbach falls waterfall- This is a powerfull waterfall that falls into caves. Don’t forget to wear a warm rain jacket. You will get wet. Take the lift all the way up. Continue to walk up to the top. During the walk up, its’ not a hard walk but a little wet. You’ll see the whole waterfall inside the caves. Amazing! Having that jacket will make or break your experience.

3. Grimmelwald town- At the end of the bus route, take the cable car at Schilthornbhan to Gimmelwald, an authentic Swiss Alp mountain town with beautiful views. When you get off the cable car make a right at the road right in front of you that goes up. Let your first stop be the Honesty Shop where you can purchase things using the honor system. Continue on the road and explore. If you have time, take the cable car up one more station at Murren. You can reverse this cable car itinerary and go to Murren first and then down to Gimmelwald. But if you are short on time. Gimmelwald is what you don’t want to miss.

Hotel : Grand Hotel Belvedere continued

Day 5: Wengen to Zermatt

Travel day with connecting trains in about 3.5 hours. We loved eating and shopping in town of Zermatt at this first night. This is such a cute mountain village to explore. We had our first fondue that night at the restaurant connected to the hotel called Whymper-Stube and enjoyed the hotel spa.

Hotel: Hotel Monte Rosa (This hotel is not a chain)

Great connecting rooms for 6 people that is huge, the spa was in their sister hotel which was not that convenient but was very nice. The breakfast was wonderful. Zermatt did not have any chain hotels that I know of. This hotel is about a 7 minute walk from the train station right through the enjoyable shopping street of Zermatt. We booked this through Expedia.

Day 6: Zermatt

There are many lifts from Zermatt to experience Matterhorn. We only could do 1 lift that day and I believe we chose the best one. I can’t imagine any experience being better than the one we chose with the Gornegrat Railway.

1. Take a nice 40 minutes ride on a historic cogwheel train to the Gornegrat Ridge. When you exit the train you’ll be able to see the best glacier views I have ever seen. Make sure you bring a warm jacket. On the way down on the railway we did the best hike ever that gave us the best view of the Matterhorn.
2. To access this hike, get off on the Rotenboden stop and hike all the way downhill to the Riffelberg train stop. You’ll pass by the Riffelsee lake and. if you’re lucky, you’ll see the relection of the matterhorn on the lake. Keep walking beyond the lake until you reach the Riffelberg train stop in about 1 hour. During the hike you’ll be seeing the best view of Matterhorn all along the way. It’s as if you have the Matterhorn all to yourself. It’s an amazing expereince and can not be missed. (given that there is good weather)
3. When you reach the Riffelberg station, head back on the Cogwheel train back to Zermatt if you’re done for the day. This is what we did.

If we had more time and more energy I would have taken the gondola from the Riffelberg station called Riffelberg Express down to Furi and then explore the Gorner Gorge. We’ll have to do this on our next trip.

Hotel: Hotel Monte Rosa continued

Day 6: Zermatt to Montreux

Travel day to Montreux in about 2.5 hours with trains

We visited Chateau de Chillon (bus directly by hotel 15 minute), a medieval castle rated best castle experience in Swizerland right on lake Geneva. It was so fun to explore this castle with the kids, there are all these hidden rooms and even forgotten rooms, dungens, torture chambers, ancient bathrooms and toilets. Throughout exploring you’ll see views of the beautiful lake, a dream castle.

Hotel: Hotel Suisse Majestic- This hotel doesn’t not have connecting rooms but is right across from the train station. You literally cross the street and you’re there. The views of Lake Geneva from this hotel is so stunning and breakfast buffet also has gorgeous views of the lake. We only spent one night here in rooms right next to each other facing this magical lake. Besides the castle there isn’t much else recommend to visit in Montreux unless you’re here during the Jazz festival days or will continue on to other areas in Geneva. We knew that our time was better spent in our next destination so we left right after breakfast.

Day 8: Montreux to Bern to Zurich

On this day we are spending the night in Zurich but on our way there will explore Bern.

Orginally we were going to take the Golden Pass Express from Montreux to Interlaken and then transfer to Bern. This would have been the most beautiful way to travel to Bern but it would be slower. The Golden Pass Express is a slower train than others. It would have been my preferred way to travel if we had the time. Due to a late start and not wanting to miss that hotel breakfast facing Lake Geneva, we looked at our SBB app and found a faster route to Bern.

We left our luggages in lockers at the train station at Bern for the day. They have lockers of all sizes there. Look up Luggage Storage Bern Station on google map to find the location of the luggage lockers. We spent 4 hours at Bern. This is what we did.

1. Walk to old town Bern from the train station and visit the Zytgloggeturm clock tower. This medival clock dates back to 1500s and it still works fine today. We didn’t climb it, and just saw it from the street. Four minutes before each hour the clock comes to life and moves. It’s not much but very worth seeing considering how old this clock is.
2. After seeing the clock, continue on the same street (Kramgasse street). Shop and admire the buildings, statues and fountains in the middle of the street dated from medival days all the way to the Nydegg Bridge.
3. Cross the bridge and visit Bear Park. You’ll see the bears that live right here in the city. So fun to see!
4. After visiting the bears, walk back to the city on the right side of bridge and admire a view of the old city. See how Bern is a peninsula surrounded by the Aare river. Bern is a surviving medival town that you don’t want to miss. It’s a fun mixtures of modern and old which makes it so interesting. Leisurely walk back and window shop on this ancient street. We had dinner at Coop market. We left bern at around 7:40PM

Hotel: Park Hyatt Zurich

This hotel is not walking distance from the train station. We took a bus to reach the hotel. Bus routes can be easily found on google maps. In terms of location this hotel is a 8 out of 10. It was close enough to walk to lake Zurich and go shopping on the street Bahnhofplatz but not near many restaurants. I would have preferred to stay near old town in the Niederdorf District, but it was still a very nice hotel. They had connecting rooms for our family.

We arrived at this hotel late at around 9PM.

Day 9: Zurich

We explored the colorful shopping streets in old town Zurich, loved the street flee markets and had dinner at Santa Lucia. Zurich is our wind down city to just relax and enjoy and not particularly visit any sites.

Day 10: Zurich- Home

Walk along Lake Zurich and head out to airport.

Check out, fly home!