|Europe Diaries|

3 blissful days in Switzerland

March 13, 2020 /

Switzerland, one of the most beautiful countries in the world, cannot be fully appreciated in just 3 days – you would barely scratch the surface. However, if you are on a budget and time constraint, and cannot imagine completing your itinerary without witnessing the beauty of this magnificent region, look no further. Here is how you can experience the majestic towns and villages, heavenly mountains and lakes just within 3 days. This was a special vacation as I was joined by my mother and sister. But it also meant that I had to be careful with my itinerary, making sure my Mom was comfortable with the exertion and high altitudes.

First things first – Buy a Swiss travel pass in advance and get unlimited transport access within the country on trains, buses, boats and cable cars! We bought the pass for 3 consecutive days. While this pass covers more than 90% of public transport options, it will not cover all the mountain excursions. We only did the ones covered in the pass to save time and money. But you can buy additional passes to visit specific sites (such as Mount Titlis and Jungfraujoch). There is an option of 3,4,8 or 15 day passes (more the number of days, higher the price). Once you buy the Swiss Pass, there is no need to buy tickets or scan the pass anywhere. All you need to do is carry the same with you while availing the public transport facilities (bus, train, boat or cable car). You will only be occasionally asked to show the pass – no scanning or recharges involved!

Now, time to go down memory lane and relive the surreal journey.

Day 1 – Mount Rigi & Lucerne City

We arrived in Zurich on a bright sunny morning during the last week of May on a flight from Amsterdam. Switzerland is renowned worldwide for its exemplary railway system. Apart from the punctual schedule, the trains offer excellent connectivity, from the remote mountain villages to the convenient urban cities. We boarded a direct train (departs every 30 minutes) from Zurich airport to Lucerne city using our Swiss Travel Pass.

We reached the hotel (ibis budget Luzern City) just in time to check in and grab a quick meal. Soon it was time to begin our first excursion and enjoy the surrounding views from the Summit of Mount Rigi before the sun went down. I had to choose between the 2 mountain excursions from Lucerne fully covered by the Swiss travel Pass – Mount Rigi or Mount Pilatus. While there is no wrong choice here, I chose Mount Rigi. Surrounded by 3 water bodies, it is also known as the Queen of the mountains!

There are multiple routes to the mountain peak. We took the bus from our hotel (2 mins walk) to the city center and got on the boat (lake steamer) to Vitznau, a resort on the northern shore of Lake Lucerne. The 55 minute ferry ride was every bit enjoyable as expected. There was a comfortable covered seating section as well as an open one with food and drinks available to buy. The next leg of the journey was a cog railway ride from Vitznau to the highest peak of Mount Rigi (called Rigi Kulm). There are multiple stops during the train ride but most of them are isolated and mainly used by hikers. This was the first ever Cog railway track in the European continent. The train ride was pleasant and scenic. The panoramic 360° views of the snow-capped Alps, the lowlands and the lakes were breathtaking. We came back halfway down the mountain using the same Cog Railway train and got off at Rigi Kaltbad. There we switched to the Rigi Seilbahn cable car for our journey down the mountain and got dropped at Weggis. It is another scenic 15 minute walk before you take the ferry back to Lucerne. We wandered around the cobbled streets of Lucerne and ended our day with dinner at a lakeside resturant.

Day 2 – Panoramic Train Ride, Lauterbrunnen & Wengen

Day 2 began early with a 2 hour picturesque train ride from Lucerne to Interlaken. We rode the Golden Pass (Luzern-Interlaken Express) and saw the splendid snow covered summits, lakes, pastures, livestock and waterfalls pass by. There was a coach with a full-service restaurant and a coffee bar. We paid a little more to upgrade to the first class which is only a little better than the second class covered by the Swiss Pass, so you cannot go wrong either way. We took another train (29 mins) from Interlaken station to our final destination for the day, Lauterbrunnen!

Lauterbrunnen valley with it’s 72 waterfalls is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps. We walked a few minutes from the station and checked in to our accommodation for the night (Chalet Rosa). It was the first time we were staying in a Chalet and the experience was nothing short of magical. Anywhere I looked around, they were the most gorgeous views I had ever seen. I haven’t mentioned this in any of my blogs before, but to really see how picture perfect this valley was, go checkout our Instagram stories (videos) on Switzerland (Link on the page above). The rolling green hills were mesmerizing to the naked eye and it was time to go out and start exploring this natural wonderland.

After having a quick meal, we took our 3rd scenic train ride of the day (15 mins) to Wengen, a car-free alpine village in the Bernese Alps. We strolled around the village and loved walking along the beautiful chalets. On a clear day, one can see the entire Lauterbrunnen valley from the top of the mountain in Wengen. The day we visited, it was misty and dewy which added to the surrounding beauty. After our train ride back to the valley, we bought some souvenirs and called it an early night. The chalet was nice and cozy, fitting perfectly in the dream like setting. It was time to relax with a book and call it an early night.

Day 3 – Murren & Mount Shilthorn

We checked out on Day 3 and left our luggage in the Chalet to visit Murren and Mount Shilthorn before heading back to Zurich in the evening. We were going to spend the night at a hotel close to the Zurich airport and fly to Italy next morning. After having a delicious Swiss breakfast, we left our Chalet and took the cableway to Grütschalp. Magnificient views apart, we also encountered a flock of birds flying right in front of us as the cableway climbed up. Next we hopped on a narrow gauge train to Mürren.

Murren is a traditional Walser mountain village in the Bernese Highlands of Switzerland. This charming car-free village cannot be reached by public roads and is located at the foot of the Schilthorn peak. After deciding to explore the village on our way back, we boarded the cable car to go up to Mount Shilthorn. We took a break at the mid-station called Birg and checked out the view from the terrace. Due to the foggy weather, the Thrill Walk was closed. Hence, we decided to cut this break short and resume our journey in the cable car up to the mountain peak. The ride was breathtaking as we could see the snow covered Alps closer than ever.

Shilthorn is one of the highest peaks in the region and offers panoramic views of the Swiss Alps. You can enjoy the views while dining at the Piz Gloria ( 360° revolving restaurant) or grab a coffee and step out on the terrace platform. The mountain is 2970 m high and was featured in a James Bond movie in 1969. Unfortunately the views were not very clear for us due to foggy weather, but my Mum got to experience her first snowfall while being surrounded by the white wonderland. I couldn’t have hoped for more. That’s the thing with Switzerland – The weather could go in any direction unexpectedly. If you have more time in the country, you can switch your plans for the day. As all of our travels and excursions were covered by Swiss travel pass, we could have decided to skip Shilthorn that day. But given that we only had 3 nights in total, one of which was for Lauterbrunnen, there was little room for change in itinerary. Having said that, the journey up and down the mountain peak was worth it by itself. It gave us such good views of the Alps without having to do any hiking, the unclear views from the top were not a deal breaker.

While I would love to hike the Alps, I had to be mindful of my mother’s endurance levels. The Swiss Public transport system left me impressed on this front -it was so good that one could reach and experience the remotest of peaks and villages without having to walk for more than a few minutes. Mom had no problems experiencing it all with her daughters. Truly amazing!

After returning to Lauterbrunnen, we thanked our gracious host at the Chalet, picked up our luggage and headed back to Zurich by Train (Lauterbrunnen, 21 mins -> Interlaken, 52 mins -> Bern, 56 mins ->Zurich). Considering how comfortable the overall train experience was, we didn’t mind the train change or the 2 hour journey back to Zurich. It wasn’t exhausting at all. I would like to specifically highlight that with the exception of the last 2 train rides while trying to get back to Zurich, all other train rides were scenic and helped us witness beautiful sites we couldn’t possibly imagine reaching otherwise! Switzerland is one such country, where commuting between places has been as much a part of the travel experience as the final destination did.

The hotel (B&B Hotel Zurich Airport Rumlang) was close to the Zurich airport as we had to board an early morning flight the following day. After our last scrumptious breakfast, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and said good-bye to this wonderful country carrying with us the unforgettable memories from the past 3 days!

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