4 Night/5 Day Itinerary for a Summer in Switzerland
I’ve been to many countries and the time frame for all my trips has varied. I found that the best time to explore a place is 5 days and 4 nights. Longer than that, it gets a bit boring (for me at least) and if it’s shorter than you may be missing out on a few key things.
This is how we, a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids ages 3 years and 6 months) were able to tackle Switzerland in 4 nights and 5 days.
Day 1 – Zürich, Lucerne & Innertkirchen
We opted to rent a car. As many had advised the train system in Switzerland is one of the best in the world – which it most definitely is, but for our circumstances it was best to rent a car. We wanted to have the flexibility of going from point A to point B without having to worry about a train schedule. If one of our kids wasn’t feeling well, it was a lot easier to just go to the car to head home. Also, I am still nursing so having the comfort to either nurse or pump in the car was super convenient for me.
** One thing to note about renting a car in Switzerland – you must follow all speed signals because if you speed you WILL get a speeding ticket via camera. The speed limits throughout our drive were constantly changing so it’s really important to keep track of it **
Since our trip was only 5 days, we decided to skip out on Zurich. A couple things you can do there is visit the Rhine Falls (most powerful waterfall in Europe) and the Lindt chocolate factory. Make sure to book the Lindt Chocolate Factory in advance as tickets do sell out.
After renting a car we went to the Bürgenstock Hotel for some tea, coffee and pastries. The view of Lake Luzerne was so beautiful from the hotel. And the drive up and down the mountain was also an experience of it’s own!
After we finished up at the Bürgenstock Hotel, we drove to Staubbach Falls. This is a 10 minute hike to the waterfall. It’s not a hard hike so it’s really nice to do with the kids. The view is also definitely worth it!
After a long day of travel and a few activities the kids were tired so we headed to a Coop and bought some groceries and opted to cook dinner at our Airbnb in Innertkirchen.
Day 2 – Jungfru & Interlaken
We stopped at a bakery named Bäckerei-Konditorei Steininger. I would recommend trying a slice of their hazelnut cake, cheese quiche and plain bread roll. We like our coffee a particular way and when we saw that it came from a machine, my husband decided to skip out on it. I tried it, and I should’ve skipped the coffee too, it was cold and not worth it in my opinion. BUT everything else we got was really good!
Since we didn’t have the popular train pass which would ultimately help save some money on cable cars, we decided to purchase a 3 day pass (called Jungfrau travel pass) which gave us access to the cable cars in Jungfrau, Grindelwald, Mürren and Gimmelwald (and more). This was great because those places were all part of our itinerary. The 3 day pass costs $215 a person. The 3 day travel pass does not include the last train needed to get to Jungfraujoch, that is purchased separately and costs $75 pp.
We took the cable car around 10AM and then made it to the top around 11AM. We had two kids with us (ages 3 years and 6 months). We brought our toddler carrier for our 3 year old with us but didn’t end up using it but definitely used the baby carrier for Ameen (6 months). I recommend bringing snacks and water. There are a couple places to eat up there so it’s ok to also pack light, but in our case we needed some snacks for the kids.
I recommend going to the ice tunnel and grabbing a photo at the top of the mountain if possible! If you have hiking shoes, that would most likely be best because the snow is slippery if you’re planning to hike there. My sneakers didn’t have a strong grip. We took the train back down instead of the cable car to take a more scenic route and it was so nice. You pass by cows and the kids loved it! It is a little longer than the cable car but we were in no rush to get back so we enjoyed it.
Once we got back to our car, we headed over to Interlaken where we walked around and took in the beautiful scenery.
Day 3 – Grindelwald First and Harder Klum
Grindelwald First is so nice for the adrenaline junkie! There were a couple things I would’ve loved to do if we didn’t have the kids but you know, it is what it is. Make sure you stop by Roger’s Backerei anno dazumal for some delicious cinnamon rolls and a coffee before going up to the mountain.
We took the cable car up and it was really nice because it’s smaller so you’re able to take it with just your party. It took about 25 min to get to the top and the views were phenomenal on the way up.
Once you get to the top, you have a variety of hikes that you can take. Make sure you go to the cliff walk where you are overlooking almost all of Grindelwald. There is a line to the cliff walk so make sure you plan for that.
As soon as we got to the top, a hail storm started and we sat in the café for 45 minutes until the storm passed. This is where some activities I brought for Bilal came in handy. I had printed these preschool worksheets and also had a Melissa and Doug water coloring booklets that helped pass the time.
We ended up just taking the cable car down and grabbed a latte from EigerBean Coffee (which was AMAZING) before heading out of Grindelwald. That was going to be our last time there for the duration of the trip.
We decided to go to Harder Kulm since it was part of our 3 day travel pass. Once we got there, the line was really long and the cable car took about 60 people. We opted to not go up since the wait was so long and the kids were getting impatient.
Day 4 – Mürren, Gimmelwald and Lucerne
Hiking day! Checked out of our Airbnb in Innertkirchen and headed out to Lauterbrunnen where we parked and took a cable car to Mürren for our hike. This is where the toddler carrier came in handy. We bought it off Facebook marketplace and it was a great investment. We hiked from Mürren to Gimmelwald. It was a 45 min downhill hike, which I appreciated because I was baby carrying Ameen and Ismael was carrying Bilal in the toddler carrier. Along the hike you can find refrigerators with cheese and honey. Get some to take home!
The hike was long and I was happy to get back to our car. We headed to Lucerne because our flight was the next morning in Zurich, the drive was 1 hour 30 min. Our hotel was in the middle of the city which is not accessible by car so we parked at a garage and then took our bags to the hotel.
This was a different vibe than our experience in the mountains. Our hotel overlooked the Chapel Bridge and the church.
Sunrise overlooking Chapel Bridge
We opted to eat near the hotel and finally had fondue on our last day. It was good, nothing too crazy, it was 35 franc per person (min 2 ppl) and came with bread and potatoes.
One thing to note – there was no AC in the places we stayed. In the Airbnb the lowest temperatures reached 50 degrees so it was not a problem. In Lucerne it was 90 degrees and HOT! We only had two fans in the hotel and I was happy to be there for just one night.
Day 5 – Zürich
Drove to Zürich, returned the car, and headed back home.
Things to note:
In Airbnb/Hotels there is no AC, shampoo, conditioner, soap – plan accordingly
Eating out is expensive and the food in general is just alright, nothing crazy. I recommend going to COOP or MIGROS for groceries.
Trains are great but if you’re on a tight schedule rent a car, it’s very convenient and the drive is scenic.
If you’re traveling with kids, make sure you have the right equipment to hike with them.
BUY OVOMALTINE CHOCOLATE SPREAD!
There are fresh water fountains throughout the country, all you need is a water bottle.
Don’t forget your bathing suits! Take a swim in a lake in Interlaken