The Perfect 5 Day Switzerland Itinerary
From the Schynige Platte Train Station Peak
Growing up I used to hate, with a capital h, road trips. They were boring, full of busy highways and traffic, and took way too long to get there.
Moving to Italy has given me an “I hate road trips” identity crisis. Enter: road tripping through Scotland, to Puglia, through Norway, and now to Switzerland.
But here’s why. Unlike 5 lane freeways with endless traffic style road trips from Michigan to Florida, road trips through Europe are *almost* just as exciting as getting to the destination.
Our 5 day road trip through Switzerland is the perfect example of that. Granted, our longest amount of time on the road was getting from our hometown in Northern Italy to Switzerland. Every other stretch was only a few hours at most, but FULL of sites to see.
So, fun fact, if you have a phone plan with Tim (or any European phone plan that works with the EU like this) your phone will only work with wifi while here! So that meant silent car rides for us. But why did I absolutely love that?! Just opening the windows, listening to the cowbelles, and taking in the beauty that was everywhere around us. Highly recommend even if your phone is working, ha!
We spent 5 days going from Lucerne, to Interlaken, through Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, and finally to Zermatt. Our days were filled with hiking, site seeing, and the cutest of hotels.
I’d say we did pretty darn good for this trip so I wanted to share our full itinerary with you.
Where we stayed, exactly what we did, where we ate, and a few things I wish I’d known prior (like our phones not working, lol).
So let’s hop to it shall we?!
Day 1 - Mount Rigi, Lucerne
We arrived the night prior to our first full day around 11pm. We stayed at the Lux hotel this first night for a bit less expensive (it was tough to find a hotel that didn’t have horrible bug/cleanliness reviews in the area for less than around $250-350 per night), no frills place to stay. I have to admit it exceeded my expectations and was actually the only hotel the entire trip with AC! Enter something I wish I’d known: no AC anywhere, absolutely anywhere hehe!
Our adventure for day one was the iconic Panoramic hike of Mount Rigi. Mount Rigi is an iconic mountain top in Switzerland set atop Lake Lucerne. It’s covered with lush grass, grazing cows, and laden with hiking trails of all levels. The panoramic trail is meant to help you see plenty of viewpoints of both the lake and the rolling mountain ranges of the area. It is quite easy, but there are a few turn off points that can make it a bit more difficult. We took one of these turn offs to follow a new trail along the top of one of the main peaks, offering the most spectacular view. If you’re able, I’d highly recommend this turn off, but take it on the way back so that you can see the backside of the mountain along the first part of the panoramic loop. This hike was my favorite of the entire trip. The sound of the hundreds of cow belles all along the mountain range with the gorgeous view of the lake was hard to beat.
How to get there:
We parked at the Weggis Mount Rigi pick up parking lot and took the gondola up from here. There are numerous towns to grab a gondola or train up to the top, but this seemed easiest for us. The gondola had some technical issues at the time we were going back down, so we took the train down to the town of Vitznau, just one town east of Weggis. From what I could see, it was such an adorable town and I wished we’d had more time to explore around there. It reminded me a bit of Mackinaw Island mixed with Traverse City with its classy and chic buildings, marinas, and lake homes (as did the area all around the lake). We passed the most stunning hotel, Park Hotel Vitznau, that you should definitely consider staying at if you’re able.
Where we stayed:
From here we headed to our hotel of the night, Hotel Chateau Gutsch. I adored this hotel. It’s set in a historic building atop a hill looking over the town (and lake) of Lucerne. It’s elegantly decorated with a swanky bar area. To be honest, the dinner wasn’t anything to write home about, so I’d hit the town if you’re choosing to stay here (of which I would absolutely stay here again).
what I wished I’d known:
I of course knew we’d have to pay to take the gondola up to plenty of these hikes, but I didn’t realize quite how much it was. For budgeting purposes, allocate about $50 per person for the gondola rides in this area. It is absolutely worth it and I don’t regret it, but I do regret not budgeting for that! BUT - hot tip. If you stay locally you get a “Lucerne pass” that gives you a discount on transportation, including these. It was about 10% off. You should get a code from your hotel to use.
Day 2 - The town of Lucerne, Schynige Platte, and Interlaken
View from the Spreuerbrucke
Schynige Platte Panoramic hike
Generally for these types of trips where we’re trying to hike most days, we don’t spend much time in the towns. But, the town of Lucerne looked beautiful from the hotel, and the receptionist said it was well worth a visit. We spent the first few hours of our second day walking around the town and I’m so glad we did. It was so charming, clean, and full of boutiques and family owned restaurants and cafes. Not at all “just another city.” We walked all along the area surrounding the infamous “Spreuerbrucke,” a well preserved foot bridge originating from 1408.
We then hopped in the car to make our way to our next destination, Interlaken.
We actually stayed in the town of Winderswil right outside of Interlaken at the Alpenrose Hotel and Gardens. I didn’t realize how perfect this hotel was! It was a quick 2 minute walk from the train station which can take you directly into Interlaken in about 5-10 minutes, and it’s also where you pick up the “Schynige Platte Railway” train - an old wooden train built in 1893. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get up to “Schynige Platte - the Top of Swiss Tradition.” Here you find the infamous mountain gardens, plenty of stunning hiking trails, a hotel, restaurant, and even a few traditional Alphorn players! The scenery is truly breathtaking. Even if you’re not a hiker, this is well worth the trip.
We took the panoramic trail again, though there are a handful to choose from of varying lengths and difficulty. Similar to Lake Lucerne, the view of this mountain range and the lakes down below was breathtaking, and another hike that I’ll never forget. Full of those grazing cows with their cow belles I love the sound of so much, edelweiss flowers, and jaw dropping mountain peaks. It’s another I absolutely recommend.
After a much needed (hehe) apple strudel we headed back down to the town of Wilderswil.
From here we took the train into the town of Interlaken to find a pub for dinner. After loving Lucerne so much, we had high expectations for this well-renowned city. Friends, I don’t recommend it. Unless you’re looking for a Thai or Indian restaurant, of which there were plenty, I’d actually stay in Wilderswil at night instead. We wanted to immerse ourselves into the Swiss culture and traditions, and Interlaken felt more of “just another city” to us. Don’t get me wrong, the massive grassy park and river views were beautiful, but the city itself was full of sub-par restaurants and tourist shops. The hotel Victoria Jungfrau looked stunning, but again, I’d rather be in Winderswil.
We did have a pretty darn good (not good for you that’s for sure, but delish) dinner at Husi Bierhaus. But other than that, we headed back to our quaint little town to walk the sidewalks through fields full of horses and cows with views of the beautiful swiss alps instead. Topping off our night with a garden swing in the garden area of our hotel.
Where we stayed:
What I wish I’d known:
Interlaken is just okay. It’s nice to see to feel like you’re not missing anything, but dinner in Winderswil with an evening walk around the neighborhoods is much better.
The train to Schynige Platte takes nearly 1 hour, and be sure to get in line for your train back otherwise you’ll be sitting apart from your husband after the mad dash to catch the train by everyone else! Speaking from experience ha!
You can also use a discount code similar to the one from Lucerne for this train as well. We ended up spending a bit more than we should have since we didn’t realize you could use a similar discount here. Also, budget another $40-$50 or so per person for the train.
Day 3 - Lauterbrunnen, Trummelbachfalle, Grindelwald
The end of our Lauterbrunnen Valley drive.
Lunch in Grindelwald
The car train
The Alpenrose Hotel and Gardens
Originally I thought we’d head on another hike in the area for our third day. But, there were so many things we wanted to see that we’d decided if we hiked we’d only get to see maybe, one of them. So we turned this into a scenic drive and sightseeing day. We started out headed through the valley of Lauterbrunnen. We put in “Rutti Stechelberg” camp site as our destination as this is where the valley comes to an end and you begin driving up into the mountain. We passed through the handful of quaint mountain towns, stunning valley of the mountain peaks above, and stopped at Trummelbachfalle.
Trummelbachfalle is a glacier waterfall with spectacular views. You can take an old mining elevator to the “top” then walk between surreal pathways underneath and through the expansive waterfall. I felt like I was in an attraction at Disney World! The sheer power and volume of this waterfall was so cool, especially sine they built a system of walkways so you can stand either directly over or under it. There are about 11 different areas to stop and see the waterfall all along the system of walkways and stairs that they built. It was truly a site to see!
From here we headed back down the same road and headed toward the town of Grindelwald. There is a similar valley to see in the route toward this charming mountain town. We parked in Grindelwald to walk all along the main street of shops and restaurants within the vast mountain peaks and troughs, and had lunch at C und M with the most spectacular view.
From here we began our drive to the iconic town of Zermatt to stay beneath the Matternhorn.
The drive includes a “train car” where you actually drive onto a train that takes you through a mountain pass. A first for us, and actually pretty fun experience!
We drove to Tasch train station and parked in the parking garage here to head to the car-free town of Zermatt. It was quite easy to figure out as the trains, or “shuttle” as they called it, ran every 20 minutes.
Where we Stayed:
We spent two nights and the Beausite Zermatt Hotel and Spa which, once again, we loved. This hotel was located right in the center of town, the decor was so chic, they had a finnish spa system, a classy bar area, and an outdoor pool looking directly at the Matterhorn.
We arrived here around 5pm and decided to get changed and head into town for drinks and dinner.
Where we ate and drank:
We got drinks at Mamacita (highly recommend the appetizers and cocktails) and Hexen Bar, and headed to Brown Cow for dinner. The receptionist at our hotel told us that these are where the locals go after dark! Were we here after dark? No, but they were still quite fun lol.
All in all, it was a gorgeous day of breathtaking sites to see. I’m glad we ended up knixing the hike as we surely wouldn’t have been able to see as much as we did, or visit the towns of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald.
What i wish i knew:
I think we were lucky on the way to Zermatt in that we arrived to the “train car” about 10 minutes prior to it’s next departure. However, on our way back home to Italy we arrived just as one was leaving and the next one didn’t leave for another 2 hours. I’m not sure if this is because it was Sunday or if that is a daily lunch break they take. I’d check their time table and be sure to schedule the train car into your road trip if you can. We ended up driving a longer route home instead, passing literally over the mountain which proved for more spectacular views, along with a heart attack for my “afraid of heights and cars with no guardrails” self. Husband, however, really enjoyed it hehe!
Day 4 - Zermatt
The view from our hotel room!
The hay sauna that smelled so so good!
Jackfruit bao buns from Mamacita.
Once again, there are numerous hikes available in the area of varying levels and difficulty, including a few via ferratas. We opted to spend our first Zermatt morning scouring the entire town. Walking from our hotel to every inch of the town, in and out of the shops and cafes. We had to stop at Petit Royal Cafe for a coffee break, of which was so cute.
When planning this trip I really wanted to stay at a mountain spa like the Alipn Hubertus we’d stayed at back in October of 2020 that we loved so much. There’s just something special about a sauna looking over the mountains. All of the ones that I’d found closer to Lucerne, Bern, or Interlaken were either too far away, or within the budget of my future self (lol). Even though Beausite is right in the center of town, it still had that mountain spa feel that I was going for, and this was our compromise for a secluded mountain spa. So, we spent the afternoon reading by the pool and indulging in their vast Swiss spa system. They have a Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, Hammam, Vitarium, and Hey sauna (my favorite for its scent and Matterhorn view).
We’d originally planned to have dinner at the hotel restaurant that looked so good and cute. But, we really fell in love with Zermatt and decided to head back out on the town instead. We did find ourselves at Mamacita again, of which you should too and definitely get the jackfruit bao buns and the jackfruit tacos and literally any cocktail! And for dinner we headed to MANUD, an asian fusion style restaurant with local and seasonal ingredients. We finished off the night finally seeing the full Matterhorn (it’d had a teeny tiny cloud locked on the very top since we’d arrived) in its nighttime glory.
Day 5 - Driving Home
On our last day we took one last stroll down the main road of Zermatt and headed back to the train station to find our car.
Hot tip: the Autogrill road stops in Italy have the BEST sandwiches. The bufala or caprese is my favorite. Thank me later!
Overall this trip was exactly what our Northern Michigan souls needed in July. The perfect mix of a new country, stunning lake and mountain views, time outside, and amazing hotels and restaurants.
Things to know recap:
Budget for gondola/train - around $100 for two people
You get discounts on transportation if you stay in the town - be sure to use them!
Your phone won’t work if you’re coming from Aviano Air Base.
Make sure you check the car train schedule to or from Zermatt area!
And that’s it folks. I hope you enjoyed yet another travel blog. As always, I actually have a“travel hacks” highlight where I explain how to use google maps to save places that you want to visit in the future, whether you have a trip planned or not! Click here to view that, go through these places and be sure to save your favorites! I’d love to hear which ones you end up going to! Never hesitate to DM me on Instagram or shoot me an email here, I love hearing from you!
Until next time, XO,
Di