A One-Week Holiday In Switzerland
Are you planning to visit Switzerland for one whole week? Surely it is a great idea, provided that you have enough time and you calculate your budget in advance. A couple of days more to add to the weekend won’t change drastically the costs and you will get the chance to live a unique experience: travel thorough Switzerland and see the most of it. So, if you have decided to give it a go, the first question that pops into head is, what path to take in order to see the most? Here you can see our proposal about how to visit a few cities, lakes and mountains, from one part of Switzerland to another. First of all, the important thing to remember is to buy in advance the Swiss Travel Pass for 8 days, which can come very useful, as it provides unlimited travel in the rail, bus and boat of the Swiss Travel System network.So, let the week begin!
1st Day: Zurich
We suggest you start from this city, as Zurich Airport is one of the biggest and the best in Europe, and as such is connected very well with the rest of the world. Zurich is the biggest Swiss city, with around 403,000 inhabitants and is considered to be one of the most beautiful ones. So, which city is better than Zurich to start a one-week holiday? Once you have left your luggage in hotel, don’t lose time and start exploring this city! The first place to visit is the heart of this city, its centre, the Altstadt, then visit the church Grossmunster, Bahnhofstrasse and take a nice walk along the Lake Zurich. Useful thing to know is, that in Zurich you can rent a bike for free, and that way you can see the most of the city, as it is well connected with bicycle paths. At the end of the day, relax at the hotel and sleep well to prepare yourself for the next day of the trip, destination Lucerne!
2nd Day: Lucerne
If you wish, you can take another quick walk in Zurich and then take the train to Lucerne from the Zurich central station, it takes about 45 minutes of train to get there. Once you arrive there, take a walk at the centre of Lucerne and along the Chapel Bridge. After having visited the centre, we suggest you take the Golden Round Trip to Mount Pilatus. The Golden Round Trip takes you to the most spectacular spots on the Pilatus and to the summit by boat, cogwheel railway, aerial cableway and Panorama Gondolas. After the Golden Round you can return in Lucerne to take the train for Interlaken and once there, relax at the hotel for the next day.
3rd Day: Jungfraujoch and Great Aletsch Glacier
Set your alarm early in the morning and wear some warm clothes, because today you are going to travel towards the top of Europe at 3454 metres,in the Europe’s highest altitude railway station. From the Interlaken station take the train to Grindenwald, change and take the train to Kleine Scheidegg. From there you can take the cogwheel train to Jungfraujoch. Once you are there you can enjoy the 360° view of the mountains Mönch and Jungfrau, in the heart of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage property “Jungfrau — Aletsch — Bietschhorn”. The trip there is pretty expensive but it’s worth all the money! But don’t forget to check the weather forecast before deciding to visit this place and go there only if it is a clear and sunny day. After the tour, go back to your hotel in Interlaken and rest for the next day, the trip to Bern awaits you in the morning!
4th Day: Bern
Have a good breakfast and take the train from Interlaken to Bern, which takes about 50 minutes to get to Bern. Once you arrive there and check in the hotel, you can prepare yourself for the tour of this city. The first thing to see is the centre of it, Altstadt, then Munster Kirche and after that you can visit Barenplatz. Make a short pause for lunch and taste some typical cuisine, and then continue with your tour. Two more places decisively worth seeing are Bundeshaus, that is to say the parliament of Bern and the house of Albert Einstein. Once you got tired, take a rest in your hotel and prepare yourself for your next stop.
5th Day: Lausanne
In the morning take the train to Lausanne, it takes a little bit more than 1 hour. After leaving your luggage at the hotel and taking a rest from the trip, you can prepare yourself to see the most of Lausanne. Interesting things to visit are the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Altstadt. What unites your current destination and the next one is the Lake Geneva. A nice way to end the day in Lausanne is to take a cruise on the Lake Geneva, and then have a nice walk before going back to the hotel to rest and sleep.
6th and 7th Day: Geneva
On the next day, it’s time to aim towards your last destination of the trip. Once you leave the hotel, take the train to Geneva, which takes about 40 minutes to get to your final destination. Highly advisable to visit are the St. Peter’s Cathedral, the Altstadt and the Jet d’eau Water Jet. When you finish with exploring the city, sleep well at your hotel and the last day of your stay take your time to visit the CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, where the Higgs Boson particle was discovered. Have once again a nice walk before saying goodbye to Switzerland and sit on a bench along the Lake Geneva. Now, the only thing left to do is to take the plane from the Geneva International Airport and go back home after a one-week Switzerland adventure with amazing memories which will remain impressed for a long time.
Goodbye Switzerland
Visiting Switzerland will be one of the most unforgettable memories in your life. We hope that you have liked our route, although intensive and a bit stressful, but certainly full of adventure. But, how to make it possible otherwise to see the most of this beautiful country? By staying a week in one or three cities, you will only see a part of it, and it will be very satisfying too, but this way you get the chance to experience nearly all of it! And keep in mind that Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, but it has signed the Schengen agreement, for this reason it is possible that you will need a Schengen visa insurance. Feel free to make your own plan and to take some chosen paths from above, or maybe the whole path? One way or another it will be a great week! We wish you a nice and adventurous trip!
