Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been. It is one of the eight alps countries (Other alps countries are Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Slovenia). Bern is it’s capital city. Swiss franc (CHF) is the local currency.
In Summer 2022 I have been there with my family. Here I will share some practical information about exploring Switzerland and also how we planned our trip across the country.
Day One: Zurich city
From Stockholm we travelled to Zürich, by Swiss airlines, on an early morning flight. We are really happy with the airlines service, that’s why I just couldn’t resist myselft to mention it.
From Zürich airport we took a train to reach Zürich Central Station, Zurich Hauptbahnhof. We bought our train tickets in the airport. It took about 10 minutes to reach the central station. From there we took a 10 minutes walk to reach our hotel, which was in the old town area.
After taking little rest in the hotel room, we strolled around some tourist attractions, which were very close to the city center or the old town.
Day Two: Heidiland
First we planned to visit Bern, the capital city of Switzerland. But then we changed our mind and visited Heidiland instead. Heidiland or Heididorf is located in Maienfeld. Heididorf means Heidi’s village. Heidi is a work of children’s fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. Heidi is one of the best-selling books ever written.
We decided to visit this area as we wanted to experiece the beauty of a real swiss village. From Zurich we took a train to Bad Ragaz. Then from bad ragaz we took a bus to Maienfeld. Then we needed to walk/hike around 20 minutes to reach Heidiland.
The nature is breadth taking but it might not be very convenient for the aged people as the total time we were going uphill. It is necessary to enter into the facilities in Heidiland like Heidi’s house, Heidi’s cottage. The ticket information to enter into Heidi’s home is available here.
Travel time (Zurich HB -> Maienfeld HB): One hour (approximately)
Day Three: Luzern
In the morning we took breakfast and then checked-out from our hotel in Zurich. It took about an hour to reach Luzern by train. We kept our luggage in the luggage storage at Luzern train station and started our day at the beautiful city of Luzern.
We were already hungry, so we took lunch at a restaurant named Seebistro LUZ, which is situated very close to the train station and just beside the lake Luzern. The food was very tasty and the lake view was great from the restaurant! Then we crossed the iconic Chapel Bridge, which is so beautifully decorated with colorful flowers! After that we strolled on the walk way beside lake luzern and visited the Church of St. Leodegar and the old town. We ended our Luzern trip with super delicious ice-cream from Bachmann. Then in the evening we took a train to reach Interlaken. It took about two hours for us to reach Interlaken West, where we booked our hotel.
Travel time (Zurich HB -> Luzern HB): One hour (approximately)
Travel time (Luzern HB -> Interlaken West): Two hours (approximately)
Day Four: Grindelwald and Grindelwald-First
I feel like Grindelwald is the most beautiful city among all the places I have visited in Switzerland.
From Interlaken West train station we needed to go Interlaken Ost station. Then we took a train to reach Grindelwald. First we decided to explore Grindelwald First. First is a mountain location. We needed to walk about 10 to 15 minutes to reach the Firstbahn, from where we rode on a Gondola (Cable car) to reach the top station on First. There are couple of stops/stations before reaching the final station. It is possible to hop off and on in these stations and explore around.
Grindelwald First 
Going up to Grindelwald First by cable car (Gondola) 
View from the cable car 
At Grindelwald First 
At Grindelwald First 
At Grindelwald First 
The cliff walk 
Hiking at Grindelwald First 
Hiking at Grindelwald First 
The Cliff walk 
Mountain view from First 
The mountains in the photo is are above 4000 meter high. 
Restaurant Berggasthaus First 
At Grindelwald First 
At Grindelwald First 
At Grindelwald First 
Swiss Ice-cream is really delicious 
Delicious Flammkuchen
The last Gondola goes up at 17:30 and the last one comes down at 18:00. So be careful the time. Otherwise the option is to hike down the whole way, which could take some hours! There are several popular options to go down to the base station for the adventurous people. But you need to pay extra for this as it is not covered by the Top of Europe pass.
At the top of Grindelwald First, we took a cliff walk, which was scary but fun! Then we took lunch at the restaurant near the cliff. We saw how the parachute gliders were gliding from the mountain. Then we took another Gondola to come down from the mountain.
We explored the village of Grindelwald and took dinner at a local restaurant. For dinner we had Flammkuchen, which I strongly recommend to try. It looks a lot like Pizza but it is not.
Day Five: Lauterbrunnen and Jungfraujoch
From Interlaken Ost we took a train to Lauterbrunnen. Then another train to Kleine Scheidegg. Then another train to the Jungfraujoch which is the highest train station in Europe.
At Jungfraujoch summit 
On the way to Jungfraujoch 
From the viewpoint 
From the viewpoint 
At Jungfraujoch summit 
At Jungfraujoch summit 
At Jungfraujoch summit 
At Ice palace 
At restaurant Bollywood 
At Lauterbrunnen 
At Lauterbrunnen 
At Lauterbrunnen fountain 
Fountain at Lauterbrunnen 
Fountain at Lauterbrunnen 
Lauterbrunnen 
Lauterbrunnen
Don’t forget to carry a jacket while travelling to Jungfraujoch as it is freezing cold at 3,463 meters elevation. On the way to Jungfraujoch station the train stopped for 5 minutes to take photos of the snowy alps mountains from a view point.
There is an Ice palace and Lindt Chocolate shop/museum at Jungfraujoch. The ice palace was very cold to stay long but exciting to see the beautifully crafted Ice sculptures.
There are three restaurants at Jungfraujoch. We went to an Indian restaurant named Restaurant Bollywood for lunch buffet. It was thrilling to eat curry food while enjoying the snowy alps view!
After lunch we left Jungfraujoch for Lauterbrunnen, which is a village of fountains. It takes about 15 minutes to reach the biggest fountain from the train station. It is possible to take stairs to go near the fountain waterfall. The whole area is so relaxing, calm and serene!
Travel time (Interlaken West -> Jungfraujoch): Two hours (approximately)
Day Six: Interlaken Ost, West and Harder kulm
We reserved the last day of our trip to stroll around Interlaken Ost and West, as we wanted to take it easy after some adventurous days. The 20 minutes walk from Interlaken West to Ost alongside the river Aare was so relaxing!
In Interlaken Ost we rode onto a funicular called Harderbahn which took us to the top of Harder Kulm mountain in about 8 minutes. The Harderkulm is a viewpoint at 1,322 metres (4,337 ft). From Harderkulm it is possible to see both lakes in Interlaken, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.
In the afternoon from Interlaken we took a train to Bern and then another train directly to Zurich Airport.
Travel time (Interlaken West -> Zurich Airport): Two hours (approximately)
Some useful tips
- Cash or Card?
We were able to pay by card almost everywhere during our trip. Only in one shop in Bad Ragaz we need to pay by cash as there electronic payment device was not working. - Train or Car?
If you are travelling in a group of five, then car might be a better option for you. Otherwise renting car will cost more than train tickets. It costs 6578,00 SEK (605 CHF) to rent a cheapest car for 6 days. While Swiss travel pass for 6 days costs 360 CHF/Person. - Which travel pass to buy?
Swiss travel pass is the most advertized and promoted option for the tourists. After doing some calculation we decided not to buy the Swiss travel pass, as SuperSaver tickets were more cost effective for us.
I suggest to buy Top of Europe pass to buy, if you plan to explore the Interlaken area. Using this pass we could:- Travel from Interlaken West to Ost
- Take harderbahn to go on top of Harder Kulm
- Travel by train to Grindelwald
- Take Gondola to reach Grindelwald First
- Go to Lauterbrunnen by train
- Go to Jungfraujoch
- Is it better to buy train tickets early?
If you search for train tickets in SBB, then you will see that on particular times there are discounts available. This is called SuperSaver tickets. Let’s say 9:00 AM ticket might be cheaper than 10:00 AM ticket. This discounted price is probably depending on the travellers pressure at that time. If you can plan little early then it is very much possible to save some money by buying these discounted tickets. But remember, the SuperSaver discounted tickets are valid for the particular time and for the specified trains only. Which means, you cannot just take any train using this ticket. - Interlaken Ost or West?
We stayed in Interlaken West. But for every travel we needed to take a train to Interlaken Ost (East) first. So I recommend to stay near Interlaken Ost station. - How much expensive is Switzerland?
You can compare the following prices with your local McDonald’s to figure out the difference:
Zurich McDonald’s – Four chicken nuggets and one small french fries 96.24 SEK
Stockholm McDonald’s – Four chicken nuggets and one small french fries cost 47 SEK
Sarwarul Rizvi 