I think Singen, at least the German city by Lake Constance, is about 50 km from Zurich, and father from Lucerne, so I think both of them in a single daytrip is too much. A car may be fine for daytripping, where you don’t take your luggage, but with five people and luggage, you would need to rent a fairly large car, so it would cost more. Many Swiss cities have limited and expensive parking, and some of the scenic villages are car-free, so you would want to consider that in your planning.

I would check with your friend concerning distances, but you could possibly visit Zurich as a day trip, and Lucerne as another. Neither is in the mountains, but Lucerne has some nearby mountains, and a boat trip to pilatus involving a steamer ride, a cogwheel railroad to the top of the mountain, a cable car ride down the other side, and a local bus back to the town center is a very nice excursion. It is seasonal so check that it is open when you will be there. There is a nice place to eat on top of the mountain.

To get to the south and Italy, I suggest taking a train to Chur, and staying there overnight following a thrilling train ride up to Arioso, a ski area popular with the Swiss, but not known to many tourists.

The next day take the train from Chur to Tirano, Italy. This is the route of the Bernina express, renowned as one of the most scenic train rides in the world. I just buy tickets on the regular train, which travels the same route at less expense. You get to see the same scenery as the more expensive excursion. Part of this route closes in Winter, but I would think it would be open in September

From Tirano, I would guess they have train or bus service to Venice, which would be a nice place to start in Italy. I’ve never gone that particular route, but other people tell me there is service.

Many larger Swiss railstation have markets inside. My wife and I usually visit a market before boarding and buy the ingredients for a picnic lunch on the train; I think the food and wine is better, and the price.

The Swiss sell a half fare card, which works on trains, busses, and boats. I can’t remember the cost of the one-month card, but we found it saved quite a bit as the Swiss trains are not inexpensive.

I agree with the advise on your other post that your plans in Italy would take more time than you have. If you skipped Rome (we spent two weeks there and didn’t get to see everything we wanted to) you could do Florence (stay there three days and spend a half of one on a daytrip to Pisa) and Cinque Terre, and fly home from Milan (I think they have international service from Milan, but not from Florence). All of these are places where a car would not be useful. You can see much of the Florence countryside by local bus. I seem to recall that Fiesole was an interesting site.

thanks cleveandbrown for ur reply…

can you suggest us the low cost trains which you are mentioning 1) zurich to chur 2) chur to tirano
If we dont take a car in italy what is cheapest way to travel inter city in italy? can you suggest us the trains and buses which we shoud take ?
Also we are thinking of doing only one of the two mountains in swiss – either mt titlis or Jungfraujoch … what is ur suggestion…

You might consider a train from Singen through Zurich to Chur rather than getting a ride to Zurich. http://www.sbb.ch/en… is the site for Swiss Railways. It is excellent for planning routes in many countries, but shows prices only for trips within Switzerland. http://www.rhb.ch/ is the site for the Bernina express excursion. You can find the prices there, then put the same beginning and ending stations in the SSB site, and see what the prices there are; I’ll bet they are less. The Bernina express has cars with nice seats and windows that extend up into the roof (I never saw anything through those windows that I couldn’t see in a regular second class car. I like to take pictures, and the second class cars on the regular train open, while those in the Bernina express train don’t, so I got better pictures from the regular train. When we visited, they had a special ticket for going from Chur to Arioso (and riding the cable car) but I don’t know if they offer that in September. That was a good day’s visit with a very scenic train ride up and back, and a pleasant uncrowded ski resort at the top. Check the SSB site for routing from Chur through Tirano to Venice.

I’ve only traveled by train or bus in Italy. I would rent a car only if we were visiting some scenic towns out in the countryside.

I like both mountains. I think Jungfraujoch has great scenery because there are other mountains near it, but the excursion to the top is a bit expensive, and if you will be in that area only one day, it is possible that the weather at the top will not be clear. There are webcams that show if it is clear, but it works better if you are there for a week or so and can pick a good day. Mt. Titlis is not as high but has good scenery, a walk through some caves around the top, and I think costs less. Personally, I would give the edge to Mt. Titlis because it is by Lucerne, which is a lovely small city. I don’t think you can go wrong with either mountain. We even enjoyed a couple of days walking in the Lauterbrunnen valley below Jungfraujoch when the weather at the top was not clear.

hi

so can we plan something like this
day 1 travel by car to lucerne and mt titlis
night stay back at singen
day 2 travel by car to zurich
drop car back at singen to my friend n take train to chur

cause this will give us free night stay for 2 nights
and also we will not have to buy 5 train tickets for zurich and lucerne

wats ur opinion?

That sounds like a good plan, even though I like to spend more time everywhere.

Zurich is a large city, but has nice scenery and architecture. A church near the river has some stained windows by Marc Chagall that are memorable, if you have the time to see that.

We also fondly remember a half day in Stein-am-Rhein, a small and well preserved old town; I mention it because I think it might be close to Singen; check with your friend to see if you have time to squeeze it in.

hi cleve and brown

lot or changes have happened to our trip now and hence need some more help….
probably we will not to singen and also not travel car instead use a rail pass ( do share ur opinion whether this is a wise decision)

moreover we have increased our day to 5-6 in switzerland

now tentative plan …. land in zurich at 9am…

then 3 days in interlaken / lucerne….. idea is to do mt titlis only and
avoid juangfroh…. we wound spent rest of time in other scenic place like day trip around lucerne and day trip around interlaken… just enjoying the beauty…

few questions would should we visit apart from titlis…
and wat should be our base for three days…can we stay in some small town
rather than lucerne or interlaken??? maybe something like wengen….

then we want to move to zermatt for two days… pls suggest a place to stay and a good 2 day itinery for that…

also we have choose zermatt or st moritz and chur ( wats ur opinion)

finally enter into italy directly from zermatt to maybe milan/ pisa

or take a train from zermatt to chur ( to enjoy the scenic ride) and then enter venice

wats ur suggestion on this???

I would go to Luzern first, as it is closer. The whole town is scenic, but I would want to see Titlis, the chapel bridge, and the Lion Monument to the Swiss Guards who died in the French revolution. There is also a Picasso museum, if that interests you.

Interlaken was very popular a century ago, and many of the old classical hotels remain. Popular excursions are to Brienze and to Lauterbrunnen. Either is nice, but I like Lauterbrunnen as it is in a lovely valley, and you can get up to the overhanging cliffs by cable car. We stayed in Murren, which has excellent views across the valley to three mountains. Just walking into the Lauterbrunnen valleys exposes you to much beautiful scenery.

I don’t know where to base yourselves. The cities are expensive, but so are all but the smallest villages. There are a lot of tourists who go there, and that keeps the prices up. I should mention http://www.mountainh…, the best combination of low cost and great scenery I know of, if you are into hosteling.

I wouldn’t stay in Zermatt. It is expensive and full of skiers, or people who want to look and spend like skiers. Also, I think there is no passage from there south to Italy. Better to stay in Martigny and daytrip by train to Zermatt. I believe you can get to Italy from Martigny through the famed pass where they kept the St. Bernard dogs. You could also visit Mont Blanc in France from Martigny on a daytrip.

From the Zermatt area you are a long way from Chur, but there is a scenic railroute if you have a pass and a lot of time. However, with only five days, I think it would be more prudent to go from Martigny into Italy.

thanks for the suggestions….
u said u stayed in murren….which hostel/hotel was that?….also wats your take on wengen???

also just like u gave places to visit in and around lucerne…. can u suggest a 2 day itinerary in and around interlaken, murren…..

also any good bnb/hostels in lucerne…..

also please give some itnerary for 2 days in zermatt…places to visit

I misspoke when I said we had stayed in Murren. We usually stay in the Simmenthal valley, hoping to run across an ancestor. We do like to visit the Lauterbrunnen valley. We usually take the funicular up to the clifftop (since replaced by a cable car when the mountain shifted) then walk along the clifftop (there is a train there, but we walk so we can stop and see the scenery, to Murrren, where we have lunch at a cliffside restaurant whose name I have forgotten, then take a cable car down to the valley floor and walk back to the town of Lauterbrunnen. We’ve done this a number of times, since the scenery is great and I love cable cars. There are waterfalls all along the valley, and one called Tremelbach (I think) is actually inside the mountain. I’ve not been to Wengen, at least that I remember.

There are a lot of activities (rafting, skygliding, etc.) based in Interlaken. We like to take the steamer to Thun, which has a nice old town and is a very scenic ride. Very nice if you have a pass, which covers that ride. I don’t know about hostels in Luzern (its been decades since I stayed in a hostel). We stayed in the Hotel des Alpes, which was nice but not inexpensive. We had a balcony overlooking the Chapel bridge. And Brienze is said to be nice; we will likely visit there on our next trip.

In my opinion, there is not a lot to see in Zermatt. The train ride to get there is scenic. At the end you can catch another train for a better view of the Matterhorn. But that is about it. My wife isn’t a shopper, so we left early.

If you don’t have a guidebook, I suggest you get one. Libraries often have old ones, but I like to buy a new one. Fodor’s, DK, and Rick Steves are all usefull. Each appeals to a certain demographic (Rick Steves for backpackers and hostelers, Fodor’s for people who prefer hotels, etc.), but each will list almost everything to be seen, and you can pick out what most interests you.

hi cleveandbrown

We have almost finalized our itinerary now. to and fro tickets from india are booked. waiting for our visa
Please find below the itinerary

25th – Reach Paris – transfers to hostel
25th – 27th – Stay at Paris
26th – Walking tour/hop on hop tour of Paris & Visit to Eiffel Tower
27th – Versailles Day Tour
28th – Travel to Zurich (Cheapest Train/Flight from Paris to Zurich – should reach by 11.00 AM)
28th-29th – Stay at a friends place In singen and travel on our own
30th – Travel to Lucern from Singen
30th – Mt. titlis tour with Lucern city tour. Night travel to Interlaken. Stay at Interlaken
30th Aug – 2nd sept – Stay at Interlaken (balmers Herberge hostel or similar kind of hostel – range (30 chf))
31st – Jungfrau tour along with surrounding villages trips (You suggest)
1st – Visit to Lake Brienz, Lake thun and ballenberg and more surrounding villages (You suggest)
2nd – Trip to Montreaux, Vevey and Gstaad (would like to include Lausanne also if possible)
3rd & 4th Sept –
Option 1 – Zermatt tour and reach venice by 4th night
Option 2 – Lugano tour and reach venice by 4th Night
Option 3 – St Moritz and chur tour and reach venice by 4th Night
Please give itinerary and train travel for all 3 options. Also give your suggestion on best possible option
5th Sept – Venice city tour
6th Sept – Travel to Florence (Cheapest Train from Venice to Florence – should reach by 10.00 AM)
6th – 8th – Stay at Florence (Santa Monaco Hostel or similar kind of hostel – range (15-18 euros)
6th – Florence City tour
7th – Pisa and Cinque Terre tour
8th – Tuscany tour
9th – Travel to rome (Cheapest Train from Florence to Rome – should reach by 10.00 AM)
9th – Day trip to Capri/Naples
10th – Vatican city and rome city tour
11th – Rome tour and transfer to airport

Please give your suggestions…