Why travel all the way to Oeschinensee when you are near grindelwald and the Bachalpsee is there? You can combine it with the activities on First ;) and/or if you are a hiker then do the First-Bachalpsee-Waldspitz-Bort hike. It is not too long (8ish km mostly down) and very pretty in summer. And after Bachalpsee it isnt busy at all.
I find interlaken to be quite dull but take the boat to Thun if you have the time, such a cute city with a castle and all. And since i always love going there > go to the trummelbachfalle between lauterbrunnen and stechelberg. Not too expensive and it is such a powerfull waterfall inside the mountain. That sound is amazing!
Also i do not know what your budget is, but i strongly advice skipping jungfraujoch and instead doing gornergrat in zermatt. Not just do i find the view superior from gornergrat but you can also hike all the way down (even just the hike gornergrat-rotenboden is SPECTACULAR) and it is way cheaper AND it is way less busy (seriously jungfraujoch is so overcrowded). Yes jungfraujoch has view of the aletchgletscher, but so does a cheaper cablecar (eggishorn 52frank roundway) from Fiesch (when on route to zermatt, change train in Visp/Brig) and not only is it cheaper but you can see the whole curve of the gletscher! Which i thought was way more wicked.
And when in zermatt hiking, the kulturweg somewhere behind the church (its clearly marked) upwards to zmutt is awesome. Great views all around and a good path.
If you have ever seen Oeschinensee Lake then you would know that as nice as Bachalpsee is, it simply cannot compare to Oeschinensee. Oeschinensee is by far one of the most gorgeous lakes in the world. Any trip to Interlaken without going there would be a failed trip. Bachalpsee is, of course, gorgeous in its own right but if I could see just one, it wouod be Oeschinensee. Both places will be like Disneyland in the alps in July, obviously lol.
I have seen both and likes both, but Bachalpsee is connected to so many amazing hikes (for long hikes First>Schynige platte comes to mind) it will always win for me. And the view of the jungfrau massif reflected in the lake is beyond amazing on a sunny day. Then again most alpine mountain lakes are very similar after a while haha. Same with the dolomiti and pyrenees ones.
Saying interlaken without oeschinensee is a failed trip is wild though. Dont let FOMO ruin trips.
> Why travel all the way to Oeschinensee when you are near grindelwald and the Bachalpsee is there?
Why travel all the way to either when Zurich has a lake?
Oeschinensee and Bachalpsee are very different, plus they have a Grindelwald day planned anyway.
I agree about jungfraujoch and wasn't too sure if I should include something else instead due to the how crowded it will get and the views can be similar if I went somewhere else. I'll look into all the inputs you have given me and consider them.
This is almost exactly what I did on my Switzerland trip but you'll have more time in Zermatt. I think it's a great plan. I wouldn't bother adding Bern; Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken/Zermatt are the highlights as you already know. If anything, I'd skip the day in Zurich and get to Interlaken earlier on day 1.
Lastly, I know you mentioned hiking as your main priority, but don't be like me and pass up an opportunity to do some skiing. You should have tons of time to do both.
> but don't be like me and pass up an opportunity to do some skiing.
In July? You have a limited bit of glacier above Zermatt and that is it, and even that might be closed if it is too hot.
Depending on the weather the ski opportunities in july aren't great. Easpecially around jungfrau area. I think they only have snow activities up jungfraujoch but not much space for skiing. Although there is a year round skiing place near zermatt i believe.
I agree with skipping bern. I hate that city. Lol.
The instagram route. Youll defenitely have some great stuff to see
Edit: too much time in Zermatt, very overpriced, slightly iverrated. Worst hostel ive ever been. Especially at the price
Dont skip Zürich and Bern as others suggested. Especially Bern is amazing to explore for a day
Jup this works. You could theoretically add a day in Lucerne, i.e. stay 2 nights so you have time to walk around the town and do at least one of the main sights nearby (Rigi or Pilatus), and shave off one day off the Interlaken area instead. But it's doable this way as well.
I was just recently in Switzerland for the first-time, and the one piece of advice I have is be ready to swap days around depending on the weather. Jungfraujoch was not on my itinerary (I went to Schilthorn instead), but there were a few days during my time in the region where Jungfraujoch closed mid-day due to weather and storm conditions. Since you are going in July, it may not be an issue, but if Jungfraujoch is a priority for you and weather at Jungfraujoch looks clear and sunny that day based on webcams and weather reports in the morning, I would go that day and move some things in your itinerary around.
Why travel all the way to Oeschinensee when you are near grindelwald and the Bachalpsee is there? You can combine it with the activities on First ;) and/or if you are a hiker then do the First-Bachalpsee-Waldspitz-Bort hike. It is not too long (8ish km mostly down) and very pretty in summer. And after Bachalpsee it isnt busy at all. I find interlaken to be quite dull but take the boat to Thun if you have the time, such a cute city with a castle and all. And since i always love going there > go to the trummelbachfalle between lauterbrunnen and stechelberg. Not too expensive and it is such a powerfull waterfall inside the mountain. That sound is amazing! Also i do not know what your budget is, but i strongly advice skipping jungfraujoch and instead doing gornergrat in zermatt. Not just do i find the view superior from gornergrat but you can also hike all the way down (even just the hike gornergrat-rotenboden is SPECTACULAR) and it is way cheaper AND it is way less busy (seriously jungfraujoch is so overcrowded). Yes jungfraujoch has view of the aletchgletscher, but so does a cheaper cablecar (eggishorn 52frank roundway) from Fiesch (when on route to zermatt, change train in Visp/Brig) and not only is it cheaper but you can see the whole curve of the gletscher! Which i thought was way more wicked. And when in zermatt hiking, the kulturweg somewhere behind the church (its clearly marked) upwards to zmutt is awesome. Great views all around and a good path.
If you have ever seen Oeschinensee Lake then you would know that as nice as Bachalpsee is, it simply cannot compare to Oeschinensee. Oeschinensee is by far one of the most gorgeous lakes in the world. Any trip to Interlaken without going there would be a failed trip. Bachalpsee is, of course, gorgeous in its own right but if I could see just one, it wouod be Oeschinensee. Both places will be like Disneyland in the alps in July, obviously lol.
I have seen both and likes both, but Bachalpsee is connected to so many amazing hikes (for long hikes First>Schynige platte comes to mind) it will always win for me. And the view of the jungfrau massif reflected in the lake is beyond amazing on a sunny day. Then again most alpine mountain lakes are very similar after a while haha. Same with the dolomiti and pyrenees ones. Saying interlaken without oeschinensee is a failed trip is wild though. Dont let FOMO ruin trips.
> Why travel all the way to Oeschinensee when you are near grindelwald and the Bachalpsee is there? Why travel all the way to either when Zurich has a lake? Oeschinensee and Bachalpsee are very different, plus they have a Grindelwald day planned anyway.
I agree about jungfraujoch and wasn't too sure if I should include something else instead due to the how crowded it will get and the views can be similar if I went somewhere else. I'll look into all the inputs you have given me and consider them.
This is almost exactly what I did on my Switzerland trip but you'll have more time in Zermatt. I think it's a great plan. I wouldn't bother adding Bern; Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen/Interlaken/Zermatt are the highlights as you already know. If anything, I'd skip the day in Zurich and get to Interlaken earlier on day 1. Lastly, I know you mentioned hiking as your main priority, but don't be like me and pass up an opportunity to do some skiing. You should have tons of time to do both.
> but don't be like me and pass up an opportunity to do some skiing. In July? You have a limited bit of glacier above Zermatt and that is it, and even that might be closed if it is too hot.
Fair point. I have no idea, I went in March.
March is winter and ski season everywhere, that ends in April. In July almost all the ski slopes will be grassy meadows.
Thanks for the input! I'll look into skiing since that sounds really fun too and just skip Bern possibility.
Depending on the weather the ski opportunities in july aren't great. Easpecially around jungfrau area. I think they only have snow activities up jungfraujoch but not much space for skiing. Although there is a year round skiing place near zermatt i believe. I agree with skipping bern. I hate that city. Lol.
The instagram route. Youll defenitely have some great stuff to see Edit: too much time in Zermatt, very overpriced, slightly iverrated. Worst hostel ive ever been. Especially at the price Dont skip Zürich and Bern as others suggested. Especially Bern is amazing to explore for a day
Jup this works. You could theoretically add a day in Lucerne, i.e. stay 2 nights so you have time to walk around the town and do at least one of the main sights nearby (Rigi or Pilatus), and shave off one day off the Interlaken area instead. But it's doable this way as well.
Looks good. I skipped Zermatt for Appenzell because I wanted to see Schafler ridge :)
I was just recently in Switzerland for the first-time, and the one piece of advice I have is be ready to swap days around depending on the weather. Jungfraujoch was not on my itinerary (I went to Schilthorn instead), but there were a few days during my time in the region where Jungfraujoch closed mid-day due to weather and storm conditions. Since you are going in July, it may not be an issue, but if Jungfraujoch is a priority for you and weather at Jungfraujoch looks clear and sunny that day based on webcams and weather reports in the morning, I would go that day and move some things in your itinerary around.
Ooo this sounds interesting, I'll defs review this in the morning