The Alps: Munich, Innsbruck, Lucerne and the Jungfraujoch

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Munich

   Munich Airport to your hotel in the old town

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Munich
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Munich Airport (MUC), about 40 km north-east of the city. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall in the arrival window we send with your final itinerary and takes you about 45 minutes into the centre; if you land outside it, we send clear directions for the train, which runs straight to Marienplatz. The hotel is a short walk from the old town, so if you arrive early you can wander out on your own: the Viktualienmarkt food market, the twin onion domes of the Frauenkirche, the arcades of the Hofgarten. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the twelve days ahead: which days start early, what to pack for the summits, how the trains and cable cars fit around the vehicle, and how we switch the mountain days when the weather turns. Then we walk together to a welcome dinner of Bavarian cooking at a local restaurant.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Munich Airport (MUC) in the arrival window
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

2. Jour 2 : Munich on foot and the Englischer Garten

   Marienplatz, the Viktualienmarkt, the Hofgarten and the Englischer Garten

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Munich
   Détail du jour 2

   We start on foot at about 9 am, before the shops open, while Marienplatz is still quiet. Your guide leads the group past the neo-Gothic New Town Hall and the Old Town Hall to the Frauenkirche, then through the Viktualienmarkt as the stalls fill, and back to Marienplatz for the Glockenspiel at 11 am, when the figures in the tower re-enact a royal wedding and the coopers' dance. Lunch is a sit-down meal of Bavarian food in the old town. Afterwards we walk through the Hofgarten to the Englischer Garten, one of the largest city parks in Europe, stopping at the Eisbach, where surfers ride a standing wave under the Prinzregentenstrasse bridge, and on along Prinzregentenstrasse past the tower of the Bavarian National Museum. By about 3 pm the rest of the day is yours: a beer garden under the chestnuts, the Residenz, or the Pinakothek galleries.

   Compris

   • Guided walk in Munich's old town: Marienplatz, the New Town Hall, the Frauenkirche and the Viktualienmarkt
   • The Glockenspiel at 11 am
   • Sit-down lunch in the old town
   • Walk through the Hofgarten and the Englischer Garten to the Eisbach wave

   Activités en option

   • The Munich Residenz, Nymphenburg Palace, the Pinakothek galleries or the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (entry free, guided tours extra), at your own cost

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free from about 3 pm

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot, on flat paving and park paths.

   

3. Jour 3 : Neuschwanstein, then Garmisch

   Munich to Hohenschwangau, then through Reutte and Ehrwald to Garmisch-Partenkirchen

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Garmisch-Partenkirchen
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave Munich at 8 am in our own vehicle and drive about two hours south-west as the Alps rise ahead, to Hohenschwangau at the foot of Neuschwanstein. King Ludwig II began the castle in 1869 and never saw it finished; it opened to visitors weeks after his death in 1886. Our timed tickets are booked well ahead, and the walk up through the woods takes about 30 to 40 minutes, or you can ride the shuttle bus. The guided tour of the throne room, the singers' hall and the king's rooms lasts about half an hour. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Hohenschwangau, by the Alpsee. In the afternoon we drive about an hour and a quarter through Austria, past Reutte and along the Ehrwald basin under the western face of the Zugspitze, and back into Germany at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Evening free to walk Ludwigstrasse in Partenkirchen, lined with painted houses.

   Compris

   • Neuschwanstein Castle guided tour on a timed ticket
   • Sit-down lunch in Hohenschwangau
   • Drive through the Ehrwald basin to Garmisch-Partenkirchen

   Activités en option

   • Hohenschwangau Castle, Ludwig's childhood home, at your own cost if timings allow

   Option plus facile : Ride the shuttle bus up to the castle and the horse carriage or bus down.

   Option plus active : Walk up to the castle and, when it is open, on to the Marienbrücke footbridge for the view back over the gorge.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

   Activité : The path from Hohenschwangau to the castle climbs about 150 m in 1.5 km, and the castle tour has about 160 stairs.

4. Jour 4 : The Zugspitze, then the train to Innsbruck

   Garmisch to Eibsee, the cable car to the Zugspitze, the cogwheel train down, then the Mittenwald railway to Innsbruck

   • Environ 15 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Innsbruck
   Détail du jour 4

   A short drive takes us to the Eibsee, and we ride the first cable car we can book straight up to the Zugspitze summit at 2,962 m, the highest point in Germany, while the morning air is usually clearest. On a clear day the view reaches into four countries, and the summit terrace straddles the border with Austria. We drop by the glacier lift to the Zugspitzplatt, the high snowfield below, for a sit-down lunch, then ride the cogwheel train down through the mountain to Garmisch. Here we leave the road: while the vehicle carries the luggage, we take the regional train on the Mittenwald railway, a mountain line of its own that runs through Mittenwald, over the Seefeld plateau and down the slopes above the Inn valley into Innsbruck main station, about an hour and twenty minutes on a direct train. A short walk takes us to the hotel in the old town, with the evening free.

   Compris

   • Zugspitze cable car from the Eibsee to the summit (2,962 m)
   • Glacier lift to the Zugspitzplatt and sit-down lunch
   • Cogwheel train down to Garmisch
   • Mittenwald railway from Garmisch to Innsbruck, with your luggage sent ahead by vehicle

   Option plus facile : Stay on the summit terrace and the Zugspitzplatt restaurant; there is no walking needed beyond the stations.

   Option plus active : A short walk on the Zugspitzplatt snowfield paths, or, if cloud covers the summit, the walk round the Eibsee instead, about 7 km on a level path.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Innsbruck

   Activité : The summit is at 2,962 m and can be near freezing in summer: bring a warm layer and sunglasses. If the Eibsee cable car is closed for its maintenance period, we go up by the Tyrolean Zugspitze cable car from Ehrwald or the cogwheel train from Garmisch.

   

5. Jour 5 : Innsbruck: the Golden Roof and the Bergisel

   Innsbruck old town, the Hofkirche and the Bergisel ski jump

   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Innsbruck
   Détail du jour 5

   Innsbruck sits in the Inn valley with the Nordkette range rising straight behind the old town. We start on foot at about 9 am at the Golden Roof, the late-Gothic balcony built around 1500 for Emperor Maximilian I and covered in gilded copper tiles, then walk the arcaded Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse to the Hofburg and into the Hofkirche, where Maximilian's empty tomb is guarded by 28 larger-than-life bronze figures of his ancestors and heroes. Late morning a short drive takes us up to the Bergisel ski jump, rebuilt to a design by Zaha Hadid and opened in 2002; a lift and a short climb reach the tower's cafe terrace, with the whole city below and the landing slope dropping away underneath. We are back in town by about 1 pm, and the afternoon and evening are free: a cake on Maria-Theresien-Strasse, the river promenade, or a ride up the Nordkette.

   Compris

   • Guided walk in Innsbruck's old town: the Golden Roof, Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse and the Hofburg
   • The Hofkirche and the tomb of Maximilian I
   • The Bergisel ski jump tower

   Activités en option

   • The Nordkette cable cars to Hafelekar, Ambras Castle or Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, at your own cost

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free from about 1 pm

   Activité : About 2.5 hours on foot, mostly flat; the ski jump tower has a lift.

   

6. Jour 6 : Over the Arlberg to Vaduz and Appenzell

   Innsbruck through the Arlberg road tunnel to Vaduz, Liechtenstein, then to Appenzell

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Appenzell
   Détail du jour 6

   We leave Innsbruck at about 8:30 am and drive west up the Inn valley, through the Arlberg road tunnel and down past Bludenz and Feldkirch, about two hours with a coffee stop, into Liechtenstein, a principality of about 40,000 people between Austria and Switzerland. In Vaduz, its small capital, we walk the main street under the castle, the Prince's residence, which is not open to visitors but looks down on the town from its cliff. Visit the Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein in its black concrete cube, or have a souvenir stamp put in your passport at the visitor centre. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Vaduz. In the afternoon we cross the Rhine into Switzerland and drive about an hour, about 45 km up the Rhine valley and over the Stoss pass from Altstätten, into the green hills of Appenzell, a village of painted wooden house fronts below the Alpstein range. A short walk with your guide along the Hauptgasse and the Landsgemeinde square, where the canton still votes by show of hands, and the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Drive over the Arlberg route with a coffee stop
   • Vaduz, Liechtenstein: the main street and the castle view
   • Sit-down lunch in Vaduz
   • Short guided walk in Appenzell: the Hauptgasse and the Landsgemeinde square

   Activités en option

   • Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, the Liechtenstein passport stamp and an Appenzeller cheese tasting, at your own cost

   Temps libre : Evening free in Appenzell

7. Jour 7 : Ebenalp and the Aescher, then Lucerne

   Appenzell to Wasserauen, the cable car to Ebenalp, then to Lucerne

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Lucerne
   Détail du jour 7

   A ten-minute drive takes us to Wasserauen and the cable car to Ebenalp at about 1,640 m, on the northern edge of the Alpstein. From the top station a path of about 20 minutes leads down through the Wildkirchli caves, where cave bear bones and Stone Age tools were found, to the Aescher, a wooden mountain guesthouse built against an overhanging cliff. Lunch is a sit-down meal on the mountain, with the Seealpsee lake far below. Then we ride back down and drive about two hours west to Lucerne, on the motorway by St Gallen and Zurich, arriving by late afternoon. Your guide walks you from the hotel to the lakefront for a first look at the Chapel Bridge in the evening light, and the evening is free. Lucerne is home for the next three nights, so you unpack once.

   Compris

   • Ebenalp cable car from Wasserauen
   • Walk through the Wildkirchli caves to the Aescher guesthouse
   • Sit-down lunch on the mountain
   • First walk to the Lucerne lakefront with your guide

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Ebenalp top station terrace; the path to the Aescher has steps and a narrow section through the caves.

   Option plus active : Walk on down from the Aescher to the Seealpsee and Wasserauen, about 1.5 to 2 hours on a steep mountain path, instead of the cable car.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Lucerne

   Activité : The path from Ebenalp to the Aescher drops about 180 m with steps and a short cave passage; the walk back up takes about 25 minutes.

8. Jour 8 : Lucerne old town

   Lucerne: the Chapel Bridge, the Musegg Wall and the Lion Monument

   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Lucerne
   Détail du jour 8

   A slower morning, starting on foot at about 9:30 am. Your guide leads the group across the Chapel Bridge, the covered wooden bridge first built in the 14th century and restored after a fire in 1993, past the octagonal Water Tower, and along the Reuss to the Spreuer Bridge with its painted Dance of Death panels. We climb to the Musegg Wall, where several of the medieval towers are open to walk up in summer, then come down through the old town squares with their painted facades to the Lion Monument, carved into a sandstone cliff in 1821 for the Swiss Guards killed in Paris in 1792. The walk ends by about midday, and the afternoon is free. If today is clearly the sunnier day, we swap it with tomorrow and go up Pilatus instead.

   Compris

   • Guided walk in Lucerne: the Chapel Bridge, the Water Tower, the Spreuer Bridge and the old town squares
   • The Musegg Wall towers (in season)
   • The Lion Monument

   Activités en option

   • The Swiss Museum of Transport, the Rosengart Collection or a lake cruise, at your own cost

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free from about midday

   Activité : About 2.5 hours on foot, with steep steps up the Musegg towers that you can skip.

9. Jour 9 : Pilatus by boat, cogwheel and cable car

   Lucerne by boat to Alpnachstad, the cogwheel railway to Pilatus Kulm, then the cable cars down to Kriens

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Lucerne
   Détail du jour 9

   Today is the Pilatus round trip. Late morning we board a lake boat at the pier opposite the station and cruise about an hour and a half across Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, below the wooded Bürgenstock. There we change to the red cogwheel cars of the Pilatus railway, opened in 1889 and climbing at up to 48 percent, the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, to Pilatus Kulm, at about 2,070 m. Lunch is a sit-down meal at the top, with the lake spread out on one side and the line of the Bernese Alps on the other on a clear day. Afterwards there is time for the short paths along the ridge, then we ride down by the aerial cableway to Fräkmüntegg and the panorama gondola to Kriens, and the city bus back to Lucerne by late afternoon. If the morning webcams show Pilatus in cloud, we go up on day 8 instead.

   Compris

   • Lake Lucerne boat to Alpnachstad
   • Pilatus cogwheel railway to Pilatus Kulm (about 2,070 m)
   • Sit-down lunch on Pilatus
   • Aerial cableway and panorama gondola down to Kriens

   Option plus facile : Stay on the summit terraces between the two hotels at the top; there is no walking needed beyond the stations.

   Option plus active : Walk the ridge path to the Tomlishorn, the highest point of Pilatus at about 2,130 m, about 45 minutes there and back on a path cut into the rock.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Lucerne

   Activité : The Pilatus railway runs only in the summer half of the year; if it is closed, we go up and down by the cable cars from Kriens.

   

10. Jour 10 : Over the Brünig, Lake Brienz and Lauterbrunnen

    Lucerne over the Brünig Pass to Brienz, by boat to Interlaken, then the Lauterbrunnen valley

    • Environ 1.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Interlaken
    Détail du jour 10

    We leave Lucerne at about 9 am and drive about an hour over the Brünig Pass, past Lake Lungern, down to Brienz, a village of wood carvers on the turquoise lake of the same name. After a sit-down lunch by the water, we board the lake boat to Interlaken, about an hour and a quarter past the Giessbach falls and wooded shores, while the vehicle takes the luggage on to the hotel. In the afternoon a short drive takes us into the Lauterbrunnen valley, where 72 waterfalls drop off sheer limestone walls. We stop under the Staubbach Falls, nearly 300 m high, and walk into the Trümmelbach Falls, ten glacier waterfalls that thunder down inside the mountain, carrying meltwater from the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau; a tunnel lift and lit galleries reach them. Back in Interlaken by early evening, with the evening free.

    Compris

    • Drive over the Brünig Pass to Brienz
    • Sit-down lunch in Brienz
    • Lake Brienz boat from Brienz to Interlaken
    • Staubbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen
    • Trümmelbach Falls

    Activités en option

    • The Harder Kulm funicular above Interlaken in the evening, at your own cost

    Option plus facile : Skip the stairs inside the Trümmelbach Falls and wait in the valley meadows below the Staubbach.

    Temps libre : Evening free in Interlaken

    Activité : Inside the Trümmelbach Falls there are wet steps and spray; bring a light rain jacket.

11. Jour 11 : The Jungfraujoch

    Interlaken to Grindelwald, the Eiger Express and the Jungfrau railway to the Jungfraujoch, then down via Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen

    • En train
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Interlaken
    Détail du jour 11

    Our one early start: we leave the hotel at about 7:30 am for the train to Grindelwald Terminal, about 45 minutes, and an early Eiger Express gondola, before the late-morning peak; we confirm the first departure for your date. From Eigergletscher the Jungfrau railway runs through tunnels cut inside the Eiger and the Mönch, opened in 1912, to the Jungfraujoch at 3,454 m, the highest railway station in Europe. On top, the Sphinx terrace looks down the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps, at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage area; then the Ice Palace, carved into the glacier, and the snow plateau. Lunch is a sit-down meal at the top or at Kleine Scheidegg on the way down, under the north face of the Eiger. The train continues down through Wengen to Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken by mid-afternoon. If the summit webcams show cloud, we go up the Schilthorn or to Schynige Platte instead. In the evening, a farewell dinner together.

    Compris

    • Train to Grindelwald and the Eiger Express gondola
    • Jungfrau railway to the Jungfraujoch (3,454 m): the Sphinx terrace, the Ice Palace and the snow plateau
    • Sit-down lunch on the mountain
    • The train down via Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen
    • Farewell dinner in Interlaken

    Option plus facile : Ride the trains the whole way and stay indoors at the top if the altitude bothers you.

    Option plus active : Walk from Kleine Scheidegg down to Wengernalp, about an hour under the Jungfrau, and pick up the train there.

    Temps libre : Late afternoon free before the farewell dinner

    Activité : The Jungfraujoch is at 3,454 m: move slowly at the top, and bring sunglasses, sunscreen and a warm layer.

12. Jour 12 : Zurich and home

    Interlaken to Zurich old town, then Zurich Airport

    • Environ 2.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 12

    After breakfast we leave Interlaken at about 8:30 am with the luggage in the vehicle and drive about two hours north, along Lake Brienz, over the Brünig and past Lucerne, to Zurich. A short guided walk of about an hour takes in the Lindenhof terrace above the Limmat, St Peter's church with its large clock face, the Fraumünster and the Grossmünster across the river, with time for a coffee on the old town lanes. We reach Zurich Airport (ZRH) at about 1:30 pm. Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm to see Zurich on the way; for an earlier flight we drive straight to the airport and arrive by about 11 am. If you are staying on, we can drop you at Zurich main station instead. Your guide sees you to the terminal before saying goodbye.

    Compris

    • Drive from Interlaken to Zurich
    • Short guided walk in Zurich's old town
    • Drop-off at Zurich Airport (ZRH) or Zurich main station

    Option plus facile : For a flight before about 4:30 pm, we skip the Zurich walk and drive straight to the airport.

    Activité : Book a flight leaving Zurich after about 4:30 pm to include the old town walk.

Faune et météo : June to September brings snow-free paths, full boat timetables and the Pilatus railway running. Summer afternoons often bring cloud and thunderstorms to the peaks, so we go up early and keep the order flexible. Marmots are common around the upper stations, and the meadows are in flower in June and July.

• Munich2 nuits
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen1 nuit
• Innsbruck2 nuits
• Appenzell1 nuit
• Lucerne3 nuits
• Interlaken2 nuits