What to see on a 5-day trip to Switzerland

Switzerland is undoubtedly the most beautiful place that I have ever visited. I have put together a short diary of my trip and would like to share some useful information for those who are planning on visiting Switzerland someday, too!

Here are some tips on what to see on a 5 day trip to Switzerland:

The first thing we did was to buy a Swiss Travel Pass for all of us in the group. This all-inclusive pass grants you unlimited travel on Switzerland's public transport network on either 3, 4, 8 or 15 days - either on consecutive days or on flexible dates.

Day 1 - Zürich & Rhine Falls

We had planned mainly to see Zürich and the Rhine Falls. We reached Basel airport from London and from there took a train to Zürich. We roamed around the city and did some sightseeing.

Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and has a large number of museums and art galleries. As we were already running behind schedule, we did not go to the museums and just took a stroll around.

From the main station, we departed for Schaffhausen, the city where the Rhine Falls are located. The Rhine river flows into the breathtaking structure of the Rhine Falls, which are the largest waterfallsin Europe.

The serenity of the river comes to a sudden halt just outside the idyllic city of Schaffhausen, as the water plummets over the long wide rock that is almost 500 meters wide before falling into a cascading waterfall that is over 75 feet in height. Finally, the Rhine settles in a sea of white froth. The water returns to its smooth glassy nature again as the river makes a U-turn.

This natural turning provides a spectacular view of the falls.

You cannot resist taking pictures at such a beautiful place. We took lots of photos and then returned back to Zurich. From there, we continued to our final halt for the day, Interlaken.

Interlaken is the one of the most popular holiday destinations of Switzerland.

It lies in the Bernese Oberland between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. As a vacation destination and convention location of international importance, Interlaken is an ideal starting point for countless excursions like skiing, hiking, ice skating, biking, etc.

Day 2 – Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe

The best part of our Switzerland visit was the journey to Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe, at 3454 meters Europe’s highest altitude railway station!

We took a train from the Interlaken Ost station to Jungfraujoch. The train journey was awesome, providing a scenic view of the alpine landscape, the snow and the surrounding mountains.

A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed on top of the Jungfraujoch, mostly into the south side of the Mönch. There is a hotel, two restaurants, an observatory, a research station, a small cinema, a ski school, and the Ice Palace, a collection of elaborate ice sculptures.

Another tunnel leads outside to a flat, snow-covered area, where one can walk around and look down to the Konkordiaplatz and the Aletsch Glacier, as well as the surrounding mountains.

We also did some skiing here, and the experience was wonderful!

From Jungfraujoch, we returned back to Grindelwald by train. Grindelwald is a beautiful village located in the Bernese Alps, and taking a walk there relieves all the worries.

And finally, we returned back to Interlaken by train.

Day 3 – Mt. Titlis

Mt. Titlis is a mountain in the Urner Alps of Switzerland. We took a train from Interlaken to Hergiswil and then Hergiswil to Engelberg. Engelberg is the lower part of Mt. Titlis.

We had our tasty Breakfast at Engelberg, just below Mt. Titlis. And then we headed for the Glacier Cave. From there, one needs to take cable cars to reach the top of Mt. Titlis into the Glacier Cave. It is a journey of three different cable cars, out of which the last one is a rotating car called Rotair.

The ice was lit up in different colors, and they changed constantly in the Glacier Park which was a very cool sight.

Then we headed for the Glacier Park. We took a ride on the ice flyer, which was an amazing experience. The Glacier Park was awesome! We all enjoyed our tube rides down the ice track. We also did some sleds and saddles down a ramp. We had a great time at the mountain. Finally, we went down to Engelberg and bought some souvenirs.

Then, we went to the final destination of the day: Lucerne, a city in north-central Switzerland. We packed our dinner from there and got some city views. Day 3 was also over and we all headed for our hotel.

Day 4 – Glacier Express

We planned the fourth day of our trip for resting, but inside a train! So we got tickets for the Glacier Express. The Glacier Express is one of Switzerland's most famous train excursions. It is billed as "the world's slowest express train" on its most popular route from Zermatt to St. Moritz, or vice versa.

First, we went to Chur by regular train and then took the Glacier Express ride from Chur to Zermatt. We roamed around the village of Zermatt and enjoyed the sightseeing.

Day 5 – Boat Cruise and Paragliding

The final day of our trip was reserved for Interlaken and its sports activities. First off, we took a boat cruise on Lake Thun. Later in the day, we were all set for paragliding!

Paragliding Interlaken is a unique experience. It is a sort of a roller coaster ride that is three dimensional. It leads over two alpine lakes, and you will see the pine forests and the valley sail beneath you...

Finally, we headed for our return trip to Basel and then back to London!

(via Hubpages with permission from Anupama; paragliding photograph copyright by skywings.ch)