10 day Switzerland winter itinerary for non-skiers

We always knew we wouldn’t have a typical warm, tropical honeymoon since my husband is from Florida, so hot weather and sandy beaches aren’t unusual or exciting to him and we wanted somewhere totally unusual and memorable for us both to enjoy.

After discovering some of the incredible winter activities in Switzerland, we decided it was the perfect destination for our honeymoon.

We recently returned from our honeymoon in Switzerland and despite not being skiers, we had a jam-packed Switzerland winter itinerary with hot air ballooning over the Swiss Alps, winter hiking, scenic train journeys and more.

So if you’ve always dreamt of visiting Switzerland in winter with snowy landscapes, fondue in the mountains and once-in-a-lifetime train journeys and experiences, this 10 day winter itinerary in Switzerland is for you.

A viewpoint of a town with snow covered roofs during dusk with large snow covered mountains in the distance — Zermatt at dusk

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How to get to Switzerland?

There are several international airports in Switzerland and flying into the country is by far the easiest way to get there.

We flew from the UK to Geneva to start this itinerary, but you could do it in reverse and start in Zurich which also has a major international airport. Basel airport is also another option for international arrivals.

Which airport is best to fly into Switzerland?

We found many low-cost carriers fly into Geneva which suited us well for the start of our trip.

There really is no “best” option. I would find the most convenient airport to fly into for you and then use a train to move around. Switzerland has one of the densest railway networks in the world and it’s incredibly efficient and easy to use to move around the country.

Do you need a car for Switzerland?

The short answer is no.

For this trip we were very easily able to get around using Switzerland’s extensive rail network and for most people this is the easiest option too.

If you’re visiting in the summer and planning hikes in some more remote places then perhaps a car is worth it. But for this winter itinerary I don’t think it’s necessary.

How to get around Switzerland

I highly recommend using the Swiss Travel Pass which works like an unlimited all-in-one travel card for trains, buses, trams and even boats. It meant we never had to buy individual tickets for anything, we just hopped on a train or a bus and could travel with no issue.

The pass covers public transport in over 90 cities and towns in Switzerland so it meant we could use it on the trams in Zurich and for getting to and from the airport at the end of our itinerary.

It even includes tickets for panoramic trains like the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express, although a seat reservation is mandatory for panoramic trains so you’ll need to buy that, but that’s much cheaper than the ticket!

Read all about how I used the Swiss Travel Pass and whether it’s worth it for your trip.

A snowy valley surrounded by large snow covered moutatins and trees — Gstaad in snow

Is Switzerland in winter worth it if you don’t ski?

Absolutely, yes!

There is so much to do in Switzerland in winter, regardless of whether you ski.

I can ski but my husband can’t. Let’s face it, Switzerland is not the cheapest place to learn to ski either, so we didn’t bother and we still had so much to do and enjoy, we could have easily spent longer than 10 days!

Also just because you don’t ski, it doesn’t stop you from using the gondolas and mountain railways to see and enjoy the epic views - they aren’t only for skiers!

Is a Switzerland in winter itinerary expensive?

Look, we all know that Switzerland isn’t a cheap destination.

It’s part of the reason why we chose it for our honeymoon because we’ve always wanted to travel around Switzerland for an extended trip but have avoided it due to the cost. However if you can’t splurge a little bit on your honeymoon then when can you?!

There are 4 main ways we saved money in Switzerland:

Not skiing
Eating at supermarkets
Finding affordable accommodation
Getting a Swiss Travel Pass

I will say that we saved a lot of money by not skiing as this meant we had no lift pass costs or ski rental fees. But if you’re going for a ski trip then you already know they tend to be a bit more expensive.

We set a spending budget for our 10 days and we didn’t get close to hitting it. Perhaps it’s because the cost of living is so high in the UK now that some of the prices in Switzerland didn’t seem as expensive as we expected (beers were basically London prices and we got cheaper accommodation options that usually cost us between £100-150 per night).

We also found that while things were expensive, the value for money and service quality were so much higher than at home. Food portions were large, and the quality of food and drink were amazing. Basically we felt like we were getting value for money with what we spend, despite it being more than what we would usually spend.

Affordable accommodation options were easier to find than we expected and we often got supermarket lunches after we discovered that Coop in Switzerland has an incredible range of deli foods and hot and cold freshly prepared meal options which were much cheaper than paying for a restaurant meal all the time.

While we splurged on experiences like our hot air balloon ride, the Glacier Express ticket and fondue in the mountains, we saved money with cheaper accommodation and eating supermarket foods for lunch. This is simply the type of travellers we are, we don’t really value accommodation experiences as we spend so little time in hotels and we would rather pay for a nice evening meal in the restaurant. So there’s definitely some flexibility to make your trip to Switzerland cheaper depending on your budget.

Another way we saved money was by getting the Swiss Travel Pass. We took 16 trains during our 10 days in Switzerland and all of these were covered by the pass. The pass works like an unlimited all-in-one travel ticket for trains, buses and boats across the country. It even included our Glacier Express and Belle Epoque train tickets - you only need to purchase a reservation for those to secure your seat.

You can read about how we used our Swiss Travel Pass and whether it was worth it in this Swiss Travel Pass review where I breakdown our spending and how much money it saved us.

When is the best time of year to travel to Switzerland?

I personally don’t think there’s a wrong time to visit Switzerland but it depends what kind of trip you want.

If you want to see pristine snowy landscapes, January and February are the best time to visit.

If you want to do lots of hiking trails, you’ll need to wait until the snow melts and visit around June-October.

If you want to avoid peak winter or summer, then the shoulder seasons are often cheaper and less crowded - those are April-May and October-November. Although note that in these times, some attractions or activities don’t run, such as the Glacier Express.

Can you do this 10 day Switzerland itinerary in the summer instead?

You absolutely can do this itinerary in the summer, however it’ll just look a bit different.

Don’t expect snowy landscapes from the train windows or snowy mountain paradises, instead you’ll have hiking trails through alpine meadows and turquoise alpine lakes.

Switzerland in summer is just as beautiful, just in a different way and if anything, this winter trip has made me want to go in the summer even more!

My 10 day winter Switzerland itinerary

Day 1: Geneva

A busy street in Geneva's old town with large stone building and many colourful flags hanging over the street from those buildings — Geneva old town

We flew into Geneva International Airport and only spent one day in Geneva before continuing on our journey to start our Switzerland itinerary winter edition.

Located in the French area of Switzerland, Geneva is famous for also being the European Headquarters of the UN and is a significant global hub for business and banking. You can easily reach the French Alps from here and the French influence on food and culture here is very noticeable.

Geneva was pretty but I definitely didn’t love it as much as Zurich. However it’s the perfect option if you want to easily reach Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva which is where our Switzerland winter adventures really started.

With one day in Geneva you can easily see:

The Old Town area
The Cathedral Saint-Pierre
Promenade de la Treille and the longest bench in the world
The Geneva Water Jet

Walk along the river and lakefront

If you have longer, a boat tour on Lake Geneva is a great option. But make sure you walk along the lakefront a bit because the turquoise clear water is incredible - every body of water in Switzerland is so clear, clean and blue I couldn’t get over it - that’s what you get for glacier water, I guess!

If you’re into watches, the Patek Philippe Museum is also in Geneva and the Ethnographic Museum is also well-reviewed.

We’re big craft beer fans and enjoyed a few drinks at La Taproom and La Jonquille on our first night in Switzerland.

Day 2: Travel to Montreux

A street lined with tall white, yellow, and orange coloured old buildings. There's a steep cobbled road that breaks off the street to the right — Street in Montreux

Using our Swiss Travel Pass meant we didn’t need to buy individual tickets for every train journey, so on our second day we headed over to Geneva station and hopped on the next train to Montreux.

This train ride gave us our first taste of the casually stunning scenery you see all over Switzerland from the trains. We travelled along the shore of Lake Geneva for just over an hour before arriving in Montreux.

We checked into the MOST STUNNING hotel on the lakefront: Hotel Eden Palace au Lac.

The lobby is gorgeous, the location is perfect and with our lake view room, we had a balcony with gorgeous views of the lake and mountains opposite. They even decorated our room with flower petals for our honeymoon!

A white hotel room with a white table, vintage chair, wooden floors, bed, and two large wintows with a view of the late and mountains in the distance — Hotel Eden Room

We only had the afternoon in Montreux before our train journey the following morning but we managed to walk a good 10k steps along the shore of Lake Geneva and it’s a shame the wind was too high as there’s some great boat trips to take from here and it’s much more mountainous and scenic than the Geneva end of the lake.

Also make sure you walk up the hill and have a wander around Montreux old town area (here’s a map pin). While the lakefront is all about hotels, restaurants and scenic views, the old town was beautifully peaceful, colourful and charming with gorgeous houses and the only people we saw were some locals coming down from a day skiing or snowboarding up the mountains.

A local recommended we eat at La Rouvenaz, it’s the only place we ate in Montreux so I can’t compare to other places but the food was great and they had a great selection of local beers too.

Day 3: GoldenPass Belle Epoque Train and Chateau d’oex Hot Air Balloon festival

The GoldenPass Belle Epoque train had been on my bucket list for a year or so and it departs twice a day from Montreux, at 09:43 and 14:43 and runs between Montreux and Zweisimmen which takes just over 2 hours.

However we were only going just over 1 hour from Montreux to Château d’Oex.

Because we had our Swiss Travel Passes, these acted as our ticket. A reservation is not mandatory on this train but it is advised because the train is so unique, it can get busy! The reservation is only 10 CHF and we decided to buy it as we were riding in 1st class and there are only two 1st class carriages, plus the seats in 1st are A LOT bigger so that means there’s less seats available.

You can buy your reservation and ticket (if you need it) on the MOB GoldenPass website. You will see that the GoldenPass site offers several types of train journey on the same route - you can read my Belle Epoque train vs. Panoramic train comparison here.

When you board the train at Montreux, it feels like you’ve stepped back in time onto the Orient Express. The interior wood panelling, plush fabric seats that look more like armchairs than train seats and the wide windows with stunning views make this whole train journey a unique experience.

Helena in red on a vintage style train car sitting in a green patterned chair surrounded by wooden accents. Through the window of the train is a snow landscape with hills and trees — Helena on the Belle Epoque

You leave Montreux and instantly start climbing the mountainside, the views over Lake Geneva are amazing and it does sort of feel like the train is clinging to the cliff! Once you get to the top of the mountain, it’s a winding route through the stunning Pays d’Enhaut with snow capped mountains, quaint and charming towns and villages and even though it was winter, we saw lots of wineries and trail markers so if you do this in the summer - a hike and some wine tasting, anyone?

We arrived at Chateau d’Oex just before 11am and the village is super small so it was an easy 5 minute walk to our B&B which was a gorgeous family-run chalet, B&B Rosaly.

The rooms and the chalet are so charming and we loved our stay here but the only thing to note (which we didn’t know until we arrived) is that the bathrooms are shared. There’s only a handful of rooms on each floor (maybe 5 per floor and 10 rooms in total in the whole B&B) and we never had to wait for a bathroom - but just to give you a heads up in case you decide to book!

Then we headed straight down to the snow park where the Chateau d’Oex International Balloon Festival is hosted every year for 10 days. Dates change slightly each year, so check the website for the next festival dates but it usually runs around late January to early February.

Now I recommend going on a weekend if possible as there’s a lot more events and activities happening on the weekend, but we were not able to do a weekend due to our flight times arriving in Switzerland. The weather had been gorgeous at the weekend but unfortunately the day we arrived, we had high winds so balloons couldn’t fly. So we actually stayed in Chateau d’Oex for two nights and waited for the weather to improve, that’s why we have a short day trip to Gstaad on day 4 and we didn’t actually travel to Zermatt until the afternoon on day 5 because that’s finally when the weather was good enough for balloons to take off which meant we got to fly in one!

You can read more about my balloon festival tips and experience here but if you’re wondering how much it costs to fly a hot air balloon over the Swiss Alps, it’s 350 CHF per person. It was easily the most magical experience on our entire 10 days Switzerland itinerary.

All this to say, if you get lucky with the weather, you only need one day here. It’s a small festival and you can do it all in a day. But because weather in the mountains can be unpredictable, if you’re planning to go in a balloon, allow 2-3 days in the area in case. We found the weather was stunning just 20 minutes away in Gstaad and went hiking there. There’s also the famous Le Chalet cheese makers in Chateau d’Oex if you’re looking for things to do in the town.

Of course you might be using this itinerary at another point in the winter when the balloon festival isn’t happening and if that’s the case, here are some things to do in Chateau d’Oex. Or you could skip here all together and continue on the GoldenPass train to Gstaad, Zweisimmen or Interlaken.

So, things to do in Chateau d’Oex:

Le Chalet cheese making tour, tasting and restaurant
Walk up the hill to Chateau d’Oex Church and enjoy the views of the valley

Explore the cute old town
Go walking if the weather is good, there’s plenty of trails and nearby waterfall Cascade du Ramacle
Day trips to Gstaad or Saanen are just 20 minutes on the train and offer countless walking trails, slopes, shops and restaurants

Pro tip: while there are restaurants in Chateau d’Oex, it’s a small town and choice is limited. We saved some money and also discovered that the Coop supermarkets in Switzerland have an incredible selection of hot food, deli meals, freshly produced ready meals like salads, poke bowls, sushi, sandwiches and baguettes and so much more. We had more than a few Coop meals for breakfast and lunch (and even a couple of dinners while we were on the move) during our Switzerland winter itinerary.

Day 4: Gstaad mountain adventures

A white snowy hill with many snow covered trees — Gstaad winter landscape

Going to Gstaad was not on my original itinerary at all, but because of the weather calling off our balloon flight, we decided to take the GoldenPass train from Chateau d’Oex to Gstaad which is only a 20 minute journey (albeit and stunning one through magical snowy valleys and towns). Our Swiss Travel Pass meant we could just board the train, no ticket or reservation needed.

Now, I will admit that I had some preconceptions about Gstaad and those were: it’s full of designer shops, it’s only for skiers and it’s only for rich people.

It definitely is full of designer shops and the ski areas are extensive and beautiful and it definitely is an expensive place, but actually the town is so cute to explore, the only meal we had at a lodge up the mountain was surprisingly cheap (40 CHF for soup and sandwich and a beer for two people) and we ended up going winter hiking on some of the mountain trails because the weather turned out to be a bluebird day and the views were spectacular - I’ve never seen so much snow in my life and our whole time walking in the mountains was so serene and beautiful I almost wanted to cry (I know, I know!).

Once we arrived on the train, we wandered through Gstaad town which really is picturesque and charming. There’s also just something inherently fascinating about seeing these sleek, high-end brands like Prada, Moncler, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren which are usually so polished, instead in these quaint, traditional and charming wooden chalet huts.

Obviously I was taking tonnes of photos but didn’t go into shops or buy anything!

I had found a really helpful winter hiking page on the Gstaad tourism site so we walked through town to the Eggli Bergbahn cable car to take us up to the start point of a hiking route.

Our Swiss Travel Passes came in handy again because this cable car lift should cost 36 CHF for a return ticket. But the Swiss Travel Pass gives you a 50% discount, so it only costs 18CHF each.

I will say, the views from the Eggli Gstaad cable car were worth it alone - just epic!

A view from a cable car going down a snowy mountain surrounded by snow coved trees and the town of Gstaad in the distance — Gstaad Cable Car

What I love about Switzerland is that the whole country marks trails in the same way. So throughout the country you will see pink pole markers which mark walking trails. Obviously some of them are just impassible in the winter, but they do a pretty good job of clearing those that they can.

We did this hiking route, although it should be circular, the second half of it was not ploughed/cleared so we ended up doing it as an out and back route. But you could probably do the circular route if you had snowshoes.

The start is mostly uphill and you’re walking alongside some ski slopes and lifts but once you reach the plateau, the views of the mountain ranges around you are stunning, I’ve never seen a winter view like it. There were only a few other people out on the trail so it was peaceful and so so beautiful, I can’t put into words what an incredible hiking day this was, but here are some pictures so you get an idea!

On our return we stopped at the Bergrestaurant and Lounge at the top of the Eggli ski lift and had soup, sandwiches and beers in the gorgeous lodge and the price was surprisingly affordable - I was expecting 100CHF+ but the total bill for two people was only 54CHF.

A wooden building with a snow covered mountain and pine tree landscape in the distance — Apres Ski

Day 5: Travel to Zermatt

This was mostly a travel day for us, we saw the balloons in the morning in Chateau d’Oex before we left after lunch.

The train journey to Zermatt took around 4 hours and we had 3 changes, which sounds like a lot but it was super easy for two reasons:

We had the Swiss Travel Pass so we could just get on any train without needing separate tickets or seat reservations
We used the free SBB app which is the Swiss mobile app for their train network and I have literally never used such an accurate and efficient mobile train app in my life! It has accurate times, carriage formation and train layout, it is all in English and so easy and clear to use that it made transport in Switzerland a breeze

Our route was Chateau d’Oex > Zweisimmen > Spiez > Visp > Zermatt

There are other routes with less changes or routes that go the opposite direction, back to Montreux then south, but the timing of this train worked best for us.

We arrived in Zermatt after dark and checked into our hotel right away.

We stayed at The Rex Zermatt and they have the main hotel and their more budget-friendly The Rex Guesthouse option. The hotel is gorgeous with a stunning cocktail bar and they even have their own onsite sourdough bakery which we were OBSESSED with during our stay. There’s is also a complimentary pick up and set down service for hotel guests to get to and from Zermatt station. Zermatt is car free, so these golf-buggy style trucks are the only way to get around Zermatt with your luggage unless you don’t mind dragging a suitcase through the snow!

The town of Zermatt lit up at night with snow cover roofs surrounded by snowy mountains. The Matterhorn be seen in the far distance — Zermatt at night

Day 6: Zermatt and Gornergrat Mountain railway

An orange train travelling up a snowy hill with the snowy Matterhorn and its surrounding mountains set behind the train — Gornergrat Mountain railway

Despite the weather forecast looking iffy for the duration of our time in Zermatt, it turned out gorgeous! You’ll see the difference in a day with the cloud cover being almost complete at the start of the day, and clear skies by the evening.

We started off our first day in Zermatt by exploring the town, it’s such a cute town itself and well-worth having a wander. We also walked up to the Zermatt town viewpoint (Google Map location here). It is a short but quite steep uphill, but worth it for the views. We went up twice, once in the morning on this day and again in the evening to see the clearer skies at dusk - this is definitely the best time to go!

Things to in Zermatt town:

Wander down Hinterdorfstrasse, the oldest street in Zermatt
Stroll down Bahnhofstrasse, here you’ll find all the main shops, bars and restaurants
Spa day at BEAUSiTE Zermatt, the spa is open to anyone, not just guests at the hotel and costs 80 CHF for a spa day pass
Grab a warm, cheap soup from Soupi Street Food Kitchen and enjoy it with a view of the Matterhorn at Viewpoint Matterhorn just down the street
Champagne Bar - this is just behind the Zermatt Town Viewpoint
Infinity Terrace by Schonegg
Take one of the lifts or mountain railways up for a whole new adventure
Glacier Paradise

Around midday we took the Gornergrat Railway up 3100m to the Gorner Glacier. The Gornergrat Railway station is directly opposite the main Zermatt railway station and return tickets cost 96 CHF. Again, we got a 50% discount on this ticket with a Swiss Travel Pass.

The ride up on the Gornergrat is a lovely slow pace so you can enjoy the mountain views as you climb. The total journey takes 32 minutes to the top Gornergrat station, although there are other stops you can get off at before if you’re heading up to ski or hike.

Once at the top, you’re almost at “eye-level” with the Matterhorn and from the Gornergrat station you can see 28 other 4000m+ mountains around you, it literally feels like you’re on top of the world.

We stayed up here a couple of hours, enjoying the views from the viewpoint and had an Irish coffee at the restaurant which is served with a Toblerone - obviously a must since the Matterhorn is on the Toblerone packaging! There’s also a small church, a gift shop, some other shops, an outdoor terrace and interactive exhibitions up here.

Our original plan had been to do the hike down from Gornergrat to the station below and visit Iglu Dorf for fondue in an igloo but unfortunately since there had been so much snow in recent days, the path was inaccessible and our fondue reservation was cancelled (fortunately we found an alternative the next day!)

But whether you’re skiing, hiking or just enjoying the views from the top, I think the Gornergrat Railway experience is absolutely worth it.

Back in Zermatt we had evening drinks at Grizzly’s Bar which had a great selection of craft beer and ate at CasaMia Ristorante.

Day 7: Sunnegga Funicular and fondue

A dark bowl with white fondue cheese and two pieces of break being dipped in the bowl by long steel forks. In the background is a snowy landscape with snow cover buildings, trees, and mountains including the Matterhorn in the distance — Fondue with a view

Another day where the weather forecast looked iffy and turned out great once we were up the mountain! We had planned to do the Glacier Paradise in the morning on this day but unfortunately had to skip it as visibility was so poor and at 95 CHF a ticket (50%) discount with the Swiss Travel Pass, we decided it wasn’t worth it if we couldn’t see anything from the top!

Around midday when the weather cleared, we took the Sunnegga Funicular from Zermatt Sunnegga Funicular station which travels entirely underground through the mountain and brings you to the top of Sunnegga in just 4.5 minutes. In the summer this whole area is covered in walking trails, in the winter it’s an extensive ski area and again the views of the Matterhorn are unmatched.

Sunnegga tickets cost 16CHF and you can just buy them at the station entrance. Again, we got a 50% discount with our Swiss Travel Pass.

Once at the top, we did a short 15 minute walk down from the lift station to Paradise Bar where we had booked fondue for 2pm. The walk is along the edge of a ski run, it’s not too steep (although it was going back up again!) but beware of skiers around you.

We arrived early at Paradise and it wasn’t actually as busy as I expected, I had booked online on their website the day before - so I still suggest booking just in case as it’s right next to a ski run and lots of skiers pop in and out for drinks and food throughout the day.

The fondue was incredible, we sat outside in the sun, eating fondue and drinking beer for 2 hours, just soaking in the views. The fondue was amazing and we had local Zermatt beer which you can only get in Zermatt itself.

This was honestly the most expensive meal of our trip, it came to around 150 CHF but we had so much food, it all tasted incredible and several drinks too, plus you’re paying for the view - so in our view it was worth it!

One quick note - make sure you check the last lift time to get back down to Zermatt on the Sunnegga Funicular. We had a slight panic when our server told us the last train was at 4pm (in 20 minutes!) and we had to scramble back up the ski slope to get to the lift station!

Day 8: Take the Glacier Express

A red and white train docked at a snowy train station with a snow covered town in the background — Glacier Express

The Glacier Express runs between Zermatt and St Moritz one a day, and sometimes twice a day depending on the schedule. All departures leave Zermatt before 9am because this is an 8 hour train journey, and it’s a journey you’ll want to see all in daylight!

Our Glacier Express departure time was 8.30am and while we had booked our seat reservations a couple of months in advance on the Glacier Express website, our actual ticket cost was covered by the Swiss Travel Pass, so we only paid 49 CHF for our seat reservation for this train. The only ticket on the train that isn’t covered by the pass is the Prestige Class experience.

Famously called the slowest express train in the world, the Glacier Express gives you 8 hours of uninterrupted, stunning views of the Switzerland countryside. Highlights include the Bis Glacier, the vineyards at Visperterminen, the highest point of the journey at 2033m on the Oberalp Pass, The Rhine Gorge, the Landwasser Viaduct on the UNESCO World Heritage Albula section of the line - this is just to name a few.

Honestly 8 hours of the most incredible views feels surreal, there's a reason this is a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list train journey in Switzerland and I think it’s a must-do on your Switzerland 10 day itinerary in winter!

My top tips for riding the Glacier Express:

Book seats on the right hand side of the train (in the direction of travel) as this is where most of the views are. However the train does change direction as it leaves Chur, so the last section of the journey you’ll be sitting in reverse.
Tickets are available for booking up to 6 months ahead, however seat reservations are only released 93 days in advance - do not leave this to the last minute. We booked ours 6 weeks in advance and the train we wanted was booked so we had to shuffle our whole itinerary
Check the timetable well in advance, the Glacier Express doesn’t operate all year round - it stops between October and December. The summer and winter timetables also vary.
Either book a meal onboard when you buy your ticket, or buy supplies to take on the train the night before. This is an 8 hour train journey and you can’t opt into the meal service on the day
Even if you buy food, all drinks are an extra cost (tea, coffee, alcohol)
It is hard to take some pictures and videos out of the train windows due to the reflection and glare, but my tip is to head to either end of the carriage where there are windows that slide down - this is how I was able to get clear videos and photos of the Landwasser Viaduct but the windows do get busy ahead of that point on the journey so be prepared

We chose not to stay in St Moritz that night when we arrived as it’s such a popular ski resort and everything was so expensive. Instead we took another train just 10 minutes to the nearby town of Pontresina where accommodation was slightly cheaper.

We stayed at Schloss Hotel and Spa Pontresina which gave us access to the spa facility as part of our stay - a relaxing way to end a spectacular day!

Day 9: Travel to Zurich

We used day 9 as a travel day in the morning, travelling from Pontresina to Zurich on the last leg of our journey. Again we used our Swiss Travel Passes which covered all the train travel on this day: 3 trains in total from Pontresina > Samedan > Chur > Zurich.

Pro tip: the Samedan to Chur leg of this journey follows the exact same route as the Glacier Express did the day before which is the UNESCO World Heritage Albula section of the line. So if you’re on a budget and want to skip the Glacier Express ticket price, or if you just want to do it all again - this is a great train journey to do. Although there’s no windows that open so you still have the glare on the train windows.

But we loved seeing this section of the Glacier Express route for cheaper on an alternative rail route.

A large river lined with many buildings which stretch into the distance in the background. In the far right is a large two towered stone cathedral — Zurich

Our journey to Zuirch took 3 hours, so we had the afternoon to explore Zurich and use our Swiss Travel Passes again which include entrance to some museums and attractions.

FIFA Football museum
The Swiss National Museum (Landesmuseum)
Natural History Museum at the University

Find the full list of included museums and attractions here.

I had been desperate to have some raclette before we left so raclette cheese and beer was how we spent the evening. The top raclette places we found:

Raclette Stube
Restaurant Brasserie Johanniter
Swiss Chuchi Restaurant
Raclette Factory - if you’re on a budget

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Day 10: Zurich

Kick off your final day with a must-visit attraction just outside of Zurich: the Lindt HOme of Chocolate. Tickets cost 17 CHF and you can book in advance on their website.

The museum covers the origins of chocolate, interesting facts and the history of Lindt. Of course there is also chocolate tasting and plenty of interactive displays.

You can also use the Swiss Travel pass to use Zurich public transit to get to the Lindt Factory, unfortunately there is no discount on the ticket with the pass.

In the afternoon we spent time just wandering around the city and seeing the beautiful old town and lookout points along the river.

Augustinergasse is the historic street with beautiful colourful houses in the old town. I recommend wandering up here and exploring the surrounding streets for beautiful architecture and photos.

Don’t miss Bahnhofstrasse, the famous shopping street lined with iconic designer brands and famous Swiss brands. We decided to treat ourselves to a Tissot watch from the flagship store here.

Head up to Lindenhof Zurich which is here a historic Roman fort used to stand. Now it’s an open air park area with chess boards and benches and the view looking across the river is beautiful - one of the most iconic views in the city.

A large clear river lined with many colourful buildings in Zurich — Zurich City

We also walked along the river path and out towards Lake Zurich, if you had longer in the city you could take a boat tour from Zurich Burkliplatz. However we didn’t have time and instead had a late lunch of sandwiches while sitting on the benches here overlooking the lake.

I have to mention Giacometti-Halle, this is a stunningly ornate entry hall of what is now the police station. It was painted by Augusto Giacometti. Unfortunately due to it being in an active police station, it’s only open to visitors by guided tour on Wednesday-Saturday between 2pm-5pm and you need to present your passport for entry. Sadly we were there on a Monday and Tuesday - booo! Maybe next time! But it’s a beautiful place from the pictures I’ve seen and it means I’ll have to go back in the future.

We had our last meal at a German keller style restaurant called Zeughauskeller - I highly recommend for great, authentic Swiss-German food and beer.

Summary: my winter in Switzerland itinerary

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Switzerland winter itinerary. 10 days is plenty of time to pack in a lot of famous winter sights in Switzerland and see the best that the country has to offer. I loved every second of this trip and there wasn’t one thing I would change, everything exceeded my expectations and I would do it all again.

If I had more time I would love to have included Grindelwald and Interlaken on this itinerary - but it’s an excuse to go back again in the future!

Let me know if you find this Switzerland itinerary helpful and enjoy your trip!