Grindelwald and Interlaken Independent Day Trip from Lucerne

Enjoyed the trip with our helpful guide - Yolanda from Best of Switzerland

Trip was good inspite of rainy weather. We really appreciate our tour guide co-ordination. It is because of her we enjoyed very much inspite of the bad weather on that particular day.

Illness stopped our visit

Unfortunately we were unable to go. My travel companion woke up sick that morning. Instead of subjecting others to her illness we decided to cancel. I understand the cancellation policy but it would be nice to have exceptions for illness.

Wonderful jaw dropping views

The tour was guided with excellence and was made enjoyable by the guides Adolfo and Fernando, they were ready to answer any questions about the tour and gave us useful recommendations on how to get the best from our time they manage the tour in Inglish and Spanish with fluency. The views were jaw dropping, Highly recommend tour.

Go on your own

Do not recommend this tour with Best of Switzerland Tours. The bus showed up late and my family couldn’t sit together as it was already packed. The seats my husband & I had were in front of a family with small children who screamed & kicked the backs of our seats constantly even when we asked them to stop - families with small children should have reserved seats at the front of the bus. And the awful smell on the bus was nauseating. The tour itself was unorganized and misleading. The pamphlet that Best of Switzerland Tours provided (only 1 per family) has wrong information in it for the recommendations on what to do in Interlaken & Grindelwald. And we did not have enough time in Interlaken to do anything except go to the bathroom along with 100 other people. Even the meeting point information in the pamphlet was wrong. We were given a voucher for 5-8% off a purchase at a place that only sells high-end expensive items - we didn’t use it. We ended up taking our own train back to Lucerne as we couldn’t stand getting back in that bus. So this cost us more $. We made our own fun in Interlaken & Grindelwald no thanks to this tour or the guide. It’s better to take your own train to & from these cities on your own. These 2 cities are beautiful and you’ll need more time in these cities than what this tour provides, so it’s best to go on your own.

Well organised and clear...

Well organised and clear instructions for train and timings etc. The itinerary should allow for more time in Grindelwald and less at Interlaken as we were rushed for time there when it has the most to see. Going up to Mt First was the highlight.

Amazing day trip!

I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone. There’s something to do for everyone. We had the best time.

Grindelwald is a fairytale but this is not a tour

This was essentially just transportation. Here's a clearer outline, since the day's itinerary wasn't that transparent: - Meet up is at 9, and you board an already crowded bus, which stops in Zurich first. Three of us went on a Tuesday and we were not able to sit together. If you ever leave your seat, chances are it'll be occupied when you return. - There's an hour-long stop at Interlaken. - You then head to Grindelwald, where you have around 3 hours. After that, you need to catch a TRAIN back to Interlaken. - Once you're in Interlaken, walk around for 2-hours while you wait for the bus to return you to the starting point. The tour guide or driver, barely spoke up and was pretty hard to comprehend. He didn't seem too thrilled with tourists. And meeting point for the return was confusing and they almost left some of us behind. We had to tell the driver and guide to stop and wait. Better off taking the train yourself. You’ll save money, confusion, and time.

The best experience for explore the Swiss alps

Everything from the beginning was completely organized specially the warm welcome from berwen and eduardo those guys are extremely attentive and helpful for the group even when they have a busy moment, the bus ride is really well explain every single part that we past they have some important information, when we arrive in Interlaken - Grindelwald they give us all the necessary information about the area and the most impressive thing is about they guides they have a big smile from the beginning till the end of your experience so definitely me experience was completely awesome also the weather was something that make our trip gorgeous thank you guys everything was beautiful….

convenient and on time....

convenient and on time. Good guide who provided clear information and was friendly. Bus was comfortable,

Grindelwald is the ultimate Swiss Experience

The description should tell you that after stopping in Interlaken for an hour (which should be eliminated), you are bussed to Grindelwald. At Grindelwald, you are given a train ticket to come back to Interlaken. You can choose your time in Grindelwald to be anywhere from an hour to about 4 hours depending what train time you pick. I would highly recommend doing Grindelwald for as long as possible and doing the First Cliff Walk. That was the highlight of our European trip.

Plan your day in anticipation!

I have rated best of Switzerland tours very highly in the past. However, for this specific day tour I was kind of disappointed, as the service provided was mainly transportation from one place to the other. Maybe that is implicit in the title of the tour, when they said “independent day”, but it was not obvious when we booked this tour. It was not even described with that specific language in the brochure. Once you arrive to places, you are on your own. So, it is importante that you plan in advance what to do. Other way, you lose precious time. They spend 1 hour in Interlaken, which is a total waste as there is not enough time to do anything. Then, they go to Grindelwald and when you get there at noon half of your day is gone without having done anything, besides being in a bus. You can take a train and go to these places on your own anyways, and maybe arrive earlier. In Grindelwald we only had time to do the glacier canyon, which was OUTSTANDING! What a great place. Nature overwhelms you! A must visit place. Not sure about interlaken, as we did not spend much time there, but there are plenty of things to do in Grindelwald. So, try to get there as early as possible,

Just buy a ticket on train

This excursion was disappointing for me. I am a lifetime viator customer and I read the reviews and descriptions closely. I should have realized the lack of detail was a big red flag. There was not a lot about the activities or return. I realized when we were picked up that this tour likely had several pick up points and we were the last (no choice given). There were no seats left for us to sit as a family and my daughter was pretty upset. The guide was very nice and informative but bland. Part of what makes a factory, service line tour a little fun are the tid bits and commentary. Do not expect that. We arrived at IL and were given an hour to wander. The best part of the trip was when we left some people who were super late returning. I’ve never seen that and honestly, good for the tour guide. We got to the next site and ultimately, we just decided to take a train back to Luzern ourselves because the tour got so boring, we could not see spending another 6 hours doing this with 2 kids. Maybe if you are someone who enjoys paying hundreds of extra dollars above the tour price for the extras like going to the top of the mountain (not kidding) or sitting at a cafe for 4 hours staring at the rain clouds, you would enjoy this tour. Otherwise, do yourself a favor and just take a train to interlaken yourself. It is less expensive and you have more control. Don’t bother with this tour. (I did give it 3 stars because I think they try hard, responded to my email about the fact we left the tour quickly, didn’t make us wait for the people who disappeared, and were really nice overall).

Good day trip, nice towns

It was exactly as stated, transport to the 2 towns. Guide was excellent and explained things very clearly. Only draw back was that the bus was full of passengers from Zurich. Single travellers took up spaces and wouldn’t move so some of the couples couldnt sit together. Weird, but no big deal, just be prepared if you’re getting on in Lucerne. A lot of shops were closed because it was Sunday, something else to note when you’re booking. Since there was not much to do if you didn’t have an activity booked it was too much time, but if shops were open would have been perfect.

Grindlewald and Interlaken Day Trip from Lucerne

My husband and I did a day tour to Interlaken and Grindlewald from Lucerne, Switzerland. We had a nice time on the tour but the stop in Interlaken was nothing special. We loved Grindlewald and would have loved to have time to go to Lake Briens rather than two stops in Interlaken. Everyone in the trip had booked slightly different experiences so understanding that made things a bit confusing. We also kept getting told different times for returning to our pick up point which produced some anxiety around not missing our shuttle back. We did book through a travel agent so some of the options may not have been provided to us the same way they would have been had we booked direct. All in all the tour was a nice way to experience nearby areas.

Great tour

Great trip but my 2 suggestions would be to be more clear upfront about the add on options and that the guides be more specific on the pick up time. Perhaps they could hand out a note re pick up times.

Beautiful villages, shopping, lunch in Grindwald.

This was a great tour if you want to visit two different villages and relax, eat great food, go shopping for souvenirs, eat Gelato, and even paragliding in Interlaken! We got lucky it was supposed to rain, but the clouds cleared and we got sunshine and warm weather! Rode in a double decker bus with A/C. Make sure to have Dramamine if you get car sick because there are lots of curvy roads. Nice little train ride to Grindwald and you see cows with cow vells like the movies. Tour guide is very knowledgeable. You will enjoy this day tour and make sure to wear tennis shoes or comfortable walking shoes. I got in 18,000+ steps so yeah alot if walking.

Perfect Day!

Such a beautiful day! We were lucky enough to have perfect weather for this tour. Grindewald is a beautiful, picturesque spot. Highly recommend you take the aerial car to Mt. First. Such wonderful views and a nice spot for lunch. There are many activities to do there such as zip lining and the cliff walk, which were amazing! I highly recommend this tour!

Great way to go

This is a great option if you want an easily coordinated transportation trip and not stuck on a informational walking tour. They take you to Interlaken for 1 hr stop, then you proceed up the hill to Grindewald. At Grindewald you can go up to the highest point for an addtl $165 (seems steep). Several of us chose not to and so the guide gives you your train ticket of you want to go back down the hill to Interlaken and they tell you when and what time to meet for the end of the day pick up. We chose to eat lunch at Barry's (found on yelp) in Grindewald, highly recommend it, the cheese fondue was amazing! Then we snapped some picks, hopped on the train and headed back to Interlaken. There we booked a 15min helicopter ride for $190pp, but compared to the $165 rate, the helicopter will take you up to see the same spot and you'll have an experience of a lifetime. After that so some shopping, coffee and bus picks up at 545pm.

Best day ever!!!!

We booked this 6 months earlier, and was so excited when the day arrived. We were picked up on time from Lucerne, the bus had already passengers on from Zurich. The coach was large, great air con and a wonderful guide Maude. She was young, but not she was good.... Head off to Interlaken where we had 40 mins to look around, grab a few more passengers. Maude gave great commentary along the way, she had our groups organised and colour coded. Next stop Grindelwald. Here we boarded our train. It was so beautiful seeing the snow, off we went up the mountain where we stopped, saw some skiing then hopped on a new train to take us to the top of jungfrauoch. Maude warned us if we might feel a bit off due to the high altitude, not to worry plenty of trained staff to help, this reassured our group greatly. We had to options, wander around on our own or start the 2hr stop with a 40 min guided tour with Maude. We opted for Maude, and as usual Maude didn't disappoint. She took us through the mountain, the ice tunnels was my highlight. At the end we had free time to play outside on the plateau, it was freezing but exhilarating.... wander through the souvenirs shops and grabbed a tasty lunch.... Then back on the train for the trip home, this time going down the other side of the mountain. The scenery was out of the this world..... Yes, the tour was 10 hours, but worth every minute. Highly recommend this tour, and if you luckily enough to get Maude as your guide, your day be spectacular.

BREATHTAKING 😍

One of the best itinerary we had. Though we have no much time left to tour around Interlaken we had to be specific with the number of minutes you have to stay with each spot. NOT recommended for family trip as you will not enjoy the limited time knowing you have your kids to be minded. This kind of tour would be more of enjoying the breathtaking views of the nature in a slow pace. I would recommend this for couples only as you will see yourselves running after time.

Absolutely Worthwhile Highlight of Switzerland

Amazing scenery and incredible to see the possibility of a train climbing to that altitude. David and Konrad our guides from Best of Switzerland Tours were great with advice and explanations of the history. This is a must , considered a highlight of Switzerland

So well guided !

True professionals! The tour started at around 7.53 am in the morning. We started from the bus station enroute Interlaken via Lucerne(few people boarded here). At Interlaken we took a halt for an hour. From there the group was taken to grindelwald. Another guide got added at Interlaken (David and he was such a good sport!) At grindelwald the group was divided into two. For those who had opted for the top of Europe trip were taken by the starting tour guide Peter and for us who had opted for grindelwald were guided by David. You can take the grindelwald first for 60€ per person. An amazing view from up there! You can spend the time by your own but ensure you come back to Interlaken at the mentioned time by guides (oh yes you take a countryside scenic train from grindelwald to Interlaken after you are done ). David was really great in showing us some great walkways of Interlaken ( by the river, old houses, pedestrian streets and much more). I mean we really liked the way the tour was conducted. Peter has great humour. Loved everything about this trip. We also took a trip to Titlis and Lucerne tour on 18th April which was guided by Thomas and it was equally wonderful. There are photo breaks in Lucerne , you are then taken to Engelberg valley station. From there you take the gondola and rotair to 10k feet. You enjoy the ice flyer, glacier cave. You come down and enjoy snow tubing at a middle station. On the return journey there is an hours halt at Lucerne and you can shop ! Walk by the chapel wooden bridge etc etc ! If tourists are on time, it’s just so wonderful and we were lucky! A must recommend for all. Truly yours #bestofswirzerlandtours Thanks David, Peter and Thomas. You made it memorable for us.

Best tour guides in Switzerland

Did around 5 tours with Best of Switzerland. Pilatus , Titlis, Zurich , Jungfrau and all the guides were amazing , friendly and helpful . Anabel, Rosemarie, Antja and Robert were amazing and Anabel according to me was the best !

Top of Europe

If you only have one day, this is the way to go. It is important to understand, though, that this is an " overview" tour. There's no time for anything extra. If you want a more in-depth experience, Interlaken area needs a full day, Bernese overpass needs another day. Our guide, Peter, was great at managing a large multilingual group.

The guide, the driver and the coach...

<p>The guide, the driver and the coach was pretty good but the places are nothing special, I was thinking in other thing, no trouble of the tour or the company, but of the destiny itself</p>

Got to spend time in these two...

<p>Got to spend time in these two beautiful cities. Was great. Had a fondue lunch and glass of wine at outdoor cafe in interlachen. Highlight of our visit to this beautiful region</p>

The group was too big and too many...

<p>The group was too big and too many people doing different itineraries that caused the guide to lose track. We were the only ones stopping at the first point and she forgot to buy us our tickets which she realized as she was getting on the next train. The bus driver had to try to fix the problem, but it was a good thing we spoke Spanish as he didn't speak English or German which were the languages of the train station attendants. The description stated that we would be provided information on things to do around the town during our independent visit, however, no information was given. I feel like I could have planned this trip on my own and had the same expectations rather than spending the money on a non-helpful 'tour'.</p>

Guide was knowlegdable and easy to...

<p>Guide was knowlegdable and easy to understand. A whole day on tour was a bit draining. 2 of our group upgraded to top of Europe which cost 115 CHF extra each. We choose no to</p>

Beautiful area, but I recommend...

<p>Beautiful area, but I recommend going all the way to the mountain. Worth the extra money we paid directly to the tour company.</p>

The "independent" component of the...

<p>The "independent" component of the day trip really gave us the freedom to explore places we wanted to explore more in detail. This allowed us enough time in Grindelwald to ride the gondola up Mt. First and hike partially down, seeing the cows with bells, little streams, mountain flowers and so forth.</p>

This tour is a complete scam

Regarding the tour to Lucerne and Engelberg it is really disappointing, a scam is not worth the $94 I paid, the guide, a woman from Zurich Anita, was not explicit, perhaps because she does not express herself or understand the context of the Spanish language, she should have suggested that I stay in Lucerne or pay for the supplement Titlis, upon arriving in Lucerne he gave us one hour and the rest in my case I got bored in Engelberg, he told me to go to a cable car that cost $45 dollars that is not worth the visit, and the rest case 3 I spent hours sitting in a town that offers nothing, it has a street where everything was closed. At the Sihlquai ticket office there is a lady who seems to be from Spain who is very rude, she shouts and her gestures are not friendly towards the tourist.

行程安排的不太合理，令人失望

不要被标题诱导了，虽然写着少女峰，但是上车后导游会告诉你，如果需要登少女峰，需要支付150法郎。整个旅行团是分成两对的，支付了的去少女峰，没有的就在格林德瓦自由行。然后乘火车去因特拉肯，再坐大巴回卢塞恩。但是导游却并没有清晰交待汇合的地点，导致最后只有自己买火车票从因特拉肯回来。大部分时间（几乎三四个小时在格林德瓦，并没有合理安排行程）总之，不是很值。