Planning a honeymoon is not very different from planning a wedding. You only have one chance to get it right.
The perfect honeymoon is rarely about ticking off famous attractions. It is about understanding both of you. One of you may enjoy hiking through the Alps, while the other dreams of slow mornings, lake cruises and long dinners with a mountain view. If both of you have different personalities, there will naturally be compromises.
That is exactly what marriage is about.
Find what both of you enjoy, make that the centrepiece of your honeymoon, then build the rest of the journey around it. In many ways, planning a honeymoon is the first project you undertake as husband and wife. You begin by finding common goals before adding your individual interests.
Switzerland is one of the world’s most romantic honeymoon destinations. The country almost sells itself. Majestic mountains, sapphire lakes, peaceful valleys, charming alpine villages, panoramic trains, scenic hikes and beautiful cruises. Everywhere you go, romance feels effortless because the scenery is simply breathtaking.
The real challenge is deciding where to go, where to stay, what to do, and how to connect everything together without turning the honeymoon into a logistics exercise… or worse, an argument.
If you find the planning overwhelming, this is where partnering with a Switzerland Travel Planner can make all the difference.
I know of a couple who planned their own honeymoon and overlooked the operating hours of the mountain buses. They happily spent the day hiking, only to discover they had missed the last bus back to their village. The only option left was to walk almost three hours back.
Overlooking operating hours is only one of several common Switzerland trip-planning mistakes that can make an otherwise beautiful journey unnecessarily stressful.
It certainly became a memorable honeymoon story. Just probably not the one they imagined.
Every Journey Begins With People
As a certified Switzerland Travel Expert, clients often ask me where they should go. Interestingly, that is usually the last question I answer.
The first question is always, ‘Tell me about yourselves.’
What do the two of you enjoy doing together? Hiking? Discovering little villages? Trying local food? Or are you perfectly happy finding a café, ordering two cups of coffee, and spending the afternoon talking with nowhere else to be?
Those answers tell me far more than a list of attractions ever could.
Because every journey I design begins with people, not places.
This is the same philosophy I share in my guide on how to choose a Switzerland Travel Planner, where I explain why great journeys are designed around people, not simply a list of attractions.
Once I understand the two of you, the route almost begins to design itself.
After all, I am not designing a holiday for Switzerland. I am designing a honeymoon for the two of you.
Where To Base
Instead of staying in the larger cities, I usually recommend honeymooners spend more time in Switzerland’s car-free alpine villages. Places like Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald and Zermatt become wonderfully quiet once the day visitors leave. For many first-time couples, I also prefer Wengen to Lauterbrunnen because the village offers a quieter evening atmosphere and a stronger sense of staying within the mountains.
One of my favourite memories wasn’t an attraction at all. It was sitting quietly on a bench in Mürren with a simple picnic, looking at blue skies and endless mountains, with absolutely nowhere else I needed to be. Sometimes doing nothing together becomes the most memorable part of a honeymoon.
What Kind Of Accommodation
If your budget allows, choose accommodation with mountain views. Those are the moments that stay with you long after the honeymoon has ended.
I also like combining boutique hotels with apartments.
After spending almost a month travelling around Switzerland, I had reached my limit of bread, cheese, pasta and pizza.
On the way back, we stopped by the Coop supermarket in Interlaken. As I wandered through the aisles, I spotted curry paste and turned to my partner. ‘That’s it. Tonight I’m cooking.’
When we returned to our apartment in Wengen, our little project naturally began. One of us chopped the vegetables and chicken. The other stood by the stove. We laughed, tasted the curry, adjusted the seasoning, then carried two plates, freshly cooked rice and a bottle of red wine onto the balcony overlooking the mountains.
Looking back, I realised the memory wasn’t really about the curry. It was about building something together. Perhaps marriage isn’t so different. Not grand gestures every day, just finding joy in doing ordinary things together.
Hiking
If both of you enjoy hiking, Switzerland offers endless possibilities.
I spent almost a month exploring different hiking regions, so I can recommend walks that suit different fitness levels.
One of my favourite recommendations is the Panorama Trail between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg.
It is almost flat, takes about an hour, and rewards you with spectacular views throughout the entire walk.
In my opinion, it offers the greatest scenery for the least effort.
There is no rush.
Walk. Stop whenever you like. Take photographs. Share a picnic. Simply enjoy each other’s company while surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
Scenic Cruises
If you enjoy being on the water, Switzerland offers beautiful cruises across lakes such as Thun, Brienz and Lucerne.
If your budget allows, I always recommend upgrading to First Class.
The additional cost is relatively small, but the experience feels completely different.
Imagine spending a leisurely afternoon cruising across deep sapphire waters, with the mountains surrounding you in every direction.
There really isn’t a better place to slow down and celebrate the beginning of your next chapter together.
Panoramic Trains
Many years ago, my partner and I took an eleven-hour bus journey from Singapore to Redang. By the time we arrived, I remember thinking, ‘I never knew two people could talk for eleven hours.’ We talked about life, dreams, travel and the future. It became one of my favourite travel memories, not because of the bus, but because of the conversation.
That memory always comes back to me whenever I think about Switzerland’s panoramic trains.
The Glacier Express is not automatically the right scenic train for every honeymoon. My comparison of the Bernina Express and Glacier Express explains how the two journeys differ and which one may suit your route better.
For eight uninterrupted hours on the Glacier Express, there is nowhere else you need to be. No traffic. No emails. No meetings. No distractions. Just the two of you.
Outside the window, the mountains slowly unfold. Villages quietly drift past. Rivers appear and disappear. The world outside the window keeps changing.
The only thing that doesn’t… is the person sitting beside you.
With spectacular scenery, beautifully prepared meals, a glass of wine in hand, and eight uninterrupted hours together, perhaps the greatest luxury isn’t the train at all. It’s finally having the time to talk.
For longer rail journeys and lake cruises, the right class of travel can also change how relaxed the experience feels. I explain where the upgrade matters in my guide to First Class train travel in Switzerland.
Eight hours may sound like a long train journey. Somehow, with the right person, it never feels long enough.
Perhaps marriage is a little like that too. Life will continue to change around both of you, but through every changing landscape, hopefully one thing remains constant: the person sitting beside you.
Slow Down
One of the reasons I love Switzerland so much is because the journey is often just as beautiful as the destination.
Rather than rushing from place to place, slow down.
Sit by the window.
Watch the scenery change.
Allow the country to unfold naturally.
Sometimes the best part of travelling through Switzerland isn’t arriving.
It’s everything in between.
Conclusion
When people ask me about my favourite place in Switzerland, they usually expect me to mention the Matterhorn, Glacier Express or Jungfraujoch.
The truth is…
it wasn’t any of them.
It was the gentle hike from Mürren to Gimmelwald.
We weren’t chasing a famous viewpoint or trying to tick another attraction off the list. We simply walked at our own pace, stopping whenever the scenery invited us to pause. By the time we reached the quiet little village of Gimmelwald, we found an empty wooden bench overlooking the mountains.
Each of us had a simple picnic sandwich in hand, and between us sat a thermos flask filled with hot coffee.
There was nothing else we needed.
No timetable to follow.
No attraction waiting.
No reason to hurry.
We simply sat there, enjoying our sandwiches, sipping coffee, admiring the peaks in front of us, and quietly enjoying each other’s company.
Looking back, I think that’s what a honeymoon should really be.
Not a race from one famous attraction to another.
But a collection of unhurried moments that belong only to the two of you.
Because twenty years from now, you probably won’t remember every train you took, every hotel you stayed in, or every mountain you climbed.
But you’ll remember how you felt.
And perhaps that is the greatest gift Switzerland can ever give you.
Your Story Starts Here
One day, you’ll have your own Switzerland story to tell.
I’d love to help you write the first chapter.
Explore My Switzerland Private Tours →
About the Author
Best Teo is the Chief Travel Designer of Epic Travel Designer, a Singapore-based boutique travel company specialising in customised private journeys.
She is a Certified Switzerland Travel Expert and Swiss Travel System Excellence Expert, with firsthand experience travelling across Switzerland by rail, scenic trains, lake cruises and mountain transport.
Best designs customised Switzerland itineraries for couples, families and multi-generational travellers, with careful attention to routing, pacing, weather flexibility, hotel bases and travel logistics.