When I first started planning our trip to Europe, the first county I knew I wanted to go to was Switzerland. All the other destinations would need to fall in place around her. Here is how we got to one of the most beautiful places in the world on points and miles!

Flights / Transportation: One-way tickets were booked from Kansas City (MCI) to JFK to position to Rome. This positioning flight saved me 100,000 American Airlines miles and was well worth it! I paid for the positioning flight with Southwest miles and our Companion Passes. The positioning flight for four cost 17,741 Southwest miles and $22. Well worth it!

We flew nonstop from JFK to Rome Leonardo da Vinci International. It was an overnight flight. I booked economy tickets and used my American Airlines status to upgrade to Economy Plus with the Platinum status I earned through the American Airlines shopping portal. The extra legroom was much appreciated during our overnight flight.  

The total cost for four tickets from JFK to Rome was nearly 120,000 AA miles and $25 in fees. Our return flight was from Paris to MCI (KC) and was 104,000 AA miles and just under $300 in taxes. Totally doable if you ask me!

After Rome, we went to Venice by train and Bern, Switzerland. After arrival at the train station, we walked 5 minutes to the Hertz office at Casinoplatz. I used Chase Ultimate Rewards to pay for a rental car. Grab my rental car on points freebie here. I always use my Chase Sapphire Preferred when booking a rental car with points or cash since it has fantastic rental car coverage.

Stay: We stayed at an Airbnb overlooking Lake of Brienz. This was a stunning and peaceful way to spend time in Switzerland. I took advantage of a 25% bonus Chase had with Airbnb in 2022. This bonus has since ended, but not to worry, there are several ways to use points to take care of vacation rentals that I’ve laid out here in Vacation Rentals on Points.

Fun: Switzerland is full of exciting outdoor activities. During our first full day in Brienz, it was off and on raining, so we visited. Ballenburg Museum and road the Brienz Rothorn Bahn Railroad up to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn. During the ride up and back down on this 100+-year-old steam train, you are rewarded with beautiful views overlooking Lake of Brienz and the Swiss mountainside, including grazing cows with their traditional Swiss bells on. Ballenburg is a living history museum with over 100 original homes and barns transported from their original sites all over Switzerland.

The next day we drove to Thun and visited Thun Castle, built in the 1200s. The castle is now a museum with activities and mysteries for children to solve as they move through the castle. My kids enjoyed our time here. After the castle, we walked down the hill to some cafes next to the Aare River that runs through Thun and onto Bern. There were so many cute cafes to choose from for lunch, I can’t imagine you could go wrong. A fun sight is the river surfers also take advantage of the constant wave created by the water moving under one of the footbridges.

Next, we were off to Oberhofen Castle, built in the early 13th century. Inside the tower are so many activities for kids, including a huge dress-up tote with all kinds of medieval-looking gear. After finishing up at the castle, we walked down the hill searching for an ice cream shop I pulled up on Google Maps. We noticed a boat rental business and chartering a little electric dingy boat for an hour to take out on Lake of Thun. It was the best time! Both of my kids drove and loved it. We paid 75 CHF for the hour. By this time, the fog had cleared off, and we got a great view of the Bernese Oberland mountains.

The following day was my son’s 11th birthday. A few weeks before we left on our trip, we sat down and made a birthday plan. I found Outdoor Switzerland, a company that offers various outdoor adventure activities in the Interlaken area. We chose the ropes park and the Jetboat ride on Lake of Brienz. I highly recommend both activities if you travel to the Interlaken area with kids.

After the jetboat ride, we walked a few minutes down the path from where the Jet Boat takes off to a Swiss Lido called The Beach. They have a few pools, kayak rentals, an area where you can swim in Lake of Brienz, and wipeout-style water trampolines. It was just a few bucks to get in.

Something that was on our itinerary that we didn’t get to do due to weather and mostly fog during our trip was head up to the Top of Junfrau. If you are there and have better weather than us, check it out.

Eat: Switzerland is expensive, so we visited the local Coop daily to help cut food costs. However, we did not skimp on the bakeries! Here are the ones we visited, Steininger, Confiserie Rieder, and Mohler. They were all fantastic!

Final thought:  As someone who loves Lake Tahoe, Glacier National Park, and being outside in general, I knew Switzerland would bring me joy. And I was right! I will be going back! She is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!

Cards that made this trip possible