carcassone

Will be in Switzerland next month for a week, flying in/out of ZRH. We have 8 full days with 3 days in the middle for Zermatt.

Trying to see what to do before/after Zermatt. We have friends in Bern that we will probably visit.

Any point of interest around there? We like Roman ruins, castles, medieval towns (think Tuscany).

What about Chillon Castle. Is that worth a stop on the way to Zermatt from ZRH?

swandav2000

Hi carcassone,

Yes, Montreux is a great destination for you to combine with Zermatt. It is very different, so it'll give you a great contrast, and it has three Christmas markets (if you'll be there at the end of the month). The best way to get to Chillon from Montreux is the flowered lakeside path, and the walk takes 45 minutes; then you can take the bus back into town. Other things to see in/from Montreux are -- Saturday market in Vevey, old town, Gruyeres, and of course more of the lakeside promenade. More information at

www.montreux-vevey.com

If you wanted a third destination, I would choose Luzern. You could even stay in Luzern the night before your flight, as the train ride is only an hour to the airport. More information at

www.luzern.com

Have fun!

s

carcassone

How about Lausanne? It looks a bit bigger town than Montreux. Is that too much out of the way to Chillon/Zermatt? (And in the wrong direction.)

swandav2000

Hi again,

Well, Lausanne is a city. I personally don't like cities, so I've never set foot in it!

It takes about 40 minutes by train to get to Montreux.

How about Vevey? Bigger than Montreux, and while Montreux is more of a resort town, Vevey is a residential town. You're more likely to see residents and long-term visitors doing their weekly shopping than you are to see hordes of tourists. I also love its beautiful old town with winding streets, right next to the old town. There is a big market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, so it's worthwhile to time your visit to see one. If you stay in Vevey (or Montreux), you'll get a Riviera Card, which makes the town busses free -- and bus #201 runs between Montreux & Vevey. So it'll be very easy, and free, to get to Chillon from Vevey.

Have fun!

s

carcassone

I took a look at Lausanne and it's a bit much for our 1.5 days. I'll stick to Montreux and look into Vevey also. Thanks.

PalenQ

If taking the train be aware of the special on Swiss Passes currently for use thru the end or late November - on 4-day Flexi and 4-consecutive day passes you get a 2 for the price of 1 sale - only on those specific Swiss Passes however, not other versions - a great deal that is hard to beat even if you buy two consecutive 4-day passes and use them conseutively.

For lots on Swiss trains and passes I always spotlight these IMO superb sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com. And IMO the trains and public transit are the way to go in Switzerland - especially since some of the famous Alpine regions like the Interlaken-Jungfrau Region and Zermatt restrict cars, which must be parked at the edge of town (or a few miles out in Zermatt's case) and take shuttle buses or walk in.

PalenQ

Any point of interest around there? We like Roman ruins, castles, medieval towns (think Tuscany)>

Though Switzerland basically lacks that romantic old-world atmosphere IME in its modern but really nice cities check out Gruyeres, one of the finest walled towns in Europe and I believe has an old castle to boot - also tour the cheese making factory there - Spiez, overlooking Lake Thun has the castle of your dreams on a hill - can take a train or boat there from Interlaken (railpasses valid on lake boats too!).

carcassone

PanlenQ, thanks for the tip on the Swiss pass 2-for-1 fall sale. I ran across that couple days ago and jumped on it. Can't pass that up. I'm saving about $300!!!

My question is can I take use the Swiss Pass all the way to Zermatt? I'm a bit confuse about the Glacier Express and possible other train routes from Montreux to Zermatt.

greg

General Swiss Pass coverage info, look at the validity map http://www.swissrailways.com/downloa...tskarte_en.pdf. Solid means fare portion fully covered (not seat reservation). The dots means discount only. The long dash, kind of confusing, is same as solid as far as the coverage is concerned. It indicates tunnel section - why did they do this to make it confusing?

Info on named scenic train coverage http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/switzerland.cfm.

If seat reservations are mandatory, how much they cost http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/pdfs/reservations.pdf.

I have used Swiss Pass for ZRH-Bern, then Bern to Zermatt via Visp, and yes, I did not pay anything above what I paid to get the Swiss Pass.

PalenQ

Yes Swiss Passes pass all the way to Zermatt with full coverage. Now if you take the Glacier Express train on that route then you have to pay the steep supplement - normal about hourly trains you just hop on.

movehershakeher

The beautiful area about the Loschental valley is about as original a Swiss experience as you'll get. Ditto for Val D'Herens. With the pass, you can jump off and on buses easily. An easy side trip from overgrown Zermatt is charming Bettmeralp, with car free area, beautiful forests, glaciers and cows nibbling outside your window

nytraveler

Gruyere is a charming town and the castle is interesting - but the cheese making is sort of ho hum. Thun is also a very cute town with a wonderful caste and a great lake (not sure of the dates of the late steamers though). Another small cute town in Neuchatel.

However we traveled by car - so not sure of the timing of anything by train.