ProEU

Hello, I am intending to visit the Bernese Oberland area; particularly around Gimmelwald and the Schiltorn etc. I am limited to 4 to 5 days. I need your help in deciding whether to base myself for most of the time in Bern or Lucerne. I have heard, and read, that both are very scenic but need some advice on which would be more practical as a base, and also which is worth seeing more? I am looking for scenery and, if possible, something that symbolises the beauty of Switzerland!

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

kja

When are you going? The time of year should probably be a factor in your decisions..

I enjoyed both Bern and Lucerne, but if your goal is to see the Bernese Oberland, you might want to consider staying there. I was glad I chose Lauterbrunnen; others prefer Wengen or Murren. Still others prefer Interlaken, even though it is a bit further away, because it provides easier access to places outside the Bernese Oberland.

If you do decide to base in either Bern or Lucerne, Lucerne probably makes more sense given your interest in scenery. But both are, IMO, well worth seeing!

madamtrashheap

Bern and Luzern are both gorgeous, but for the purposes of you trip, you will be better off basing yourself in Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken or Murren.

Luzern is 2hrs by train to Lauterbrunnen, with a change in Interlaken, then you'll have to take a bus on to Gimmelwald. Bern is 1.5hrs to Lauterbrunnen. So you can see that you'd have a few hours of travel involved each day if you wanted to explore the Berner Oberland area and base yourself in either city.

You could spend a night in Luzern, train to Lauterbrunnen then on to Gimmelwald to stay, then train out to Bern. This of course depends on where your coming from to Switzerland and planning on going afterwards.

michelhuebeli

Considering your statement "limited to 4 to 5 days" I think you might consider Interlaken. It is not right in the mountains, but "by" the mountains, between two lakes (the meaning of the name in Latin of course), and since you're likely to venture to other places than Gimmelwald and Schilthorn on your remaining days, Interlaken might be a good springboard. It's on the flat, convenient, with lots of hotels and restaurants, two train statons, and with access to public-boat rides on both lakes.

Both Bern and Luzern can each be a day trip from Interlaken, and both are certainly worht that.

Then again, Luzern is also a splendid springboard for mountain excursions - Titlis, Pilatus, Rigi - and boat rides on the intricately shaped lake with great views.

Bern can be seen in a few hours, the busy inner city (banks, Federal Parliament Buildings, cathedral, "Rathaus" = seat of the government of the Canton of Bern, etc.) is also the historic center, well preserved and fully functional, easy to walk on largely pedestrianized streets, even in the rain because the streets are flanked by arcades.

There are no significant excursion targets in the vicinityof Berne, while I already listed some of those for Luzern.

So - consider a few nights in Lauterbrunnen or Mürren or Wengen or Interlaken, and maybe a few nights in Luzern, with a day trip to Bern, possibly as a trip interruption on your way from the Bernese Oberland to Luzern.

michelhuebeli

Forgot to mention other trip targets while based in Interlaken - to mention just a few for you to look up:

Brienzer Rothorn
Niesen
Jungfraujoch
Beatenberg
Stockhorn
Beatushöhlen
Trümmelbachfälle

nytraveler

If your focus is the mountains you need to be closer - either in a village on the lower slopes or in Interlaken right at the foot.

Bern and Lucerne are too far away (unless you want to see different mountains from Lucern). I much prefer Lucerne to Bern - since it has close access to several lower mountains as well a a beautiful lake with steamers and a ot of cute towns around the periphery.

But if you want to do a lot of mountain hiking being right IN the mountains are better.

neckervd

Some journey times:

Lucerne - Interlaken: 1 hr 50 min
Lucerne - Gimmelwald: 3 hrs
Lucerne - Grindelwald: 2 hrs 30 min
Lucerne - Lauterbrunnen: 2 hrs 20 min
Lucerne - Jungfraujoch: 4 hrs 20 min
Lucerne - Berne: 1 hr

Berne - Interlaken: 50 min
Berne - Gimmelwald: 2 hrs
Berne - Grindelwald: 1 hrs 30 min
Berne - Lauterbrunnen: 1 hrs 20 min
Berne - Jungfraujoch: 3 hrs 20 min

Interlaken - Gimmelwald: 2 hrs
Interlaken - Grindelwald: 30 min
Interlaken - Lauterbrunnen: 20 min
Interlaken - Jungfraujoch: 2 hrs 20 min

Gimmelwald - Grindelwald: 1 hr 40 min
Gimmelwald - Jungfraujoch: 2 hrs 20 min
Grindelwald - Jungfraujoch: 1 hr 30 min

Lucene is on the shore of a lake, whereas Bern is between Lake Thun (15 min by train), Lake Biel/Bienne (25 min by train), Lake Murten (35 min by train)and Lake Neuchatel (35 min by train).

WeisserTee

If I can throw another option onto the list, consider Thun. a short train ride to Bern, a reasonably short ride to Interlaken. Thun is more scenic than Interlaken, sort of a mini-Bern with arcaded streets. You don't have to leave town to catch a lake cruise.

But if you want to stay in a village and sit on your balcony enjoying mountain vistas, then pick a BO village.

I am not the biggest fan of Luzern, it just doesn't do it for me. I like Bern a lot and go there for the day about once every six weeks. But I wouldn't recommend it as a base to someone who wants to immerse themselves in BO villages/mountains.

ProEU

Thank you very much to everyone. You have really provided me with a lot of information. I maybe should have said that I'm flying in and out of Zurich from Ireland. Think I'll try and stay in the BO area!

neckervd

If you land at ZRH and want to visit Lucerne, Berne and the Bernese Oberland, you should have a look at the Bernese Oberland Pass: free ride from Lucerne to any place in the Bernese Oberland
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland....e-of-validity/
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/home-en
The train ticket Zurich airport - Lucerne costs 23 EUR/OW. Trains every 30 min from 5.43 until 23.43, journey time: 1 hr.