GBK

We will be arriving Zurich around end of June this year and will stays for 8 days. This is our first time and has no idea where to start and which is the best place to stay. we only have a ltitle information from friends about nice places to visit such as Rhine Falls, Lucerne, Interlaken, Jungfraujoch, Zermatt, Montreaux, Geneva and Bern. We prefer to stay more days in one place but still can visit few places in one time and would prefer to travel around by train. Loves scenery especially mountain views, foods, and loved to visits some local markets. If anyone has any experiences traveling in those places please kindly help for guidance and share some ideas are most appreciated. Thank you...

GBK
(Desperately needs help...)

neckervd

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en
You will find there tons of information about Switzerland.

The Interlaken/Wengen/Grindelwald area (more than a dozen mountain railways and lifts, up to 3450m) is very popular with people from overseas. At all these places you are just IN FRONT of stunning snow mountains.
Zermatt (4 mountain railways and lifts, up to 3880m), more popular with European, is SURROUNDED by more than 4000 metres high mountains.

Zurich and Geneva are nice places with good museums, but not the real gems of Switzerland.

Dianedancer

Rhinefalls are far away from Lucerne, Zermatt and the Berner Oberland (BO)(Interlaken area) so I would cross that off your list.

I would suggest you split your time between the Interlaken area for mountains, hikes, and Lake Geneva area.

I find the city of Bern to be charming. It's only a little over an hour by train from the Zurich airport so you could spend 2 days there, then go to the BO which is a short train ride, and finally to Lake Geneva. I would specifically suggest Vevey to stay in. You can do short day trips from there.

neckervd

Rhine Falls are 45 min by train from Zurich airport. 4 trains every hr.

Dianedancer

Yes, but far away from the BO or Lake Geneva.

neckervd

OP enters and leaves Switzerland at ZRH anyway

PalenQ

With that much train travel the 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass would be a great deal- for info on Swiss trains and passes check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Yes need to pare down a lot - Zermatt and Jungfrau region are similar in awe-inspiring Alpine dream lands - I think the Jungfrau area is the best for a variety of things to do.

Rhine Falls are nice but would be low on my list with all your other desires.

PalenQ

Swiss Passes also pass for full fare on lake boats, postal buses and city transports and give 50% off most trains or gondolas to mountain tops.

lynnalan

My husband and I spent a wonderful summer week in Chateau D'Oex, which is about an hour by train from Lake Geneva. We enjoyed cycling (we rented e-bikes, actually), hiking, and visiting nearby towns by train. It is not a culinary mecca, but nearby Gstaad has very good food and we were there during the music festival. I considered staying in Vevey on that trip, but found a really great little apartment in Chateau D'Oex.

I have also spent time (during ski season) in Wengen, which I thought was magical. It is a charming, car-free village. The skiing was great, I would imagine the hiking is also. The scenery is amazing.

kja

A good guidebook would serve you very well.

GBK

Many thanks to all of you. Interlaken will be our first stop and will stays for 3 nites to explore the area since there are more variety things to do there. Next stop will be Vevey for 2 nite to explore Montreux and lake Geneva and lastly another 2 nites in Zurich with a short transit in Bern

And Yes, I think the 8-consecutive-day Swiss Pass will be able to cover my whole trips.

Hopefully all the plans will goes well.. cross fingers

By the way, about traveling with luggage..are all the train station provided any big locker so we can keep our belonging especially for the day trip, any information, please ?

Last thing, any suggestion for a good 3-4 stars hotels nearby city center in Interlaken, Vevey, and Zurich?

One more time thank you very much and appreciates for all the information given it's really helpful for us.

Best Regards,
Maina

kja

For information on luggage lockers at Swiss train stations (and their manned luggage desks, too), go to the Swiss Rail web-site
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
click on "Station and services" near the top, just right of center,
enter the station name in the "Find your station" box.
Staffed counters are noted on the "services" tab, which is where you this step will take you.
For the lockers, click on "equipment" just to the right of "services"
You will see the number of each of the sizes, their cost, and their number.

Your trip sounds a bit rushed to me, but of course, it all depends on what you want to see and experience.

For hotels, have you checked booking.com?

swandav2000

Hi GBK,

For a Vevey hotel, I like the location and the looks of the Hostellerie Bon Rivage. It sits right next to the lake in the sweet and quiet suburb of La Tour-de-Peilz, about a 15 or 20 minute walk from the Vevey train station. There is a bus stop right at the hotel, so you can take the bus (#201) from the Vevey station to the bus stop.

Have fun as you plan!

s