maryedejong

Hello all,

I have spent quite a bit of time reviewing the valuable information in this forum - thank you! I am hoping to get some advice on our itinerary for June 2016. My husband and I will be traveling with our 7-year old son. We live in the United States. We will be in Europe for just over two weeks.

Our tentative plan is:

6/11 - arrive at AMS midday
6/12, 6/13, 6/14 - Amsterdam
6/15 - travel to Paris
6/16, 6/17, 6/18 - Paris
6/19 - travel to Lausanne
6/20 - Lausanne
6/21 - travel to Murren
6/22, 6/23 - Murren
6/24 - travel to Geneva
6/25 - travel back home

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts/advice on this itinerary. In particular:

Should we take a day away from Paris and instead spend it in Murren (or Lausanne)?

Is Lausanne worth the stop, or are there other destinations that are more worthwhile? We have not traveled in Switzerland and would like a bigger city destination in addition to Murren.

Any advice on kid-friendly sites in Paris? Where should we stay in Paris?

In short, I am hoping for any advice on the Paris and Switzerland portions of the tip. We will be visiting family in the Netherlands, so that part of the trip is taken care of.

Thanks!!

maryedejong

Oh, I forgot to add that we will be traveling solely by train. Thanks again!!

nytraveler

Well for a larger town in Switz I would do Lucerne versus Lausanne. The town is cute has ancient walls to explore a couple of small museums, steamers on the lake to a number of cut villages and easy access to a couple of smaller mountains (Pilatus, Rigi, Titlis) that you have a better chance of seeing without running into cloud at the top..

Edward2005

"Should we take a day away from Paris and instead spend it in Murren (or Lausanne)?"

Wing it based on the weather forecast. If the alpine weather is poor, then add time to Paris. A bright sunny day in the alps may be worth deducting a day elsewhere.

"Any advice on kid-friendly sites in Paris? Where should we stay in Paris?"

Dinosaurs! Visit the Natural History Museum on Rue Cuvier. And there's Paris Disney.

maryedejong

Thanks for your feedback, nytraveler and Edward2005!

We will definitely consider Lucerne. One of the reasons we were leaning toward Lausanne is that it is easy to get to Montreux from there and we would like to take the scenic railway to Interlaken. Perhaps if we take a day away from Paris, we could add a day in Interlaken or Lucerne on the way to or from Murren.

As much as I am hesitant to add items to the itinerary, I don't want to make the trip from Paris too long. Another plus for stopping in Lausanne perhaps?

And, Edward2005, I'm not the best at winging it, as you can probably tell by the fact that I am planning a June 2016 trip right now! I prefer to have our accommodations set before we leave, especially traveling with a child, but we are definitely expecting to have inclement weather along the way.

Thanks again!

swandav2000

Hi maryedejong,

Well, the trip from Paris to Mürren is less than 7 hours, so I don't think I would consider that to be "too" long. I would far prefer that to having a one-night stop, which brings the hassle of hauling stuff to the hotel, checking in, and unpacking; then the next morning you have to pack up and check out, and haul stuff back to the station. So if it were me, I would just get the travel done with and enjoy my chosen destination.

What you might want to do is take the train to Montreux (or Vevey) and put your cases into a locker at the station. Then walk all up and down the lakeside promenade (or the old town of Vevey) and have lunch at a restaurant with views over the lake. Then collect your bags and continue on, on the Golden Pass scenic route to Mürren. That way, you'll wake up at the place you wanted to be!

I would also not cut a day from Paris, especially if this is your first visit.

For a big-Swiss-city hit, yes, Luzern is a good choice, but there doesn't seem to be room in your itinerary for it. I would just get that hit in Geneva before your flight back home. Alternately, you could stay in Solothurn, a beautiful city (which is on my list of places I NEED to visit, lol) in the French section. It's about 2h from Geneva by direct train. If your flight leaves in the afternoon, you could even stay in Solothurn the night before your departure. Or you could pick Neuchatel for the night before departure.

Anyway -- have fun as you plan!

s

pariswat

Hi

I would definitely NOT cut a day in Paris, you ahve 3,5 days that is not too many.

I would not go to Disney either, unless you have no access to such a park close to home.

Kid friendly sites in Paris : 'le jardin des plantes' is always nice, and 'la cité de la science' is recommended, but I did the section for older kids, and it was not worthwhile at all. 'Le palais de la découverte' close to la Seine is quite nice too. Le 'musée de l'armée' at les 'Invalides' was a must for me when I was 7.

As to where to stay in Paris, I'd recommend staying anywhere a few hundreds meters from any 'portes' (doors - separating Paris 'intramuros' from the highway (périphérique).

US tourists tend to prefer the arrondissements 4 to 6, Europeans tend to go a little further away (8th, 16th, 18th etc).

You may easily find triple rooms in Paris.

Enjoy your trip !

neckervd

"Is Lausanne worth the stop, or are there other destinations that are more worthwhile?"
The Lausanne - Lake Geneva area is beautiful (I prefer it to the Lucerne area), but there are many good alternatives nevertheless.
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

Do you fly home from Geneva? In this case I would travel directly from Paris to Interlaken - Muerren etc. (TGV via Basel).

SWiTZERLAND WITH CHILDREN

As public transport is rather expensive in Switzerland, study carefully the sites about Swiss Travel Pass, Swiss Travel Pass Flexy and Swiss half fare card: http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/home.html

Check the Swiss Travel System Family Card
The Swiss Travel System Family Card is issued at no cost to parents who wish to take along their children under the age of 16 at no cost. Please note that at least one parent has to travel with the child/ren.

Some ideas:

historic steamboats on Lake Geneva:
http://www.cgn.ch/horaires/pdf/AffA2-ete-10.pdf
http://www.cgn.ch/eng/flotte

Swiss Vapeur Park Le Bouveret:
http://www.swissvapeur.ch/en/index.php

Signal de Bougy:
http://www.parc-aventure.ch/Signal-de-Bougy/
http://www.signaldebougy.ch/

Menhirs at Yverdon
http://www.yverdonlesbainsregion.ch/...menhirs_clendy

Blonay-Chamby historic railway:
http://www.blonay-chamby.ch/index-en.php

Chillon castle:
http://www.chillon.ch/en/

Gruyeres castle, cheese diary and chocolate factory:
http://www.chateau-gruyeres.ch/e/mul...spectacle.html
http://www.la-gruyere.ch/en/navpage-...FR-120085.html
http://www.lamaisondugruyere.ch/inde...=142&Itemid=56
http://www.lamaisondugruyere.ch/inde...=142&Itemid=56

Chatelard-Emosson (Mont Blanc area):
http://www.chatelard.net/english/pages/descr_e.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emosson
http://www.emosson.ch/PublicEN/default-en.htm

Zermatt-Gornergrat:
http://www.gornergrat.ch/home/index.php
http://www.klein-matterhorn.ch/photos/
http://www.zermatt.ch/en/index.cfm

Entirely walled city of Murten:
http://www.murtentourismus.ch/en/nav...nFR-99305.html
http://www.murtentourismus.ch/en/nav...-MurtenFR.html
Medieval city of Bern:
http://www.berninfo.com/en/page.cfm/Information
http://www.kleinbahn-gurten.ch/

Swiss Village Park Ballenberg:
http://ballenberg.ch/en/Welcome

Lugano and Swissminiatur:
http://www.lugano-tourism.ch/en/291/default.aspx
http://www.swissminiatur.ch/

Seewen in the Jura close to Basel:
http://www.bundesmuseen.ch/musikauto...x.html?lang=en

Rapperswil:
http://www.zuerichsee.ch/en/page.cfm...FamilyDRZ/1230
http://www.knieskinderzoo.ch/
http://www.zuerichsee.ch/en/page.cfm/SightsRZ
http://www.zuerich.com/en/page.cfm/r...gion_zuerich_x

Rhine Falls Adventure Park
http://www.rheinfall.ch/Attraktionen...ark?lang=en-US

Furka steam train
http://www.furka-bergstrecke.ch/eng/train/timetable.php

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/interests/family.html
http://www.takethefamily.com/where/s...ays-and-breaks
http://www.eparenting.co.uk/family_h...tzerland.shtml
http://www.reka.ch/en/rekaferien/Pages/default.aspx
http://littletravellers.com/destinat...y-switzerland/

maryedejong

Wow, so much great advice!

I realize that I made a significant mistake in my itinerary description, above. We are not departing from Geneva at the end of our trip - we are leaving from Zurich. So having Murren (and, possibly, Lucerne) at the end of the trip makes sense when we only have to get to Zurich to head home.

I actually found a great deal on airfare last night, so we already booked our tickets. We are leaving a day earlier (6/9). I am not sure if we will add that day to our Netherlands stay, or if we will use that day to add a stop in Lucerne or extend our stay in Lausanne/Montreux.

Still not sure if we will head straight from Paris to Murren, with a stop for lunch in Montreaux, as suggested, or if we will spend some time in Lausanne.

Re: Paris - we will keep our stay at 3.5 days, per your recommendations. I have been before, but my husband and son have not. We are not planning to go to Disney (not our scene), but will definitely look into the suggested museums.

Does anyone have an opinion about some of the alternatives to the Palace of Versailles? Our son is very interested in seeing a "castle" and we were thinking he may have more fun at something a bit more low-key than Versailles. I found a list of other options, but I'm not sure if they are comparable and if we can reach them by train.

http://www.travelling-kids.com/top-1...-around-paris/

pariswat

Hi
I saw 6 castles of your list, the one I would definitely return to with my son would be Pierrefonds, it looks the most like a castle for a kid.
Seems the series 'Merlin' were shot there, but I haven't seen those...

Bitter

Paris: My kids enjoyed climbing the Arc, and going up the Eiffel. Les Invalides has some neat military stuff that might capture your son's imagination (as long as you don't overstay).

I repeat myself, but Vincennes is an underrated castle with a (dry) moat draw bridges, etc. I highly recommend it.

The Louvre, again if you don't overstay, can be interesting, particularly the sculptures.

Pompidou and the fountain nearby is reasonably interesting/whimsical. We did go through the gallery. I don't recall them being particularly interested. There also might be nudity that you may or may not be comfortable with.

Basically we took them everywhere we wanted to go, but kept them moving so that, even if they weren't thrilled, they didn't have too long to be bored, if that makes sense.

You might want to have him try some croque sandwiches before you go. That might be a good staple food at most restaurants, though we also found they enjoyed crepes. Pizza is often available.

Not sure it was worth it, but there is a Hippopotumus (sp?) family chain in Paris. Kind of an Applebees of sorts.

Christina

I think Vincennes is an excellent idea for someone who just wants to see a castle. And it's right at the end of a metro line, so doesn't take as much time to get to/from. Versailles isn't a castle, anyway. I suppose second might be Chantilly, which is very small, but then again, doesn't have the size, history nor importance of Vincennes, and I suspect might not be as interesting to a child. Adults like it as it has a small art museum and nice gardens. Chantilly is really just a private home/mansion. Vincennes is very important in French history, and is a large complex with various points of interest and things to see and was a royal residence and fortification.

PalenQ

for oodles of great info on the train part check these sites: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

In Switzerland with the plans you have a Swiss Pass may well be a great deal - covers not only trains but lake boats and postal buses and city transports and gives 50% off on most aerial gondolas and trains to mountain tops - www.swisstravelsystem.com is a great site on Swiss trains.

Between Interlaken and Geneva you can take the Golden Pass train - one of those iconic Swiss scenic trains - takes a bit longer than the mainline route but oh oh so much more scenic.

PalenQ

Should we take a day away from Paris and instead spend it in Murren (or Lausanne)?>

I'd take Lasuanne out of the equation completely and maybe substitute lovely Lucerne for it - a big city too but much more of interest to do - boat rides on lovely Lake Lucerne the kiddo will love - and a scenic train ride over the Brunig Pass to Interlaken.

Take a TGV from Paris to Basel - start using your Swiss Pass to go to Lucerne for a few days then on - Lausanne is a pleasant large city but not nearly so as Lucerne, one of the prettiest cities in Switzerland.

I would not take any time away from Paris but add a day there if possible.

PalenQ

and you can also ride the Golden Pass special scenic train between Lucerne and Interlaken-Ost - jumping off point for Murren and the hill towns. A Swiss Pass covers travel to Murren in full - even the thrillin' aerial cable car that takes you right up the cliffs from Lauterbrunnen's train station. Check out Wengen too - just as isolated as Murren but not nearly so remote - many things that most folks do are much closer to Wengen than to Murren.

Many folks have raved about Wengen in the past - it is car-less car-free and has stupendous views of the high Alps, as does Murren - well Murren's may even be more awesome.

maryedejong

I am having so much fun thinking about/planning for this trip, thanks to all of you! I have made some revisions to our itinerary and would appreciate your thoughts!

6/10-arrive AMS at noon
6/11, 6/12, 6/13 - AMS
6/14 - travel to Paris
6/15, 6/16, 6/17 - Paris
6/18 - travel to Murren. Stop in Montreux for lunch. Scenic train to Interlaken.
6/19, 6/20, 6/21 - Murren
6/22 - travel to Lucerne
6/23, 6/24 - Lucerne
6/25 - train to Zurich airport and travel home. International flight at 2pm.

Two specific questions

I am still a little doubtful about the Paris to Murren travel day. We don't expect to "see" Montreux, but a stop for lunch would be nice. Is it too much to also take the scenic train to Interlaken and then travel to Murren (cable cars, etc)?

Is it reasonable to travel from Lucerne to the Zurich airport on the day of our flight? The flight leaves at 2pm.

Thanks again!

Edward2005

Trains run from Luzern directly to the Zurich airport about every hour and take about 40 minutes. In my last trip out of CH I stayed in Luzern the night before departure and made the flight easily.

swandav2000

Hi again,

If you left Paris at 08.02, you would arrive in Montreux at 12.04 (change in Lausanne). You could spend 2 or 3 hours in Montreux and leave at 15.44, arriving in Mürren at 19.51 (3 changes). Plenty of time to check into your hotel and settle in, then wake up in Mürren.

You can play with the departure/arrival times and schedules at the German rail site

www.bahn.com

Have fun!

s

kja

Jumping in late here, but especially with a child, I would look into lodging in Wengen rather than Murren -- its easier to reach and honestly, I liked it better. Others may disagree.

Have fun!

neckervd

Paris dp 8.02 (you will probably have to leave your hotel around 7am) - Montreux 12.04/15.44 - Golden Pass - Muerren ar 19.51 is feasible (it will get dark around 21.30); but you will sit 9 1/2 hrs in trains.
Spend the whole afternoon at Montreux and sleep there. There is so much to do and to see in this area (see my post above)!

Alternarively, you may go by train from Paris dp 8.02 to Rivaz ar 12.14 (change at Lausanne 11.37/12.00) and go on by historic steamboat sp 12.27 (pier a few steps from the railway station) up to Chillon Castle ar 13.30 (restaurant on board of the boat; luggage lockers in the castle), visit the castle and continue by train from Chillon castle train station dp 15.26 to Montreux - Golden Pass - Muerren ar 19.51.