bjamie

Hi! My husband and I have travelled quite a bit, but never with our young daughter, and never to Switzerland before. We are traveling late June/early July of next year, and she will be almost 2 1/2 at the time. The plan right now it to fly into Zurich early morning, take the train immediately to Luzerne and spend the night. Day 2 we would move on to Murren and spend either 4 or 5 nights there. The big question is what do we do from there? We have either 2 or 3 more nights, depending on our Murren stay, and need to end up in Paris after that. I am considering two main options right now but am open to other suggestions! Cutting down on travel time and long days without anywhere for the kiddo to nap are a priority, but after spending several days in the Alps relaxing I feel like we could handle at least one longer day.
1.) Do the Golden Pass train to Lausanne, or is it possible to stop at the Chateau de Chillon on the way? Stay 2 nights in Lausanne, or nearby if you have a better suggestion
2.) Go straight from Murren to Bern and spend 2 nights there.

Again, we have a possible 3rd night available for this portion of the trip, but want to make sure we are well situated to continue on to Paris at the end! Thanks so much for your advice!

swandav2000

Hi bjamie,

How about spending those days in Montreux or Vevey instead of in Lausanne? Montreux and Vevey are smaller towns on Lake Geneva, and their lakeside areas are cozier and have more options for hotels & cafes, etc.

Lausanne is a big-ish city, and the main part of town is about 2 km from the lakeside (Ouchy).

If you like jazz, you may want to know that the world famous (or infamous) Montreux Jazz Fest will take place 1-16 July 2016. If you like jazz, you can get your hotel room now (!) and plan to see some concerts. If you don't like jazz, you should avoid Montreux completely and spend the time in Vevey.

If you want to stay in Lausanne but still see Chillon, yes of course it's quite easy. Just put your suitcases in luggage lockers at the Montreux train station, then walk downstairs to the lake and walk along the lakeside about 45 minutes to Chillon. After Chillon, take the town bus (#201) back to the train station to pick up your bags and continue on your way.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Edward2005

The first stop in your itinerary should be grandma's house to drop off the little one.

PalenQ

Yes taking the Golden Pass scenic train to Montreux (where it terminates) is great and spending some days on lovely Lake Geneva in Montreux or Vevey, two towns many find more romantic than the much larger bigger city of Lausanne, nice as it is - you can take a lake boat to Chateau Chillon if not wanting to do the lovely seaside walk with toddler or take the bus.

do a lake boat cruise - say over to Evian-les-Bains in France, a swank lakeside spa town famous of course for Evian water.

anyway if doing Zurich-Lucerne-Murren-Montreux by train the Swiss Pass will probably be a boon to you - hop on virtually any train anytime and lakes boats and buses are covered too.

for lots of great info on Swiss trains and passes check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Christina

YOu don't have to walk to Chillon (which I really think would be a burden with a toddler for that distance), there is a bus. It's pretty far, after all, about 3 km. Not sure how you'd do that wiht a toddler.

I think the idea of staying in Lausanne was for the convenience to the train station you need when leaving, although I'm sure it's a fine city, also. If you stay in Montreux, you'll have to take the train there to transfer, I imagine. But if that wasn't the reason for the idea, the Golden Pass train does go to Montreux. In fact, I thought it ended there. So 2 nights in a smaller place might be nice.

PalenQ

Take a TGV train to Paris from either Lausanne or Geneva - whatever gives you the cheapest fare - both are short train rides from Montreux - Lausanne a very short one. Check www.voyages-sncf.com for discounted fares or www.capitainetrain.com.

PalenQ

Assuming you have a good baby stroller a 2-mile walk on wide flat well-paved paths could be fun - bring a picnic and stop half way and take bus or boat back.

NorCal_Jo

We took our kids to Switzerland every summer for three years straight starting when my youngest was about 2.5. Switzerland is kids (and adults) paradise IMO! Murren is great with kids. There is a small playground right in town (across from rec center) as well as they have remodeled the playground at the top of the Allmendhubel funicular and there are lots of beautiful and small walks so perfect for young ones. If you look under my tag name you can see a trip report I did for one of our summer visits.

For the extra nights, I suggest you stay in Vevey as noted by a few others. We've stayed in Vevey and Montreux but I preferred Vevey with the young kids. You can walk along a wide promenade that is very kid friendly and there is even a carousel, a fountain (which many kids can be found wading in) and a playground by the ferry pier. Also, the hotels you a free pass to ride the local bus which is a super easy way to get to Chillon (and I'm not a bus person)as the buses run constantly between Vevey, Montreux, Chateau Chillon, etc. Our kids thought riding the bus was really fun. But the BIG excitement for my kids was the train park across the lake in Le Bouveret (called Swiss Vapeur Parc). It is a lovely little miniature train park where kids and adults can ride the trains around a small scale landscape. Can take the ferry to/from Le Bouveret and it's a perfect day.

suze

I agree to stay in Vevey (or Montreux) over Lausanne. Smaller, more beautiful, much easier to get around.

mokka4

If for any reason, you do not end up choosing the Vevey area, FWIW, I liked Bern very much.
Your daughter may like the (new and ?improved) bear garden. There are tons of eclectic shops, outdoor cafes and eateries, all covered by an approximate 2 mile long ?sandstone walkway (Lauben), which is great in rain or shielding a toddler from too much sun.

PalenQ

On the not so unusual rainy day in the Alps go down to Interlaken and take the train to Bern, which like mokka4 says is a real gem - covered walkways in the town center are nice in wet weather and the bear pit is cool - kids will love it.

But Bern is a big city - you may find it more relaxing to stay in a Vevey or Montreux - take lake boat rides your kiddo will love, etc.

bjamie

PalenQ that is a great idea! I think we are going to do Vevey but it is easy to forget how close together everything really is and that Bern could be a day trip!

PalenQ

From Vevey taking the Chocolate Train or regular trains over the same route lets you see Gruyeres - a perfectly walled medieval city and also the Broc-Factory station and the adjacent Callier (Nestle) Chocolate plant for a Willy Wonkaesque tour - don't fall in the vats!

http://www.la-gruyere.ch/en/Chocolate-Train.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=choc...FUx8kgodlHUPLA

the official Chocolate Train is in vintage Pullman cars and is first class only - Swiss Pass honored but with a supplement - used to serve wine and cheese on board but not sure about that - came up in a recent thread and forget the details. Regular trains run over the same route with I think a change or two of trains - easy changes.

swandav2000

Hi again,

Happy you're leaning toward Vevey -- lovely town that should be wonderful in July!!

However, since you'll have so few days there, I really wouldn't "waste" one of them doing the Chocolate Train, especially since that train goes over the same tracks that you'll be taking to get from Interlaken to Vevey, the Golden Pass route.

If you want to see Gruyeres and/or the Chocolate Factory at Broc-Fabrique, I recommend instead that you do in while enroute from Interlaken (Mürren) to Vevey (Montreux). You can send your luggage ahead using the SBB's luggage service, and then make a stop in Gruyeres and/or Broc-Fabrique. It only entails a quick detour from the Montbovon station on the Golden Pass route.

You can, of course, choose to travel in a Pullman car even if you're not on the Chocolate Train; the MOB uses many of those wagons on their Golden Pass marketed trains.

No, there is no wine/cheese served on board. Or rather, it is probably served at the bistro car or the restaurant car if your train has one of these, but it is not included and served as part of the Chocolate Train. Or, of course, you can always buy cheese and wine in Gruyeres and then have a picnic at your seat as you continue on your journey to Montreux/Vevey.

They do serve croissant and coffee included as part of the Chocolate Train.

Let us know if you have further questions!

s

PalenQ

Good advice as usual from swandav200 - I guess doing those two things with a toddler on one day from Murren to Montreux/Vevey would make it a very very long day out of what is already a long day but as swan outlines it is very possible though to me with a toddler too much perhaps in one day.