Matterhorn Day Trip
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Matterhorn Day Trip
Flying into Geneva early morning on May 17th. Must visit Leysin [1/2 day] at some point but have thoughts of trying to visit Matterhorn before traveling to Munich via train for hotel reservation on May 19th. Is the Matterhorn an option or is it too much given our time frame? We have hotel reservations for Geneva [17/18] but would consider changing them.
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If you want just to see the Matterhorn even after making the long trek from Geneva up there there is a good chance that you will not see the famed mountain as it is not unusually shrouded in clouds or fog - so it is chancey if there for just an afternoon or so.
To get there take a train to Visp and change to the mountain railway that ends at Zermatt. Then back to Visp and catch mainline trains to Zurich and go onto Munich by there - same route for cars.
To get there take a train to Visp and change to the mountain railway that ends at Zermatt. Then back to Visp and catch mainline trains to Zurich and go onto Munich by there - same route for cars.
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If Leysin and the Matterhorn are top on our list to visit while in Switzerland, would it be best to stay overnight some place other than Geneva? My boyfriend spent a year in Leysin when he was 7 [42 years ago!] while his father taught at the American School there. He would like to go back to see it again. That is why we added Switzerland on to out trip.
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Yes I think staying in Leysin would be a far more memorable experience than in a big modern city like Geneva and Leysin is well on the way to Zermatt. For lots of great info on trains in Switzerland - not sure you are going by train - check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html.
You are not traveling enough to look at a Swiss Pass, I think but not sure as you are actually covering a lot of distance on trains - getting from Visp to Matterhorn and back will be rather expensive in itself - maybe $100 return.
You are not traveling enough to look at a Swiss Pass, I think but not sure as you are actually covering a lot of distance on trains - getting from Visp to Matterhorn and back will be rather expensive in itself - maybe $100 return.
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Zermatt to Munich will take most of a day on trains - first the 90 minutes or so down to Visp, change to the mainline via the new Lotschberg Tunnel to Bern and probably change there for Zurich and change there for Munich, about 4-5 hours from Munich.
If you want to visit an Alpine paradise at least on par with Zermatt and the Matterhorn and which fits more nicely into your travels to Munich consider going to the Interlaken area - like to Grindelwald, smack opposite the awesome Jungfrau Massif - the high point to me literally and figuratively in Switzerland - not the Matterhorn but several Alpine peaks just as high and in their own glacier-girdled way just as impressive - and closer to Munich by train.
If you want to visit an Alpine paradise at least on par with Zermatt and the Matterhorn and which fits more nicely into your travels to Munich consider going to the Interlaken area - like to Grindelwald, smack opposite the awesome Jungfrau Massif - the high point to me literally and figuratively in Switzerland - not the Matterhorn but several Alpine peaks just as high and in their own glacier-girdled way just as impressive - and closer to Munich by train.