mandavilla

Hi, we're a family of 4 (2 daughters 10 & 14) who are spending a week in Switzerland (and a week near Zell am See in a RCI time-share).

We're interested in the scenery, mountains, etc. Which areas of Switzerland would you all recommend & we'd also apppreciate ideas about great places to stay that aren't too pricey.

THANKS VERY MUCH! Mandavilla

bobthenavigator

The Berner Oberland IS the best of the Alps and demands several days. I would stay in Wengen or Grindelwald.

SloJan

The Engadine! It is my favorite part of Switzerland and the mountain vistas are different from what you would see in the Berner Oberland or in Zell am See. Also, the best foodin der Schweiz! Do a search here on Engadine and you will find a ton of recs.

Nice towns include, Guarda, Tarasp, Scuol, Poschiavo and Pontresina...plus many more!
Cheers,
Jan

cod

Like bobthenavigator, I would pick the Oberland, and definitely stay in Grindelwald. We were there in the summer, with children (7 of them, 17-9) and there was loads to do, and we all loved it. Your children would love Jungfrau and the cable cars and the Sports Centre.

dickv2

Good evening, mandavilla
My suggestion would be the Berneroberland, there is very much there to see, Grindelwald, Wengen, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald First, Schlithorn and the Jungfrau. the gondola bahn up the Mannlichen, various gondolas and cable cars along with the mountain railways. Grindelwald
is a good choice to stay, beleive it is a larger town within the BO. And for rainy days you can always go down
to Interlaken, use Lake Thun or Brienz
visit Brienz, and Ballenberg, Many
other sights, see www. berneroberland.ch..and search seperately for formentioned places..
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il...
HJotel prices are on both ends of the scale, infact you can stay in Gimmelwald in the loft of a barn for close to northing.........

rjv
Richard of LaGrange Park

dickv2

Good evening, Mandavilla
Just a second thought on hotels in theBerneroberland. We have always stayed at the Schweizerhof in Grindelwald with its indoor pool., however this is on the high end, and
two years back my nephew stayed in Murren at the two star Alpehblick hotel
with his family and they were very impressed with it, see www.muerren.ch/alpenblick..
Richard of LaGrange Park, Il

yildy

Just back from the trip. Zell am see in Austria is a place not to be missed. In Switzerland, we stayed (based) in Grindelwald and every day use to drive to wonderful sights, Luzern Interlaken, Jungfrau areas, Thun, etc....no end. Enjoy your trip. Let me know if you need detailed routes/names ([email protected])

Ingo

Since you are travelling from Austria to Switzerland I would highly recommend the Engadine (like SloJan did). It is right on the border to Austria while the Bernese Oberland is quite a distance to travel from Austria.

While the mountain scenery might not appear as gorgeous as in the Bernese Oberland at first sight it is still very impressive and once you get deeper in the valleys and up on the viewing points (hiking, cable cars) you will be stunned. The Engadine also offers more diversity IMO (the adjoining Swiss valleys Bregaglia and Valposchiavo provide (Swiss-) Italian ambience) and the food is better.

I'd suggest you stay in the picturesque village Zuoz, right in the middle between the Upper (St. Moritz) and Lower (Scuol) Engadine. Do a Bernina Express train ride, take the cable cars up to Muottas Muragl, Piz Corvatsch and Diavolezza, hike from Muottas Muragl to Alp Languard, in the Fex and Roseg valleys, make a day trip to Soglio, visit the picturesque village Guarda, relax in the spa in Scuol ... too much to do there.

Regarding accommodation I suggest you have a look into rental apartments. Check www.interhome.ch (or .com) for apartments in the Engadine or do a search on the website of Zuoz (www.zuoz.ch probably only in German). The 3star Hotel Klarer in the centre of Zuoz offers rental apartments and rooms. Haven't stayed there, but it seems to be reasonable and their restaurant is good (and the bakery in particular, hmmmmm).

If you don't mind to stay in a small village where no nightlife is available you should consider Guarda. A very charming nice B&B is Pension Val Tuoi. I have stayed there myself and friends did as well - fantastic. Rate per person incl. breakfast buffet 50 - 65 Sfr. (about 35 - 45 Euro).
http://www.pensionvaltuoi.ch/ (German only, send an email - they speak English)

Ingo

mr_go

Yeah, what Bob said about Grindelwald. Ditto.

We stayed there with our 9-year-old girl, and she loved it. There is no shortage of decent hotels in every price range. We enjoyed the hospitality in the place we stayed, the Hotel Gletschergarten. The view from the front porch looks like this:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...11424317eCiWPM

mandavilla

Now I have a crazy question: what mountain areas are within an hour or so of Basel?

We have a close friend who lives in Basel that we'd like to visit and spend time with. What areas are reasonable day trips from Basel?

Now, a more "normal" question: What length of stay do you all recommend for the Wengen, Grindlewald, Muerren area?

And, as you think about how long you'd recommend, I wanted to remind you all that we're traveling w/ 10 and 14 year old girls.

Then, the other question is that if we spend a week in the Zell am See area of Austria, would the mountains of Switzerland be redundant? We're planning on spending 4+ days in the Austrian mountains and a couple of days in Salzburg.

What's your guess? The mountains of Austria and Switzerland are different enough that we'd thoroughly enjoy both?

Thanks again for all your tremendous help!

Mandavilla

cod

We have never been to Austria, so I don't know what the mountains there look like. But as I said in an earlier post, we were in Grindelwald in the summer with 7 children (aged 17-9), and spent the whole fortnight there. You could certainly happily spend a week, but at least 4 days to do the main sights - a day for the Jungfrau, a day for Schilthorn,(see Murren)Lauterbrunnen and Trummelbach Falls, a day at First(hiking) and Pfingsted, and a day going to Mannelichen and walking to Kleine Scheidegg and see Wengen. Spare hours for the Sports Centre,paragliding, going to Interlaken and even white water rafting or a nice helicopter trip.Get a Jungfrau Pass for yourselves, and Junior cards for the children -these make the transport more affordable.We did the Ballenberg Museum too, and it was a worthwhile trip. Missed the Mystery Park in Interlaken, but it seemd good for a rainy day.