sundown

We will be spending 8 days in Switzerland in early October. Solothurn will be our base because we have friends nearby. We have rates and some info. for the Astoria and Zunfthaus zu Wirthen in Solothurn and also on the Kreuz in the little town of Subingen nearby, where our friends live. Any recommendations?

Also, a question on baggage and the train system: We fly into Zurich and will be making our way over to Solothurn the first day. We plan to stop off in Aarau and visit some friends but would rather not drag our suitcases around with us. Can we check the bags at the Aarau train station then pick them up when we continue our trip? Or is there some method of checking luggage through to your destination city and picking it up there at the end of the day?

DAX

YES, you can send your luggage from the Zurich airport to Solothurn but it costs around 20 CHF per piece. Just go down to the lowest floor in terminal B where you buy the train tickets. You can ask the ticket seller how & where. I believe there is a counter labeled Gepack for sending lugage. Your suitcases may arrive on a later train, which doesn't matter in your case.

There should also be a "Schliessfach" or locker available for rent inside the Aarau train station (like in all towns in Switzerland), it'll cost a lot less but you'll be hauling your suitcases back & forth. I would play it safe by sending at least your heavy luggage. Unfortunately we drove into those towns and never saw the trainstation.

We've been to Aarau & Solothurn a couple of times meeting our friends who live there too, although only for dinners. Both have very attractive old towns. I never stayed overnight in those towns, so I'm not familiar with the hotels.

Andre

sundown,

Can't help with hotels in Solothurn, but you can also check your luggage all the way through to Solothurn from your departure airport anywhere in the WORLD! No need to claim it at Zurich airport! If you live in N. America, just get fly rail luggage tags ($15 per suitcase) from Rail Europe:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/pa...il_baggage.htm

The luggage claim at Solothurn station is open daily until 20:50. There is an outside chance that your luggage will only make it to Solothurn a day after you arrive, so pack a change of underwear in your carry on ;-)

BTW, both Solothurn and Aarau indeed have beautiful old towns and in addition Aarau has an excellent art museum.

Hope this helps,
Andre

swandav2000

Hi sundown,

Just an update on the luggage. I've taken advantage of the Swiss train luggage service many times, but they recently changed their guarantee from same-day arrival to 48 hours. I tested this in May, fully expecting the Swiss train folks to get my bag to me in 24 hours. But no. It did take the full 48 hours, and I got to enjoy wearing dirty clothes on day 2 to pick up my bag.

I talked to a Swiss man about this change, and he told me that many Swiss are also upset about the new 48-hour guarantee. He said many Swiss count on that luggage service while on holiday, and they're not happy with this new wrinkle . . .

So I'd advise you to use the luggage lockers rather than the luggage checking service.

Hope this helps.

s

sundown

Thank you for the responses.
Are luggage lockers available at most stations and what is the cost? Will they hold larger suitcases?

Also, what can you tell me about Solothurn? I've only been there once and that was years ago.

sundown

Sorry, I was referring to the Canton. You gave me some nice comments about the city! Are there any daytrips in the general vicinity or would I be better off concentrating on some longer trips to Lucerne, Berne, etc.?