pbindigo

I have a 12 day trip to Switzerland of which I plan to stay 7 days in Interlaken. For the remaining 5 days I would like to spend time in Eastern/Southern Switzerland (Appenzell/St.Moritz/Lugano). Instead of switching around hotels every (other) day, are there suggestions to home base somewhere and make day trips? Is Chur a good option or any other choices available? Appreciate insights from experts on this board

nytraveler

You don;t say when you are going which canmake a big difference.'

I wouldn;t spend a week in Interlaken since this is mostly a plces to do things from. Either the mountain villages (for sights and hiking), trips up the mountain (fro te views from the top), on the lakes (for the various cute towns.

Interlaken itself doens;t have much to do. I would be more likely to spend 3/4 days in Lucerne and the others in a village actually part way up the mountains - assuming you want to see/walk some of the outdoors.

(We spend 3 nights in Interlaken - waiting for a day with good weather to ascend the Jungfrau. One day (raining) we drove to Thun to visit the castle and the cute town and another (sunny but not at the top) we went to Gruyere to see the cheese making, village and castle. The third day we went up the Jungfrau and then spent the night in Lucerne - which is much cuter and has way more to do .

pbindigo

The actual village we will be staying at is Grindelwald. We have purchased a Swiss Pass and the intent is to visit nearby places including Jungfrau/Lauterbrunnen/Wengen/Lucerne keeping Grindelwald as the base while we are there depending on the weather. We will be visiting in late Sep/early Oct.

We are looking for a similar central point as base to visit places on interest in Eastern and Southern Switzerland

PalenQ

St Moritz or Pontresina make great bases for the Bernina Pass and Majola Pass areas - to me one of the most astounding places in Switzerland - take the Bernina Pass Railway which to me is Europe's most awesomely scenic rail line - do it as a leisurely day trip from St Moritz or Pontresina.

If doing `12 days in Switzerland and traveling around a lot whether from bases or between bases as you seem to be doing, and as I do, check out by all means the 15-consecutive-day Swiss Pass (yes even if only being there 12 days) as it covers virtually all your travels in full save conveyances to mountain tops which it usually gives 50% off on. It also covers lake boats, postal buses, specialty scenic trains and gives free entry to over 400 Swiss museums.

Anyway great sources for getting the dope on Swiss trains, passes and things like the Half-Fare Card and Swiss Card (which offers everything the Half-Fare Card does but also a trip from any border point or airport to any place in Switzerland and back to any border point or airport and thus may perhaps for some be a better deal then the Half-Fare Card) - check out these fab IMO sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www,budgeteuropetravel.com (they have a good online descriptions of the Bernina Pass rail route); www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Swiss Passes have often been cheaper if bought in the U.S. than the same exact pass in Switzerland so check prices for passes in both dollars and Swiss francs to see which currently is best - and when comparing regular fares to the pass compare with pass prices in dollars as well as Swiss francs.

Mimar

From Interlaken Ost you can take the steamer on Lake Brienz. (Get off at Brienz and take the bus to the Swiss Open Air Museum.) From Interlaken West you can take the steamer on Lake Thun. Lake steamers are covered by the Swiss Pass.

Various trains up into the Bernese Oberland leave from Interlaken Ost. We especially liked the view of the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the peaks from the train to Schynigeplatte. With the Swiss Pass you get 50% off this train fare.

And various adventure activities are based out of Interlaken. So it's hard to imagine nytraveler finding so little to do there.

swandav2000

Hi pbindigo,

I agree with PalenQ that Pontresina or St. Moritz (or the nearby towns of Zuoz or Sils) make good bases for the Engadin Valley. From any of those spots, you can easily get to the Bernina Valley, Soglio, and all up & down the Engadin.

However, I don't think there is one base from which you can see St. Moritz, Lugano, & Appenzell. For instance, it will take 2h35 to go from Chur to Lugano (I always limit my day-trips to two hours of transport in each direction -- or else there is very little joy in the day!). Even though it only takes two hours to get from Chur to St. Moritz, go see anthing else in that area (the parks, the lakes, Soglio, the Bernina Valley), it will take about another hour in each direction. St. Moritz the big town itself isn't a big draw; it's a draw because of the scenery you can reach from there.

Like nytraveler, I wouldn't base in Interlaken because it doesn't have the same charm as the other villages in the area -- imo. I think you'll be happy in Grindelwald.

Good luck as you plan!

s

Ingo

swandav is spot on. You cannot find ONE base for all three destinations you mentioned. Skip one of them and base yourself in Pontresina or Sils for the Engadin/Bregaglia/Poschiavo valleys and stay two nights in the Ticino (Locarno or Ascona my favourites).

PalenQ

From Locarno you can hop the Centovalli scenic train line to Domodossola, Italy where you get trains to Brig and then anywhere in Switzerland - back to your airport. The 100 Valleys or Centovalli train is fully covered by a Swiss Pass even though it goes thru Italy - Domodossola to Brig should also be covered in full by a Swiss Pass.

PalenQ

You could spend a few days in Sat Moritz area, then hop the awesomely scenic Majola Pass postal bus to Lugano and then return after a stay there or in Locarno via the Centovalli Railway via Domodossola and Brig to Zurich or Geneva airports.

appenzell is nice but as a base IMO there is not much to hop to that rivals St Moritz or Ticino.