wrenwood

We will be in Riquewhir France for 7 nights, and then in Murren Switzerland for 5 nights, and after that we would depart from Zurich.

We have 2-3 nights to spend somewhere else between BO and Zurich, any suggestions?

Dukey1

Lucern?

WeisserTee

You might get more helpful suggestions if you tell us what you'd like to do -- take a lake cruise? Go to museums? Attend a concert? Would you rather be in a city, a small town or another village?

nukesafe

BO?

wrenwood

BO = Bernese Oberland

Open to any suggestions, Lucerne is a possibility, my husband and I have been there briefly, his sister who will be with us has not

No concerts or shopping ~ small city, town, village, scenic, historical, I have no firm idea on this

simpsonc510

I think Lucerne would be ideal.

michelhuebeli

Appenzell - very scenic small iconic town, look it up, www.appenzell.info/en.

Nearby is the Saentis mountain with incredible views - check out http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/s...hwaegalp2.html.

In 1:38 hour you can be at the airport in Zürich (by train).

docdan

Actually you could throw a dart at a map of Switzerland and just go where the dart lands. The whole place is wonderful to my eye. My family spent 3 nights in Luzern a year ago and thouroughly enjoyed it, and that is the logical choice. If you'd like a smaller town nestled in an impossbily narrow valley, just south of Luzern, is the small town of Engleberg which was too beutiful for words. To get there you'd take the train for Luzern, but transfer at Hergiswil. Teh train ride itself is an attraction unto inself, and the town has a nice assortment of shopping, restaurants and lodging.

Pepper_von_snoot

You could do Bern or Luzern.

I am not a big fan of Zurich.

If you stay in either Bern or Luzern you can take the train right to Zürich Flughafen.

No need to stay in very expensive and snooty Zürich.

Thin

swandav2000

Hi wrenwood,

It's not exactly "between" the Oberland and Zürich, but it would provide a good contrast to them -- Gstaad or Chateau d'Oex. These towns sit in the beautiful rolling hills as the Prealps begin to build to the high Alps; it's a great place for biking or walking in the valleys, or ascending the lower mountains and doing some walking.

It's a great area for excursions -- you can easily visit Montreux or Vevey on Lake Geneva, Rougemont, or Gruyeres and its castle and cheese factory, or Broc-Fabrique and its chocolate factory. There are also lots of nice walks in the Gruyeres/Bulle area.

More information at

www.gruyeres.ch
www.cheatau-doex.ch

You can go to Zürich via Zweisimmen and Bern.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Ingo

There are simply too many options. Appenzell is totally out of the way, though, IMO.

Lucerne is the logical choice.

Other ideas: Rapperswil, Winterthur if you like a bigger town (size close to Lucerne, but less touristy).

wrenwood

We will have a car, so a train connection is not important.

I do like the idea of visiting Lucerne again. My husband and I stayed with his brother and wife in Weggis and took the boat to Lucerne, and also went up Mt Rigi. I would be happy doing that again as my husband's sister will be with us this time, and she has not been to Lucerne.

I think a small city atmosphere, and a lake or river would be a nice contrast to Riquewhir and Murren.

I've also thought of Neuchatel and Bern (haven't been to either place) Are there scenic boats on Lake Neuchatel? How do Neuchatel and Bern compare with Lucerne?

Ingo mentioned Solthurn in another thread, it looks lovely. Old town with lots of history, called a "Baroque Jewel" Verena Gorge and Hermitage looks interesting too

cute video
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/solothurn.html

michelhuebeli

Neuchâtel/Neuenburg as an interesting historic town - not so much. Bern has a larger historic center than Lucerne, but no lake. For boats on the lake of Neuchâtel see www.navig.ch - nearby are the small lake of Murten/Morat and the somewhat larger lake of Biel/Bienne; the double-names reflect the fact that this is on the language border between German (Swiss dialects) and French.

If you sleep in Bern, you have the best of all those worlds - quick trips to Neuchâtel and Solothurn in one day, lots of dining and sightseeing choices right in town (the historic center is not a museum but a real city center at the same time, with the cathedral and the Federal Parliament Buildings etc.). Also look up the nearby Roman excavations in Avenches (Aventicum in Latin) at www.aventicum.org for an interesting stop and look on your way to Neuchâtel.

wrenwood

michelhuebeli, that's a good idea. Bern is pretty central to some of the other towns and villages of interest.

Have you been to Bern, do you recommend any hotel B&B in particular?

Ingo

Bern is probably my favourite Swiss city. I stayed at Hotel Waldhorn, not bad but I would not stay there again, I think.

I did the cruise on the three lakes from Bern (Biel, Neuchatel, Murten) and thought it was too much time on the lakes for just one day. Lake Biel is most scenic IMO, Murten is the most beautiful of the towns I visited (very similar to Bern, just smaller). I liked the vineyards at Lake Biel very much, these small towns like Ligerz, Twann, La Neuveville etc. are picturesque.

Solothurn is fantastic, too. Too bad the Weissenstein chair lift is out of operation now (going to be replaced by a larger lift).

All in all, Bern has the right size, it's perfect IMO. Just no lake - but the river on three sides of the old town.

wrenwood

Ingo, will the Weissenstein chair lift be in operation by next June/July?

Ingo

No. Earliest is September 2014.

simpsonc510

I've been to Neuchatel several times and would not consider it to be that interesting, although it is very scenic with the lake. Lucerne has a lot more to do IMO.

wrenwood

At this point it looks like a toss-up between Lucerne and Bern

kja

I don't think you would go wrong with either Lucerne or Bern.

I wonder if the weather might be more critical to a visit to Lucerne than to Bern. When it is sunny and beautiful, it is hard to imagine a more beautiful city than Lucerne. And it is IMO still very well worth seeing on a rainy or overcast day, but my impression is that there are fewer places where one would want to spend a chunk of time indoors in Lucerne than in Bern. That could easily just reflect my personal interests, though. For example, I was very impressed with the Historisches Museum in Bern and also thought its Kunstmuseum well worth seeing; I spent hours at each. Lucerne has the Rosengart Collection - a small, but excellent collection with a focus on (but not limited to) Picasso and Klee. Very well worth seeing, but wouldn't take as long. Likewise, some of the places I personally would want to visit from Bern would be a bit less dependent on the weather than places to which I would day-trip from Lucerne. Again, maybe that's just me.