I've finally booked flights for our family of 4 in and out of Geneva for 13 nights at the end of June/early July. I've been reading other posts as I start to put together an itinerary. We will be traveling by train, ideally staying in 3 places for 4 nights each. My top choices so far are Vevey and Wengen. Zermatt has been recommended as well as Basel. I'm leaning toward Basel, to get a feel for the German part of Switzerland, and maybe to do a day trip into Germany, and possibly over to Strasbourg. Would this be possible? I'm thinking:
-arrive Geneva and ferry to Vevey (does ferry go to Vevey?) for 4 nights.
-Vevey to Wengen, possibly on the Golden Pass train, and 4 nights in Wengen
-Wengen to Basel for 4 nights (is there an easy route by train and is 4 nights too long?)
-Basel to Geneva, spend 1 night near airport and fly out the next day.
I've seen plenty of posts regarding Vevey and Wengen, but not much on Basel. Would those 4 nights be better spent elsewhere?
I also saw someone's post about luggage and safety on the trains, and also a mention that you can send it ahead. We're planning to get a Swiss Rail pass so I'll have to look for information on that. Any advice?
Thanks.

Hi Kathysa,

What fun you'll have; 13 nights in Switzerland will be wonderful. I have a few comments:

The ferry does go to Vevey, but it'll be about five hours. To me, that's just too much of a good thing; I think it would be better to do a ferry trip on another day and to keep it to about two hours. The train trip from Geneva to Vevey will be about 90 minutes. You can get all the ferry schedules at

www.cgn.ch

The Swiss rail baggage service is very convenient, but it's neither cheap nor fast. It costs 10 chf per bag for slow service (48 hours) or 20 chf for same-day service (in by 09.00, pick up AFTER 18.00, and be sure the station will be open after 18.00). Here's the link:

http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...isegepaeck.htm

I personally adore Basel because of its incredible history, its incredible cathedral, its incredible old town, and its beautiful spot on the Rhine. However, you should know that it's nowhere near the mountains. It is quite an international town, of course, because of its geographical position and because of the many pharmaceutical firms that are headquartered there. You can get information at its tourist site

www.basel.com

Have fun with your research!

s

Thank you. I think we'll pass on the ferry as a mode of transportation from Geneva to Vevey. 5 hours is a little too long. I'll definitely check out those web sites regarding sending luggage ahead. Even sending 1 bag may help. I need to look up how long it would take to get from the Wengen area to Basel, and how convenient it is by train. Once in Basel, it looks like we could do a day trip to Strasbourg and Baden Baden. I appreciate the advice.

Hi again,

Sorry, I forgot to give you the rail site. It's at

www.rail.ch

It'll give you all your connections and fares for Switzerland as well as into France and Germany.

You can get information on passes and discount cards at

www.swisstravelsystem.com

Have fun!

s

Last summer we went to Switzerland for one week. 5 of the 6 of us had been there at least once before. Since it is my job to plan the trip, I decided to include 2 nights in Appenzell, a place I rarely see mentioned on Fodor's. We absolutely loved it. It's a little out of the way, but we went there straight from the Zurich airport and from there went to the BO (Alpiglen). We took a hike and cable car to Ebenalp, and the train back to Appenzell. It was a truly beautiful day. Just my thoughts if you want to look at something different.

Vevey is a wonderful town!! I have a friend who lives there so have visited many times. Don't miss the outdoor market on either Tues or Sat AM (Saturday's is bigger). I always used the train between Geneva and Vevey. And train or bus between Vevey and Montreux.

Thanks for all the info. We're wondering if we can get to Zermatt easily. We're planning 4 nights in Vevey and 4 nights in the Wengen area. Would it make sense to go from Wengen, down to Zermatt? Is it a day trip, an overnight, or a 2 night? We want to get up to Basel too, so I think I'm going to have to give up one of those. All of this would be by train.

Hi again,

You can get the exact train schedules at the site I posted above -- just input

from Wengen

to Zermatt

and you'll have all the information you need. I wouldn't want to do it as a day-trip nor even as a single overnight. You need to have clear weather to see anything (assuming you want to see the Matterhorn), and the longer you stay, the better your chances are for that.

I personally would rather have fewer stops so I could see more. Remember that you lose about half a day every time you move bses, with the packing up and checking out then checking in and unpacking. The more stops you have, the less you actually see imo. So, yes, I would recommend you make that tough choice -- cut one of your four destinations.

Anyway, have fun!

s

Thanks. I think we'll have to skip Zermatt and focus on the Wengen area.

Appenzell is great for at least one night; the abbey church in nearby St. Gallen has been called, by many, the most beautiful church interior in the entire country and then there's the famous library.

Basle vs. Zurich for "German-speaking" Switzerland; the large majority of the country is German-speaking and I like Basle but you'll find a lot more to do in Zurich IMO.

Assume you know about Montreux, Chateau Chillon, Rochers de Naye, etc.