cdhines

My husband and I are planning a Paris-Switzerland-England trip for 10 days in October. We currently only have our fights to Europe and back booked. We are having a bit of trouble with our itinerary in Switzerland. We only have 3 days (2 nights) and want to maximize our experience there. I know it isn't a lot of time but we were hoping someone could offer some advise as to what we should see. I have heard that Interlaken and Luzern are the places to go. If we had to pick only one place which should we choose? We are more interested in beautiful scenery and quaint villages than nightlife and big cities.

Also, if you have any suggestions about accommodation in either Paris and/or Switzerland that would be great.

Jean

Two nights does not equal three days unless you have a private jet. You'll have one full day plus the late afternoon and evening of the day before. How late in October?

Luzern (a medium-sized city) v. Interlaken (really an AREA not a single destination). I'd pick Luzern because it would be a smaller geographic area to explore in a day and because weather in late October could be iffy. I'd rather be in a city in poor weather.

But how many days do you have in Paris? I might prefer to add those nights/days to Paris or a city/town nearby.

Jean

How would you get to "England" from either Luzern or Interlaken?

cdhines

Thanks for your replies Jean. We are planning to fly out of either Geneva or Zurich to get to England where we are visiting family. We have 3 full days in Paris.

Our flights into Paris arrive on October 10th and we depart October 20th with a stop in England and Switzerland inbetween.

swandav2000

Hi cdhines,

Even though you have such a short visit and it may be a long way, I would still head to one of the car-free villages perched in the mountains above Interlaken. That's where you'll get the quintessential Switzerland ezperience, particularly if you want quaint villages.

You can take a train directly from the Zürich airport to either Wengen or Mürren; the train trip will take about 3h30 in each direction.

Here's a site with more information on this area

www.myjungfrau.ch

Have fun!

s

Jean

swandav2000 is one of our Switzerland experts, but considering the rest of your 10-day itinerary I'd stay in/near Paris those "extra" days rather than lose so much time in transit from Paris to Switzerland and onward to England. Rent a car and explore quaint villages and beautiful scenery in all directions out of Paris, but I particularly like areas west of Paris. Bonus: Better food IMO.

FWIW, we had a little snow in the 3rd week of October in both Luzern and the Berner Oberland area when we visited a few years ago. We also had some stunning clear days on the same trip, but unfortunately you can order those up when you want them.

nytraveler

To give hotel recos you would have to provide a budget - keeping in mind that all currencies have lost about a third versus the Swiss franc in the last few months (making all prices in Swiss about 1/3 higher - and they weren;t low to begin with).

FoFoBT

If you really want to see Switzerland, it's certainly possible. Your itinerary sounds a little too rushed for my taste, but it's YOUR trip and you should do what you want.

From Paris, it's simple to get to Luzern - a TGV to Basel (the one that leaves Paris around 6:30 am gets into Basel just before 10 am and there's a 10:15 am direct to Luzern). Easy peasy. If your budget allows, I highly recommend a lakefront room at the Grand National Hotel in Luzern - and the food at all of their on-site restaurants is very good. http://www.national-luzern.ch/

From Luzern, it's also easy to catch a train to Zurich Airport - the trains leaving at 10 minutes after the hour go directly to the airport (no changes), although if you have a very early flight, there is one that leaves Luzern at 4:55 am and gets in to Zurich airport at 6:13 am.

While in Luzern, you won't have time to do much more than visit one of the mountains and take a boat ride (one of the shorter trips, you don't have time to do the whole lake - it's huge) and walk around the historic part of town, but those are all nice things to do on holiday.

In Paris, if it's your first or second trip, I recommend the Luxembourg Parc hotel: http://www.hotelluxparc.com/ They have a fireplace in their salon, pleasant on a chilly night. If you're an old Paris hand, then you might consider venturing into a less well known neighbourhood.

FoFoBT

Question for Swandav: when you're in Switzerland, does the 222 SBB info text number work for you?

* For those not familiar with it, it works like this:
The text number is 222
In the text message enter the train station you're leaving from and where you want to go
Example:
222
Basel SBB Luzern

Hit send and in about 10 seconds (I'm not exaggerating), SBB will send you the next three trains for your itinerary with departure and arrival times - and transfer details if necessary

kenav

I'd opt for Luzern because it's beautiful small city and very nice to walk around; and you can take lake trips or go to the tops of some mountains. All from Luzern.

swandav2000

FoFOBT,

I've never heard of that 222 SBB service before! I'll try it out when I'm there next month. Thanks for the tip!!

s

ldh

I'd second the suggestion of Lucerne. We loved the boat trips and the views from/of the lake and mountains. The old town area was neat as well. Do a search on photos/images of Switzerland and see if any of those inspire you to a particular spot--within your alloted travel time of course. Since there is a TGV to Basel, you might consider Basel. Not small but very interesting. The cathedral is beautiful and has great views of the river and the old town has interesting architecture, etc. You will be moving around a lot, but this trip could be like a sampler, giving you inspiration to return to your favorite spots. Have fun.

cdhines

Thanks for all of your input. It has been very helpful. We have tried to make the Switzerland part of our trip work but due to various planning problems (ie flight scheduling and limited time) we have decided to try Switzerland another time. Thanks for all of your help.

kleeblatt

Good decision.

MohitKhullar

I am planning a 4 day visit to switzerland with my family. I am planning to go to zurich and geneva. Is it a good choice?

could you please help me with places to go to in and around these two cities

My priorities are : Great views, snow sports(cable car), Rheine waterfalls..... boat rides. Could you please suggest me some good places in and around these two cities? Thanks in advance.