island_dreaming

We are a family of four with 2 kids aged 6,8 on our first trip to Europe mid August to Mid September. We will have spent a week in Denmark, 13 nights Italy (5 nights Procida, 4 nights Tuscany and 4 Nights Asti) and we have 8 nights in Switzerland before flying home from Zurich.

My question is this: Are we missing too much of Switzerland's highlights by spending 4 nights in Vevey and 4 nights in Wengen?

Being a family from a semi-rural area (so not big city fans) and this being our first european trip, and travelling with fairly young kids, I really didn't think we wanted to be moving hotels too often. I have gotten heaps of ideas from other posts on this forum for daytrips from Montreux and Interlaken which I was hoping to adapt for our slightly different bases. I make cheese so want to get a trip into Gruyeres too if possible.

Looking at the map and trying to glean what I can from guidebooks, these two places don't look that far apart distance-wise but I was hoping one being "alpine" and one being "lakeside" would give us enough of a contrast to keep the trip interesting enough with cablecar rides, boat trips, museums, castles etc.

We will be training it around on a Swiss Pass to avoid the complexity added by driving.

What do the well-travelled "experts" out there think?

One last question - Wengen to Zurich for 12noon flight home- doable or too far??
Thanks to you all - can't wait to hear what you think!

swisshiker

<i>"Wengen to Zurich for 12noon flight home- doable or too far??</i>"

It's about 3 hours by train to the airport, including a few changes. I wouldn't do it, but if that works for you with the kiddos, I suppose it's doable. There's probably a train around 5 or 6 am which would get you to the Zurich airport in plenty of time for a noon flight check-in.

One good thing is that you'd probably be able to sleep on the flight home, having arisen so early!

Happy travels!

KimSanJose

I applaud your decision to not move around too much -- I never understand people that want to change locations every day or every other day! You never feel like you've been anywhere but inside a train. . .

Your decision to divide your time between Vevey and Wengen is a good one. You are exactly right -- this give you a combination of lakeside/wine country/French-speaking Switzerland along with the beauty and majesty of the gorgeous Bernese Oberland with the fabulous Alps. If I were to make any changes, I'd stay in Vevey 2 or 3 nights and the rest of the time in Wengen. I've found that there is much more to do for kids in Wengen than Vevey/Montreux area. Just a personal opinion and you may have found many day trips from Vevey/Montreux that your kids (and you) would find enjoyable.

As for the Wengen portion of your trip, I have a 30+ page document based on my many travels there that describes hikes, excursions, restaurants, transport tips, etc in the Wengen area. Happy to send it to you but need your email address to do so. If you would like a copy, please use the private message feature here to send me your address, don't post it up on the public forum.

Finally, to your question about making a noon departure from Zurich coming from Wengen, yes it is possible but as swisshiker noted you will need to take a 5:00 am-ish train to ensure getting to your airline check in counter no later than 10:00 am.

island_dreaming

Thanks KimSanJose - can't find private message feature so will read your responses to others' questions to glean more Wengen info.
Do you think overnight in Lucerne on last night would be worth the check-in check-out time/hassle involved with the change of hotels to avoid the risk of missing train connections from Wengen to Zurich before our flight home?
Happy to make this change if we could find something really nice to do for this short visit to Lucerne as it is my daughter's birthday on our last full day in Switzerland and I was trying to avoid spending it as a "travel day".

elaine

Recently returned from my first trip to Switzerland, which I split between Vevey and Zermatt.
Agree that 3 nights in Vevey should suffice. The kids might enjoy a visit to Chillon Castle, outside of Montreux, which is an easy bus ride away. You could return to Vevey by ferry. On another day you could go to Rochers de Neye. I did not do that (went for the day to Lausanne instead) but it was recommended to me and sounds like kids would enjoy it. You get there by trains from Vevey to Montreux to Rochers. At Rochers there is a "Marmot Paradise" nature area with animals to see, a botanical garden, and I"m told fabulous views of Lake Leman (Lake Geneva). There are also, separately, vineyard tours that leave from Vevey or Montreux I believe.

elaine

sorry for typo, that should be Rochers de Naye.

jdc26

"Do you think overnight in Lucerne on last night would be worth the check-in check-out time/hassle involved with the change of hotels to avoid the risk of missing train connections from Wengen to Zurich before our flight home?"

I would spend the 1 night in Lucerne to ensure that you make it to Zurich airport for your flight back home. Lucerne is an absolutely beautiful city on the lake which I think you and the kids will enjoy. The train ride from Wengen to Lucerne will take you a few hours with a couple of train changes, but it is also a very scenic ride. I stayed at the Hotel del Alps which was just across the bridge from the train station in Lucerne, but you can also find other hotels in the same general area.

I'm sure you will enjoy your time in Switzerland and may even fall in love with it the way I and many others do.

Travel safe.

jdc

KimSanJose

Lucerne is a beautiful city and a much shorter train ride to ZUR than Wengen is. This would be a good choice for you, but you will still need to get up somewhat early to ensure you arrive at ZUR airport in time.

Another idea is to stay in Zurich the night before your departure. You can leave Wengen late morning and arrive in Zurich early afternoon. After checking in to your hotel and having lunch you can explore the old town which is positively charming and fun to visit the many shops and walk on the cobblestone streets. You can also walk the promenade along the river and view beautiful historic structures. However, Zurich hotels are more expensive than Lucerne.

Net: I think getting to Lucerne or Zurich night before your departure is preferable to taking a 5:00 am train from Wengen. Makes for WAY too long of a day.

Sorry you had difficulty with the PM feature; I'll send you a PM so we can communicate directly about Wengen and related topics.

KimSanJose

Well, duh, I can't find a PM feature on this site either. I'm a bit of a newbie to this forum, post mostly on Trip Advisor and on myswissalps.com, both of which have PM features.

Suggest you go to tripadvisor.com, go to Forums, select Switzerland, select Jungfrau Region and I'll pop up as one of the Destination Experts for the region (screen name KimSanJose). If I don't pop up there (seems to change daily), go to Wengen forum and I will always pop up there. Then it's easy to click on my screen name and send me a private message.

Wonder why they don't have a private message feature on this forum? Maybe they do and I just haven't figured it out. . .

swandav2000

Hi island_dreaming,

I personally love the Lake Geneva region and normally stay for at least a week though once I spent three weeks there. This October, I'll be there for two weeks.

Here are some "reviews' (w/photos) of my favorite things to do along the lake:

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...rges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

I've never been up to Rochers-de-Naye even after so many visit there -- I think I normally get my mountain fix from the Jungfrau area or the Engadin (I just came from four nights in Scuol and three nights in Brig).

I also suggest that you move from Wengen to Vevey on the Golden Pass route -- here's a link for more info:

www.goldenpass.ch

You can easily hop off the train in Gstaad for a walk and lunch, or take a detour at Montbovon to see Gruyeres.

Now, even though I personally can't get enough to Lake Geneva, I know that most folks go to Switzerland to see the mountains and not the Belle Epoque atmosphere of Leman. So I would have to agree that you should give yourselves more time in the high Alps than down at the lake. But do give yourselves time to see Chillon, and the flowered lakeside promenade, and some of the Lavaux.

Have fun!

s

suze

I personally LOVE Vevey and think it is an excellent choice. Hopefully you'll be there on a Saturday (or Tuesday) morning and can all go to the open air Farmer's Market. It's a LOT of fun! Food (both groceries but also ready to eat things like salet, pizza, etc.), produce, flowers, music, etc.

PalenQ

marking for later comment

island_dreaming

Thanks for all your info, really great and yes, based on your comments we have decided to spend the last night in Lucerne to save on the "stress" factor a bit.

Suze, we will be there on Saturday (arrive Friday 3pm) so would love to check out the markets in Vevey. I'm guessing they must be somewhere obvious? We will get to Chillion and I'd also like to see the Alimentary museum - sounds fun and interesting with kids. Anyone been there?

Is it too much to combine a trip to Engleberg and the ice caves with our "travel day" from Wengen to Lucerne? It is dd birthday and that sounded like a great, memorable day for her. I think I recall reading somewhere about luggage storage at rail station nearby?

PalenQ

Is it too much to combine a trip to Engleberg and the ice caves with our "travel day" from Wengen to Lucerne?>

It depends on the persons involved - to me no - feasible - take the train Interlaken-Ost to Stans (i think or whatever the interchange is off the Brunig Pass (really scenic) rail line from Interlaken and change to the Engelberg train - put bags in locker in train station - do caves, etc and end up in Lucerne in early evening.

suze

The Saturday morning market in Vevey is in the main town square (a parking lot at other time) right off the lake, fairly close to the train station. It starts early (I think before 9am, and you'll want to be there at least before Noon at the latest). It's a BIG deal, anyone will be able to point you to it.

PalenQ

I think I recall reading somewhere about luggage storage at rail station nearby?>

Yes indeedy - practically every train station in Switzerland guaranteeably has luggage lockers and or a manually staffed left luggage storage - i am 99.99999999% sure Engelberg station would have these facilities.

PalenQ

One last question - Wengen to Zurich for 12noon flight home- doable or too far???

Like Swisshiker says doable for sure - and do start as early as possible - meaning a 3 oe 4am reveille - you may consider staying in an airport hotel for convenience. There may even be an hourly direct train Interlaken to the airport itself. Otherwise the change in Zurich Hauptbahnhof could be daunting - zillions of tracks, etc. I'd try for a direct train - of course from Wengen you do have to change at Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken-Ost due to a track gauge (width) difference - trains cannot physically go on the wide and more narrow tracks - so everyone gets off one train and onto the other waiting opposite. No sweat on those changes.