k_traveler

I would love help coming up with a 6-8 day itinerary for Switzerland, likely flying in and out of Zurich, for beginning of September. We're a fit couple in our late twenties looking for an active holiday with stunning scenery. We have done quite a few long day hikes on trails in U.S. mountains, but do not have any technical mountaineering experience. We're hoping to spend most of our days either hiking or biking (prefer trails, no technical mountain biking), and we're thinking of picking 2 base towns to explore from. Also want one of our hikes to be a 2-3 day hike where we stay in mountain lodges, but want nicer accommodations (i.e. private room and private bathroom) for the rest of our trip. Right now I'm leaning towards splitting our time between Montreux on Lake Geneva and in the mountains south of Interlaken (i.e. Grindelwald or Wengen).

Any thoughts or suggestions for ideal bases? And favorite hikes or bike rides from those bases? Also helpful to have backup ideas if the weather is not suitable for our outdoorsy activities. Some secondary interests include wine, castles/palaces, other historic sites, and good food!

Thanks so much!

swandav2000

Hi k_traveler,

I personally love Montreux and visit often, so I would agree with your choice to include it, lol. Early September is still pretty much high season at the lake, so it will still be crowded. The vineyards of the Lavaux should be pretty -- depending on what kind of weather they see over the summer.

I know of several nice walks and bike rides in the area; I've ridden through the Lavaux a few times. You can rent a bike at any medium-sized or larger train station, and you can often return it at a different station -- or take the bike on the train or the ferry with you for an additional fee.

One problem with biking the Lavaux is that many times the trails you're on are for farmer's tractors, and after climbing uphill on the trail, it suddenly dead-ends at one field or another. So you have to cruise back down again and try to find another trail that goes through. The vineyards do have quite a lot of up-and-down in them.

But the vineyards of the Lavaux are perfect for walking. You can take the train to Lutry (a favorite Lavaux village) and explore the town's sign-posted walking tour and pretty old town, then head off the hike the trails. Hiking to Cully will take about 1h, to Rivaz about 2h.

I've heard of a paved lakeside walk between Morges (another town on the lake well worth a visit) and Lausanne that takes 3h, but I haven't yet done it.

There are also many walks in the small-ish mountains above Montreux, such as the Chemin des Narcisses, 1h30, from Sonloup to Les Avants, or the Chemin Panormanic, 2h from Jaman station to Caux.

I've also heard of some nice walks in the area around Bulle & Gruyeres, but I haven't done them yet -- see below.

Here are some sites to help you plan:

http://www.veloland.ch/en/cycling-in-switzerland.html

http://www.wanderland.ch/en/wanderland.html

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/chem...ese-trail.html

http://www.wanderland.ch/en/routes/etappe-01348.html

Have fun as you plan!

s

swandav2000

Sorry -- forgot to give you this great resource for walks & excursions on the lake:

http://www.montreux-vevey.com/en/cul...ignoble_UNESCO

http://www.montreux-vevey.com/en/cul...F/Randos/Sport

s

bilboburgler

This page and the sub-webpages may be helpful http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Swiss_Guide.php

suze

here's the other thread

suze

I have a slight preference for Vevey over Montreux as the city to stay in. Lausanne is nice too but much larger.