9 days in switzerland
 

hi
we are planning a 9 day trip to Switzerland 28th may - 4th June and with so many options of places to choose from its quite confusing .
we are flying into Geneva and spending 3 nights there are we have some family there and we will travel around the area .

28th - arrive geneva afternoon and spend the evening by the lake / dinner etc
29th - geneva city and may go to annecy and spend the evening there - is it worth seeing / can you suggest anything else ??
30th - day trip to montreaux and boat around the lake . will going to Zermat from there be too tiring as a day trip ??

31st - stay a night in guyeure and visit the chocolate / cheese factory and the castle

1 - 4th Wengen
1st arrive wengen and spend the day there , go to Lauterbrunnen if not to tired
2nd Jungfrau mountains ( weather permitting we will plan any of the 3 days while there )
3rd day trip to either interlaken / muren / lake thun ??

4th go to lake como for 2 days and fly out of Milan , we were keen on doing the ticino area but belive thats very similar to lake como , so can be avoided due to lack of days .

does this itinerary make sense ? is there something else we must see or do . we will be travelling with our 3 year old , so hiking not an option . we would like to get a feel and mix of the Swiss culture ..so some quite place , a bit of the city etc .

any advise would be appreciated .

many thanks

hi xaara,

Sounds like a good trip.

Most of my experience is on the Montreux area, so I'll comment on that.

Right now, you only have half a day to see that part of the lake, so, no, I wouldn't go to Zermatt on that day. Since you'll be spending some time in a mountain town, Zermatt would be more similar than it would be different. Rather I'd spend at least the whole day in Montreux. Here's what you can do.

Take the train to Montreux; walk through town, then walk along the lake on the flowered lakeside promenade as far as Chillon castle (about 45 minutes); enjoy a tour of the caslte (about 2h).

Take bus #201 to Vevey (about 20 minutes and about 3 chf) and enjoy the tangled and winding streets of its old town next to the lake. Walk in the old town and also along the lake for a while. Have lunch in one of the many wonderful restaurants there.

After lunch, take the train to the vineyards of the Lavaux and take a walk through the vineyards. If you want a short walk, take the train to Chexbres and walk downhill to Rivaz, about 30 minutes; if you want a longer walk, take the train to Chexbres or Cully and walk to Lutry (about 2h). There's a "Vinorama" in Rivaz that sells wine from all across the region, so you can taste wines from many producers at one spot.

From any of these towns along the lake, you can catch the ferryboat back to Lausanne or Geneva.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Another vote for Chateau Chillon.

>>3rd day trip to either interlaken / muren / lake thun<<

I would suggest a day trip to Luzern. It is picturesque little town at a scenic lake.

You are right that you do not have enough time for the Ticino, but Milan is a very attractive city. Make sure to see the marble cathedral and to walk on top of the roof among the spires.

Lake Como has scenery, splendid historical villas, lush gardens and picturesque little towns. And you travel by waterbuses across the lake.

Another option would be Lago Maggiore. Isola Bella - a small island with a magnificent palace - is stunning, and it is very close to Milan.

Saturday May 30t:
you could go by boat from Geneva (dp 10.15) up to Lausanne (ar 13.30). Restaurant on board. Connecting trains to Montreux about every 15 min.
A day trip from either Geneva or Montreux to Zermatt is perfectly possible, but you need a full day for that, otherwise you cannot enjoy Zermatt, the place with the highest mountains and glaciers of Switzerland. For example
Geneva dp 6.33 - Montreux dp 7.42 - Zermatt ar 10.13 - Gornergrat or Kleinmatterhorn ar 11.00.

"we were keen on doing the ticino area but belive thats very similar to lake como , so can be avoided due to lack of days".
You are right: all 3 big Lombardian Lakes are similar. I would therefore go to Lake Maggiore, jus between Wengen/Zermatt and Milan Malpensa airport. I know that for Americans there is nothing but Lake Como. But that cannot change the fact that Lake Maggiore is at least as beautiful (and much more popular with Swiss and Italian people).

My suggestion:
May 28th: Geneva
May 29th: day trip to France (Annecy, Aix-les-Bains, Saleve, etc)
May 30th: boat to Lausanne, train to Montreux, Lavaux area or Rochers de Naye.
May 31st: train to Gruyeres, check in your hotel, visit first the cheese diary, then the chocolate factory at Broc, then the castle of Gruyeres, have dinner in this medieval town after the departure of all day trippers and sleep there.
June 1st: train Gruyeres (dp 8.00 or 9.59) - Montbovon - Gstaad - Spiez - Interlaken - Wengen (ar 11.51 or 13.51)
June 2 and 3: Bernese Oberland
June 4th: Wengen dp 8.33 - Zermatt ar 11.50. Enjoy Zermatt.
June 5th: Zermatt dp 18.37 - Stresa ar 21.38
June 7th: Stresa - Milano Malpensa airport Terminal 1 by alibus (55 min journey).

Wengen and Zermatt are both mountain areas. Skip one of them if you have not enough time for both.

BTW: a train ride from Wengen to Varenna (Lake Como) could easily take 8-9 hrs. Varenna - Malpensa airport takes 2 1/4 hrs

If doing all that in Switzerland by train check out a Swiss Pass - an 8-consecutive-day pass as ou will be traveling via public transport daily it seems (as I do!) - pass is good on trains, lake boats, postal buses, city buses and trams and free entry to 470+ DSwiss museums and sights. For lots of great info on Swiss trains - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Be sure to take the Golden Pass scenic train between Montreux and Interlaken-ost, jumping off point for trains to Wengen via Lauterbrunnen. Swiss Pass covers travel in full up to Wengen and Grindelwald.

Getting to Lake Como from the Interlaken area means going to Zurich or Lucerne and then connecting with the Gotthard Tunnel rail line to Milan - get off at Varenna-Esino and take a boat to Bellagio if that is you goal as it is for hoards of folks going to Lake Como.

I'd suggest Lake Maggiore and Stresa as just as nice and much easier to get to from the Interlaken area and onto Milan.

or may be Interlaken - Spiez (change) - Stresa - Milan (change) - Varenna - car ferry - Bellagio, but it's a long ride nevertheless.
The (rather longer) alternative would be Interlaken - Lucerne - Como SG - bus - Bellagio
resp
Interlaken - Lucerne - Chiasso - Como citybus - Como Piazza Cavour - hydrofoil - Bellagio

Lake Stresa to mee was every bit as nice as Lake Como though many many more folks seem to graviate to Lake Como simply because of Bellagio, to me one of the most overrun tourist mob scenes anywhere in Europe - during the day - lake boats ejaculate unfathomable numbers of day trippers that quickly overload the very tiny town.

Stresa is a delight - yes gets tourists but not the hoards that Bellagio does and right off Stresa are the three famous Borromean Islands - each of the three with a different delight on them - an old palace and great gardens; some ruins and an old fishing village similar to Bellago that now angles for tourists and not fish!

https://www.google.com/search?q=borr...=1600&bih=1075

Would definitely cut out Zermatt, Wengen in the Jungfrau far, far more charming & beautiful. Montreux needs another day, do not miss Chateau de Chillon; Vevey & Lausanne was a beautiful day trip from Montreux (where we based that week). We missed Annecy from Geneva, only spent a night there to catch early morning flight. If you miss Lucern, so be it, I'd focus on Montreux and Jungfrau areas. (check chocolate train schedule, they do not run every day, in early September it was only 3 weekdays I believe)

and of course a boat trip on lovely Lake Le Man a k a Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc perhaps in all its snow-bound glory hovering over the sosuthwest side of the lake - however it is oft foggy for some reason when I'm in the lake area and have rarely seen Mt Blanc in its glory after several visits... but anyway take the boat from Montreux, Lausanne etc to Evian-les-Bains in France - a swank health spa/resort town famous for its Evian waters and just a neat if swank place - casino may lure some. Swiss Passes cover the boats in full, even to France.

wow ...thank you everyone for your detailed replies . Makes things allot easier :)

i think we will skip Zermatt as rightly put we would be spending allot of time in wengen so we get a fare share of mountains .

we will do an enrtire day trip around Montreaux .

didn't realise the travel time from wengen to como would be so long ...maybe we will skip como and do the ticino area for those 2 days and break the travel time for our flight to Milan . need to research that area a bit more .

couple of questions :-

is it worth going to annecy ...is it very different from the rest of the place we are seeing .

is it worth going on the chocolate train ? assume this is not covered in the swiss rail pass ??

i have read in some places that may is very quite and most things wont be open in wengen ....we are there from the 1st - 4 of june ....would that be the case then as well ??

many thanks once again :)

palenq .....just saw pictures of the link you sent ...looks stunning - definitely going to look it up and see the feasibility for us .

Hi again,

Not sure if anyone can tell you if the Chocolate Train is a good bet for you. I've visited Montreux about 100 times in the past 20 years and haven't been tempted to do it.

Are you still planning to stop overnight in Gruyeres? If so, taking the Chocolate Train from Montreux would be a real waste of time imo. The chocolate factory that the CT visits is just a few minutes away from Gruyeres.

Even if you aren't going to stay overnight in Gruyeres, it's quite easy to visit the chocolate factory on your own, and you can do it when you are enroute from Geneva to Wengen. Just take the train and change in Montreux and in Montbovon for your destination at Broc Fabrique. After your visit, continue on from Broc Fabrique to Wengen. Information about the chocolate factory is at

www.cailler.ch

Have fun!

s

yes , planning a night in guyeure ,....wasn't so keen on the chocolate train as we would rather travel and have the flexibility on our own ....however allot of friends ( none who have actually done the chocolate train ;) keep suggesting we do it since we have our 3 year old with us

Well, I'm not sure what the big draw of the CT would be, especially for a 3-year-old. It's just a train. I think they serve coffee and croissant as you leave Montreux, but that doesn't really seem like a big deal. You'll be on plenty of trains anyway, and will arrive at Broc Fabrique on a train.

On the CT, you'll be surrounded by foreigners like yourself, all tourists.

On your own, you'll more likely be surrounded by locals on the train -- more chance to make an interesting acquaintance and maybe your 3-year-old can play with a local child.

I think you'll be happy to do it on your own!!

s

I've nothing to add to what I wrote about Stresa in my post above. But if you want to have it a bit more complicate and a bit more expensive, Lugano is a good choice too: excellent tourist infrastructure and direct buses to Milan Malpensa airport.
http://www.stresa.com/
http://www.luganoturismo.ch/en/716/t...formation.aspx
http://www.jetbus.ch/

Lugano however is much more expensive than staying in Italy if budget is a factor. Lugano has always bored me a bit - stayed there as a base several times - nice boat rides on a nice lake but to me a fairly blah modern city - give me Italian ambience and joie de vivre anyday over Lugano if I had to chose.

hi ...another question .

we were originally planning to do a day trip from Geneva to montreux
and stay 1 night in Gruyère ( see the attractions around there ) and then go to wengen .

would you suggest it better if we did a day trip to Gruyère and stay a night in montreaux instead ??

Hi again,

You can still do the trip to Gruyeres while enroute from Montreux (Geneva) to Wengen.

You can ship your luggage to Wengen using Fast Baggage; if you check it before 09.00, you can pick it up at your destination after 18.00 Just make sure the luggage office is open in Wengen after 18.00.

Then just take the train from Montreux to Gruyeres, do the sightseeing you want, and then continue onward to Wengen.

Gruyeres is a little detour off the Golden Pass route (you change trains at Montbovon), so you'll be seeing the exact same scenery two times if you did a day trip to Gruyeres and then take the Golden Pass to Wengen.

If it were me, I would have my base in Montreux -- I just like smaller towns. But of course, with your family in Geneva, that wouldn't work.

s

thanks ... my bookings for wengen is already done for the 1 - 4th of june ..... have a free day before amd trying to figure out the bests plan for the 31st day / night

dont want to loose a day of wengen as we already have allot to do in that area

How about Gstaad?

www.gstaad.ch

Right in the middle of the gorgeous rolling hills country. You could take a morning train, then stash your bags there and see Gruyeres that day.

s

would you suggest it better if we did a day trip to Gruyère and stay a night in montreaux instead ??>

Yes by all means - Gruyeres is a fabulous old town but is not on a lovely lake like Montreux is - Montreux much more romantic to stay than Gruyeres - Gruyeres a nice town for a few hour stroll.

Plus the train trip from Montreux to Gruyeres is very scenic. From Montreux you can also take a lake boat cruise to nowhere say late in the afternoon - just to relax - maybe bring a picnic on board - sit in the open-air and just relax.

Again many people love nearby Vevey even more than Montreux.

you'll be seeing the exact same scenery two times if you did a day trip to Gruyeres and then take the Golden Pass to Wengen.>

I have taken the old Chocolate Train route when it began in Lausanne and went straight up thru vineyards en route to Gruyeres not at all going over the Golden Pass route - in fact this route could be just as quick or quicker - so you do not have to cover the same scenic railways to do that. One route in a mainline normal gauge route and the other a narrow-gauge route.

Looking at schedules times should be about the same via either route from Montreux, about 10 minutes or so from Lausanne by train:

Lausanne We, 15.04.15 dep 07:42 1 RE 3107 Regional-Express

Palezieux dep 07:58 2
Romont We, 15.04.15 arr 08:13 3
Transfer time 10 min.

Romont We, 15.04.15 dep 08:23 1 RE 4008 Regional-Express

Bulle We, 15.04.15 arr 08:42
Transfer time 10 min.

Bulle We, 15.04.15 dep 08:52 4 S 60 S-Bahn
La Tour-de-Treme dep 08:54
Le Pâquier-Montbarry dep 08:56
Gruyères We, 15.04.15 arr 08:59

If you want to catch Palen's train at Lausanne, you have to leave Montreux at 7.04.
Alternatives:
Montreux dp 6.57 - Vevey 7.06/7.09 - Lavaux vineyard train - Puidoux 7.22/7.33 - Palézieux 7.40/7.46 - metre gauge train La Gruyère - Bulle 8.27/8.52 - Gruyères ar 8.59;
Montreux dp 7.18 - Vevey 7.24/7.30 - bus - Châtel St. Denis 7.55/8.00 - metre gauge train La Gruyère - Bulle 8.27/8.52 - Gruyères ar 8.59
Trains/buses every hr

u guys are super helpfull !!

so between spending a night in Gruyère or Gstaad im imaging Gstaad would be a better option ??

how long does it take between the 2 ?? and does is it easier for me to go from gstaad to wengen ??

also is there a site i can use for all travel related timings for the train / bus / boat ?

Hi xaara,

You can use the Swiss rail site at

www.sbb.ch

change the language to English.

You'll get all the info you need!

s

"so between spending a night in Gruyère or Gstaad im imaging Gstaad would be a better option ?"
Where will you leave your luggage during the visit of Gruyeres/Broc if you sleep at Gstaad?

I would assume stations in Gruyeres and Broc have luggage lockers or facilities like all Swiss stations seem to?

Pal, no, the station at Gruyeres (and also at Montbovon) don't have luggage lockers. Don't know about Broc, but I doubt it.

neckervd, I envisioned them checking into the hotel in Gstaad by mid-morning and keeping suitcases there, then going on to Gruyeres for the rest of the day.

s

Bulle has a left luggage office
http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-service...osid.4086.html
but swan's suggestion (hotel at Gstaad) is much better.

Send lugage to Lausanne - pack day pack for overnighting in Gruyeres then pick up bags next morning - well I did not follow eveything so that may not be in the works? Or take day pack and stay in Lausanne or Montreux and pick bags up at nearby Lausanne anytime next day?

thanks for all the advice ... we finally decided go stay in montreux for the night as there seemed to be allot more to do.... and with one of the days in Geneva we will work out going to Gruyère for the day .

another question ... we plan to get the Swiss rail pass for 8 days ...... however ...everyone keeps mentioning the Golden pass route ..... is that covered in the Swiss rail pass that i get or is that something additional ?? do i need to book in advance ?

Hi again,

If you travel on the specially-designated Golden Pass wagons, then you must make reservations for it, and the reservations are extra. Your travel will be covered by the Swiss Pass, but you'll have to make reservations for the GP.

If you do this, you should go for the VIP seats at the very front or very rear of the train -- they are first class, so you may have to upgrade.

If you don't care about going on the designated wagons or going in the VIP seats, you can take any of the regular trains on the route or even one of the regular wagons on the GP train. There are some towns, etc, on this route, and locals are on the trains all day long. As you don't need reservations, you won't have to pay anything for this trip.

Have fun!

s

".... and with one of the days in Geneva we will work out going to Gruyère for the day"

?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????

If you travel on the specially-designated Golden Pass wagons, then you must make reservations for it, and the reservations are extra. Your travel will be covered by the Swiss Pass, but you'll have to make reservations for the GP.>

Are you sure of this - my info says not but I will check on it and get back - you are encouraged to make seat reservations to be in the observation cars but TMK reservations are not absolutely required. Again will check and get back - you may be right, things do change.

You might be right, Pal -- now that you mention it, I think it is possible to sit in the GP wagons without reservations.

s

Palen is right. I usually take the GP trains only for small legs between Montreux and Montbovon and never book ahead. Sometimes, I have to sit in an older wagon with no air condition, however.

VIP must be booked ahead - not that it is a requirement but since there are only a handful on each train advance booking is imperative - you sit in a compartment right next to the driver's booth so you can simulate driving the train - the VIP seats in the rear of the train are not nearly so nice but still novel - seeing the scenery and tracks as they fade away!

Back when the GP section from Montreux to Zweisimmen was called the Panoramic Express some years ago before the whole route Montreux to Interlaken to Lucerne was re-branded as the Golden Pass - then on that first section seats in panoramic observation cars indeed did have a seat reservation requirement.