Just when you think you've finalized your itinerary...my husband - who never participates in planning our trips - told me he would like to go to the big auto museum near Mulhouse. How do I fit that in? Daytrip from Montreux, or Speiz, or Lucerne - eliminate Lucern and go to Basel instead? Help!

I definitely would not replace Lucerne with Basel - the former is fantastic and the latter rather boring. You might be able to do a day trip from Lucerne if you're driving - it's all highways and you can probaly average 90 if you're not a nervous driver. I'm not sure if you're trying to take the train.

The museum is only about 10 minutes off the highway.

We'll be traveling by train.

orangetravelcat:

In my opinion, Basel is fantastic and Lucerne is boring (it *really* depends on your interests).

As to a day trip by train, Mulhouse is readily reached from Lucerne via Basel.

The journey from Lucerne to Basel takes about 75 minutes, the one from Basel to Mulhouse about 25 to 40 Minutes, depending on the type of train.

There are hourly no-change trains from Lucerne to Basel, where you have to transfer to the French railway (same station, different section). There are at least two trains per hour from Basel to Mulhouse.

You may want to check the Swiss railway site for timetables at: http://www.rail.ch/index_e.htm

Hope this helps

Phil.

Hi orangetravelcat,

I'm another one who thinks you'll enjoy staying in Luzern more than Basel. I think you'll be able to do the museum as a day-trip; maybe combine it with one of your travel days. For instance, when you leave Spiez, check your bags straight to Luzern on the train, and take the train from Spiez to Basel & Mulhouse. After you visit the museum, take the train to Luzern. I haven't checked the connections, but it should be easy to do. It'll cost about 10-13 chf to check your bags (again, be sure to tell the agent that you're travelling to Luzern via Basel).

If you find that you fall in love with Basel (and you really might!!!), you get to add another base-destination to your future travel plans!

Hey 'cat, I hope you realize we're all expecting a big fat trip report when you get back! I'm really excited about how this will turn out!

s

Well last summer we fitted it two nights in Basel for the sole purpose of going to that Mulhouse Auto Museum (it was worth it by the way, your husband will be very happy!) We actually spent about five hours there, including having a nice lunch in their restaurant, so it may be a bit much to fit this into one of your travel days as suggested, unless you plan to hurry through this huge museum.
We really enjoyed Basel, having only stopped there for a day once before.

I've lost track of the rest of your itinerary. But I'd agree with most of the above. You don't need to stay in Basel just to do the museum, and I think overall you'd probably enjoy staying in Luzern more than Basel.

Big hello to Phil - I am glad to see long missed SGFTWLS folks posting, like Phil and SloJan.

I have spent only a couple of hours in Basel so far (rushed through by car) and LOVED it. IMO more authentical, less touristy than Lucerne. Definitely a place for art lovers. The location to both sides of the Rhine river is wonderful.

For those who love lakes and mountains Lucerne might be the first choice.

As others said, I think a day trip would be perfect to the auto museum. Great idea of Swandav (Spiez - Mulhouse - Lucerne). The only disadvantage would be that you would not have enough time to see Basel - a loss IMO.

But this is the well-known problem: so much to see, so little time.

Ingo

I spent some weeks in Basel in 2002 and have visited it several times since and found it NOT boring at all! Also the old town is highly attractive and not so relentlessly tourist oriented as Luzern. Luzern is very pretty but I found more to *do* in Basel, which has terrific museums, shopping and restaurants. The old town is full of tiny little streets that take you past all kinds of interesting things. IF you are spending time in the mountains and lakes on the rest of your trip, then Basel makes an interesting alternative from "chocolate box" Switzerland (and on the subject of chocolate, some of the very best Swiss chocolate comes from the Schiesser [sp?] family chocolate makers on the Marktplatz in Basel).

Right now I'm leaning toward spending the last two nites in Basel, instead of Lucerne, and flying from Basel to Brussels (where we will fly home from). Hopefully, this will not be our last trip to Switzerland so we can go to Lucerne on the next trip. Of course, for those who have followed my posts, this can change - and probably will - again.

We enjoyed our day in Basel, and would like to return. We arrived on a Saturday late afternoon, so really only had Sunday to look around, and the shops and museums were closed. We used the Mobility ticket our hotel gave us and rode two tram lines for an overview. We walked thru some of the old town area, crossed the Mittlerebrucke (bridge), saw the river ferries use the cable/current system, and walked around the Munster's courtyards. The red Rathaus was a beautiful structure, but again, we did not have access to the interiors. We saw a Tinguely fountain and am sure the Tinguely museum would be delightful as well. We stayed in a Category B double/twin at the Hotel au Violon, quite nice - wood flooring, celery green/white colors, big window opened out to the square; situated in a lovely courtyard behind the Lohnhof church.

We also visited Lucerne, for two days, and it was very enjoyable. Basel does not have the same elevation as Lucerne, and even Lucerne's surrounding peaks are not as high as other areas of Switzerland. I would say that Lucerne is situated in a more picturesque region, has a quaint old town, the wooden bridges, and the gorgeous lake (with cruises), as well as the opportunities to take a gondola lift up a peak. But if you must choose Basel this time, I think you will enjoy it for a short visit. If you are traveling by train, be aware that there are separate train stations for Swiss, German and French rail systems.

We might end up spending five nites Spiez or Thun, and daytripping to the auto museum, to Lucerne, to Grindelwald, etc. That would just give us two different hotel stays while in Switzerland, so less unpacking and shleping of luggage. If we do this, trying to decide if Spiez or Thun makes more sense.

Hello orangetravelcat,

Oh, I like this last idea; I, too, hate to pack & unpack and check in & out of hotels. Personally, I'll take day-trips up to two hours each way before I'll change hotels.

Anyway, I guess there are two criteria for this decision: views (ambiance, beauty) & convenience.

You can check the relative beauty & ambiance of Spiez & Thun by doing a Google image search for each of them -- or by going to www.webshots.com and doing a photo search for each. I know it'll be very hard to decide; as you saw from Ingo's photos, they're both charming, gorgeous, enticing!


As for convenience, I checked the rail schedules for a few sample trips, and they're both good.

Here's what I found:
Spiez - Grindelwald 1.02 w/1 change
Thun - Grindelwald 1.22 w/1 change

Spiez-Basel 1.50 w/0 change
Thun-Basel 1.34 or 1.38 w/0 or 1 change

Spiez-Luzern 2.01 or 2.09 w/1 or 2 changes
Thun-Luzern 1.32 or 1.57 w/1 change

Spiez appears to have a slight advantage for the trips to Grindelwald and Basel. I would also say Spiez has an advantage because of what I've heard of its bay. However, you really can't go wrong with either one.

I can't wait to hear more from some others!

s

Finally an interesting Switzerland thread I cannot refuse to put my two cents in. (and I love to play the "options-game" with Swandav forth and back LOL!)

IMO it is a great idea to limit your bases to two in Switzerland. Rail travel is soooo easy and convenient. Make sure to purchase a rail pass, though (worth another thread, hahaha).

I think I would opt to stay in Spiez. You mentioned that your hubby loves the lake views, right? And you mentioned you consider to stay at the hotel Marina Seegarten in Spiez. Well, this choice is hard to beat. Book a room with balcony and lake view and it will be hard for you to leave!

As I wrote before, Thun is a town (about 40.000 population) while Spiez is much smaller. So Spiez would give you more of the vacation feeling, if you understand what I mean. The views of the mountains are also better (closer). However, Thun has some great hotels right in the city centre (old town) - as far as I know both Krone and Freienhof are excellent (no personal experience, though).

One warning re Spiez: It is a ten-minutes walk from the bay up to the railway station (I think Patrick mentioned it?). I did not find it too exhausting, but others may ...

In any case, you cannot go wrong.

Ingo

I've booked the Seegarten Marina in Spiez for 5 nites. We'll have a railpass, and there are direct trains to Basel, and not too bad to get to Grindelwald, either. Also there is direct train from Spiez to Zurich airport so I can't really see any disadvantages to staying there. And the walk to the train station will be good exercise!

I, too, agree with the sentiment to NOT give up Lucerne for Basel. But if you do go, search for Schlumpf - - I have given a lot of details about it on a post just tonight (cited from a much older post of mine).

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi. Great decision to stay in one place for five nights (or whatever). If I had checked in earlier in the discussion, I would have suggested that you consider the town of Brienz, which faces the mountains from the other side of our two little lakes (Thun & Brienz). Brienz has certainly been discovered, but maybe in early May it would be ok; it's a charmer. I recall the wonderful mountain views across the lake, and the easy train connections to Lucerne (1:35) and Grindelwald 57), and the daytrip to the outdoor museum at Ballenberg, not to mention the endless list of lake towns on the two lakes.

However, now that you've got your reservations, I'll concur with the others that Spiez is a lovely place -- the only challenge being the hefty hike up to the station. Have I said that you'll have a wonderful time and join our group of those who will never get enough of Switzerland? J. (Hello to all SGFTWLS'ers)

Thanks for all your wonderful advice. The final itinerary - always subject to change, of course - is four nites at the Eden au Lac in Montreux, and then five nights at the Seegartin Marina in Spiez. I know it will be a fabulous trip and I will be sure to do a trip report upon our return.