We are going from Lausanne to Brig and then on to Zermatt. My friend and I will be skiing for two days. Our wives are interested on using our Eurailpasses for a day trip or two, departing from Zermatt and going thru Brig. So, 2 questions, what is up in Brig - is it a small village and what is there to do there (besides skiing)? And what are good day trips in the area? Danka!

First of all are you aware that your Eurailpass is not good for travel from Brig to Zermatt. Originally I thought it was only not good on the Glacier Express for that route, but when we got to Brig, we found that we had to buy tickets to Zermatt. Last time we had Swiss Pass which did cover it. <BR>There is not a lot in Brig, especially not a lot of charm. It's Ok to kill an hour or two between trains.

No, I wasn't aware of that. As a matter of fact, the agent at Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com) 1-800-361-RAIL, informed me that it would cover the entire journey. If it doesn't, they'll have some 'splainin' to do. Thanks for the headsup.

For us the most outstanding feature of Brig was a good McDonalds. We used it for a rest stop. We drove around in Brig but it is like driving around Athens, Ga, where I live. A few nice homes, a few stores, and perhaps some local flavor. It is a central town in that part of the the Rhone Valley, but I was not captivated by it. Brig is well east of the turn off to Zermatt at Visp. <BR>Do you have to go to Brig to get off of one train and onto another one? We were driving when we were there, so train connections were not important. <BR> <BR>Day trips from Zermatt? Maybe Milan? <BR>Jump over the mountains south of Zermatt and you are in Italy. In fact, I think the border goes along the divide at the top of the range than includes Monte Rosa. Day trips to major destinations might include: <BR> <BR>Milan, which is 3 hours and 40 minutes (3:40) from Zermatt via Brig by train. <BR>Geneve is 3:32. <BR>Bern is 3:28 <BR>Lasusanne is about 2:50 <BR> <BR>Those would be long, but attractive day trips. I did not see much in Sion and Sierre to occupy a lot of time. If you had a car, there is a lot in the area that you can visit. A post bus trip to Rederalp might be interesting. I would have to check the connection however. Or possibly take the train, bus and cable lift Luek up to the Gemmi Pass and the Daubensee via Luek. (Where my wife and I were drowned in a rain storm last September.) The pass will still be snow covered, probably when you are there. <BR> <BR> How about a day trip by train and post bus over to Saas Fee for a look at some more mountains that seem to reach the sky? Good places to eat in Saas Fee, too. <BR>

Bob, it its my understanding that the main train connection is at Brig. To get to Zermatt, we have to go past Visp and into Brig. At Brig, we get on a seperate rail line, the 'Brig-Visp-Zermatt Railway'. Then we go back thru Visp and up the valley into Zermatt. The Schlosshotel in Brig looks very nice, 5 minutes from downtown, next to the park. My old Fodor's guide lists it as a private railway, and Patrick says it has a seperate fee from Eurail. So, we'll see what happens. <BR>May first thought on a day trip was Milan. I haven't heard of Saas Fee. I will look into it. Thanks!

Saas Fee is east of Zermatt. The awesome Mischabel Range separates the two valleys -- Zermat is in one and Saas X's are in the other, where X = Balen, Almagell, Grund, Tamatten, Fee, and perhaps others. At Visp you turn south toward Stalden, where the road and river divide. The Mattertal leads to Zermatt; the Saasertal leads to Saas Fee and Saas Grund. Saas Fee is the "more uptown" of the group. It has become a winter and summer international resort. But Saas Grund and Saas Almagell have their own charm. Saas Fee is "carless"; all visitors are required to park in a huge parking deck, at a fee. You then walk to the town itself, or call an electric taxi. <BR>Immediately west of Saas Fee is the enormous Saas Glacier and the Dom, nearly 15,000 feet in elevation. It is the highest mountain that lies entirely within Switzerland. (One of the peaks of Monte Rosa is a little higher, but the mountain spills over into Italy.) <BR>Some of the cable lift rides from Saas Fee are awesome, particularly the one that goes up to a ride that is underground as I recall as it goes even higher. No trains to to Saas Fee; you either drive or take the post bus. <BR>The drivers of those post buses have my unmitigated admiration because of the way they navigate around those mountain roads with those big vehicles. As they approach a tunnel, the driver starts sounding the horn to warn everything in range that he coming through. <BR>The Saasertal is a dead end, unless you want to walk!! There are two ancient trade routes that lead out of the valley over the mountains to Italy. There is a dam at the end of the valley and a lake. We went there one day, but the wind was howling over the mountains. The peaks have a tendency to compress the wind, so it was whistling what felt like a whole gale. Anything not tied down was blown away. <BR>Your understanding of the train connection sound right to me. The rail line that goes to Taesch and from Taesch to Zermatt is a private rail line. <BR>The SBB runs the trains from Brig to Lausanne, I believe, but that private line goes to Zermatt. We only rode it from Taesch, a huge car park, into Zermatt. (Most people are not allowed to drive into Zermatt; they park at Taesch and take the commuter run.) We were staying in an apartment in Saas Grund and drove over to Zermatt for the day. <BR>(Easy mountain drive; and the apartment was nice. Two bed rooms, sitting area, and a bath and a half. Cost us about $50 a night, including the use of the second bed room and a washer. The washer was most unlike what you find here in the USA and our land lady did not speak English. So my German was stressed to the limit. I think it was more sign language between Frau Zerbriggen and my wife that got the job done.)