Hi
I would like some helps to make my itinerary please !
We would drive into Geneva from Lyon and would like to make a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to finally drive to Marseille
We would like to visit : Geneva, Lausanne ,Montreux, Lavaux vineyard, Zermatt, Lugano, St Moritz, Lucerne , Bern, Interlaken Jungfrau Region ( will stay in Gimmelwald or Lanterbrunnen ?) Zurich , Basel , Neuchatel
Which places are ok for bases ? ( 3 or 4 places )
How long for each places ( so we can visit the place and do day trips from )
How long would be reasonable for the whole trip ? ( 17 days ? )
We will have car , can also use train
We will not do a lot of hiking cause we will go with my 80 y o mom , we like nature ( but not extrem sport !) cities , gastronomy, Architecture , some museum !
We will go in mid May 2019
Thanks so much for any informations

IMO, your wish list is WAY too ambitious. For some perspective, you might look at my report of a month in Switzerland, during which I was not able to include all the places you hope to visit -- and I traveled much faster than most people would consider reasonable.
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...thanks-983126/

I would STRONGLY encourage you to consider using the excellent public transportation (trains and, when necessary, buses) in Switzerland rather than renting a car.

What makes for a good base depends on what, exactly, you hope to see and experience. For Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, and the Lavaux vineyards, consider Geneva, Lausanne, or Vevey. Note that if traveling in May, the Bernese Oberland is not necessarily a good choice -- many things could be closed. I, personally, wouldn't go to St. Moritz (overly touristed, IMO), but the Engadine (Upper and Lower) is a delightful region IMO -- and easily worth a week for just a cursory glimpse. Etc.

Please get a good guidebook or two, do some research, and come back once you have either narrowed your wish list drastically or added substantially to your time.

P.S. Are you committed to including Lyon and Marseille on this trip? I suspect that knowing that will help other Fodorites formulate a response to your post.

Hope that helps!

You have posted the same question on another forum... please see that other forum for my reply to your question!

I did one trip where I based in Lausanne for 6 nights and did day trips to Geneva, Montreux, and Zermatt (also Sion, Guyere an Bern). I did that because I knew the Matterhorn is often clouded over and I wanted the best possible weather. I got up early and checked the forecast each day (often different from what it had been the night before) and got a good day on my 5th (out of 6) day.


Another trip I based in Interlaken for 5 days. Same reason. I day tripped into the mountains (including Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunnen, etc.) on the two best days, and day tripped to Bern and another day to towns on the lake (Thun, Spitz, etc.). That trip I also spent two nights in Lucerne and did a day trip to Zurich.



Haven't been to the others except Lugano which I visited on a day trip from Lake Como. Photos of all these places are at: https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f283697298



All of this was by train. So what I did was about 13 nights and I didn't feel rushed. Not sure if or how you would logically include St Moritz, Basel and Neuchatel.



I assume Lyon and Marseille are in addition to the time in Switzerland. Why are you starting and ending there if you main objective is Switzerland? Perhaps that's additional time?

I think Isabel shows the possibilities well. I was going to say that Lausanne or maybe Vevey for that area (plus Montreux and the vineyards) as a base.

I don't think your list is that impossible except maybe drop a couple things and add a couple days. Basel isn't that exciting, for one thing, having been there. I haven't been there, but have heard Geneva isn't either, it's mainly a business city, isn't it?

The Lyon and Marseille thing is curious, what's that all about? I could see Lyon maybe if there is some great flight deal as it isn't too far, but what's with Marseille?

Thank you all for those information
My 17 days are for Switzerland only , but i can add a few days or drop St Moritz ?
Lyon is because the air ticket from Montreal is the cheapest and Marseille because of a family reunion !
I have an idea now how to finalise my itinerary , just have to figure out how to do it all by train or by car or combine both !
Thanks

For train (and other public transportation) information in Switzerland, try sbb
https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

Gimmelwald is a poor base - very remote - unless you mean Grindelwald which would be a great base for the area and has neat closeup views of glacier-girdled high Alps. I'd base there and also Lucerne and Lake Geneva area - St. Moritz is too far off your route and would take a day to get there and a day back. You'll have to take trains around the Jungfrau Region as cars are banned beyond Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald - Gimmelwald can't be reached by car so cross that off as a base as you have to take a bus to a cable car to get there. For lots on Swiss trains check in addition to www.sbb.ch - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

The bus and train ride from Lugano via Lake Como - Valtellina - Valposchiavo - Bernina to St. Moritz (Bernina Express, fully covered by Swiss Travel Pass) is one of the most scenic rides you can do within Switzerland. If you continue to Chur (- Lucerne/Zurich) the first step will be done via Albula railway (Unesco World Heritage).

Agree but with two caveats -- the Bernina Express bus only runs in spring, summer autumn and not in winter. It has to be booked well in advance on www.berninaexpress.ch and is only one per day leaving Lugano station at 1000. Connects to the afternoon BEX from Tirano to St Moritz.

The bus ride sounds wonderful - "along lake Como" - but in fact the lakeshore road is often in tunnels and there are few opportunities to actually see the lake. Plus the road goes through a lot of small towns and speed is very slow.

The Bernina Express bus runs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from February 21st until November 24th and
DAILY fom April 22nd until October 27th.
It leaves Lugano at 10.00 and arrives at Tirano at 13.00. You can have lunch in the restaurants around Tirano railway station.
The connecting Bernina Express train leaves Tirano at 14.27, all the year round.

All roads and the railway line along Lake Como pass through many tunnels. Therefore it's nicer to do the Lake Como leg by boat (bus Lugano - Menaggio, boat Menaggio - Colico, train Colico - Tirano). But this solution needs more time and 3 changes instead of one.

I just spent a Saturday riding the BEX bus and enjoyed my ride immensely. This was the only portion of that trip that I had not travelled. While there were small towns and tunnels, I thought the ride was very, very scenic. As I had a rail pass, I booked my window seat, online, ahead of time. Once I arrived in Tirano, I travelled on to Pontresina for the night, a short train ride.

If the bus under discussion is the one from Lugano to Tirana, then I'm with Huggy -- it thought it very scenic.

Thank a lot every body for a ton of very helpful informations !

Are you kidding? Pick three bases for a 15-day trip -- suggest Lucerne, Interlaken & Montreux. Zermatt was not the highlight of our trip, so I'd pass on that and Lugano. Use the trains. Interlaken is the perfect hub from which to explore the Jungfrau, and if the weather is not good (May is kind of the shoulder season), a convenient spot from which to get to Bern. Zurich, Geneva and Basel are not the heart of what's extraordinary about Switzerland. Even if you choose to purchase a 5-figure watch, you will find plenty in Lucerne!

Lyon, Geneva, Lausanne, Montreux, Lavaux, Zermatt, Lugano, St Moritz, Lucerne , Bern, Interlaken, Gimmelwald or Lanterbrunnen, Zurich, Basel, Neuchatel, Marseille

That's 16 places in 17 days. That's the plan??

All those places are interesting BUT you can see many of them from another - no sense in moving hotels when all you are doing is going a few km away.

See geneve en route from Lyon to Montreux
See the Lavaux from Montreux
Skip Neuch tel AND Marseilles. Neuch tel not worth it and Marseilles too far away
Zermatt - to me it is a marvellous place and I have been going there regularly for over 50 years!
Skip Lugano - complicated to get to from Zermatt. Instead take the Glacier Express Zermatt/St Moritz which is a remarkable train ride.
St Moritz for the Upper Engadin valley and a day trip on the Bernina line to Tirano and back
From Luzern see Bern, Basel and Zürich
From Wengen, Mürren or Grindelwald see The Jungfrau region, the lakes of the Oberland and use Interlaken only to change trains. Nothing to see or do there aside from souvenir shops and tourist "schlock" unfortunately.

IF possible fly into Lyon and out of Zürich...

You will just be passing through a number of places rather than actually "visiting" them. That's all right -- I do that quite regularly, and often just spending an hour or two in a town satisfies me completely, even though I know that it deserves more time (in a perfect world).

You could easily do the Swiss part of the trip without needing to buy the Swiss motorway vignette, but you are spending long enough in the area to make it worthwhile. If you are getting the car in Lyon, there is already a pretty good chance that the car would already have one. And it never hurts to ask at the rental agency if they have a car that has the vignette. Even renting cars in Paris, I sometimes am given a car that has the Swiss vignette on it already.

No no , Lyon and Marseille will not be in the count for Switzerland ! and i can add a few days to Switzerland too !
Thanks for your concern ! haha !