We are going to be staying in this area for three nights in October. Does anyone have recommendations for a location to use as a base while in this area. We will be driving by car to this area from Colmar, France and then departing to Lucerne for several days.
Any hotel recommendations would also be appreciated. Thank you.

Do you mean that you'll be travelling to Colmar, then Lucerne and then Gruyeres? Gruyeres is located in the southwest of Switzerland.

Hi joycegg,

I wonder if you know that you can't park in the town of Gruyeres. I think you can get special permission to drop off your luggage, but then you park your car down the hill in the parking lot. You may want to consider using the terrific Swiss trains from Basel -- schedules at www.rail.ch.

Good luck!

s

Thanks for the tip about parking in Gruyeres, we were only going to day trip there are looking for a location in that area to make our base for three nights somewhere between the Basel area and the Gruyeres area, any suggestions. We are going to be traveling 1st to the Colmar region of France and then coming to the Basel-Gruyeres area for three nights, then on to the Lucerne area for 2 nights. Do you know of any hotels that you would recommend. Thank you so much for your help.

We've stayed in and loved Gstadt. In fact we did a day trip via the "Chocolate Train" from there to Gruyeres. It was a wonderful excursion visiting both a cheese factory and the famous milk chocolate factory. In addition we had several hours free in Gruyeres to explore the sites and have lunch on our own.

Hi joycegg,

Hmmm. A place that is literally between Basel and Gruyeres might be: Bern (1h from Basel and 1h30 from Gruyeres), Thun (1h30 from Basel and 2h from Gruyeres), or Neuchatel (2h30 from Gruyeres and 1h30 from Basel).

Another choice might be to base yourself in a village nearby to Gruyeres, like Gstaad, Saanen, or Chateau d'Oex, which would be about three hours from Basel and about an hour from Gruyeres.

Oops, all these times are by train, but you can check driving times at www.viamichelin.com or www.mappy.com.

I'll be happy to help with hotels once you nail down your town, and if you can give a price preference too.

Have fun!

s

Just to muddy the water (I don't think there is any muddy water in Switzerland, but I'm in Louisiana, so.) -- Knowing nothing about driving in this area, I'll mention a few more possibilities: Murten (walled town) and Avenches (quiet little town with Roman structures), Fribourg and Dudingen between Bern and Lausanne, the villages of Bielersee, or you can scoot all the way to Lac Leman. It's the driving part that stumps me. I try to picture parking issues in Bern or Thun, and I don't have a clue. If you prefer to stay in villages, come back here and we'll make more suggestions. J.

Thank you so much for your replies. They are really helping us. We are driving from Zurich to the Alscae region of France, staying in a small village for three nights, then driving to the area between Basel and Gruyeres for three nights, then off to Lucerne for two nights before going to Zurich for our last three nights. We do prefer small villages. We like at least three star hotels. Probably would to spend up to $180 per night, like it keep it below that, but it really depends on the accomadations. The chocolate train is something we will do for sure. We have checked out all the distances on viamichelin and they seem doable.

I think Gstaad is perfect for you. It is pretty upscale and in October you can get great deals on really nice hotels.

Hi again,

Yes, Gstaad would be perfect, as would another of the smaller towns around there -- Chateau d'Oex or Saanen. I'm hesitant to recommend a hotel until I know which town you're aiming for. You can take a look at www.gstaad.ch and www.chateau-doex.ch.

The Chocolate train stops running in Oct; here's a quote from the website:

"Every Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from June to October"

You may want to e-mail them (www.mob.ch/GPS/produits/choc1.asp) to ask which day they're stopping. But no worries -- it's quite easy to do all the parts on your own.

s

Just emailed the chocolate train. Thanks for that info. I thought Gstadt and Chateau-doex were more skiing towns but will look into both of them. Again thank you...

Hi again,

Gstaad as a skiing town -- not too much, and especially not as much as, say, Grindelwald or Wengen are. Gstaad is mainly a **rich** town where lots of celebrities have settled (E. Taylor, R. Moore and the like). Because of that, there are more 5-star hotels there than the population warrants, and the shopping and dining are also first class.

Also, where Grindelwald & Wengen actually sit on mountain ledges, Gstaad is on a valley floor.

Chateau d'Oex is a huge center for ballooning; it's where the round-the-world flight took off from a few years ago. They have a big ballooning festival each Jan.

Anyway, hope it works for you!

s