Okay so I am talking about May 2007 but May is May! I have posted a few questions here and have been doing a lot of reading. I have managed to find 10 days now for our visit to Switzerland.

At present our idea is to spend 2 or 3 nights in Vevey, then 7 days at an apartment in Brienz. At present we are looking at the Al Porto apartment on this site www.chalet.twwt.com/alporto.html
Does anyone know of this or have any other ideas? I have read a lot about the weather in May, are we doing the right thing picking Brienz as a base? We want to see the Jungfrau if we can get a fine,clear day and just enjoy the area by taking walks and trains to interesting places and just chilling out in general. We thought by staying for a week it might give us more time to pick a good day.

We would also like to add Pilatus and Titlis in the mix again depending on the weather. I have checked the train sites and would like to know if you think they are possible to do as day trips from Brienz. We can get a train to Engelberg then head on to the Rotair for Titlis. As for Pilatus I thought we could catch a train to Alpnachstad, the cog train up to the top, cable car back down, ferry back to Alpnachstad return by train. We will be getting a Swiss Pass also. Do you think these trips can be done from Brienz or would we be better off cutting it down and spending a couple of nights in Luzern?

Sorry this is so long winded, but I have 101 questions bouncing around in my head! Thanks in advance.

Maudie

YES, yes, yes! Brienz is an excellent choice! I rented a private vacation apt in Brienz for ten days in May 2003, and hope to return next spring. I stayed on the upper floor in a half-timbered house with front-long balcony, overlooking the lake and snow-capped mountains, crickets and birds as the only noise! While I do not know your specific apt choice, I LOVE the town. I also went to Titlis and Engelberg (stop at the lake half-way up for a picnic and a stroll around the lake), all entirely doable with a half-decent early start... Trains get crowded on weekends-caution.
Don't miss Brienz's swimming beach (open late May with good weather), the Open-air Museum Ballenberg, the cog-wheel train ride up on Brienz's Rothorn with its excellent views all around (generally half-priced tickets in May).
Brienz has excellent rail and bus connections, you'll LOVE it (and Hopefully, I'll be in town next May as well!)

P.S.
You can look at additional flats to rent at
www.alpenregion.ch CClick on english for Unterkunft-Accomodations...
Don't miss the Aareschlucht gorge in Innertkirchen (walkable from Meiringen), the Giessbach waterfalls and the Sherlock Holmes Museum!!

Rachw,
Thanks so much for the info, that was the positive sort of response that I was hoping for!

The apartment we are looking at also has a view over the lake to the mountains so that sounds really great. We just love to have a place to sit out and soak in the scenery. Is Brienz a village that is easily walkable ie to the market, bakery , station etc?

I am glad to read that Titlis and Pilatus are easy to do as well, we don't mind an early start. I keep reading that there is a lot of things not open in May but so far I haven't found anything that will bother us. Do you remeber if the ferries on Lake Brienz were running when you were there? I read on the Luzern website that the ferries on Lake Luzern run all year, but other Fodorites have said they don't. Its a bit confusing.

We are hoping to be in Switzerland from the 12th, maybe we might bump into each other for a hot chocolate!

Thanks again
Maudie

Hi Maudie,

I'm so glad you chose Brienz -- not that I've ever stayed there! But I sometimes recommend Brienz or Thun as a base for the area to avoid the hordes in Interlaken. I sure hope it works for you. It sounds just right!

Anyway, you can find the ferry schedules at www.lakelucerne.ch so you can find out for sure if/when the ferries are running.

Have fun!

s

Swandav2000,
Thanks too for your positive comment, I am feeling better about our choice of Brienz now. And it is exactly 1 year to the day that we will be flying Perth to Amsterdam!

I have checked that site that you very kindly gave and it does appear that we should be ok with the ferries.

Thanks
Maudie

Brienz is a pleasant place, well known for its wood carvers.

My main objection would be that you are not that close to anything but a nice view of the lake.

If you have a car, no problem. You can drive to most anywhere.

If you don't have a car, then you need to collect the train schedules to where you want to go.

www.sbb.ch is a great source for schedules with bus interfaces when you need to take a bus to get there.

If you don't mind the slight inconvience of taking trains everywhere up and down the mountains, then I think you could do well without a car.

You are within easy reach of Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, the Grimsel Pass [probably not open in May], the Susten Pass [probably not open in May], and other places.

Luzern is not that far away either, neither is Bern.

Hi Maudie - Go to http://www.bls.ch/schiff/fahrplan_br...erbst_o6_d.pdf and you'll see that the ferries run at the time of your planned visit. BTW, you can also see connecting rail service on this page.

OOPS...make that a "06" rather than "o6"

Hi again,

Great, thanks everyone.
Bob - I understand what you are saying but after reading a couple of your recent posts about the rainy, foggy days in May it made me start thinking. I had originally started looking in Lauterbrunnen but thought Brienz might give us a bit more choice to take off if the weather isn't so great. My hubby has long service leave starting late April next year so we have to have to make the best of the weather, although it will be perfect to see the tulips in the Netherlands! We do not have a problem catching trains, it will be part of the adventure. Is it possible to buy or obtain train timetables once we are there or will I have to print off a selection?

Waggis, fantastic - that was the sort of info I was hoping to get.

You guys are great - makes planning so much more interesting when you can ask experts all these niave questions and not be made to feel like an idiot!

Maudie

I do not know about the timetables for purchase. There may well be one but I never looked for it.

Before I go, I think up every place I might want to go, visit the SBB web site, and print several pages of schedules.
That document then goes with me in two copies.

For example, if you want to go to the Jungfraujoch, the SBB site will give you all the details. Here is a sample:
Leave Brienz 7:51 Arrive Interlaken Ost 8:15
Leave Interlaken Ost 8:20 Arrive Lauterbrunnen 8:40
Leave Lauterbrunnen 8:45 Arrive Kleine Scheidegg 9:40
Leave Kleine Scheidegg 9:45 Arrive Jungfrau Joch 10:37

I have never had a problem with using English at Interlaken Ost to get schedule information. I presume the same is true of Brienz, although I have never gone there by train.

If you want to go to Luzern, you can get similar information readily from the SBB.

I might add that Meiringen is an interesting place to visit. The Falls of the Reichenbach are near there.
If you have read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories, you might recall that Holmes supposedly met his end when he fell into the plunge basin of the falls. Turned out not to be the case, because Doyle drug him out and had him reappear in The Adventure of the Empty House.

I think the falls would be more interesting in May when melt water is gushing over them.

At best the falls are 20 minutes away from Brienz. Take the train to Meiringen and the bus to Willigen, Klinik Reichenbach. The hospital is near the entrance to the tramway that takes you up there.

You have to know that tidbit to find the schedule in the SBB web site.

Anothe example is the Museum of Swiss Life, which is near Brienz at a place called Ballenberg. I cannot recommend this place enough for a several hour visit. The museum is an outdoors place with farm houses from all over Switzerland brought in and reconstructed and, in some cases, made fully operational. To get to Ballenberg, you take the Post Bus from the train station.

It is about a 10 minute ride.

I suggest you simply dream up every possible place, get the schedules, and be ready to go.

We may not be totally after the same objectives, because my idea of chilling is to go like h... the whole time I am there. It invigorates life.
My chill time is train time!!

Bob, again thanks so much for the time you have taken to answer me. I really meant chill time will be IF the weather bad, the rest of the time we will be out and about, hopefuly hiking too!

The waterfall sounds like it might be worth seeing.

Maudie

Thanks for the great information. We'll probably be in one of the Untour apartments in Meiringen May or June of 2007. Just 10 minutes from Brienz by train.

At railway stations you will be able to buy a comprehensive publication with timetables for trains, cable railways and ships for CHF 16: Volume I for 2006 "für Bahnen, Seilbahnen, Schiffe". (Volume II for postal busses is not available anymore). There are also schedules in pocket format available for cities, regions and international travel. Pocket formats used to be freebies, not sure if that's still the case. But "information" in any railroad station will assist you for free.

Have a look at www.aareschlucht.ch and http://www.Switzerlandisyours.com/e/...meiringen.html

Well, to add a little bit to Bob brown's soft pedalling of the place, Brienz has a spectacular view of the lake with the snowy Alps as a backdrop. You really can just sit all day here and gaze at the view if you want, or take ferries to get moving views. The town itself is not charming in a cobblestone-street kind of way, although I suspect that as with most Swiss towns, if you get a few streets away form the main street and the train station and ferry pier, you will find many charming little houses. The main street is a busy street whichi s very narrow and is lined with very cute wooden houses which will be bedecked with the de rigour flower boxes starting in late May (this is the sunnier side of the lake). There is one house in particular which is generally completely covered from top to bottom in geraniums, quite an amazing site, esp in full summer say after about the third week in June or so. Wonderful. It is on the right hand side of the street, maybe 1/2 mile or so after the train station as you are heading out of Brienz west along the lake towards Oberried.

Biking and walking along the lake and immediate shore areas is good, it is flat. Biking and walking along the valley floor between Brienz and the entry to the Grimsel and Susten Passes at Meringen is also very good, again it is flat. You can rent bikes at most train stations, they are free unless you want to leave them at another train station in which case you have to pay a small deposit. I know there is mountain biking in the area, I am not a mountain biking, but if you hunt around I am sure you will find infomration.

Two books to consider buying (or photocopying parts of from a library) are Swiss Bernense Oberland by Philip and Louise Alspach, and the Lonely Planet book "Walking in Switzerland". I find both accurate and very helpful.
These give excellent suggestions for walks in the area, rate them for difficulty and gives info on getting to and from walks by public transportation. There are two main Swiss walking clubs which also offer guided walks, you might try their websites (may be only in German, Italian or French, but you could tray babbelfish translations):

Swiss Hiking Federation at http://www.swisshiking.ch/
Swiss Alpine Club at http://www.alpen-journal.de/links.html

Be sure to go to Thun and Spiez by ferry to see the castles and the nice old town in Thun. Good for rainy days as well.

If you go to Pilatus, make sure you have first go to the Jungfrau valley and seen and walked that area. I think that area is more lovely. Weather permitting, be sure to go to Kandesteg and do the great Oeschinensee walk, this is very easy and offers spectacular views. It is only 1.5 hours by train from Brienz, you could also do this by taking a ferry to Interlaken and then a train. There are also one or two funiculars behind Brienz which you can take up for mountains views. Another good trip would be to go to Lungern by train, this would take 40 minutes and would take you up and over nice Brunig Pass (not especially high, but pretty, same tracks as Golden Pass takes to Lucerne). Brunig istelf is a tiny town with a nice couple of shops (and a second hand/antique shop, the Brokenhaus which is very good and is open on Sundays, very very rare in Switerland, and an excellent restaurant, the Gasthaus Brunig Kulm) There is a cable car outside Lungern at the at the Obese (the Adelboden – Sillerenbühl) which will take you up for some excellent views. There is a restaurant here and some very good walks. I can pretty much guarantee you that if you take the Adelboden – Sillerenbühl cable car you will be the only Americans in it and on the mountain. Go to http://www.panoramawelt.ch/sommer/de/indexpage.html (German only.) In other words, it is not necessary to go all the way to Lucerne to get up into the mountains, they are all around you.

You can take the Golden Pass train all the way to Montruex for the day for some great views and if you want to see the lovely Lake Lucerne area. Go to Goldenpass.ch. A full day out and back (probably 7 hours round trip), but with the long days in May and June it is certainly doable.

For both Maudie and ronkala, if you have any choice, I would pick June over May. A few weeks makes a huge differnece in this area of Switzerland in terms of temperatures, trails available for walking, flowers and plants. Mid June is so much better than mid-May.

ronkala, as nice as Meringen is, is is NOT on a lake nor does it have lake views (it may have some limited views if you are very high up on the hillside I am guessing at this but am not really sure). Also it is in a narrow valley and the mountain views are not really as good as you get from the broader valley of the lakes or even the Lauterbrunnen valley. I am a big water person and the lake views from Thun and Brienz are quite spectacular, so if you want to consider apartments in Brienz, Thun, Oberried or other towns along the lakes you might want to do so.

Cicerone,
Wow thank you so much for all that info, it really gives us something to think about. I wish we could put our visit back for a week or two, might have to do some serious re-arranging.

Would a day trip to Montreux/Vevey from Brienz really only give us time to get there and turn around again. I really would like to get in a visit to Gruyere.

I do like the idea of taking in some bike riding (will have to brush up on that though). And, yes, the Jungfrau is first on the list, but I do like the sound of the other ideas you have suggested.

Thanks again.

Sorry, I did not mean to imply you would have to turn around again if you went to Montreux and the Lake Geneva area for the day. I meant that it was a long train ride out and back, so some people might not want to consider it. However, if you are game, get an early start, and with the long days in May and June I think you can see a lot.

You do not necessarily have to take the Golden Pass train, as the "regular" Swiss Rail trains also can get you there (often faster), they don't go the same route, so you don't get the spectacular passes, but still a pretty ride for most of it. You could also take the Golden Pass only one way and a regular train the other, that would save some money as well as time.

If you took like a 7:30 am "regualr" train from Brienz, you would be in Vevey (a smaller more charming town IMO than Vevey) by 10:30, plenty of time to get in a full day in this area, which would include seeing the old town, a walk in the vineyards, winetastings, walks or bikinig along the lake. Vevey has a wine and farmers market on Saturdays which is very good. I would think you could get down to see the castle at Chillon, albeit getting there by train would be faster than ferry so you might have to forgo the ferry. You might be able to time yourself to get the last Golden Pass train back. You could even have dinner and take a later train back, it will be twilight until like 10 pm and a bit later in most areas, so even parts could be in light. Go to sunrisesunset.com for sunrise, sunset and twilight times for May and June in Switzerland.

Getting to Gruyere is about 3 hours by train and then a bus, you can take the Golden Pass although it may add some time to the journey. Gruyere is very lovely as well, and good for May, as it is lower in elevation than other Alp areas so will be greener, warmer, may have flowers out and has a charming tiney one-street village and castle.

The village of Chateaux D'Oex in the Alps, which is a stop on the Golden Pass line between Gstaad and Montreux and is very charming, has a nice museum and has beautiful views and walks. Gstaad is a great place for a stop as well. You can get to either place using the regular Swiss Rail as well for a half day trip. The choices are kind of endless. (This is why I always feel like screaming when people say they are going to go to Lucerne, there is SO much else so close by!)

Sorry, meant to write that Vevey is more charming than Montreux, IMO.

Some really excellent restaurants in the Montreux and Vevey area, including several Michelin stars.

Hi Cicerone,
After reading lots of posts I was set on Vevey right from the start it sounds like a lovely place to visit. I was thinking we could do day trips from Brienz and just stay put for the whole 10 days but I think I would be disappointed in staying only 1 day around Vevey so I think my original plan of spending a couple of nights there is the right choice. We can catch the Golden Pass to Interlaken then find our way to Brienz.

Thanks for taking so much time to answer my questions, it is greatly appreciated.

Cicerone,
Thankyou for that information.
Other towns we also considered were Sarnan and Giswil. All apartments were about a ten minute walk from restaurants or station.