cannot decide where to stay
 

Hi, me and my family plan to visit swiss by next year February, and i cannot decide to stay at Interlaken-Goldswil or Central Swiss- Isenthal, i have found two chalet which suit my family but i cannot decide which place is the best for us?

during winter the day dark by what time? we actually plan to visit Italy milan and can someone pls help to advice what are the best way for us to travel to Milan we actually rent a car but this is our first drive in winter.

Firstly, February will be mid-winter. Snowstorms can happen every day and night. Although the Swiss are very quick in cleaning the roads, you must expect closed roads, especially in the mountains. Even railways might be closed. So, plan with flexibility.

Isenthal is a tiny village and a pretty remote place. You have to rely on your car and you need to drive an hour before you reach any place of interest (or a store). Even Luzern will be a one-hour drive away.

Interlaken is a town with all services and well-connected - both by car and by train - to Bern (which is a charming town with quite a few attractions). And you have direct access to some of the most dramatic mountains in the Alps.

Sunrise will be at 7:30, sunset at 18:00.

Driving from Interlaken to Milano will take about 4 hours, mostly on motorways. There are no mountain passes, you will be driving through the valleys and the Gotthard tunnel. There are often heavy traffic jams at the tunnel entrances, so actual driving time might be longer.

The train takes 3:34 from Interlaken to Milano - I strongly recommend taking the train (no hassle with parking in Milano etc.).

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Take the train to Milan to avoid a large drop off fee for returningn the car in a different country.

thanks for your advice it help a lot.

so night time can we go out?? difficult to drive??

can everyone in swiss and italy speak English??

Milan is an international city and you will find many English speakers. However, it is often the case that train personnel do not speak English. You need to know how to buy the kind of train tickets you want, how to stamp them in the machine, how to find your train.

If you plan to drive to Milan instead, you need to be able to read Italian traffic signs in order to avoid forbidden areas, and know how and where to park your car if your hotel is not providing you with free parking.

It is very difficult to drive at night in Italy because it is hard to see the street signs. That is true even in daytime, so it is good to rent a GPS if you end up driving into italy.

Finally, I have never been to the Swiss Alps in February, but I would not want to rely on driving at night in order to find interesting things to do. If you want things to do at night, you should stay in a town.

>>difficult to drive??<<

Maybe. If there is fresh snow or even ice on the roads, the roads will be slippery. It depends where you drive. E.g. Interlaken is just 500m above sea level, this means there is not often snow. However, if you drive up those winding roads into the mountains, things can get rough. However, from Interlaken, you can do many things without a car. How should take the train to Milano anyway. You should also take the train to Bern.

>>can everyone in swiss and italy speak English??<<

In Switzerland, many people speak English, at least basically. In Italy, few people speak English. However, most people in tourist-related services (at ticket counters etc.) speak English. And people in Europe are used to meet people from other countries who do not speak their language, so you will go along easily. Most brochures, instructions at ticket machines etc. are available in English too.

>>so night time can we go out?<<

I do not quite understand the question. At night, the streets within towns are well-lit. Of course, you can walk at night to and from restaurants etc.

Your main concern should be proper clothing. In February, it will be very cold. You need thick winter coats, gloves, hats and waterproof boots. Do not forget sunglasses and a sun-block. If you are on top of the mountains, the sun will be intense and reflected by the snow.

Now, after reading zeppole's post, I understand your question. I drive at night in Switzerland all the time and find nothing special about it. The signage is excellent, the roads are in good condition and well-marked on both sides with reflectors. However, a GPS is always a good recommendation. You can rent a car with GPS or bring your own (with European maps).

I would like to correct any impression that Echnaton may have left about finding English speakers when you need to buy tickets in Italy.

If you are buying tickets to enter a museum or take a guided tour, you will most often find English speakers.

If you are buying train or bus tickets from a person rather than a machine, the Italian ticket seller may not speak English. You should come prepared either to make your request in Italian or, better yet, have your request written down on a piece of paper -- written in Italian -- so you can show the ticket seller if needed. It is important that you purchase the correct tickets, find the right platform, stamp the tickets before you board the train, and sit only in the seats that correspond to your tickets. The conductor who looks at your ticket may not speak English either.

Any good guidebook will guide you through steps of how to buy train and bus tickets in Italy.

PS: Just last week my husband helped a non-English speaking traveler who ended up in Brignole train station in Genova, Italy, when he thought he had boarded a train in Milan headed for Brig, Switzlerand. He didn't realize he was headed in the wrong direction until he saw palm trees and the sea out the window! The traveler had to purchase a new ticket back to Milan, and book a new train for Brig. Needless to say, the mistake cost him many hours.

Sorry -- I meant to type that the traveler didn't speak Italian. He spoke fairly good English.

If you have never driven in snow I do not recommend that you do so in Switzerland. It is completely different than driving on dry pavement - and while the Swiss are very good about clearing road, in Feb you can have snow almost continuously - and even after clearing you can run into bad consitions (esp heading to mountain villages) including black ice which is invisible and very treacherous. If you decide to do this try to rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle- or at a minimum one with front-wheel drive - rear wheel drive cars can be VERY difficult to control.

In cities and larger towns you will always find someone who speaks some English (and often many speak a lot). In smaller villages it may be much less common - so you need to be prepared to understand the basics in French, German or Italian - depending on where you stay.

(We always rent a car in Switzerland, but we visit in spring or summer - not in Feb for skiing/winter sports.)

If you plan to drive to Milan but not back to Switzerland, you will find rental car costs quite expensive - it's a hefty extra fee to drop the car off in another country. And Milan would not be my favorite city to drive in. FWIW, the Swiss railways are running specials to Milan - fares as low as 30 francs one way (second class). I don't know if the offer will still be valid for your dates of travel.
http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reiselust/europareisen.htm

we actually will stay at swiss for two weeks first week will be at interlaken ( after reading Echnaton reply )and second week will be at geneva and we plan to drive to near city because we rent a car with GPS for two week.

then we plan to go Milan for just one day and stay one night at Milan, after reading all yr respond i don think we want to drive our car to Milan cos we don hav any experience doing so.

From Interlaken train station can we get direct train to Milan ?? or we need to go other town for transit?

( can we go out at night ) which i mean we afraid at night might be too cold or too heavy snow than is difficult to drive where by cannot see the road or any other thing that we cannot think off might be happen.

thank you so much for your kind advice......

The fastest train connection is this one:

7:29 from Interlaken-Ost, arriving at 7:50 at Spiez
8:05 from Spiez, arriving at 10:35 at Milano Central Station

For returning, you have some options with two changes of trains. This connection has only one change:

18:25 from Milano Centrale, arriving at 20:53 at Spiez
21:35 from Spiez, arriving at Interlaken-Ost at 21:56

Re driving at night:
Snow has nothing to do with day or night. Sometimes it snows, sometimes not. It might even be raining down in the valleys while it is snowing in the higher elevations only. (Interlaken, Bern, Geneva, Zürich, Luzern are all at lower elevations.) And the roads are cleared day and night from snow. The main problem is that snow makes roads slippery. It is like driving on loose gravel or sand. Of course, the roads will be salted so that ice and snow melt, but when it is snowing heavily, you will have snow on the surface. But this can happen during day or night.

thanks Echnaton you are my angel!!!!!bravo!!!!!