Can't decide on where to go in Switzerland!
Nov 27th, 2012, 12:03 PM
#21
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5 star or equivalent accommodation is a must, which rules out some lovely little towns.>
Interlaken certainly has some of that type of hotel - some with scintillating views of the snow-girdled Jungfrau massif from room balconies.
Interlaken certainly has some of that type of hotel - some with scintillating views of the snow-girdled Jungfrau massif from room balconies.
Nov 28th, 2012, 06:29 AM
#22
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http://www.victoria-jungfrau.ch/meta/home/
A famous 5-star hotel in Interlaken - the fabled Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel, a watering hole for the rich and famous since Victorian days - sweet views of the Jungfrau Massif from rooms facing south!
A famous 5-star hotel in Interlaken - the fabled Victoria-Jungfrau Hotel, a watering hole for the rich and famous since Victorian days - sweet views of the Jungfrau Massif from rooms facing south!
Nov 29th, 2012, 02:12 AM
#24
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I would absolutley recommend Spiez. I travelled from Australia and my base in Spiez was a perfect choice. Train connections to everywhere I wished to go. Trains are fantastic and Spiez was a wonderful quiet town with views of Thunersee (lake) and the alps - made for a perfect end to a day's fun.
Nov 29th, 2012, 03:29 AM
#25
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Consider the lakefront town of Brunnen.
We stayed there last month (October 12), and it has good transport connections, many restaurants and cafes, several very fine hotels.
Be aware that Vitznau is served mainly by bus or boat connections, and is a VERY small town.
Brunnen is 45 minutes by train to Luzern and just one hour to Zurich, so Pilatus and Rigi are quite do-able (we did both).
In October is usually Luzern's "Herbstmesse" or fall festival over 10 days---a bonus that we got to visit this year, so do check fot the dates next year!
We stayed there last month (October 12), and it has good transport connections, many restaurants and cafes, several very fine hotels.
Be aware that Vitznau is served mainly by bus or boat connections, and is a VERY small town.
Brunnen is 45 minutes by train to Luzern and just one hour to Zurich, so Pilatus and Rigi are quite do-able (we did both).
In October is usually Luzern's "Herbstmesse" or fall festival over 10 days---a bonus that we got to visit this year, so do check fot the dates next year!
Nov 29th, 2012, 03:39 AM
#26
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Oooh, the Luzern Fair dates for 2013 are October 5-20!
It was a great experience, with amusement rides (ferris wheel would provide fantastic photos of the surrounding mountains),
delectable sweets stands, sausages, crepe stands, and a multitude of booths selling EVERYTHING from teas to jewelry, scarves, etc!
No matter where you end up staying, DO try to visit the fair!
It was a great experience, with amusement rides (ferris wheel would provide fantastic photos of the surrounding mountains),
delectable sweets stands, sausages, crepe stands, and a multitude of booths selling EVERYTHING from teas to jewelry, scarves, etc!
No matter where you end up staying, DO try to visit the fair!
Nov 29th, 2012, 09:26 AM
#28
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Spiez, Brunnen and Vitnau no doubt are wonderful towns but they cannot match the atmosphere IMO of one of Switzerland's famous Alpine resorts - like Interlaken or Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen or Zermatt or Engelberg, etc. - places where the mountains awesomely rise up right from these towns and it is only a short hike or train or gondola ride to the famous sights.
Nov 30th, 2012, 08:20 AM
#29
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Ok, so I am thinking either somewhere on Lake Geneva or somewhere on Lake Lucerne. What would be your preference if you were me, and why???>
I think you've made a sweet choice with Vitznau and Lake Lucerne, to me the prettiest of all Swiss lakes, especially around Vitznau since it is a fjord-like lake at this point, hemmeed in by sheer cliffs and hills and mountains.
Boats will still be running frequently around the lake, making getting from Vitznau to Lucerne or Mt Pilatus (Alpnachstad boat dock) easy - by train you'd have to take the Rigi Bahn mountain railway to Arth-Goldau I think then train to Lucerne - boat may be just as fast and a sweeter experience.
I think you've made a sweet choice with Vitznau and Lake Lucerne, to me the prettiest of all Swiss lakes, especially around Vitznau since it is a fjord-like lake at this point, hemmeed in by sheer cliffs and hills and mountains.
Boats will still be running frequently around the lake, making getting from Vitznau to Lucerne or Mt Pilatus (Alpnachstad boat dock) easy - by train you'd have to take the Rigi Bahn mountain railway to Arth-Goldau I think then train to Lucerne - boat may be just as fast and a sweeter experience.
Nov 30th, 2012, 10:34 AM
#30
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since you are on a huge budget strongly consider buying a first-class Swiss Pass - 2nd class on Swiss trains is OK but first class is much much more OK - always lots of empty seats and you usually put your baggage on an empty seat next to you.
Seats are larger - all in all for the trip of a lifetime with a seemingly unlimited budget apply the same criteria to train travel as you do to having *****hotels!
Seats are larger - all in all for the trip of a lifetime with a seemingly unlimited budget apply the same criteria to train travel as you do to having *****hotels!
Dec 1st, 2012, 07:54 AM
#31
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Again I think the Jungfrau Region makes a perfect 4-5 day stay and is right on (just a short shuttle train off) a main rail route to Milan.
And there here is my favorite day excursion in that whole wondrous area and one that I never tired of replicating whenever I am in this wondrous area.
Wherever you base it is easy to take a train to Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen and then go straight up a sheer cliff a few thousand feet via aerial cable car to Grutschalp to hop on a train that rolls along the cliff, with scintillating views of the deep Lauterbrunnen Valley and the majestic glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif across the valley to Murren
Murren is a venerable watering hole once favored by wealthy Brits - from this picture postcard village in an awesome setting hop the longest cableway in the Alps, I read, to the Schilthorn and the Piz Gloria, made famous in James Bond flick On Her Majesty's Serive (which was filmed as the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant was being built - in part I think for the movie) -the Schilthorn is an icy outpost in the middle of a sea of ice with views for many many miles around.
a unique place for sure - with the famous revolving restaurant and ice caves, etc. and a viewing platform outside.
Return by cable to Murren and then hop the cable way down to Gimmelwald, a lost-in-time farming hamlet that has gained some fame in recent years due to its stunning surroundings - isolated in the midst of rugged Alpine scenery.
From Gimmelwald another aerial gondola seems to plunge back down to the valley floor at Stechelberg - nervous Nellies should stand in the middle of this large gondola to avoid being freaked out at the prodigious rate of descent!
From Stechelberg postal buses take you back to Lauterbrunnen for trains to Interlaken and onto Brienz.
A Swiss Pass is valid 100% the whole way except for the Murren to Schithorn which is 50% off - but the rest including the aerial gondolas from the valley and back down are 100% covered by a Swiss Pass as are all trains - only 50% for Murren to Schilthorn and back - a great deal with a Swiss Pass and to me with all its varied aspects the finest single day out in the whole Jungfrau Region!m in the area.
And there here is my favorite day excursion in that whole wondrous area and one that I never tired of replicating whenever I am in this wondrous area.
Wherever you base it is easy to take a train to Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen and then go straight up a sheer cliff a few thousand feet via aerial cable car to Grutschalp to hop on a train that rolls along the cliff, with scintillating views of the deep Lauterbrunnen Valley and the majestic glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif across the valley to Murren
Murren is a venerable watering hole once favored by wealthy Brits - from this picture postcard village in an awesome setting hop the longest cableway in the Alps, I read, to the Schilthorn and the Piz Gloria, made famous in James Bond flick On Her Majesty's Serive (which was filmed as the Piz Gloria revolving restaurant was being built - in part I think for the movie) -the Schilthorn is an icy outpost in the middle of a sea of ice with views for many many miles around.
a unique place for sure - with the famous revolving restaurant and ice caves, etc. and a viewing platform outside.
Return by cable to Murren and then hop the cable way down to Gimmelwald, a lost-in-time farming hamlet that has gained some fame in recent years due to its stunning surroundings - isolated in the midst of rugged Alpine scenery.
From Gimmelwald another aerial gondola seems to plunge back down to the valley floor at Stechelberg - nervous Nellies should stand in the middle of this large gondola to avoid being freaked out at the prodigious rate of descent!
From Stechelberg postal buses take you back to Lauterbrunnen for trains to Interlaken and onto Brienz.
A Swiss Pass is valid 100% the whole way except for the Murren to Schithorn which is 50% off - but the rest including the aerial gondolas from the valley and back down are 100% covered by a Swiss Pass as are all trains - only 50% for Murren to Schilthorn and back - a great deal with a Swiss Pass and to me with all its varied aspects the finest single day out in the whole Jungfrau Region!m in the area.
Dec 3rd, 2012, 02:15 PM
#32
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@swandav2000
Well, we'll have to agree to disagree. This year the vineyards looked beautiful up until a few days before I wrote my post. They are now covered with snow and look beautiful for a different reason. Anyway, the OP said they were going in the first week of Oct which is a lovely time to visit.
Well, we'll have to agree to disagree. This year the vineyards looked beautiful up until a few days before I wrote my post. They are now covered with snow and look beautiful for a different reason. Anyway, the OP said they were going in the first week of Oct which is a lovely time to visit.
Dec 4th, 2012, 12:43 PM
#34
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vineyards are also a beautiful site to behold for me - even the flat ones along the main rail line along the Rhone Valley between Visp and Montreux - seems like the train slices right thru them for miles.
And Sion has hills with vineyards on it.
Ice already in Vevey - wow would have never dreamt that - do they now make Ice Wine out of the frozen grapes or are the grapes already plucked?
And Sion has hills with vineyards on it.
Ice already in Vevey - wow would have never dreamt that - do they now make Ice Wine out of the frozen grapes or are the grapes already plucked?
Dec 11th, 2012, 10:14 AM
#36
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The name "ice" wine should give you a clue. These grapes are picked when it's not warmer than -7 Celsius. Then they are pressed out, still frozen, due the mash is very thick. The wine that results from it is very sweet, an excellent and super expensive dessert wine.
This year it worked out in my region (Saxony, Eastern Germany). They picked the grapes last weekend.
This year it worked out in my region (Saxony, Eastern Germany). They picked the grapes last weekend.
Dec 11th, 2012, 10:19 AM
#37
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The Mosel Valley is one region in Germany renown for its Ice Wein but it only happens occasionally - that it gets cold enough to freeze when the grapes are still on the vine - it is ballyhooed for good reason and a delicacy like Ingo mentions.
Dec 11th, 2012, 11:32 AM
#38
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Well, the "ice" bit could very well have been at any stage of the production. Like "ice" cream is not made when the cows are frozen. 
If there are any grapes on the vines now they were left there on purpose for a late harvest or perhaps for ice wine. (shrug) I can't say as I've never heard of it before.
Most of the regular harvest is done by mid-Oct.
If there are any grapes on the vines now they were left there on purpose for a late harvest or perhaps for ice wine. (shrug) I can't say as I've never heard of it before.
Most of the regular harvest is done by mid-Oct.
