Day trip on Golden Pass: How far from Montreux?
 

We would like to do a day trip from Montreux on the Golden Pass route but are wondering how far to go. A regular train is OK. The trip is at the end of June. We are not trying to do a rail marathon so we would like to keep it under two hours one-way. We do want to see some nice scenery. We would like to spend a few hours in the "turn back town", have a meal and explore a bit. Since the rest of the Swiss part of thie trip is in the French-speaking area I think we should experience a little bit of the German-speaking area. A place not too overrun with other tourists would be desirable. Any thoughts?

Hi Gavin,

I'm thinking hard, but it might be hard to fulfill both: 1. German-speaking, and 2. fewer tourists!

My immediate thought was to go to Chateau d'Oex (www.chateau-doex.ch), so far not too well known to American tourists. But it is still in French-speaking Switzerland.

My next thought was to go to Gstaad, which is just barely in the German-speaking section, but of course it has been discovered by the wealthy tourists --

So I guess you can just get off the train in some of the smaller towns along the way -- Saanen (ok, much larger in population than either Gstaad or Chateau d'Oex but so little tourist infrastructure), Rougemont (French speaking), Saanenmoeser, Schoenried (these last two may bust your two-hour limit).

If it were me, I'd probably go to Gstaad, then take the cable car up to Eggli.

Here are links to my reviews (with photos) of these places --

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Have fun!

s

Fully agree with swandav, as usual ;-)

You could stop in Saanen, walk through the pretty village to the church (stunning medieval frescos inside) and walk (about 45 min.) to Gstaad (along a small river). Gstaad has a pretty pedestrian zone and some nice restaurants. It is not overrun with tourists.

Hi,

Yes, my thoughts exactly!! Too bad I thought of it only *after* I posted. A perfect day -- train to Saanen, walk around & take pictures. Maybe grab a mid-morning snack, then head off to Gstaad on foot, meander around Gstaad, and head to Eggli for a late lunch. Afterward, stroll & window-shop in Gstaad.

Great minds, Ingo!

s

Thank you both. This sounds like a good plan.

One thing that I am unclear about is the cable car to Eggli. When I put "Eggli" as a destination into the sbb.ch site I do not get any reference to a cable car so obviously I am not understanding something.

Hi Gavin,

Sorry it took me some time to reply --

For some reason, Gstaad's website at www.gstaad.ch has gone through some renovations, and of course some information has been removed! Now it's harder than ever to get information about Eggli, and that information is only a snippet.

Anyway, the Eggli cable car isn't connected to the SBB, so no, you won't find any information about it from SBB. It's just a little tiny operation --

To find the cable car, just follow signs for the four-star "Hotel Arc-en-Ciel" on the outskirts of town. From the center of town, you would be walking south, toward Gsteig. The cable car is just past the hotel. Don't know how often the cars run, but I'm pretty sure they run continuously (a string of cars going up just as the corresponding string comes down). The cost should be 11 chf.

Good luck!

s

You can also search on http://www.snowparadise.ch/en/berge.htm

But it seems to me that the Eggli gondola is not in operation in summer. All the other cable cars and gondolas are listed ...

Thank you both again.