Going to Switzerland - will be there for 8 days. We fly in and out of Zurich and will purchase the Swiss Saverpass train ticket. After searching this sight and suggested Sw sites I think these are the cities we want to visit.
Lausanne
Montreux / Vevry
Bern
Bernese Oberland
Lauterbrunnen (Murren,Gimmelwald,Wengen)
Lucerne
End of in Zurich

Any advice on: cities to pass on, best order to visit and hotels near the train stations. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - we leave next Thursday the 2nd.

Hi Merrisr,

Here is one option:

Take the train directly from the Zurich airport to Lausanne, about 2h40 or 2h50 with 0 changes (trains leave at .43 and .13 after the hour). Stay in Lausanne two nights and visit Montreux & Vevey from there.

From Lausanne, go to Wengen (or another village of the Berner Oberland) and stay there four nights, visiting the other villages and Berne.

From Wengen, go to Luzern and stay one night. Luzern is only an hour (0 changes) from the Zurich airport by train, so it's convenient and saves you from having to move once more. For your day in Luzern, walk the old town, maybe take an excursion to Pilatus, and definitely take a lake cruise.

Once you nail down your destination cities, we'll be better able to help you with recommended hotels.

s

Hi, I'll jump in at the risk of being corrected by those with more experience. If you go straight to Vevey or Montreux(about 3 hours), you could stay three nights (better rates for stays of 3 or more) and daytrip all sorts of lake(Chillon, Nyon, Yvoire, Morges, Lutry)spots and Gruyeres, as well as both Bern and Lausanne. You must do a lot of daytripping and boatriding to make your saverpass actually save you dollars. If you don't, individual tickets might be less expensive.

Then three nights in Lauterbrunnen to check out those famous mountain villages (with visits to the lower lake villages of Thun or Brienz or Oberhofen or Ballenberg), and finally two nights in either Lucerne or Zurich (depending upon how early your return flight departs). You can easily daytrip to Lucerne from Zurich, but you can also get to the flughafen in time for a not-too-early flight from Lucerne.

Without reservations, I'd guess you'll have to take what you can find when it comes to hotels. Stop in at the first tourist office you see at each train station. They might be able to help. The one in Lausanne is very good. Maybe you can e-mail the ones in Montreux, Vevey, Lucerne, or Zurich ahead of time. Bon Voyage! J.

Oh this is so funny. Hi S! Great minds and all that. J.

Merrisr,

My wife and I had the good fortune of spending eight days in CH this month, dedicating our entire time to the Bernese Oberland and Lucerne and environs. The trip was a feast for the eyes and ears, but it was also oh-so-pricey. Still, I very much look forward to a return trip in '05.

By all means try to allow for at least four nights in the B.O. While heavily touristed, it features breathtaking scenery, and there's ample opportunity to escape the tour groups, to find a hiking trail of your own. Allow me to suggest that you stay for two nights in Lauterbrunnen. (The Hotel Staubbach is centrally situated, overlooks a beautiful waterfall, is well run and very reasonably priced.) Another two nights might be spent in Murren which is a delightful small resort, perfect for trips to the impressive Schilthorn. (We bedded down at the Hotel Alpenblick. It had less personality than the latter accommodation, but came with fine, friendly service, is a two-minute walk to the train station, and comes with stunning views of the Eiger.)

Regarding Lucerne, you'll probably want to spend a couple days here, one for strolling the city's very atmospheric waterfronts, and one for an excurision to Mount Pilatus, taking the gondola up to the summit and the train on the return journey. A good way to cap off your day-trip is to take a steamer back from the base of Pilatus to Lucerne. While in Lucerne, we stayed at the ultra-centrally located Hotel Des Alpes. Ask for a waterfront room. It won't come cheap, but there's a helpful lift, waterfront dining, much city ambience. Leave your arachnaphobia at home, however, as you're likely to be sharing your waterfront room with more than a few of these Des Alpes-loving Swiss friends.

Best of luck.

You may have to scale down the cities you want to see, drive time and visit time I don't think you will make it everywhere. We stayed in Murren during our stay in the interlaken area. We spent one day hiking, taking the cable car up and hiked down,just incredible. We stayed at the Alpinblick hotel, rightby the train station end of town. We ate both nights at a small rustic resturant in the center of town, right by the water trough. Very good food,not overly expensive. Have fun

Thanks for all the great advice.

What is the best base for seeing Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald, Lake Thun ? Is Lauterbrunnen best or maybe Interlaken? My husband will have to fly out of Bern to go to a business meeting so I was trying to pick a good base that wouldn't be a long train ride.

Does anyone know if the Berne train goes right to the airport or will he need transportation?

Merri,

When staying in Interlaken, as opposed to, say, Wengen or Lauterbrunnen, it doesn't seem as if you're residing in the Alps. That's a drawback, so I'd suggest that you stay in Lauterbrunnen.

The train ride from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken is a short one, about 20 minutes, and then it's on to Bern.

Keeping on the theme of Interlaken versus Lauterbrunnen, the former is more touristy, more developed as regards commercial attractions. Lauterbrunnen is by no means free of tourists, but it's quieter, and has more than it's share of accommodations and eateries. What's more - and most impressively - it's closer to those marvelous peaks.

Best of luck.

Just returned from 10 days in Montreux and Vevey. They both have train stations that are extremely central to the town (i.e. 3-5 mins. walk to the main streets or quai along the lake). Incredibly lovely part of the world. Friendly local people, fantastic food.

Sorry, can't comment on other destinations, train passes or hotels, as I stayed in Montreux with a friend and didn't do any tourist activities. Used both train and bus extensively, but purchased point-to-point tickets from the machine each time.

I'm going to recommend the following Web site for your hotel needs. It gives you descriptions, photos, Email contact info. and the ability to book hotels online. I suppose you could even stop off at an Internet cafe and make a reservation while on your trip. The rates offered online are significantly cheaper than rates you get when stopping by or calling the hotel. (Had a friend in Zurich test this for me.) We're using this site to book our reservations for our 8-day trip this October.
http://hotels.swisshotels.ch/sites/start.asp?lang_id=4

Hi, again, Merrisr,
Found you again! What a coincidence, we're leaving the same day and eventually headed for the same place! However, I am flying to GVA and resting there a night before I take off for Lausanne. There are quite a few hotels near the train station,@ a variety of prices. Hotel Agora, Alpha-Palmiers, Elite and Victoria look to be the best.

scheraulei~ Are you sure you want to "rest" in Geneva between arriving the airport and going to Lausanne. I ask only because, it will be more hassle to get downtown to a hotel than to continue directly to Lausanne (it is well under 1 hour on the train).

Unless you go downtown by taxi, you'd need to get on the very same train to get from the airport to Geneve downtown train station (first stop outside the airport). If you simply stay on that train you'd arrive Lausanne only a few stops later.

Just a thought.