claudia

I am going to Eurpoe for five weeks and plan on spending some time in Switzerland. I do not know much about the country or what cities to visit, but I heard that it was BEAUTIFUL. Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Claudia

Bob Brown

To me Switzerland is all about mountains, dairy farming, snow and ice.
Some of the cities are fairly attractive as tourist destinations. Luzern is pretty and has a well designed transportation museum. Bern is fairly interesting and charming as is Lausanne. But the real charm and character of Switzerland is in the small towns, particularly those high in the mountains. If you want me to elaborate more in detail on that aspect of my visits to Switzerland, let me know.

Tony Hughes

Give St Moritz a body-swerve and head for Interlaken. St Moritz curious blend of old wood and 60's concrete anti-Utopia, fine if you like bobsled or luge or whatever (or Prada) but very little else. Snow on surrounding hills in june will give you some idea of the temps.

Interlaken's superb, I'll say no more.

s

claudia,
No doubt you'll love Switzerland no matter where you go or what you do -- it just oozes charm and hospitality.

As Mr. Brown says above, Lucerne is a wonderful spot to begin your Swiss visit; you ought to plan to spend a few days exploring the lake and the old parts of town. Then you ought to head for the Berner Oberland, a wonderful collection of mountain villages & cities that are extremely visitor-friendly. You should plan to spend 4-5 days in either Wengen, Muerren, or Grindelwald.

Here are some website for futher info:
www.lakelucerne.ch
www.lucerne.org
www.grindelwald.ch
www.berneroberland.ch
www.twenj.com (a personal travel website with loads & loads of info).

If you want more specific & detailed recommendations, please feel free to email me.

s

richard j vicek`

Good evening, Claudia
As mentioned previously, would think there are two areas that you sould not
miss and that is the Area around Luzern
with its lake, Rigi, Pilatus and Titlis.
and also the Berneroberland. Zermatt
is a good hiking area also with the
Matterhorn and its approaches. The
Lake of Geneva around Montreux and
Vevey are very beautiful. However
mountains are the prime sites of CH..
Hotel listing can be found on www.swisshotels.ch/ Richard of La Grange Park, Il...

Susan

Bob Brown: I didn't do this original post, but yes, please elaborate! We'll probably be staying Lucerne for a week, any suggestions for day trips, etc. will be welcomed. Thanks.

adeeba

dear claudia &susan take the train from lucerne to loganoe in summer full of charming mountens and waterfalls from the station go dawn to town by foot it have acharming Italian inflowance take the boat for atrip in lake lugano to morcita its beatiful small antique market town with lovely hanging gardens and floting restrant

Ed

We might help you better, Claudia, if you would tell us when you are going, and roughly how long you might want to be in Switzerland.

If the summer, then the Jungfrau region south of Interlaken and Luzern would be my choices for a reasonably short (2-3 nights or a bit more) visit to the country. ( www.twenj.com/swissshort.htm )

If the winter, unless you want to ski you would probably do best to avoid the mountains on a short visit, though admittedly on a good weather day the mountains are even more specatacular in their mantle of snow than in summer.

Between seasons the weather is quite unpredictable - great weather one day, stormy or at least overcast or fogged in the next. For a short visit I'd take along a sense of humor and alternate plans between seasons.

Ed

Bob Brown

My wanderings and explorations around Luzern are not as extensive as they are in the Berner Oberland (Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen, Kandersteg, and Interlaken.) I also spent a very interesting week in Saas Grund.
Luzern is a charming city that has many good museums to visit and a picturesque old city. I particularly enjoyed the Transportation Museum. Cruises on the lake is you have the time for a trip that can take virtually all day are scenic. A trip to the top of Mount Pilatus is regarded as rewarding experience.
Most of my trail wanderings have been in the Grindelwald - Lauterbrunnen area.
There are several scenic gondola rides around Grindelwald -- namely the line that leads up to a station called First, and the one that stretches some 6 K to the Mannlichen Ridge, which provides some stupendous views over the Jungfrau area. The north wall of the Eiger is in full view, for example from the gondola and once you arrive at the ridge.
There is also a Luftseilbahn (single enclosed cabin cable car) that leads from Wengen up to the top of the Mannlichen Ridge also.
We have also done the Schilthornbahn.
The Schilthorn has an observation tower on top that gives a wonderful view over that section of the mountain ranges.
There are also several scenic trails from the area.
Interlaken itself is more of a jumping off place, but it has some hotels and attractions that make it interesting for a short period of time. But to me Interlaken is more of a way to get to the mountains than it is a destination within itself.
For the past 3 summers we have rented an apartment in Lauterbrunnen. After the first time, we went back because it was convenient and close to transportation to all parts of the valley area.
We had a car, so being able to park at the door was quite a convenience.
Some days we rode the trains and cable lifts; other days we drove.
The best drive we took last year was the "Three Pass Drive" from Innertkirchen over the Grimsel, Susten, and Furka Passes. Quite a day of up and down and twisting and turning. Not something I want to do every day, but the scenery was incredible. There is a lot to talk about, but this is quite a bit already.

Christine

Claudia,

I live just South of Lucerne.

There are several options for things to do around Lucerne-trip up Pilatus or the Stanserhorn, take a ferry excursion on the Lake, train trip to Engelberg and up to Titlus. It is possible to also make day trips to Zurich, Bern, and the Interlaken region. Someone posted about going to Lugano but I think that would be a little too far for a day.

If you are really interested in hiking I can offer you lots of tips on where the locals hike.

Susan

Thanks for the added info. Although we'll be in Lucerne in Sept, a day trip to Grindewald was also on my list, so this is also helpful.

Mike

A contrary opinion - I went to Wengen, and ran away like a little woolly bear - I couldn't have hated it more. I ended up in Schonried/Gstaad instead, and was very glad to be there!

I admit to staring open mouthed at the Jungfrau when I first saw it. Nevertheless ...

ellie

Berne has the best shopping arcade on its downtown streets. Not to be missed. Avoid using the public restrooms located on the street. Beautiful old city.

I like Zurich too, especialy when it's not fogged in. It has a very international flare.

Montreux is beautiful with it's mountain views, great local wines and you can walk along the lake or take a boat over to France.

Zermatt is fun since you park your car in Tasch and have to take the train to get there. No cars allowed in Zermatt, so be prepared to walk everywhere; great shops and restaurants, an amazing view of the Matterhorn from many different veiwpoints.

Local beers that are quite good prevail region to region, the wine is very good and many are quite reasonably priced, wonderful bakeries in every single town with breads, chocolates, sweets, pretzels...yummmmm, the linens are beautiful, and Swiss time pieces are gorgeous and can be quite pricey. Order the local specialities when dining for the best food and a true taste of the Swiss culture - rachlette, fondue, biber, Spatzli (egg noodles)
Roesti (swiss potato cakes). Bon Appettite!

beth

I just came back and one little find I enjoyed very much was a town called Avenches. It's maybe 30 minutes from Berne. There are Roman ruins there that take you through the countryside--it's really beautiful. It's very walkable and takes at most 3 or 4 hours.

r

YOU MUST SEE BERNE. UNBELIEVABLE LOVELY SMALL TOWN LIKE A LIVING MUSEUM, JUST NEAR BASEL.

dick

boy - everyone jumped on this One-

Switzerland is Great

Try

www.switzerlandtourism.com

www.raileurope.com

and pick up 'Rick Steves'
Germany/Austria/Switzerland
will give you good insight as well -

have fun

Dick