bettyk - since you are going in May (this year right?) and staying in Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen, have you find out what lifts are closed? When exactly are you going in May? would love to get some of your ideas.

if i land/leave from Zurich, is that a dumb idea? how long is the train ride from Lake Geneva area to Zurich?

Hi augiechang. Good advice from the poster who suggests going to the library or bookstore. Then or instead, re-read swandav's post. You can follow her plan and spend your last night in Lucerne. Her advice is sound. J.

The train from Geneve to Zürich is 2 hours 43 minutes. http://www.sbb.ch/ But I thought your last stop was Luzern?

enzian - yes, my thoughts were landing in Zurich and departing from Geneva, but after searching around for air fare, going in/out of Zurich will be the cheapest. It is still up in the air as to which way I am going.

I was going to drop Lake Geneva, but the more I read, the more it sounds interesting, so I decided to keep that location as part of my itinerary.

If I land in Zurich, then, it maybe too much for me to take the train the same day into Lake Geneva area. So maybe I should be looking into landing in Geneva, and heading out of Zurich, and my last stop is going to be in Lucerne (since I have no interest in looking at Zurich). Take the train directly from Lucerne into Zurich airport.

jmw44 - thanks for your advice, I've already hit many bookstores. I am still searching for the Rick Steves Switzerland (sold out everywhere!!!)

augiechang---the recommendations above that you include Geneve (or better yet Montreux) are good ones---due to elevation and situation on the lake, the May weather is likely to be better in that area than in the Berner Oberland. The Lac Leman area is justifiably known as the "Swiss Riviera": http://www.swiss-riviera.com/vevey/

OK, looks like my revised itin is as follows:

We will be going in/out of Zurich due to price of air tix!! We will get a Swiss pass so we can hop on and off trains.

- Land Zurich, goes straight to Lucerne, spends 3 nites there

- Head to Lauterbrunnen (BO) for 3 nites

- Head to Montreux for 2 nites

- Head to Zurich airport area for the last night

I am planning to do side trips from Lucerne (i.e. Bern)

I am planning to do side trips from Montreux.

Question, would you spend more time around Montreux or Lucerne?? We are interested in walking around (not hiking since she is pregnant) visiting cafes, looking at things, take pictures.

augiechang, we will arrive in Lauterbrunnen on May 11 but we will be traveling by car.

Our plan is to go up to Schilthorn, which I understand is open all year, by cablecar and gondola.

We also want to visit some of the castles on Lake Thun.

Obviously, much depends on the weather, but we might even go back to Jungrfraujoch. We've been twice before but about 20 yrs ago. It was an amazingly beautiful journey.

By the way, we love Lucerne. Have been about 6 times over the years. Can't compare to Montreaux since we have yet to visit there but we have been to Geneva a couple of times. I like the area around the lake but it's really just another big city in my opinion.