Guarda ->Zurich, Luzern->Ascona
 

Hello again, Fodorites!

The Itinerary is almost finalized, flight purchased, & most hotels booked.
AAA agent called yesterday to tell me there is a sale on the Swiss Pass for the entire month of May.
Good news!

Please critique. Any suggestions for making transportation flow well will be much appreciated.

Very special thanks to Ingo, Swandav, kja, PalenQ, and Melnq8!! So here goes:

1-3 Geneva Lake area, looking at Geneva, Ouchy, and Gruyères/Fribourg those nights.
4-6 With friends near Montreux
7-12 Wengen
13-14 Luzern
15-16 Ascona
17-18 Lugano
19-23 Pontresina
24-27 Guarda
28 Stein-am-Rhine?
29-30 Zurich
31 flight home to USA

Planning this trip has been so much fun, but there are so many details to research. The hiking
will be magnificent, broken up by Lake venues and only a few museums. (sigh...)
But many churches and small town areas to explore in several different Cantons. Exploring Old Town areas will help satisfy our inner gypsy.

It has been fun along the way to learn the correct pronunciation of these places, from Wengen, Mönch, & Mannlichen-Kleine-Scheidigg to Chur and wanderenkarte, panoramaweg.

I am wondering if it will be too long on Day 28 all the way from Chur (via postbus connection) to where we will lay our heads, but the getting there will be glorious.
I had not planned on taking the William Tell from Luzern, but just read that the first part is a boat across Lake Luzern, then the train to Locarno. Looks like a bus from there to Ascona?

One very fun plus is that the Celerina Film Festival will be happening days 19-21. The online picture advertisement shows a jazz group playing on the belvedere of Muottas Muragl. Now there's one that I can't pronounce yet!

Where to stay in Ouchy, Gruyères, Stein-am-Rhine, and Zurich? Most hotels are around 200-250CHF, but less is better!

You guys & gals are the greatest!!

Should be a great trip -- enjoy!

For hotels, check booking.com

In Gruyeres, I enjoyed the Hostellerie Saint-Georges, which still gets decent (i.e., good, not great) reviews.

In Zurich, the Hotel St. Josef (which another Fodorite, Pepper_von_snoot, recommends), met my needs quite well and is more affordable than most.

Great thanks, kja. Will check into those suggestions. How did you travel to Ascona from Luzern? Is Guarda->Stein-am-Rhine day 28 at all feasible? I am thinking of you a great deal as we try to plan where our 2 bags can sit while we are out and about!

Neckervd, Please chime in on travel logistics. You are the best!

Trip is in August, swandav said she once stood 20 minutes on a train Montreux->Interlacken. Is it reasonable to do seat reservations on trains as late as August 2? We will be doing that leg on Sunday, Aug 7.

Guarda - Stein am Rhein takes about 4 hrs, for example:
Guarda village dp by bus 8.36 - Guarda railway station dp by train 8.52 - Landquart 10.10/10.22 - Rorschach 11.19/11.38 - Romanshorn 11.58/12.02 - Stein am Rhein ar 12.58.
Trains about every hr, first bus departure from Guarda village at 6.43.
It's also possible to reach Stein am Rhein by Lake Constance and Rhine river boats (from Rorschach, Romanshorn or Constance).

Lucerne - Locarno:
More than 20 train connections daily, some direct, some with 1-2 train changes. Journey time about 3 hrs.
Locarno - Ascona: Locarno citybus, at least every 30 min, journey time 15 min.

Lucerne - Ascona by boat and train:
Lucerne dp by boat 9.12, 10.12, 11.12, 13.12, 14.12
Fluelen ar by boat 11.55, 12.55, 13.55, 15.55, 16.55
Fluelen dp by train 12.14, 13.14, 14.14, 16.14, 17.14
Locarno ar by train 14.13, 15.13, 16.13, 18.13, 19.13
Locarno dp by boat 15.05, 16.15, 17.40,
Ascona ar by boat 15.50, 16.40, 18.10,

There are luggage lockers at most train stations in Switzerland, including the one in Steim-am-Rhein. On the sbb website, select "station & services" -- enter the name of the station -- look under "equipment." You'll see the number of lockers in each size and the cost of using them.

Neckervd, you are awesome!! I must get more comfortable with the sbb site. Mille Mercis!

Kja, great site! I had noted it, but must take a look. Sounds like we will be doing this a time or two.

Has anyone visited Yvoire on the French side? Worth a night stay or just a day trip?

Hi again Macaroni09,

Yes, you can make reservations just a few days ahead of the journey; that should be plenty of time (unless you want to sit in the VIP seats -- those get booked out months ahead of time). The train I was on when I had to stand was at lunchtime (I wasn't actually travelling from Montreux to Interlaken but a shorter distance during a long stay in Gstaad, but it was on the Golden Pass route). I'm pretty sure it arrived in Gstaad at around 11.30 or 12.00, and it was very crowded. I have taken trains along this route a lot since I've spent several holidays in Gstaad and Chateau d'Oex, and I only had to stand that one time. I guess I'm saying that reservations would make it certain you have a seat -- but they are not absolutely necessary. But in any case, yes, 2 or 3 days ahead of time is plenty.

Yes, I've been to Yvoire; I took the boat-bus from Nyon. I don't really think it's worth an overnight, as there's not much there. All I saw were hotels, restaurants, and tourist shops. But -- it really is beautiful. The buildings are ancient stone, and there really are amazing flowers everywhere. It's a gorgeous setting. But 4 or 5 hours should be plenty to see what's there.

Have fun!

s

Yes, seriously, spend some time with the sbb web-site. You could learn a LOT!

Yvoire is busy when the steamboats from Lausanne, Geneva and Nyon arrive, but deserted at night. It's just a cluster of scenic old houses (of no historical interest), most of them converted into restaurants where people from Geneva and other Swiss towns go to have lunch or dinner.