Guided tour of Switzerland
 

Hi

I am going to be in Lausanne for two months -- Mar and Apr 2006 on official work.

Only the weekends will be available to me for sight-seeing.

My wife and 1 yr old daughter will be with me.

Please suggest day trips / places i should visit to have a full view of Swiss beauty and life .

Also suggest reduced fare of railways,etc... that i should avail to make the visits in lowest expense.

Pls suggest day-wise plan please.

Thanks for the trouble but it would be a great help to plan my trip.

best regards

swiss_tourist

Hi swiss_tourist,

May I just take a moment, please, to say . . .

WOW

You lucky devil! Two months on Lake Geneva, my dream come true.

Ok, back to business now. Here are links to reviews (w/photos) of my favorite activities and excursions around the area:

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...rges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

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

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

Some things that are not on the list are --

The village of Lutry, which is another wine-producing village, but it also has a sign-posted walk of its medieval buildings.

The village of Celigny, a quiet and charming town where Richard Burton spent the last years of his life.

The town of Nyon, with some Roman ruins and a Roman museum.

The town of Brig, in the Valais on the way to Zermatt. Brig has good restaurants and good shopping, and is surrounded by mountains.

For your rail journeys, you can get schedules at www.rail.ch.

I suggest you and your wife each get a one-year Half-Fare Card for 150 chf so you pay only half fare on all transportation.

Good luck!

s

Such a problem :)

I'm with swandav on this. For longer daytrips or weekend visits, try

Bern 1:06, Murten 1:15, Solothurn 1:16, Chateau d'Oex 1:23, Thun and its lovely lake 1:40, Lucerne 2:20, Avenches 1:22 (Roman ruins), and on and on. J.

Hi SWANDAV and J

thanks for your responses - we will definitely be there and post snaps on return -- but tell me , none of you suggested -- Geneva, Zurich , Interlaken, Zermatt--- why???

what about boat ride from Ouchy to Vevey?

Will the 150 Fr pass be beneficial or the 250 Fr all free for 4 days in the month, pass?

by the way , J, have you mentioned the journey duration viz ..Bern 1:06, Murten 1:15, Solothurn 1:16, Chateau d'Oex 1:23, Thun and its lovely lake 1:40, Lucerne 2:20, Avenches 1:22 (Roman ruins)

thanks again
Swiss T

Hi Again,

My suggestions were for day-trips rather than week-end sight-seeing, and I also like to suggest things that aren't mentioned here, like, 100 times!!

I didn't mention Geneva & Zurich because they're cities, and I think Switzerland's best aspects lie in her country scenery.

I didn't mention Zermatt because I personally didn't care for the town. I've heard it called the Manhattan of the Mountains, and I agree -- crowded & overbuilt (though the buildings ARE brown-wood chalets).

I didn't mention Interlaken because if you want to stay in the mountains of the Berner Oberland, I would suggest Wengen or Muerren or Grindelwald (Interlaken is in the flats and is a crowded major transit hub). But a lot of folks here recommend the Berner Oberland, and I don't usually have a lot more to offer on that area.

Yes, a ferry ride will be wonderful! You can get the schedule at www.cgn.ch. You can combine the ferry ride with some other activity, like the Lavaux or Chillon.

Have fun!

s

The weekly Saturday AM farmers market in the town square in Vevey is definitely worth keeping on your agenda! Both for fun and for doing some shopping. Excellent.

Montreux, see Chateux de Chillon (castle), Rocher de Nayes (tram ride), and walk around the old town.

The castle and town of Gruyeres.

Boat rides on the lake.

i would suggest you take the boat (depending on the schedule) from Ouchy all the way to Chillon; you could easily walk back along the lake to Montreux.

The trip up to Rocehers de Naye is absolutely spectacular.

Zermatt my look like Manhattan to some but taking the train up to the Gornergrat or the aerial tramways up to Kleine Matterhorn to view the peak and the Monte Rosa Massif is worth the trip up IMO..and that rail trip up from Visp/Brig isn;t all that shabby, either.

Hello again. Yes, those are duration times, some with one change. At the sbb.ch website, click on timetable (I think), and you can plug in any combination of towns and the possibilities will come up. The times I listed are the fastest; other times of day with other kinds of trains may take longer. But train rides are fun. Zurich is indeed a possible daytrip, a bit over 2 hours with the fastest train and no changes. You will never run out of places to visit on the weekends. J.

Hello friends

thanks for the outpouring of ideas -- i am flooded ,quite like the snowfall in Lausanne now.

pls tell me about about the shopping now. Yes, the farmers market does indeed give me lot of ideas -- charles dickens is top of the mind. Is it something like that? What do you get in these markets that you can take home.
Generally, what are the stuff one should buy in switzerland that is unique of the place?
another thing , i want to buy a decent but branded swiss watch for me and wife say at around 200 fr. where should i go? something like a tissot,etc..

best

st

Alas, st, I'm not a power shopper, so I shall just top this in hopes that you'll receive some expert advice on how to spend your money. Re Charles Dickens, I've just finished watching PBS' presentation of "Bleak House" -- no markets there. Best wishes, J.

Swandav2000, I'm going to CH for three weeks in July but I am so swamped with work that I keep tagging your responses (and Schuler's) to other people's threads to plan my trip....

marigross,

Well, I may have to cancel my own June trip, so participating in any Swiss planning is going to be my only consolation. Happy to help! When you're ready to ask specific questions, we're all ears!

s