Help! Itinerary for 7-8 days in Switzerland by train (Zurich to Geneva)
 

Hello all!

Thank you all so very much in advance for your help in planning the most ideal itinerary for a scenic 7-8 days in Switzerland by train. I will be traveling to Switzerland for Baselworld in early May 2013, arriving in Zurich from Los Angeles. I am planning a 7-8 day vacation through Switzerland by train that must end in Geneva, as I will then be flying into Italy from GVA for a 10-11 day trip through Italy (Venice-Florence-Rome).

On this trip, I am NOT as interested in visiting the mountains, snow activities or hiking. This time I am most interested in exploring cities & old towns, scenic views, Swiss watchmaking (hence Baselworld), and Swiss chocolate/cheese production. Based on my online research thus far, it seems for my interests the best places to see between Zurich and Geneva are: Lucerne, Interlaken, Bern, Broc and Gruyere, but I am open to advice. I have also heard to minimize bases in favor of day trips, however, I am not in favor of back-tracking and hope to maximize my time by train. I am a solo American traveler on a somewhat economical budget for Swiss standards and unfortunately I do not speak much German or French. I am open to all suggestions, and here is my tentative itinerary so far:

Day 1: Evening arrival in Zurich (overnight stay in Zurich).
Day 2: Early morning train to Basel for Baselworld (return for overnight stay in Zurich).
Day 3: Explore Zurich.
Day 4: Early morning train to Lucerne, explore Lucerne for a few hours. Afternoon train to Bern with a stop in Interlaken, explore Interlaken for a few hours. Evening arrival in Bern; stay overnight in Bern.
Day 5: Explore Bern (overnight stay in Bern).
Day 6: Early morning train to Broc & Gruyere for tour of Chocolate/Cheese factories for a few hours. Afternoon train to Geneva (overnight stay in Geneva).
Day 7: Explore Geneva (second night in Geneva).
Day 8: Afternoon flight to Italy from GVA.

Thank you again!

If you are not interested in mountains, why Interlaken? It does not offer anything beyond being a transport hub for mountain excursions, some hotels and restaurants and selling tourist trinkets.

marking for later comment

I suppose you know that there are actually (in May too) some very good art exhibitios in Switzerland.
Besides that, your plan sounds good, although you will not have much time for "exploring cities & old towns, scenic views, Swiss watchmaking and Swiss chocolate/cheese production".

Do you really want to waste a whole day in Zurich?

There is nothing to see at Interlaken. It's not a historic or somewhat scenic town, but just a local railway hub with hotels, souvernis shops etc. around.
I would rather spend more time at Lucerne and go from there directly to Berne (trains every hour, 1 hrs ride).

The visit of the chocolate factory at Broc, the cheese diary at Pringy, the walled medieval town and the castle need alltogether a whole day. Things are complicated by the facts
that the cheese diary visit is only interesting during the time where really "happens" something (usually during an hour or so in the morning, after that the cheese must just mature),
that the only luggage lockers in the whole area are at Bulle railway station.
In order to avoid the luggage problem, you could sleep on day 5 at Bulle (trains from Berne every 30 to 60 min, many of them direct (1 hr ride). Trains Broc - Bulle - Gruyeres every hour. But you will need almost a full day nevertheless.

The best Swiss watchmaking museum is at La Chaux de Fonds, rather far away from your itinerary. Many scenic small medieval towns more or less along your itinerary:
Solothurn, Fribourg, Murten, Neuchatel, Yverdon, Orbe .....

May be you have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

BTW: if you speak a few German and French (even if it would be very basic) you will have no language problem at all. Most people who has to do with tourists speaks some English.

You are traveling enough to check out a Swiss Railpass or Half-Fare card, etc. An 8-consecutive-day pass may be your best bet - hop on any train, lake boat, tram, city bus or postal bus you want and also gets free entry to 400+ Swiss museums and discounts on some Swiss hotel chains. Boats on Lake Lucerne and Lake Geneva are so so nice to hop.

For lots of great info on Swiss trains, passes, etc. I always spotlight these IMO fine sources- www.swisstravelsytem.com - regular fares to compare to the pass; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com.

For Broc and Gruyeres you can take the official Chocolate Express - using Belle Epoque vintage Pullman cars and serving wine and cheese en route. Stops right at the Nestle chocolate factory in Broc for a Willy Wanks tour.

Thank you all! The advice is much appreciated.

altimiro: you are probably right, it sounds like Interlaken might not be an ideal stop for me. Looking at maps and reading what others have planned, it did not seem to be an out of the way stop between Lucerne and Bern; I figured a short stop might be worth it. Is there a much faster/more direct route (perhaps cheaper train fare) from Lucerne to Bern? Thank you again!

neckervd: thank you very much for all the helpful advice. Zurich will be my base upon arrival, I wanted to allow one day just to explore the city. So many travelers don’t seem at all interested in exploring Zurich; I see their plans to head straight to another town upon arrival. Is there something I should know about avoiding Zurich? I was interested in exploring the old town, but was also interested in possibly seeing Schaffhausen (the IWC factory there interests me); would you recommend a day trip to Schaffhausen instead of Zurich on day 3? Too bad I will miss La Chaux de Fonds! I hope Baselworld and the watchmaking sites in Bern and Geneva will suffice.

Is there something I should know about avoiding Zurich>

Zurich is a very nice city - one of the most beautiful all in all of European cities. It is just that most folks have limited time in Switzerland and have the wondrous Alpine places like Zermatt or the Jungfrau Region etches in their minds' eyes when thinking of Switzerland so they may eschew cities for places that more fulfill what they expect to find in Switzerland.

Switzerland has some really nice cities like Bern, Lausanne, Geneva, Zermatt, St Gallen, etc - but most folks do not come to Switzerland to visit cities. So you will find Zurich to be a most pleasant interesting and for Switzerland cosmopolitan city - if it is a weekend walk along the lake's eastern shore on footpaths and you have thousands of folks from all ethnicities strolling around - yes indeedy Zurich can be a very very interesting city and a beautiful one too - take one of the mountain trams into the hills and you'll find walking paths thru syvlan areasa.

altimiro: you are probably right, it sounds like Interlaken might not be an ideal stop for me. Looking at maps and reading what others have planned, it did not seem to be an out of the way stop between Lucerne and Bern; I figured a short stop might be worth it. Is there a much faster/more direct route (perhaps cheaper train fare) from Lucerne to Bern? Thank you again!>

Yes it is a short boring mainline train ride from Lucerne to Berne - just a short one but if you want to expereince one of Switzerland's iconic scenic railways take the Brunig Pass rail line - part of the fabled Golden Pass scenic rail route up and over the Brunig Pass and down to Brienz and roll along Lake Brienz to Interlaken-Ost station - walk down the main drag in Interlaken, past the swank iconic Jungfrau-Victoria hotel - a posh watering hole for ages for the rich and famous - now kind of a fat farm - walk thru Interlaken - glimpsing the majestic panorama of the glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif in the distance over the cow-dotted meadow in front of the hotel - walk to Interlaken-West train station and catch direct trains to Bern.

For a novel way to make a really interesting day of travel - yes travel but scenic travel and fun travel hop a boat from behind Interlaken-West train station to float across placid Lake Thun, framed on its south shore again by the fantastic Jungfrau Massif looming high above - and take the boat to Thun, get on the train and head to nearby Bern.

Sounds like a lot of travel but IMO fun travel - scenic mountain railway - scenic train along Lake Brienz - a stroll thru lovely Interlaken - boat on Lake Thun - if you have a Swiss Pass everything is covered. And the OP is a classic example of someone for whom an 8-consecutive-day pass is a no-brainer!

? I was interested in exploring the old town, but was also interested in possibly seeing Schaffhausen (the IWC factory there interests me); would you recommend a day trip to Schaffhausen instead of Zurich on day 3?>

Well Schlaffhausen is a sweet town but to me the reason for going there is more to see the famous Rhine Falls - a short few mile walk along a roaring Rhine river from town - or you can go by bus or even train - the Rhine Falls are spectacular and the walk along the river there is neat too.

"Zurich is a very nice city - one of the most beautiful all in all of European cities"
It's certainly not among the 10 most beautiful Swiss cities, but maybe among the 1000 most beautiful European cities

I am not a big Zurich fan.

It is a very expensive business city.

Thin

http://www.thecitytraveler.com/2010/...ins-and-trams/

this gives info on the Dolderbahn - a tram that climbs a long hill and takes you into a sylvan area for lovely hiking trails thru woods. A neat thing to do in Zurich.

zurich's beauty stems from its sweet lakeside location.

Swiss towns with "sweet lakeside locations":
Lausanne, Montreux, Vevey, Lugano, Locarno, Neuchatel, Lucerne, Geneva, Nyon, Murten, Morges

you forgot to put lovely Interlaken into your sweet lakeside towns!

Interlaken is neither a town nor situated directly on a lake.
But I forgot Thun. And I love some tiny historic towns like La Neveville, Auvernier, Grandson, Rolle, Stein am Rhein (I confess, rather on the Rhine river than on Untersee), Ascona.

Intrerlaken is more on a lake than Thun is!

What about Spiez?

Thin

I loved my one night stay in Spiez, a small lakeside town overlooked by most travelers. From there, you can board a ferry and visit other charming towns, including Thun. Murten was my favorite walled town (much more charming than Bern, IMHO). And I loved the Golden Pass rail like from Lucerne, through Brienz -- just gorgeous scenery to enjoy from the window. You won't see beauty on the train from Lucerne to Bern. I'm just not a fan of those two cities -- fairly overrun with tourists. Another beautiful medieval town worth considering is Stein am Rhein, about 1 hour north of Zurich.

Hi maryhagopian,

Two more lovely Swiss towns on Lake Geneva:

Morges -- a nice cobbled pedestrian street in town lined with shops and cafes on both sides, then the very pretty lakeside prpomenade.

Lutry -- a sweet town in the Lavaux vineyards but also right on the lake. It has a sign-posted walk of its medieval buildings, some nice caves for wine tasting, and of course a pretty lakeside walk.

Have fun as you plan!

s

I meant "rail line" not "rail like."

Check out the museum and bar just inside the castle at Gruyere, Giger I believe it's called. Bizarre stuff but cool to see! Gruyere is a great place to spend an afternoon.

Gruyeres - one of the loveliest walled towns in Europe - check out the Cheese Factory just outside the walls.

Palen obviously confounds the village of Boenigen (Lake Brienz) with Interlaken. Lake Thun is outside the boundaries of the village of Interlaken. But Interlaken has a 200 metres long shoreline along Lake Brienz; there is absolutely nothing but a transiting hiking trail (Boenigen - Ringgenberg), however.

The City Park of Thun (Schadau) is of course on Lake Thun. So is the shipyard, the municipal bath and the Bonstetten Park. The conurbation of Thun includes furthermore the villages of Hunibach, Hilterfingen and Oberhofen. Nothing similar at Interlaken.

Spiez is a nice place. But it's not a town, despite the castle. It consists of a railway station, a boat's pier and many small houses and chalets in between, without any center.

Bookmarking

Lutry is small and very close to Lausanne, but a nice place. They have a famous Fete des Vendanges in October

There is a beautiful old church in Spiez with some wonderful frescoes inside. But neckervd is right that there is no real town center. I enjoyed it because I stayed in a hotel right on the marina, which was convenient for the ferry ride to other towns.

I enjoyed visiting Oberhafen castle (ferry stops there). Perhaps Thun would make a better overnight, but I liked the smallness of Spiez and the waterfront view from my hotel room/ dining room.

Thun would make a better overnight>

well Thun is not on a lake so you miss the wonderful lakeside/lake views aspect of any hotel in Spiez, which spills over a cliff overlooking the lake.

The City Park of Thun (Schadau) is of course on Lake Thun. So is the shipyard, the municipal bath and the Bonstetten Park. The conurbation of Thun includes furthermore the villages of Hunibach, Hilterfingen and Oberhofen. Nothing similar at Interlaken.

But there is no doubt that Thun has no hotels on the shore of the lake (those are already in the suburbs of Hunibach, Hilterfingen, Oberhofen, etc. linked with the city center by frequent ( all 10 min or so) buses).
From Spiez hotels, you have a fine view over the lake. Don't choose a hotel close to the railway station, however: there run noisy Italy bound goods trains during the whole night (every 10 to 20 min).
Spiez is furthermore a railway hub and hence a good base for day trips by train.

What about the Hotel Freienhof in Thun?

It is right on the river.

I love the covered bridge in Thun.


Thin


Sin has its price.

The conurbation of Thun includes furthermore the villages of Hunibach, Hilterfingen and Oberhofen. Nothing similar at Interlaken - but similarly if the nearby villages to Interlaken on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz were technically part of Interlaken then you could say the same thing.

Semantic but the fact that you claim Thun is a lakeside city is simply not true - it is on a river a few miles from where that river drains the lake - the boat dock is right across from the train station - not at all on the lake.