I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of the holiday home in Brienz run by Jobin Holidays? They run a B&B, small hut and a holiday home that sleeps 4, there are also accommodation listed in Axalp.

I found the webiste www.jobins.ch on the bnb.ch site however the holiday home is not listed on the tourist site for that region. It would suit us perfectly but as we have never booked anything overseas before I am a little anxious - what if I make a huge mistake!!!!

Can anyone but my mind at rest?
Thanks
Maudie

Please help put Maudie's mind at rest...

Given the large number of vacation apartments in that part of Switzerland, I would look around before selecting one. Brienz is not the only place where you can find holiday rentals.

Brienz itself is on the Brienzer See, north shore. It is close to the Ballenberg museum of Swiss farm life from the 1800s and early 1900s.

It is also a short distance from Interlaken Ost.

I have driven through Brienz several times and found it a very pleasant lakeside village.

There are several attractions around the area, and if you have the train and post bus schedules you can reach most of them fairly easily.

I rent in Lauterbrunnen, which is closer to the Jungfrau and other sights of the Berner Oberland. I have not had experience in renting around Brienz.

Normally the Swiss want to rent the apartments on a weekly basis, Saturday to Saturday. Some of the people who rent tack on a charge known as "Endreinigung" or final cleaning. Ask about it if it is not stated up front. It often equals a full day's rent.

Also some apartments charge extra for sheets and pillow cases. Also, the Swiss are careful about segregating garbage. There may even be a charge per sack.

Again, don't necessarily jump at the first offer. Vacation apartments, known as Ferienwohnungen, are all over the area.

Contact the tourist office in Brienz for more offers.

This site lists many places.
http://www.alpenregion.ch/unterkunft...ferienwohnung/

http://www.alpenregion.ch/unterkunft/ferienwohnung/

Unfortunately it is written in German.
Tell you what, look at the entries in the list, view the pictures, (Click on Bilder), and if you find one that strikes your interest, post a request to my attention and I will translate the important sections for you.

Exercoses like that help keep my slow German up to better speed. I used to post my email address, but too much junk mail resulted.

OOPS Exercises. The o key is too close to the o key. Interesting word, though.
exercoses. Must have something to do with being an exorcist who exercises.

Hi Bob,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have spent many hours researching on the website you gave me and I even figured out how to get it in English! We need an apartment that will sleep 4 adults and these seem to be few and far between.

I will take your advice and email the tourist office and see what they come up with.
Thanks again, you are very kind.
Maudie

Hi Maudie. Score one for you to figure out there was an English version. I failed totally to see it.

Let me look around a bit. Those towns along the north shore of the Brienzer See are all fairly close together and the train line between Interlaken Ost and Meiringen runs along that side of the lake. So Brienz is not your only possibility for that area.

I have successfully rented elsewhere in Switzerland, so I can tell you that the standards are fairly high for cleanliness and comfort. I would look for a 3 star or even a 4 star place.

I found the English, too! Groan! That little sign that says Sprache in German is more than a little obvious. I will blame the whole thing on my cataracts.
I am in the grey area that the blinders are not bad enough for surgery, but they are not helping my near vision.

I am not sure what you mean when you say you cannot find vacation apartments that hold 4 people. I looked at the 3-star list and found 9 establishments.

Here, as an example, is one I found:

Chalet Thalgut seems very large, over 8oo square feet. It sleeps 5 and the price is typical of the area.

(Hotel rooms on the lake are dear! I paid over $100 a night for a little bitty room just about large enough to swing a small cat.)

Urs Feuz is another one I saw.

Looks like I don't need to translate German for you.

Brookwood and Bob, thanks, I do appreciate your input.
I did look at the two places you suggested and maybe I am a bit fussy and should have been clearer in my request. We need two double beds (2 couples) and will only be using public transport so we need to be near the train station.

My 2nd choice would be Al Porto which was the 1st one that comes up on the Brienz page but I wondered if it would be noisy as it is right next to the ferry station.

And Bob, it took me a while to realise where the english version was and I don't have cataracts! I only speak English but I certainly have learnt some new words during my Switz research! Grandlit was one I learnt the meaning of yesterday - thanks to Google.

TTT

Maudie

I am sure the apartment near the ferry station in Brienz will not be noisy, there are no ferries late evening and the passengers coming off the boats or boarding the boats are fairly quiet, it is not a noisy ferry port just a once an hour boat arriving and departing, same as the trains, all in all Brienz is very quiet little village with good communication links to Interlaken and Meirigen and Lucerne i think you will love it

I would check on the size of those double beds. The standard bed in Switzerland is a single bed. My wife and I have a king bed at home, so a regular double is way too small.

In the various hotels and apartments I have used in Switzerland, I have never used a so-called double bed, mainly because I have yet to see one.

In Austria, a double bed means two singles pushed together, which makes for a rather large bed, but often with a seam down the middle.

I can understand your being bound to public transportation. That is why I frequently use Lauterbrunnen as a base. The apartment I rent is a short walk from the train station. From there I can go all over the area.

Brienz is nice, it is just that to see the high Alps you need to go somewhere else. I figured early on that I would spend more on train tickets (or passes) than I would on paying the differential between a removed area like Brienz or Meiringen than I would by renting in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald.

I chose Lauterbrunnene because of the location of the apartment.

You should consider renting a car. By the time you buy four train tickets everytime you go somewhere, you will just about equal the daily cost of an auto and sacrifice some in timeliness and convenience.

For example, if 4 adults rode round trip between Brienz and Luzern, the cost, undiscounted, would be 200 chf. If you have a Swiss pass of some sort, you still need to buy the pass. Even at a 50% discount, a car would be cheaper.

Yes, one can rid the Post Bus to the top of the Grimsel Pass, but the schedule is somewhat restrictive.

If you are going to make the outlay of money to get there in the first place, the marginal cost of a rental car is not all that much.

I grant there is a trade off between convenience and money, but if you are there to see the area, I am not one to restrict myself. If I can afford to go; I can afford to do.

I also don't understand your concern about noise near the ferry dock. That boat does not run all night, nor does it carry vehicles.

I stayed at Iseltwald in a hotel that was next to the dock. I never knew the dock was there. It is not like the boat came in blowing a resounding steam whistle every half hour.

Thanks for you thoughts Bob, I have taken it all on board.

We will be getting Swiss Passes because we have a further 10 days of travelling through Switzerland before we leave.
As for the beds, yes, I do understand what you mean I just didn't want to end up with bunks, so many of the apartments cater more for families rather than 2 couples.
Driving is not an option, it is the wrong side of the road for us and we don't want the stress of driving.
As for the ferry noise it was pointed out to me in another thread so I thought I would just check to see if it really is a problem, appears not to be the case.

Kind regards
Maudie

Use sbb.ch for train schedules. Gleis = Platform

Ask the tourist office about local festivals. Switzerland isn't just about mountains, it's about yodeling, music, dancing, drinking and getting to know the locals. Local festivals are the best place to do this.

Enjoy Switzerland! (Right now, we've got thick fog which disappears at about 950 meters. Above, blue skies!)

Hi Schuler,
Thank you and I can't wait to enjoy Switzerland.
Your suggestions are one of the reasons we decided to stay in Brienz as we want to explore everything not just mountains. I have spend many hours and ink cartridges exploring and printing out timetables!!!LOL

Brienz is known for wonderful wood carvings, souvenier stores selling these carvings, the wood-carving school and an annual wood carving festival.

It's a beautiful area with chalets, geraniums, mountains, the Brienzersee and cows with bells. They are, unfortunately, still recovering from the awful rock/landslide that swept through the village and killed a few inhabitants. A few houses of been rebuilt and the banks of the stream have been reinforced.

I know there are some nice smaller grocery stores in the area where you can buy most everything you need.

For inexpensive restaurants, go to Migros, Coop or Manor self-service restaurants.

When will you be visiting?

Just trying to find the flight from Bergen(Norway) to Zurich that will suit us but it seems that we will be in Brienz around the 1st or 2nd of June. We are hoping to stay for 8 or 9 days before moving on to see Vevey, Lugano and Pontresina. It will be a lovely conclusion to our long awaited 8 week "first time to Europe" trip.

I have read about the landslide but didn't know that it had resulted in some deaths - that is very sad.

Thanks for the tips on the grocery stores as we will need to fill the fridge when we get there and I am aware that they will not be open on Sundays.

What a wonderful, well-thought out itinerary!

I just saw in the Brienz Gemeinde Website that their bakery (which probably also sells milk, cheese and cold cuts) is open on Saturdays and Sundays until 18.00 (6pm.)

Many small grocery stores or bakeries are now open on Sundays, although many only in the mornings. Tank shops (gas stations with grocery stores) are also open on Sundays.

Time are changing in Switzerland too!

Maudie, Have you decided on a place to stay?
I found several on the website which seem to suit your 2 BR rq.
1) AlPorto on the Quai 135 chf/night + 120 final cleaning
2) Haus Treffer 2. stock (floor) on Rothornstrasse 150 chf/night + 60 final cleaning
3) Chalet Rothorn on Talstrasse 150chf/night + 80 f.c
4) ****Hansruedi & Vreni Wyss on Brungasse 80chf/night + 60 f.c
5) Elsbeth Flueck on Burgstrasse at 80 chf/night + 50 f.c

I stayed for ten days in Brienz in May 2003---loved the town and surroundings.
I always travel independently and stay in Ferienwohnungen...I communicate with owner by e-mail or fax to make arrangements...You'll Love this town!
*** a typical wooden chalet on an OLD street- eminently walkable from RR/Ferry. Books fast!
If I can be of help, please post!
Rachel

I see from another post that you have decided to book Chalet Rothorn on Talstrasse--it looks lovely!
R

Hi Rachel,
Thank you for taking the time to reply with all that info.
I didn't realise that Chalet Rothorn was the name of the house as they have a B&B, a "hut" for two people and the holiday house which is the one we are organising at the moment. They have quoted $160 p/n plus $100 final cleaning for 4 people.
Can you post the link to the one you stay in, I would love to have a peek.
So good to hear your positive remarks, a few people have been urging us to stay up in the Alps but I think Brienz will be just right for us.
I might just check out your ideas before I commit to "Chalet Rothorn" but the balcony looks soooo inviting.

Schuler, thank you for your kind comments and I will check out that website.

The advice and kind thoughts on this board are just wonderful.
Maudie