Honey Moon in Switzerland
 

I?m planning my honeymoon to Switzerland arriving in Geneva 9/2.. Plan on going to Interlaken, Lake Lucerne, Grindelwald and back to Geneva. returning 9/13. Should we rent a car or do trains? Suggestions on things to see or places to go also reasonable hotels/restaurants. Want to get off beaten track-hiking, horsebackriding

Trains will take you to all the cities listed. In your case the two of you would probably benefit from a SwissRail Pass. I would have go know more about where you are going.

Iam not a horserider so I don't know where you find horses to rent or borrow.

For Luzern and Geveva, you don't really want a car because the city centers ar congested and parking is expensive.

There are plenty of hiking trails in the Berner Oberland, including some from Grindelwald.

If you want off of the beaten track,then you should not go the places you have listed. They ARE the beaten track.

If you want find less touristy places, try Val d'Anniviers. It is pretty.
The Hotel le Trift is a 2 star place, but we found it charming.

One joke has made the rounds of the forum: The Swiss put single beds in honeymoon suites.

Hell is where the cooks are English, the French are the engineers, the police are German, the Swiss are the lovers, and the Italians run the show.

Heaven is where the police are English, the Germans are the engineers, the lovers are Italian, the cooks are French, and the Swiss run the show.

I am planning to spend my honey in switzerland, plan to reach there around second week of december and stay there for around a week. I wanted to know if this would be a good time to visit switzerland. How cold is it going to be? Would the tourist spots still be open? What all activities can I do and which is the best place to stay in Switzerland. I am interested in scenic locations and some sports ... need a quite time, but should not be too cold. Also how long would day light remain around in december. thanks.

Njlis,
When I worked in Basel last year, a colleague used to rent horses at a stable near Interlaken. There are actually two stables--Voegeli and Haesler. Their phone numbers are:
Voegeli Stables
41 22 822 5270
Haesler Stables
41 33 822 7416
(It could be vice versa, but the stable owners know each other and/or work together.) I don't ride horses myself so I don't know the quality of their horses, but my colleague said they had a good time.
BTilke (Brussels)

Hi njlis,

I wonder how long you plan to stay in Geneva/Lake Geneva area? There are some great walks along the vineyards called La Cote (roughly between Geneva and Lausanne) or Lavaux (between Lausanne and Vevey) that will be beautiful in September. Other interesting, beautiful, and under-appreciated areas near Geneva are Nyon, Celigny, and Lutry. Check out the sporting or excursions pages at www.lake-geneva-region.ch.

For your Luzern portion, I'd suggest you spend time in the smaller villages around the lakes -- Weggis or Vitznau. There are dozens of rambling routes around the lakes and the mountains there -- just ask at your hotel or the tourist office. The websites www.weggis.ch and www.vitznau.ch will give you some ideas of sports activities there.

I'd be happy to suggest some hotels in the cities or smaller towns if you give us a price range ("reasonable" to me is $200/night).

s

You didn't mention these, but Vevey and/or Montreux are a nice easy trip from Geneva by train (~1hour). Two beautiful Swiss towns right on Lac Leman. Stroll along the quai, overlooking the lake, with the Alps in the background.

Thank you for all your helpful information. This is our tentative itinerary

Arrive 9/2: Geneva -1, Interlaken - 2 days, Lake Lucerne ? 3 days (would like to do the cog trains), Grindelwald ? 2, Geneva ? 2 day. Leave on the 12th. We are open to staying in areas around these towns.

We are only making reservations in Geneva for the first night and the last. We did not want to be on a schedule. We were thinking about staying B&B or moderate hotels. Any suggestions on our itinerary or places to stay?? Any thing we should stop and see along the way. Any help is greatly appreciated

Hi njlis.

I'd like to point you to a few websites for accommodations:

To find a b&b, go to www.bnb.ch, where you can search for rooms by area. I found two nice looking places near Geneva, the three-star Bellevue (50 chf per person/per night) and a four star in Gland outside of Nyon (70 or 80 chf per person/per night). I also found a nice b&b in Grindelwald and three or four in and around Interlaken. The bnb.ch website usually has lots of photos of the house & the rooms.

Another website for inexpensive hotels is www.rooms.ch. Again, do a search by area. I found the Hotel Pax in Geneva, with rooms at 75 chf per person/per night.

A third option is the Best Western, which offers hotels in the two - to - four star rating. One of their hotels in Geneva is the three star Astoria for 225 chf per night.

Of course, you can also go to each town's website to find lists of hotels & b&bs.

Because the nicest inexpensive rooms sell out first, you may want to consider making reservations in each of your stops. Alternately, you can stop in the tourist office in town when you arrive, and ask them to find you a room!

Because most of the b&bs and many of the inexpensive hotels will be away from the center of town, you may want to rent a car instead of using the trains.

For your cog-wheel trip in Luzern, I think you're referring to the trip up to Pilatus, yes? I think the website is www.pilatus.ch, and you can get all the information about schedules & fares from there. They even have a virtual trip you can take, called "Golden Round Trip" or something like that. If you can't find it, ask here and I'll look for the direct link.

And finally, if you're serious about staying off the beaten track, I'd advise you to avoid Interlaken!

s

Hello Again,

I got to thinking about your itinerary and just couldn't resist posting some options for a train-centered vacation -- my personal choice!

So, after landing in Geneva, go directly to the train station (connected to the airport) and take a train to Vevey. You can find a direct train or make one change in Lausanne. In Vevey, stay just a block or two from the train station at either the Hostellerie de Geneve (trip report from a Fodorite: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34425893)

or the Hotel Negociants (trip report at: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1390252)

Spend a few days in Vevey and explore the vineyards and the long lakeside promenade. Then take the Golden Pass Panorama train (www.goldenpass.ch) from Vevey through Montreux and Zweisimmen to Luzern.

In Luzern look at the Hotel Goldner-Stern (www.goldner-stern.ch), the Pension Villa Maria, or the Loewengraben (www.loewengraben.ch). These hotels are discussed in this thread: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1290964.

After a few days in Luzern, go on to one destination in the Berner Oberland. The most remote village is Gimmelwald, but it's hugely popular with Rick Steves and is getting more and more crowded. The next most remote village is Muerren, then Wengen, then Grindelwald. Some hotel choices in Muerren are: Alpenblick (80 chf per person/per night) and Bellevue-Crystal (85-105 chf per person/per night); both have entries in the Rants & Raves on this site. In Wengen, consider the Alpenrose (75-113 chf per person/night); it also has entries in Rants/Raves. In Grindelwald, look at the Alpina (190-250 chf/night) and the Fiescherblick (200-270 chf/night); the latter has some entries in Rants/Raves. Also try doing a text search here for these hotels.

Then go back to Geneva via Lausanne (faster train) and spend your last night in Geneva before flying home.

Well I hope this helps a bit. If you'd like more info or more details, post again.

s

Hello all,

s, now that you know how it works, you LOVE to give us the links, eh? :-)

just a comment: it seems to much travelling for me. Also, none of the places is off the beaten track - Lucerne is a major tourist spot, Vevey and Montreux as well and the Jungfrau region (Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren, Interlaken) is probably No. 1 destination for mountain tourists.

Anyway, I don't deny you can have a great time there - but you should know it is NOT off the beaten track.

Ingo

Hi there...
My name is Sean, and I am Lis's Fiancé (njlis.)While I would like to stay off the beaten path somewhat, I am sure the reason some of the paces we have discussed here are so popular, is because they have a lot to offer and are beautiful places to see. So I don?t want to avoid them entirely just because they may be a bit touristy.

The main questions that I have are; Where will we find the most dramatic mountain views? Lakes? What are the places you would consider a "Must See"? If you were setting up an 11-12 day trip (Flying in to Geneva) how would you do it? Try and tour the whole country? Concentrate on a certain region? Which? Rent a car, or stick with the trains? Maybe a combination of the two?

I know I am asking a lot of questions, but seeing as this is our honeymoon and the chances of us being able to return any time soon are pretty slim, I would really like to do this right.

Any advice anyone could offer to help us make this trip more fun and memorable, would be tremendously appreciated.

Thanks very much.

All the best...