We are looking at a vacation rental in Switzerland in Gals, Lake Biel-Seeland. I am not familiar with this area. The rental chalet would meet our needs and our price range, butI was hoping to find something closer to the Berner Oberland area. What can you tell me about this region other than it is much flatter. Is there much to do in this area? We will have a car to do day trips.

This is one of my favorite areas, and it's not much more than an hour on the autoroute south to the Berner Oberland. Wonderful old villages to visit such as Murten, Avenches, Romont, Gruyeres, and the city of Neuchatel is very nice. There are lots of lake boat trips that would be very interesting. And there is pretty hilly country north of Lake Neuchatel that contains more nice villages and is the heart of Swiss watch-making.

If you like cycling, the Lake Biel / Seeland area is a wonderful region to be; flat, possibility to cycle around the lake, well organised and secured.

It is pretty close to Fribourg, Murten, Avenches, Neuchatel, Bern, but it is not the Bernese Oberland...

Hi Ella,

I want to confirm the enthusiastic vote for the Lake Biel area -- even though I haven't been yet!! I researched a possible visit, though, and discovered that Lake Biel is a wine growing region. There are some vineyard walks that really intrigued me. If you go to www.myswitzerland.com and download their pdf brochure called "Wine and Gastronomy," you'll see some pages dedicated to the Bielersee area. Here are a few links to get you started:

A general page for the Watch Valley region:

http://usa.myswitzerland.com/en/navp...s&id=22313

Information on the vineyard trails:
http://usa.myswitzerland.com/en/pic_top52.cfm?id=22376

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Thanks for the information,any other info on the area, favorite towns, restaurants, things to do would be appreciated.