Geneva IMO is wrongly maligned as a boring nothing place - these folks i think have not spent time in that fascinating city.

You are right, Palenque. I personally have only spent one day in Geneva. I am trusting the opinion of my friends who live permanently in the area, and worked in Geneva for over a decade.

Swiss cities like Bern, Geneva, Lucerne, Zurich, Basel, etc are routinely really nice - spic and span clean - pedestrian friendly - nice shops - colorful squares - nicely restored Old Town centers, etc.

But most folks, understandably, in Switzerland want to go to the hills - the Alps so neglect these fine cities.

As for Montreux and Vevey - these are small towns and small towns are always more dreamy than huge cities.

Are there advance purchase advantages or requirements for ordering a Swiss Flex pass, or individual train tickets,on the web, in advance?>

no not for Swiss Passes, whose prices go up and down as the Swiss Franc and dollar currencies fluctuate - and no about individual tickets online - think not in Switzerland, unlike France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc where there are deep discounts available in limited numbers and which to be secured must be booked far in advance.

I think you've already made your plans but I would just like to add my two cents, in case someone else may read this in making their Lac Leman plans. One of my favorite things to do was the ferry from Vevey to Geneva (I took the train back). The ride took 5 hours and stopped at many charming towns on the lake. It was a fun day.

I also think that Geneva is a much maligned city. I think it's quite charming and the historic part is very beautiful. If you take a look at United's Hemisphere Magazine (you can find it online) there's a great article in March or April "Three Perfect Days in Geneva".

I stayed in Vevey once during the Jazz Festival. Take the ferry to Montreaux for some of the free concerts along the lake. Another thing I enjoyed was the train up to Blonay and beyond. Wonderful views.

@Grasshopper, how long is the train ride from Vevey to Geneva? I was thinking, IF I have time (and it's unlikely), to take the train to Geneva, do a couple of hours of walking around, and then taking either the train or boat ride back to Vevey or Montreux. Is the boat ride a "hop on, hop off" deal?

Train from Vevey to Geneva is approx. 1-hour. One train each hour goes direct to Geneva, the others you have to transfer in Lausanne.

I've never done it but read on this forum that the ferry ride takes 5 hours, I don't know about getting on and off, but would assume you can.

Hi elaine -

You can get ferry schedules right at their site

www.cgn.ch

Be sure to select the season when you'll be visiting.

Are you still having trouble with the SBB site? If so, can you tell us exactly what problems you're having? I've found it to be quite easy; I think the only trick is to use the European format for the date, day.month.year. Oh, and make sure you start your search in the morning hours, like 06.00 or 08.00.

Have fun!

s

for whatever reason, I found it much easier to find the train info I wanted at http://www.deutschebahn.com
I did use the Swiss site to order my Flex pass.
thanks for the ferry site