scopeland

I am looking for advice. We went to Italy last summer(Rome, Amalfi coast, Florence, and Venice) and fell in love so we wanted to go back for part of the trip. We are wanting to go to the Cinque Terre for sure and then maybe one of the lakes. In Switzerland, we want to spend some time in the Bernese Oberland area as we like to hike and be in the mountains. I'm looking at Wengen, Murren, or Lauterbrunnen.

Should we go to Zermatt as well? What about Lucerne or another city? We will be riding the trains and have 2 weeks. Any and all ideas are welcome. Thanks!

tn

Hi Scopeland,

I am not sure exactly what sort of help you are looking for, but I think this is a great trip. You might want to add other information, like who is going with you on the trip and what other interests you have?

A few years ago, my family did CT up to the Bernese Oberland and everyone had a wonderful time. You can definitely do this by train, which is what we did. We did not stop at the lakes, but as our train passed by and we had a glimpse of them, we wished we had.

In CT, we had an apartment in Monterosso, which was a good way for us to go. This town has a beach, and is the only village with a beach, so if that is important, you should consider this village. Otherwise, all of the villages have their charms. We especially enjoyed Vernazza and Manarola. I would think just a few days would be OK for this stop. We stayed for five, and that seemed too long for us.

We have been to Switzerland twice in the last few years. All of the towns you mention in the BO are great. Lauterbrunnen does allow you to get to either side of the valley easily, while Wengen and Murren are on opposite sides of the valley. We stayed in Murren this summer, and we like the hikes on this side of the valley better. We stayed at the Eiger Guesthouse. It is run by a great couple, one a Brit and his wife, who is French Swiss. It is a bit on the rustic side, but if you are OK with that it is a great place at a reasonable price. There is so much to do here, from the Ballenborg Museum to the waterfalls…On both of our trips to this region, we stayed for about five days, which seems about right for us.

We have also done stops in Zurich and Luzern. Maybe someone has gone wrong in Switzerland, but my family loves the place and we haven’t found a bad place to visit yet. We have not been to Zermatt, so I cannot offer any thoughts there.

Good luck on this trip.

scopeland

Tn, thanks for your info. It would be my husband and I (30s) on this trip. We can go in either June or July. We are trying to decide if we should stop in Lake Como or maybe Lugano. Also, we were thinking on adding a city maybe Luzern. My other question was should we do the Bo area and Zermatt or just do one area.

Thanks!

alihutch

Lake Como is one of my favourite places in the world...just stunning and easily reached on the train, with buses and ferries to take you round the lake....staying here

http://www.lakecomoapartment.com/index.shtml

is so lovely, and there's a lot of general information on the site, even if you don't fancy staying there....

swandav2000

Hi scopeland,

For the Oberland part of your trip, I would suggest that you stay in either Wengen or Mürren, both car-free and really lovely villages with incredible views.

I assume that you will be flying out of Zürich, is that right?

I personally don't like to move bases all that much because to me it's a waste of time. You haven't said how much of your two weeks you'll be in Switzerland, but one good idea might be four or five nights in the Oberland and then two nights in Luzern. Luzern is only an hour from the airport, and there are a few direct trains every hour, so if you wanted you could even stay there your last night.

Unless you wanted to add more nights to Switzerland, I wouldn't go to Zermatt. I personally didn't make it there until my third or fourth visit to Switzerland -- and I was one of the very few who wasn't charmed by the town after all. So in my opinion, you could reasonably give it a miss on this trip.

Have you found the Swiss rail site to research your train trips? If not, it's at

www.rail.ch

Have fun!

s

scopeland

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to decide between the following:

A
Lucerne - 2 nights
Wengen or Murren-4 nights
Zermatt- 2 nights
Lake Como- 2 nights
Cinque terre- 4 nights

B
Lucerne - 2 nights
Wengen or Murren- 6 nights
Lake Como- 2 nights ---this could also be switched to Zermatt
Cinque terre- 4 nights

I can't decide if I should drop Lake Como. Also, trying to decide if I should keep Zermatt or do more days in Murren/Wengen area.

lovisa

I think you should think about the logistics of Berner Oberland to Cinque Terre, or vice versa. It's a long haul on a train (7 hours or so). The quickest connection goes from Milan along Lake Maggiore to Brig and Spiez. So to minimize travel time, you might want to substitute Lake Maggiore for Lake Como.

Swiss rail timetable is here:

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en?

scopeland

I'm going to drop Zermatt. I will definately check on the train connections. If I don't go to one of the lakes, any other suggestions for somewhere in Switzerland or Italy.

Palenque

ttt

jetsetj

In CT I would like to recommend http://www.cinqueterre-laposada.com/...partments.html
Ask for the Sole y Luna apt.
Heaven on earth views across the Gulf of Poets.

We visited Bellagio on Lake Como.
Thislooked to be a wonderful place to stay a few days.

enzian

Play with the SBB website to view different scenarios by train. You'll see that como is doable and Cinque Terrs is the outlier here.

Here are some travel times for a possiblee itinierary:

Zürich to Como (the town itself) ---3 hours by train. From Como you can ride a boat to Bellagio or elsewhere on the lake you would like to be.

Como to Cinque Terre (Vernazza) is 5+ hours by train. I didn't look up how long it takes to go from there up to the Berner Oberland, but going via Milan, Brig and Spiez it should be around 5-6 hours, depending on connections.

From Lauterbrunnen (which I use for timing but not suggesting you stay there; consider Wengen or Mürren) to Luzern is 2.5 hours via a nice scenic route. Luzern is also on a lovely lake so you get more lake time there.

I suggest something like 2-3 days at Lago di Como; 3-4 at Cinque Terre; 4 or 5 for Wengen or Mürren, and 2 for Luzern.

Palenque

We will be riding the trains and have 2 weeks>

In Switzerland for 2 weeks and going around a bit - Interlaken region, Zermatt, perhaps Lucerne -then i would strongly suggest you consider s 15-straight day Swiss Pass, which covers not only all trains in the country but most postal buses (which go from train stations to places trains don't go), lake boats like on Lake Lucerne and Lake Thun and Lake Brienz (latter two bookend Interlaken and make wonderful excursions IME) and all city transports like city buses and trams - practically everything that moves in Switzerland except for cows.
And even if just staying in say Wengen for a few days and not riding trains the pass also gives 50% off funiculars and cable cars to mountain tops. For loads on Swiss trains, lake boats, etc. i always highlight www.swisstravelsystem.com - which has links to scenic specialty trains you may want to take - like the Golden Pass between Lucerne and Interlaken and between Interlaken and Montreux on Lake Geneva - and to www.sbb.ch - Swiss Railways site than enzian above points out- and also these info-laden sites: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - on the latter you can download their free (and superb IMO) European Planning & Rail Guide, which has a nice chapter on Switzerland with itinerary suggestions, maps, etc. In any case IMO the Berner Oberland - Interlaken and region with Alpine outposts like Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Murren, is the highlight of Switzerland for someone who has not been there. I'd stay 3-4 days at least there as the region has some really sweet day trips.

scopeland

Great info from everybody. Palenque, what day trips do you suggest?

Palenque

there are several great day trips in the Wengen/Grindelwald/Interlaken area - such as

Boat rides on either Lake Thun or Lake Brienz - the two lakes that bookend Interlaken - on a nice day with the snow-capped peaks hemming in the lakes these can be to me rather surrealistic experiences.

Lake Thun - i'd get off at Oberhofen, a small lakeside town with an old castle jutting out into the lake and then take another of the hourly or so boats onto either Thun or Spiez, two lovely towns and then either take a boat or train back to Interlaken

Lake Brienz - a whole different type lake - a fjord-like lake - boats go to places like Geissbach Falls, a thundering water cascade into the lake - and Brienz, a town known for its elaborate wood-cutting - and take a bus from Brienz to Ballenberg - a famous open-air park lovingly set in a meadow overlooking the lake - many traditional Berner Oberland farm houses and edifices have been relocated here. Or take a train from Brienz to Meiringen - where there is a Sherlock Holmes Museum in a tiny old church - Reichenbach Falls is about a mile from town - Sherlock Holmes and Prof Moriarity tangled to one of their deaths on a ledge midway up the huge falls - you can take a funicular to the ledge. Or from Brienz you can hop a vintage steam train, the Brienzer Bahn that goes high up to a summit - you can walk back down if you want on nice trails.

So those lakes provide excellent day trips IMO- and if you have a Swiss Pass all transport is covered in full - train down to Interlaken and boats-but only 50%on the Brienzer Bahn steam train -but passes also cover the about $20 entry fee to Ballenberg Open-Air Museum.

Other day trips - to Lucerne over the Brunig Pass train route (Golden Pass route)

and my favorite the Lauterbrunnen-Grutschalp-Murren-Schilthorn-Murren-Gimmelwald-Stechelberg-Trummelbach Falls-Lauterrunnen Loop

and of course the Jungfraujoch train, from Kleine Scheidegg to the summit of the Jungfraujoch - Europe's highest train station and one in a sea of snow and ice- huge ice grottos - awesome views over the Aletsch Glacier, the longest in the Alps and down to Interlaken area as well - dog sled rides - walk to a glacier, etc.

Palenque

Let me expand on my favorite excursion in all the Jungfrau Region- the Lauterbrunnen-Grutschalp-Murren-Schilthorn-Murren-Gimmelwald-Stechelberg-Trummelbach Falls-Lauterrunnen Loop

From Interlaken, Grindelwald or Wengen hop the train to Lauterbrunnen and from the train station there is a new aerial cableway (replacing an antique funicular) that swoops you up a few thousand feet to Grutschalp, a landing stage on top of the cliff of the Lauterbrunnen Valley - from there an electric train rolls along the cliff edge (at a safe distance) to Murren, a famous watering hole once for British, and now a pleasant Alpine resort.

From Murren you can then hop the longest aerial cable car ride in the Alps - several miles over a barren terrain up to the Schilthorn, a remote outpost on a spit of rock surrounded by snow and ice - fab views for miles around - the revolving restaurant is famous and was used as a set in a James Bond movie - On His (Her?) Majesty's Service i think.

Anyway take the cableway back down to Murren and then continue on the cable to Gimmelwald, a farming hamlet out in the middle of nothing but nearby glaciers and the peaks of the Jungfrau Massif just across a deep valley. There is a popular restaurant here serving traditional Swiss meals - racelette, etc.

(To mix in an easy downhill stroll into this excursion, instead of taking the cable car from Murren down to Gimmelwald, take the paved footpath that goes to Gimmelwald, along the edge of the cliff (but from a safe not scary distance from the edge!)

Then hop the cableway back down to the Lauterbrunnen Valley floor - this cableway is like going down in a plane it seems, plunging to the valley floor thousands of feet below.

It goes to Stechelberg, from where postal buses wisk you back to Lauterbrunnen.

An outstanding Alpine excursion and my favorite in all of the Alps. And if you have a Swiss Pass all transportsare 100% covered except the Murren to Schilthorn cable, which the pass does however get you 50% off on. Without a pass you'd pay a lot of francs to cover all the lifts, trains and postal bus.

scopeland

excellent information-thanks
Any opinions on where to stay? Wengen,Murren or down in the valley?

enzian

I'd say wither Wengen or Mürren rather than Lauterbrunnen. There are lovely views and nice hikes from each one. I'm hard-pressed to choose between them and we usually stay in both! But I wouldn't recommend that for a 3-day stay.

You might choose by what lodging appeals to you. What kind of place do you like, and what is your budget?

Or check the lodging options on the two websites:

http://www.muerren.ch/start-e.htm

http://www.wengen.com/

scopeland

I'm looking at probably 5 days there. I don't want a hostel, but also don't want 5 star. Am I correct in understanding that Wengen is covered by the Swiss Pass but you have to pay to get up to Murren?

scatcat

This past September I stayed in Wengen at Hotel Baeren. I really like it and I'll be there again this coming September. I think it is a 2* but so clean with a nice bathroom that actually had very strong water pressure. It is a short walk from the train station. Half pension was 20 CHF extra and was well worth it-great food. You get 4 courses and too much of it. And the breakfast is a variety of breads, cheeses, fresh fruit, ham, boiled eggs(do it yourself), juices, delicious coffee. I can gain 5 pounds just by thinking about all that food.

enzian

Muerren actually IS covered by the Swiss pass, even though you arrive there by cablecar (followed by a short train ride). It is above Muerren that the pass only covers 50%.

There are several nice 3* hotels in both Wengen and Muerren.

In Wengen, we like the Hotel Baeren that Scatcat mentions. It is not a full-service hotel; more like a restaurant with rooms above. The food is excellent and the welcome is warm and genuine. Best breakfast we ever had in Switzerland. And the dinners are worth twicre what you pay (if you get half board). Other nice places in Wengen---more traditional hotels---would be the Schoenegg, Bellevue, or Alpenrose. All are every nice. Whatever you choose, it's worth getting a balcony.

In Muerren, a very good budget option is Chalet Fontana. It is a real B&B, like you would find in England. All the rooms share bathrooms (there are 2), and there is a nice breakfast room that becomes a common area/game room in the evening. On the ground floor there is a very affordable 2-bedroom apartment that we usually book if there are more than 2 of us. Being able to cook "in" is a nice option in Muerren, although there are several restaurants we like as well.

There are also some nice-looking hotels in Muerren, with killer views, but we've only ever stayed at Chalet Fontana. Unfortunately, there are neither views nor balconies.