winniethepooh

Hi,

We are planning a trip this August ( I know, it's right around the corner), my first European trip, along with my husband and 2 kids (11 and 7).

We plan to spend 4-5 nights in Paris, and then another 4-5 nights in Switzerland.

Our plan is as follows:

Fly into Paris. In Paris, we plan to rent an apartment. Reading through some great input by other Fodorites, it sounds like (for first timers) the 6th is the best area, followed by the 7th and 5th. I've looked through some listings on VRBO, but would appreciate some feedback from you guys on the location before I start contacting owners.

From Paris, we can take the train to Geneva, and then rent a car. My husband has been to Switzerland before and thinks that driving provides a lot of flexibility in stopping by quaint Swiss towns, and moving around in general. Would love to get your feedback on car vs. train.

From Geneva, we can drive to the BO. Again we would love to rent an apartment, but I have not found much information for renting in this area. We plan to have a base and move around from there. I have seen hotel suggestions for Murren, Wengen, Grindelwald. From what I've read, Grindelwald is more livelier than Murren or Wengen. Would love some suggestions for a base location here and rental apartments. Spend 3-4 nights in BO (we may take a day trip to Lucerne, if that's possible), and then drive to Zurich (spend a night there), before taking a flight back home.

Does this sound like a good start? I think creating this shell is the most important, and figuring out things to do and places to go is the easier part.

Would love to hear your feedback. Do let me know if I can provide any additional information for you to help me better.

Thanks

PalenQ

Would love to get your feedback on car vs. train.

From Geneva, we can drive to the BO>

If going to the Berner Oberland I'd ditch the car because once there you cannot use it above Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen and cannot even reach such sweet places like Gimmelwald, Murren or Wengen or the fabled Jungfrau by car but have to pay a lot to park it on the edge of Grindelwald -

and I would spend my whole 4 days in that area - so so much varied things for you to do and things kids would love - like taking a boat ride on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz - going to the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum hovering over Lake Brienz (boat from Interlaken to Brienz then take the shuttle bus up to the museum) - or near Lauterbrunnen Trummelbach Falls, a water cascade inside a mountain - viewing platforms inside provide awesome experiences - Gimmelwald - old farming hamlet literally lost in the Alps and on and on

But a car is rather useless in this area and public transit so so good - and with a 4-consecutive day Swiss Pass all your travels to and from Geneva would be covered save some aerial gondolas and mountain railways that would get a discount on - but best is the Family Pass that comes free with the Swiss Pass - kids under 16 get a free pass and never ever pay anything for any conveyance - even things like the Jungfraubahn which Swiss Pass holders still have to pay a sizable chunk to use - passes also provide free entry to over 400 Swiss Museums, including Ballenberg - about a $20 shot for adults each.

So in the Berner Oberland at least I think cars are not a good option once there at least and you will have to take public transportation anyways to head into the hills as most people want to do.

Anyway check out these fantastic sites IMO for lots of dope on Swiss trains and passes and lake boats, etc - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html and www.ricksteves.com.

jlg0

You do not need a car in Switzerland as the trains are incredibly efficient and get you almost everywhere you want to go. I always recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen because it is beautiful especially in the summer when the waterfalls running down the walls of the valley are heaviest, has apartments for rent (we rented one), and you have easy access to the train station and gondolas - very central. The kids (and you) will love a visit to Trummelbach Falls. One very easy beautiful walk for incredible views is Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg - about an hour and 30 minutes, great for a 7 year old. Recommend this walk if this is the only one you do. We also liked walking from Grütschalp to Mürren - very easy as well. We also hiked to a mountain lake but I simply cannot remember where we started - maybe First? There we zip lines there we went on. If you do head to Lucerne, we enjoyed going to Mount Pilates for the day by train from Lucerne - steepest cog railroad trains (in the world?) take you up the mountain, and you descend on the other side by gondola. Plenty to explore on the top of the mountain, and there is a really fun toboggan run as well. While in Lucerne, stop in the Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church), it is really decadently decorated - gorgeous. If you visit the Dying Lion of Lucerne, make sure you take the kids into the Alhambra Hall of Mirrors, we had so much fun we went through twice.

winniethepooh

Thank you so much PalenQ and jlg0. So, the car is ditched. Thanks for the great info on the passes. Is it a good idea to base in BO. Should we spend a night in Montreux (or Geneva) before heading to the BO, keeping in mind that we will be coming from Paris by train. Also, does a day trip to Lucerne work, or will it be too much?

PalenQ

I have done a day trip from Interlaken area to Lucerne and it is a wonderful day trip - for most folks small Lucerne without many must sights except itself is a day at most. And the train trip up and over the Brunig Pass is one of Switzerland's most scenic rail routes - the only Swiss Federal train mainline route to use cogs and cog wheels to navigate safely prodigious climbs and descents.

It's about 2 hours to Lucerne and all is incredibly scenic IMO - first the train tracks along lovely Lake Brienz, hemmed in by high Alps on all sides then at Meiringen reverses and starts its long climb to the Brunig Pass and then long descent, passing some lovely alpine lakes to follow Lake Lucerne for a bit into Lucerne itself - the Lucerne station is smack in the heart of everything - a short walk from the famous iconic covered wooden bridges and town center. The Golden Pass train also runs over this route but so do local trains about hourly.

So yes a day trip to Lucerne is perfectly possible.

PalenQ

A nice thing to do in the Interlaken area and Lucerne IMO is to take a ride on a lake boat that freqently ply these idyllic bodies of water hemmed in on all sides by hills and mountains. And if doing a day trip to Lucerne you could incorporate one on Lake Lucerne - go straight away to Lucerne and traipse around and then right opposite the train station board a lake boat (if have a railpass just board - 100% covered no reservations needed) and get off at Alpnachstadt where the boat dock is a short walk from the train station for trains back to Lucerne over the Brunig Pass.

Or from Lucerne you can return to Interlaken by the quickest route - via Bern, but not nearly as scenic as via the Brunig Pass - but if you come that way you will have seen the scenery and may want to return to Interlaken by the quickest route - though not that much quicker all in all.

rcw

Paris to Lauterbrunnen takes around 5-6 hours by train so an overnight stop is not necessary. You can check schedules on the Swiss rail site at http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

And I agree totally about using the fantastic public transport in Switzerland having just returned from 7 days there. The other recommendations are excellent too!

swandav2000

Hi winniethepooh,

You'll probably find, when you look to buy the train tickets from Paris to Switzerland, that the trip is faster going via Basel instead of via Geneva.

You can look at buying tickets at these sites:

www.voyages-sncf.fr (if you can manage in French)

www.tgv-europe.com (but be sure to click on "Continue with TGV-Europe" and do NOT accept a bump to Raileurope)

Have fun as you plan!

s

PalenQ

Paris to Lauterbrunnen quickest way would be to take a TGV train from Paris direct to Bern, only about an hour or a tad more from Lauterbrunnen.

Digbydog

We stayed in Grindelwald ar tthe Hotel Gletschergarten's apartment, Chalet Hohturnen, six years ago with our 3 boys. It was not fancy, but roomy and very clean and included a very good breakfast at the hotel. The owners live in the same building as the apartment and were delightful.

I've stayed in Gimmelwald (near Murren) and Grindelwald. With kids, Grindelwald is a better side--more things to do nearby and more restaurants to choose from.

I love the BO. I wrote a trip report about the things my children enjoyed, but I just looked for it, and for some reason it is no longer on the website. One thing I do remember that they loved was taking the chairlift from Grindelwald to First, and then renting trotti bikes (like scooters) for the ride down. Also, near the apartment is an alpine slide that is fun.

PalenQ

I spend two weeks in Gimmelwald one night, too. Only for folks who want to get away from it all - one night was OK for the experience of being in the high Alps away from all civilization but more than that in that isolated place would drive me...like I am!

Digbydog

I just found our trip report on the internet--don't know why it's not still on Fodor's. Two of our children were in the same age range as yours so you might find some of the information helpful. Here is the link.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rindelwald.cfm

PalenQ--my biggest complaint about Gimmelwald was that it is expensive to get anywhere to do activities. Those cable car rides really add up!! The view from our room was spectacular, however.

PalenQ

PalenQ--my biggest complaint about Gimmelwald was that it is expensive to get anywhere to do activities. Those cable car rides really add up!! The view from our room was spectacular, however>

a Swiss Pass covers getting to and from Gimmelwald (and Murren as well) 100% - anyone staying as a base in Murren or Gimmelwald may find a Swiss Pass thus to be a great deal as yes it fares up there are as steep as the cable ways to get there!

winniethepooh

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. Unfortunately, for now we have to shelve this. We certainly will be doing this trip sometime in the near future, but it doesn't seem to be happening this year.