My husband and I are planning a 17 day trip to Switzerland for late July/early August of this year. I stumbled upon the Fodor's Forum in the last few days and have found the posts extremely helpful. In particular, the trip reviews posted by Melnq8 about her winter trip to the Lower and Upper Engadine valleys and Mokka4's trip report about her week based in Bern along with everyone's input has been fantastic. As a result, we are planning time in both of those locations.

Some information about us: we love to hike and bike and believe in "less is more" when we travel. We like to "dive deep" into an area versus moving fast. We spent two weeks in Switzerland in 2001 and hit many of the typical highlights (i.e., Lauterbrunnen Valley, Lucerne, Lugano, Zermatt and Gstaad). We'd like to target mostly new destinations within Switzerland. We also plan on renting a car for most of our time in Switzerland but will utilize the local trains and post buses if we need them to complete a hiking loop.

We would also prefer to travel to Europe in the fall versus the summer to avoid the tourists but the timing didn't work out this year. We would rather skip a beautiful destination and save it for another time than be among all the other crowds of tourists. Also, we want to save the Geneva/Montreaux area for another trip.

We will most likely be flying in and out of Basel.

Here's what I'm thinking so far - in no particular order:

3 nights in Basel (we are visiting someone and want to explore the museums
2 nights in Bern or Murten
4 nights in upper Engadine valley
4 nights in lower Engadine valley

That leaves 4 more nights to work with. Is there an undiscovered gem I'm missing? Part of me wants to experience the scenic landscape to the west (i.e., wood balconies, etc. that we won't find in Engadine. I've thought of going back to the Gstaad area as I thought the hiking was fantastic but I didn't particularly love the town of Gstaad. I'm wondering about Appenzell but not sure about the hiking and wonder if it will feel too touristy in the summer. We would love to experience the Italian part of Switzerland but I don't want to go back to Lugano. Not sure if we would love Bellinzona. I do like the idea of hiking in the Verzasca valley north of Locarno and the drive to Engadine via the Bregaglia Valley but the lakes area could be crowded given that time of the summer. The drive across the Furka pass sounds amazing but time consuming and maybe out of the way. Not sure about Andermatt.

Given our longer stays in the Engadine valley, we would be open to staying somewhere else for 2-3 nights and even one night somewhere to break up a drive. We could even decide to stay an additional night in one of the Engadine Valleys.

I would appreciate any thoughts on other gems particularly in the July/early August timeframe. Also, if someone has an idea on the best roads to take to maximize scenery but also efficiency at times, I would greatly appreciate it.

I've been to Appenzell in early July. There were some day-trippers from St. Gallen and nearby, but otherwise not many tourists. It's a small town, though, and not too much to occupy you unless you want to explore the region. The hiking may be less spectacular than other regions, but there are still great options, and this mountain inn is definitely worth visiting: http://www.meglisalp.ch/

Sorry about the title - I need "help" and lots of it!

ever been to Lake Geneva and Montreux or Vevey - two nice smaller feeling gem lakeside towns to stay in - bike paths along the lake are some of the most popular in Switzerland. Can hop boats across the lake to France- Evian-les-Bains being a swank lakeside resort known for its Evian bottled water - kimd of a spa town too.

Engadine is fantastic (and a easy hiking paradise too). There are many people around places with many hotels and holiday flats, but not around smaller one's. Avoid to stay at St. Moritz or Pontresina and you will be fine.
Val Mustair, Val Poschiavo and Val Bregaglia are never crowded.
http://www.engadin.com/natur-kultur/...eiten/?S=1&R=2
http://www.engadin.com/ferienorte/en...ache=1&S=1&R=4
http://www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/somme...spoilt-nature/
http://www.bregaglia.ch/en/news/news/filmato-estivo
http://www.valposchiavo.ch/en/valpos.../portrait.html

I find St. Gallen very much underrated. The St. Gallen library is uniquely fascinating, I was moved almost to tears in looking at some music books from the 9th century.

If you are looking for typical and scenic regions as well as authentic alpine villages, you should consider to go to Valais, Val d'Herens and also the Val d'Annivier are well preserved, with typical swiss chalets and not as crowded as can be other places in Switzerland. You would find there more Swiss hikers than tourists.

Here are some useful website.

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/val-d-anniviers.html

http://www.valdanniviers.ch/

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/val-d-herens.html

http://www.valdherens-tourisme.ch/to...ce-energy.html

I second Love CH and would just add Val de Bagnes (except Verbier), Val Ferret, Binntal, ....

Hi Maggie! Glad you found my TR helpful.
I Loved, Loved Solothurn on my daytrip last October, and have found a vacation apartment there for a week rental this September. Might you consider a longer stay in the Bern/Murten/Solothurn area(all close to each other)with daytrips to Biel, Fribourg, Neuchatel, Zofingen &/or Brugg? I found this area different than my 10+ previous trips to Switzerland, and worth deeper exploration. I did also enjoy Appenzell, with its gentle rolling hill hiking too. If you end up in that area, be sure to include a trip up Mt. Saentis, walk the "Barefoot path" hike through pungent pasture and along brooks, and visit the Heimatmuseum in nearby Urnaesch. I doubt you will find any crowds in that area!

Sounds like it should be a great trip!

I got a lot of helpful information when I planned my trip to Switzerland -- you might find some of that information helpful. Just click on my name to find the planning threads (there were two main ones).

The Ticino might be worth considering for your extra days. You could stay in Locarno (or Ascona) instead of Lugano....

Thank you everyone for your wonderful replies and feedback. I started reading your input and then had to stop because we had company for dinner. I just finished reading some of KJA's previous reports based on her trip last summer and found tons of ideas. Thank you kja!

Neckervd - I will research your links on the Engadine once I begin the detailed planning for our time there. I can't wait.

Love_ch and Neckervd: I think you are on to something for our additional four days - I love the idea of finding another valley for some beautiful hiking. We might be able to arrive in Geneva instead of Basel which would make some of the areas you mention a little more accessible. Do you have a favorite?

So many great choices in CH!

For the Italian flare consider a visit to Locarno/Ascona on beautiful Lago Maggiore.

Drive up the canyon for a visit to Sonogno a beautiful quaint village of stone houses. Despite a few tour buses it's less busy than many other mountain villages. Stop along the way to see the bridges at Ponte dei salti in the Val Verzasca and maybe even take a dip in the crystal clear waters if you feel like it.

Also from Locarno take the Orselina funicular up to the top of the mountain for a sweeping view of the cities and the lake.

I will be there for 18 days around the same time for some hiking, or rather trekking of about 100 miles along the Via Alpina. Can't wait!

As for the Italianate flair, the Bregaglia valley and Poschiavo valley are quite similar to the valleys north of Locarno.

The canton Graubünden has its share of wooden houses, similar to those in the Bernese Oberland (ok, not exactly as much decorated with carvings etc.), in the regions where the Walser settled (who came from the Valais). Check out www.surselva.info, recommended villages are Breil/Brigels, Obersaxen, Vrin/Val Lumnezia.

Or try the Prättigau valley: www.praettigau.info with places like St. Antönien, Fanas e.g. Not to forget - Klosters (www.davos.ch)

Fly only to GVA is the flight is more convenient.
Train journey times to Sierre (base for Val d'Anniviers):
BSL - Sierre: 2 3/4 hrs, every 30 to 60 min, 2-3 train changes
GVA - Sierre: 2 1/4 hrs, every 30 min, no train change
The difference in favour of GVA is bigger for Sion (Val d'Herens) and Martigny (Val de Bagnes/Val Ferret).
For Engadin etc., the best airport is ZRH.

For Engadin etc., the best airport is ZRH.>

Milan can't be much farther time wise than ZRH either I'd think.

Trains from ZRH to, say, St. Moritz are much faster than from MXP to St. Moritz. Milan may be marginally closer as the bird flies, but unless you have a car you cannot go relatively straight, and the way railway lines are laid across the Alps make ZRH much more convenient for Engadin.

But if price were a lot different a few extra hours may be worth it - longer but not out of the realm of possibilities.

I do not think we are talking about a few extra hours. ZHR to St. Moritz could be done in four hours or so, MXP to St. Moritz it is more like ten hours.

It's so easy:
ZRH airport - St. Moritz, 3 3/4 hrs journey, 2 train changes, Standard Fare 76 CHF, trains at least every hr until 20.13
MXP airport - St. Moritz, 6 1/4 hrs journey, 3 train/bus changes, standard fare 90 CHF, trains about every 2 hrs until 15.50

Milan is further than I thought - well the trains are very slow on the Milan to Tirano-St Moritz route - as the crow flies they may be about the same?

Forget Milan unless you can save a bundle - the consider stopping by Lake Como for a night en route - like Bellagio.