SoCal100

For our 8-day trip, we decided to take out Lucerne and push the Oberland area a few days into the trip. This is how it looks now.any comments?
day 1. arrive Zurich 8:00 am. Straight to Lausanne(~2 hr train). Take a boat ride to Geneva & back
[day 1,2,3 based at Lausanne]
day 2. Chocolate train to Broc & Gruyere
day 3. Chateu de Chillon. take afternoon GoldenPass Panoramic train to Interlaken
[day 4,5,6 base at Wengen/Murren]
day 4. Jungfrau
day 5. Schilthorn
day 6. extra hikes in the area
day 7. goto Brig and catch the Glacier Express upto Chur and transfer to Zurich. overnight at Zurich
day 8 . Zurich- BahnoffStrasse etc
day 9 Fly out.

One thing I am concerned about is how jet-lagged we might be when we get there and if we can really use the first day.

Any budget hotel recommendations in Lausanne ,Wengen or Zurich [ less than $150]?

Also, is the chocolate train really worth it,or should we just goto Broc etc on our own?

Thanks a bunch!

stormygirl

Not sure of the kind of hotel you might like but friends and I stayed at the Ziczac Rock-hotel in Zurich. It is budget, which was fine with us. bare bones in an excellent area if you only have a night or two.

www.hostelscentral.com/structure-460.html

swandav2000

Hi Again SoCal100,

I think your plan looks pretty good! I think you'll get a nice mix of French & German influences --

Don't forget to look at the vineyards (Corniche Lavaux) between Lausanne & Vevey. Maybe instead of taking a ferry to Geneva, you can ferry to Rivaz or St Saphorin & walk along the vineyards. The Auberge de Rivaz is a great place to sample some nice local white & soak up the view.

I've never done the Chocolate Train. While in Gruyeres, be sure to sample the creme-double (with berries).

I'll be arriving on 6 Sep also (Delta), and also going to Lake Geneva -- to Villeneuve on the other side of Chillon. I'm pretty jazzed about the trip!

s

cls2paris

In Zurich, I stayed at the Hotel Arlette. Across the river from the Bahnhof and on a quiet street. I believe it was about $90/night last year. It was clean, quiet, helpful staff and the rooms were comfortable. I would stay there again. Here's a URL for them:

http://www.utell.com/property.cfm?br...amp;prop=01250

kopp

Did you know that Priceline has a number of hotels in Zurich and also the airport area? Might be worth checking into. Go to biddingfortravel.com for all sorts of good info. We recently stayed in the Glattbrugg area the night before our flight (Renaissance Hotel), and it was $85 with all the taxes and service charges. Quite a good deal.

Hope you have a great trip. Before you take the train up to Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn, you might want to check the webcams in the stations to see how the views are on top. Spending all those francs to get up there and see nothing is a waste of time and money. But on a clear day, oh my, so very beautiful, very beautiful indeed!

Happy travels!

Edward2005

I like the itinerary. Hope you get clear weather for the mountains.

To minimize jetlag, try to avoid caffine and liquor on the plane and try to sleep as much as possible. When you get to Lausanne, get out and walk in the sun as much as possible. Sunlight does wonders for resetting your internal clock. Try to stay awake until 9pm.

SoCal100

Thanks for all the suggestions,folks!

Hi swandav2000, we didnt have a strong reason to include Geneva to start with;now, I really like your idea of checking out the vineyards-looks like thats what we will do on the first day instead. If you can point us to any more info on that(i.e.,boat timing or any website to look at),please do.

stormygirl,cls2paris,kopp- we will check those hotels out.In general, is there an area to be in,or,an area to avoid in Zurich (so that I know what I am looking for in priceline etc)

Edward2005, thanks for the tip!

Patrick

I think visiting Gruyers by the chocolate train is a great idea. It's a very nice, scenic ride in wonderful old rail cars. They give you ample time at both a cheese factory and at the chocolate factory and LOTS of chocolate samples. Meanwhile you have enough time on your own -- a couple hours -- to have lunch wherever you want in Gruyeres and still time to visit a few sites there. It was a very pleasant day. Certainly easier than doing on your own by public transportation. With a car you could do it on your own, of course, but then you'd miss that wonderful train ride.

swandav2000

Hi SoCal100,

To get to the Lavaux, you take the train to Chexbres (change in Vevey; from Vevey, this is called the "wine train&quot and then just walk *downhill*!! You'll come across the vineyards & paths & signposts to Rivaz or St Saphorin. Here's the website for a map of the walking paths in the Lavaux: www.lavaux.com/navigation.asp?page=balades.asp (click on walk #7 on the right-hand side). Rail schedules at www.rail.ch.

I like to take the train there, and then take the ferry back. You can get the ferry schedules at www.cgn.ch (in English also). Also think about taking the ferry from Lausanne to Chillon.

Did you know that you can rent bikes at some train stations? You can rent at Montreux, Vevey, and Lausanne. This is great for cycling down the flowered lakeside promenade at Montreux (all the way to Chillon) or even cycling the paths of the Lavaux. You can rent bikes one way (rent from Vevey and return in Lausanne), and you can take bikes on the ferry. Bike rental info at www.rent-a-bike.ch.

Have fun!

s

swandav2000

ps,

Patrick, I've visited Gruyeres on my own by train, and it's pretty simple. Just change trains in Montbovon. Again, schedules are at www.rail.ch

s

isabel

Is there a reason you want to do both Jungfrau and Schilthorn? Those are the two "biggies" but there is so much else do to in the area. As someone pointed out, if it's cloudy up there you'll see nothing. And it is often cloudy up on the top when it's nice in the intermediate areas. Also, since you mentioned a hotel budget of $150 a night you are obviously concerned with money, and it costs a bundle to take the trains/ cable cars all the way to the top. You could save money by doing more hikes (pretty good views even if partly cloudy) and up your hotel budget. I can't help you with hotel suggestions since we stayed in Lucern and Interlaken. We did find things for under $150 but it took a lot of looking. Switzerland is expensive. But great! have fun.

jmw44

Hi. SoCal100 and S', re the vineyard walks. Oh to be there instead of here with Katrina breathing down our necks. Anyway, another walk option would be to take the train from Lausanne to St. Saphorin, explore that very tiny, very old village, and then walk up a bit along no. 8 and onto no. 7 toward Rivaz (numbers from the lavaux map), back down to the Rivaz station/boat dock at lakeside, eat at the Auberge du Rivaz with its little terrace, and train or boat back to Lausanne. Be still my heart. J.

JN

SoCal,
I'm sure the floods have influenced your decision to skip Luzern. Since you have a few days to finalize and the situation is improving, you might want to consider keeping Luzern on your itinerary. Having been to both the French part and Luzern, I'd pick Luzern hands down. Not everyone, of course, shares this view, but I found the scenery, food and ambiance much more enjoyable in Luzern. Something to consider anyway.

As for the situation in Luzern, here is what the Tourism office there reported yesterday:

"As of Saturday, 27 August 2005, all hotels, practically all shops and restaurants in Lucerne, as well as most of the tourist attractions, will be open for business again. The Chapel Bridge and stairs near the Town Hall (Rathaussteg) will, however, remain temporarily closed; these crossings should also be open again by the beginning of next week.
The Seebrücke will remain closed to motorised vehicles, but is open to pedestrians. Buses can stop at the main railway station or at Löwenplatz to allow their passengers who would like to tour the Old Town and visit the tourist attractions to disembark. There is ample parking for coaches at Löwenplatz, Landenberg, Kasernenplatz and on the Allmend.
All hotels in the city of Lucerne are accessible and are operating during their regular opening hours. The Swiss Transport Museum will open its doors again on Tuesday, and all concerts in conjunction with the Lucerne Festivals will be held as scheduled without any restrictions. The use of public transportation is, however, still highly recommended. City tours will be held as scheduled; the meeting point for all city tours is at the historical archway in front the railway station.

In the region of Central Switzerland, Engelberg cannot be reached until further notice because the road has been washed out in several areas. Almost all of the guests were flown out of the village, and an emergency road will be built for the time being. There has been no technical damage to the cable car running on Mt Titlis, and as soon as the road to Engelberg has been reopened, it will be possible to transport guests again.
The mountain railway and cable car on the Stanserhorn are expected to be operating again on 4 September. All other transportation facilities in Central Switzerland are operating without restrictions, which is also the case for most of the tourist resorts. The City of Lucerne, as well as the entire region and all businesses affiliated with tourism, would like to take this opportunity to thank all local citizens and external help for their support and assistance—and hope for a beautiful autumn with many satisfied guests."

I'm not sure of the status of trains/busses getting from Zurich to Luzern, but if they are open, you might be able to keep Luzern on your itinerary as originally planned.

Good luck.