Any suggestion for an afternoon-until-the-next-noon stop in Switzerland?
Wife and I will driving from Munich to Lyon and we're looking for a nice, relaxing/serene stop with great views and a nice hotel/inn for about $100.
No big cities, please.
Thank you.

Fyi - we're doing this 2nd week of October.

rcc,
Gruyères? We've been meaning to stop there during one of our trips but it's never worked out. Here's a link to webcams - hotel links can be found on the same page - for the town:
http://www.lyoba.ch/galeries/webcams/gruyeres/
hth,

Hi. I'm a train traveller, so don't know how valuable my input may be. Do you have a vague idea of your driving route? My first thoughts are Rapperswil on lake Zurich or a small place on Lucerne's lake.
Actually my absolute favorite more or less on your route would be the Lavaux section of Lac Leman, but I think that's too close to Lyon for your purposes. The villages on the lakes of Brienz and Thun are lovely. Do you have a good road map?

Oh well, there are people here who drive in Switzerland all the time, and they're sure to give you some good ideas. I'm of the belief that any small town you choose in Switzerland will be a winner. J.

Hi rcc,

I put your route into the planner at viamichelin.com, and they would route you via Zurich & Berne. With that in mind, I think Murten would be ideal for you. It's just a few miles off the highway from Berne, it's a small, historical town, and it's right on a lake. If you'd like, I can look for the small hotel where I stayed there.

Alternately, you can consider Zug, south of Zurich and also on a lake. Although I haven't stayed there, jw has and may chime in with more info.

I think Lake Luzern's wonderful villages (Weggis, Brunnen, Vitznau) may be too far out of the way for your plan. But if you don't mind the detour, that would be my first choice!

Best of luck!

Hi jw!!

s

Hi rcc and s!
Now that we have a vague idea of a reasonable driving route, I'll just agree wholeheartedly with s' suggestion re Murten. It is a fine example of a walled town, nice old buildings and yes, a little lake. I have not actually stayed on Zugersee, s', but the views from the train are pretty. I think I'd still say consider Rapperswil on Zurichsee, if it's not too early in the travel day. J.

Personally, I think, Rapperswil has become a very overrun place.

If I decided to stay overnight on Lake of Zurich for a reasonable price, my choice would be the charming and sweet Hotel Sonne in Kuesnacht.

Right now, the restaurant's terrace overlooking the lake is one of the places to go in the evenings. Just locals. Wonderful food. Sorry, can't comment on the rooms though.
http://www.sonne.ch/hotel.htm

rcc, You might want to go to Altavista and do an image search for the various towns suggested so far. Perhaps you'll see which one appeals to you. --also try town name dot ch for their local tourist offices.

Sorry to read your impression of Rapperswil, Ursula. My visit was ten years ago, so it was undoubtedly quieter then (and yet friends of mine enjoyed it two years ago). Isn't Kusnacht almost a suburb of Zurich?

Actually rcc, I think it will be very difficult indeed to choose one little place to stay the night. J.

jmw,
Rapperswil is a very popular spot for day trippers (boat or coach). It gets really very crowded, especially now, with this perfect summer weather.
It is of course more quiet at night.

Yes, Kuesnacht is indeed almost a suburb of Zurich. BTW, a charming small village.
There is also the very upscale and famous Relais&Chateaux place Ermitage. I hear, they are in financial trouble. Prices are just too high, except maybe for the rich and famous.
The Sonne is a charmer for less money.

I think Murten is a nice stop, but when you say "serene" I am led to suggest the lovely little hilltop village of Romont, with a nice square surrounded by good shops, restaurants, and a couple of hotels. It is what I call serene, and you can wander a few blocks in various directions and get magnificent views across to the Alps.

There's just something about the entire character of the place that makes it what I would call "real hometown Swiss." Sorry I can't recall any hotel names, but it shouldn't be too hard to find one. Actually, for that time of year, you could probably go there without a reservation and just pick a hotel when you arrive. This place has always been one of my "secret" spots, but I guess there's always a time to share the good things with others. Good luck.

In case you can't find it on the map, Romont is about 25 miles southwest of Murten, not too far from Gruyeres, and of course only about 20 miles directly south of the center of Lac Neuchatel. Sorry I forgot to mention the location.

Hi y'all. I just noticed that my web server homepage notes the high today in Zurich as 97F. Ursula, tell me this is a mistake! I cannot believe it! J.

p.s. When I went to viamichelin and clicked on their suggested route, it practically landed us in Murten's lap, so to speak. Is that a sign?

http://www.pays-de-fribourg.ch/fo2/defaulte.htm

Here's a website with a great picture gallery. On page 7/12 Romont is center top at number 30. I think the page before has Murten at numbers 25, 26, 28, and 29. Gruyeres is also represented a knockout photograph but I forgot to write down the number. Have fun y'all. J.

Hi y'all,

rcc, I sure hope some of our recollections and ramblings will help.

Ursula & jw, I was in Rapperswil on Saturday (!!! yahoo!!!). It was indeed sweltering, and the public areas around the lake were bumper to bumper in people traffic. Of course, the views were gorgeous, the energy was still inviting despite the crowds, there were lots of restaurants and shops to entice us, and the town's buildings were beautiful. I left there thinking it would be a perfect spot to spend time, maybe in the cool and quiet of the fall.

Of course, Kuesnacht is wonderful too. It has a lively little shopping area around the train station in the center of town , but I don't remember seeing a lot of lakeside activity. The Sonne there is a favorite of a friend of mine who lives in a suburb nearby.

Wayne, I can't wait to see "your" Romont; I hope you don't end up regretting your generosity!

s

You're probably right, s'. Just like Brienz, Rapperswil must now be visited during the week and off season. Alas. But I think Zurichsee is too early in the drive for rcc's stop anyway. After looking at those photographs, it seems like either Murten or Romont would work. Wayne, I visited Romont a number of years ago, and it was serene at that time. (You can see I'm now afraid to recommend places I have not visited w/in the last year or two.) J.

I think Romont will remain serene because it isn't one of the major tourist haunts and is a bit more out of the way than Murten. When I think of city squares, I think of broad ones like at Ceske Budejovice, or charming little ones like at Hallstatt. But they are all more or less level. One unusual thing about Romont is that the "square" is more of a rectangle, that it accommodates the infrequent traffic as well as pedestrians, and most of all it isn't level. It's the only square on a sloping hill that I can recall.

And the elementary school nearby fascinated me the first time I saw it. The kids were playing soccer in the schoolyard, and on the far side of the yard from where I was standing, there was a huge clear plate glass (or plastic) wall. Through the wall you could see that it was there to stop the balls from falling over the hillside. The school is literally perched right on the edge. Strolling around, you can find a couple of neat cathedrals, several little shops with distinctly local flavor, and lots of places with great views across the valley below with the Alps in the distance.

But all in all the place just appeals to me because it is so non-touristy, so serene, and so much like what Swizerland probably is like without all the visitors. Whatever you decide, good luck to you.

Thank you for all your replies and suggestions.

I've narrowed it down to either Murten or Romont. Romont seems to have the upperhand since there is s nice view of the Alps (we live in California and, I'm sure there are a lot of other beautiful spots but, the Alps is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Swizerland). Morover, Wayne described it as "so much like what Swizerland probably is like without all the visitors". Just the kind of town that we want to be in.

Yes, you're right. I don't remember any mountain views from Murten. Come back and tell us your impressions, please. (By the way, did you see the thread about the tokens required for driving on Swiss autobahns? (sorry, I can't think of the word.) J.

Hi jmw,
I will post our experience when we get back from our trip.

Yes, I am fully aware of the annual road tokens in Switzerland. On 2 different occasions, I made day-trips to Zurich from France and had to pay for a sticker on my rental car at the Swiss border. I realize that it is quite a steep amount and not pro-rated by month, weekly, nor daily. However, with my planned route, I believe it is stil worth it to pay for the quickest and scenic route.

Back to my original question, does anybody have any suggestion on accomodations (hotel, B&B, inn) in Romont?

Thanks in advance.