zatrams999

Hello,

I shall be in Switzerland in early September. I'll be staying at a hotel in Murren (4 days) followed by a hotel in Lucerne (1 day) and Zurich (last night in Switzerland, before flying out the next morning). This would be my first time in Europe.

I was wondering if you'll could recommend some places to grab dinner in and around Murren. Nothing fancy, just a regular meal. (Breakfast is included for the hotel I am staying at, and where to have lunch will, I guess, depend on my plans for that day.)

I am staying for 6 days; would $100/day for food be a reasonable estimate? For transportation, I priced my travel plans and the Half Fare Card worked out best, around CHF 360. I plan to buy the Card after I get to Geneva (shall be coming from Paris).

I plan to take the Golden Pass trains from Montreux to Interlaken Ost, and from Interlaken to Lucerne on my way back. For scenery, which side of the train(left or right) do you think would be better for seating, in each of there two segments?

One more train question: For the TGV from Paris Gare de Lyon to Geneva, I already bought the ticket. Do I need to get a reservation too?

Also, are there any apps for hiking in Switzerland, that you'll found helpful. For the previous segment of this trip, Paris, downloaded "paris2go" app, which is rated well in reviews.

Thanks for the help.

Dukey1

You say you "already bought the ticket" for the TGV to Geneva. You did this without getting a seat reservation? How?
As to the Golden Pass segments. Are you in one of the First Class panorama cars? Don't assume every seat will be taken and if any are free you can move about easily. If you are the cars with the larger windows you may not even need to move from one side to the other.

grankath

Hotel Eiger in Murren gave us a great lunch on the patio with a fabulous view of the Eiger. It's less than an hour from Luzern to Zurich. One day we left our hotel (Airport Hilton)at 8 am and were at lunch with the view at 12:30. Hiked a bit (DH has bad leg so limits us to gentle short hikes) then went back down via the gondola and took the train up to Wengen across the valley. You can see it from Murren. Had dinner that same day in Luzern and was back to our hotel about 11. Great day.

eurogals

Great place for dinner in Murren: Stager Stubli -- near coop and across from Hotel Fontana.

zatrams999

Dukey1, grankath and eurogals, thank you for the help.

Dukey:

Yes, my TGV ticket has a Coach and Seat#. I was not sure if something else was required, and posts around 2009 seemed to indicate that a visit to the ticket office was needed, so wanted to clarify. Regarding the Golden Pass Train, I have not made any reservations yet. I have second class ticket for the TGV to Montreux. Do you think I should reserve in the Panorama cars in advance?

grankath, I'll check out hotel Eiger while in Murren. Looks like you guys had an awesome day and planned it out very well, nice!

eurogals, thank you, shall check out Stager Stubli. Just checked on tripadvisor, they have great reviews.