My husband and I are traveling to Zug in mid-July, via Zurich, for a business meeting. I am looking for suggestions on where to go from there. We have 2 1/2 days before we need to fly back to London. We have never been to Switzerland before and are interested in beautiful scenery and a classic Swiss experience. We are considering Interlaken, Lucerne, etc. Honestly I have no idea where to start here, so I could use some suggestions.

I think Luzern and Interlaken would be good starting points. Much of the choice depends on what you want to see and visit.

If you are in Luzern you will have the lake, museums, a charming small city and rail access to the mountain top vista of Mt. Pilatus.

If you go to Interlaken you will be at the gateway to the awesome peaks of the Berner Oberland.

There are two classic car-free villages to visit south of Interlaken: Wengen and Mürren. Both have good hotels and both are situated to provide beautiful views of the mountains.

IF you want mainly mountains, I suggest either Wengen or Mürren. If you want more of a blend, then visit Luzern.

Zug is in a wonderful central location given your time constraints. Lucerne is a great choice and between it, Zug and Zurich you can three of the major lakes of the country. The entire country is gorgeous, so there is little doubt you will enjoy your short time there and wish you could stay longer.

Thanks so much for the tips. I have just spent hours poring over online forums and I was thinking of basing in Interlaken and taking day trips from there. My concern is that I will be too short on time. I arrive in Zug from Zurich on Tuesday, have a business lunch, and then I'm free until Thursday late afternoon. Can I do day trips to the Berner Oberland area (Jungfraujoch, Wengen, etc.) from Zug? Or is Interlaken preferable? Unfortunately I am not finding a hotel in Interlaken I like that is reasonable (under $500/night-ouch!). I would love any thoughts on this and a suggestion for a hotel. Thanks so much for the advice!

Hi,
If your looking in Interlaken, I'd recommend going the "extra mile" and at least stay in Lauterbrunnen. In my opinion it would be a shame to go that far and stay in Interlaken instead of "in" the mountains at either Lauterbrunnen , Wengen (our favorite place in Switzerland) or Murren. I can recommend the Hotel Eiger in Wengen.
www.eiger-wengen.ch
www.wengen.com
www.wengen-muerren.ch

As an alternative, Luzern is an excellent choice.

Paul

I thoroughly agree with Paul [and the earlier comments]. Have a great trip!

Since you really only have two days free, I'd suggest going to nearby Luzern, staying there the entire time then training the 30 minutes or so back to Zug for your Thursday meeting. In and near Luzern you have the choice of three mountains to visit (Pilatus, Rigi, Titlis), as well as a beautiful lake for boat rides and a cool medeival Altstadt for exploring. If you had 3 or four nights, I'd say do the BO area. But with your limited time and the distance from the BO to Zug, I'd pick something closer.

Zug: A bustling business town located on the beautiful Zugersee. Some of the most beautiful sunsets can be seen from the lake. Don't forget to walk through the quaint car-free old town.

Visit:
Lucerne and do the ferry ride.

Rigi: Take the ferry to Vitznau and take the Vitznauer Rigibahn up to Rigi Kulm. Take the Arth-Goldaubahn down to Goldau and return to Zug by train.
(there are other possibilites to see the Rigi too)

Or to to Engelberg and visit Mt Titlis.

That will take care of your 2 1/2 days.