I have 3-5 days of solo sight seeing, depending on the railpass I decide to purchase. Where should I go, what kinds of interesting things can I see/do.

I'm taking a day to see Montreux and the Castle de Chillon. But obviously there's lots to do, I just don't know where to start.

Please give me some ideas. Swandav, I'm sure you have a few Thanks!

Susie

Gstaad is situated roughly between Interlaken region and Lake Leman region.

You could consider :

1. Down to South (Lake Leman region/French speaking part) :
It should take very approximately 1 hr train ride to Montreux so that's reasonable for a day trip. Visit Chillon, think about doing Montreux-Chillon one way on foot along the lake and another by boat (15 minutes) if you are going after May (very few boats till end of April - check www.cgn.ch for timetable.)

From Montreux, you can go high up to Rocher-de-Nayes by mountain cog-wheel train. Veeery impresive view of Swiss and French alps under clear day and a bit of nice walk up there.

Continue from Montreux to Vevey. Change to Train de Vignes and walk down the vineyard to Rivaz or St.Saphorin (Lavaux region)while overlooking the lake below and French Savoie Alps on the other side. Another impressive view + those little villages are charming.

Doing all above in a day would be too much. You would have to pick just one or two. If you like a some leisurely time, after doing one or two of above, you could do a longer (1,5-2hrs) boat ride from Montreux or Vevey Lausanne-Ouchy. Try the 1st cls. upper deck (a tiny bit more expensive than 2nd cls.), settle on one of those free long canvas chair. The view over Lavaux vineyard from the boat is great. You can return from Lauanne to Gstadd by train via Montreux.

******

2. Up north (Interlaken region/German speaking part)

Places to visit
-Spiez
-Thun
-Berner Oberland Alps via Jungfrau
railways

Hope above will give you ideas to start/continue your research.

Hi SusieChef,

Very happy to talk about Gstaad! But, unfortunately, I don't have a lot of ideas for getting *away* from Gstaad because I really enjoy the local walking/hiking opportunities.

Anyway, here are some ideas --

Spiez is a lovely town right on Lake Thun -- the main town is above the lake by the train station, but down at the lake there are a few hotels & restaurants. And really, it's a lovely way to pass the hours, sitting at the Spiez harbor waiting for the ferry! There are a lot of walks along the lake, but unfortunately, I didn't get to any of them!

Thun, obviously a town on Lake Thun. Again, lots of walks along the lake. Maybe take a ferry from Spiez to Thun and then walk/bus back. I would like to see the town of Oberhofen with its small castle (passed it on the ferry and it looked so quaint). There's also a big castle in Thun that you might want to look at.

I heard about a walk called the Simmental Hausweg that runs from Boltigen to Erlenbach with information on the history of local houses along the way, but I haven't done it (yet . . .). Here's a link with more information:

http://www.gstaad.ch/en/gs-sport/gs-...lerhausweg.htm

Gruyeres is also a great idea, and it's very close. Gruyeres has a castle and a cobbled main street, and not much more. However, it's worth a visit because of the very beautiful surroundings and because of the very delicious cheese & cream (creme double or creme de Gruyeres).

A bit closer to Gstaad -- take the cable car up to Eggli and have lunch. Walk down? Look around. Take the short (30-40 minute) walk to Saanen and maybe have lunch at the Steigenberger Hotel and look over at Gstaad while you eat. Rent a bicycle and cyle to Chateau d'Oex.

Here are some links to my photos from these places:

Saanen & Spiez & cycling to Chateau d'Oex --

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/swanda.../ph//my_photos

Gstaad & Eggli:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/swanda.../ph//my_photos

Hope this gets you started!

s

ps, Here's some information & photos for Gruyeres:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

s

Gruyeres is a great idea. It did not come to my mind because I always thought the train connection was bad to get there. Well I was wrong. With a change at Montbovon, it takes only 1 hour. Very charming village with its castle at the hilltop. Check out Giger museum. It has nothing to do with the general atmosphere of the Swiss old village. It may not be to your taste, or if you like Alien - Dune movies, you will like it. I heard they opened Giger bar since then. This might be interesting too, again maybe or maybe not to your taste.