glsebs

We will be staying in Vevey for four days at the end of May.

This is our itinerary:
Fly to Frankfurt
Train to Strasbourg
Three nights in Strasbourg
Rent a car in Strasbourg and drive to Vevey.
Four nights in Vevey.
Drive to Beaujolais
2 nights Beaujolais
Drop car in Lyon and take train to Paris for 4 nights.

I have been reading the posts on this forum, and I am starting to rethink making the long drive from Strasbourg to Vevey and then the drive from Vevey to Beaujolais. Most here say you do not need a rental car in the Lake Geneva area. Would it make more sense to take a train from Strasbourg to Vevey and take trains, boats and other public transportation for our time in Vevey. Then take a train to Lyon and pick up a car at the rail station for our 2 days in Beaujolais. Then, drop the car at the rail station in Lyon and take the train to Paris.

We are leaving in three weeks. Any help would be appreciated.

swandav2000

Hi glsebs,

I've been tot he Lake Geneva area about ten times, the last one for three weeks. I don't use a car while there -- the transport system is easy, fun, and efficient!

Your hotel will give you a Riviera Card, which gives you free transport on the busses, and the busses run all the way from Vevey to and through Montreux, to and past Chillon. to Villeneuve. Then there are the ferry boats that stop at all of these spots, plus the villages in the Lavaux, Lausanne, Morges, Nyon, etc, and the towns and villages in France as well. And of course you'll also have the old reliable trains that link all these places very quickly.

One particular pleasure is to take one form of tranport one way and another back, for instance the bus to Chillon and the lake ferry back, or walking through the vineyards of the Lavaux then the ferry back, etc.

You can get the schedules of the ferries at

www.cgn.ch

And the trains are at

www.rail.ch

The busses run about every 10 minutes, and #1 is the one that runs from Vevey to Villeneuve along the lake.

Good luck!

s

glsebs

Swandav2000,thank you so much twice!

I think we are going to give up the idea of renting a car and take a train from Strasbourg to Vevey. If we do not go to Beaujolais where we will need a car, where can we go in Switzerland for those two nights before we need to catch a train to Paris....Geneva, Bern or another area.

We have really never been to Switzerland.....just a day in Lugano when we were staying in Lake Como. We have been to Lyon and that area, although it was many years ago.


Your advice is much appreciated. I don't know how I planned our trips before we had these forums.

swandav2000

Hi glsebs,

Oooh dear! That's one of those questions that are so hard to answer. I know where *I* would go, lol. But of course I don't know what kind of landscape or activity hub you would enjoy.

So, can you give us a little more information? Do you want mountains, high Alpine peaks, cable cars, Alpine strolls, etc? If so, then it may be worthwhile to get to the villages nestled in the heights of the Berner Oberland. They are not far from the city of Bern, and you can easily catsh the TGV from there.

Or do you want a city environment, with museums and fine dining and historical architecture -- and maybe the peaks nearby? If so, then Bern or Luzern would work, and again it's easy to connect to the Basel TGV from either one.

Or how about some gentle, green, rolling hills dotted with brown chalet villages . . .

Anyway, if you can give us more of an idea of the kind of place that appeals to you, we can help you find it somewhere that's close to a TGV connection.

I'll enjoy following your plans!

s

glsebs

Thanks for your help Swandav2000. I need to make a decision soon as we are leaving in less than three weeks.

My husband loves country scenery, and I prefer cities. We have a little of both on this trip, so it is really a flip of a coin. My inclinatiion is to do Luzern as it is a city, but with pretty scenery as well. I will have to do a litle research, but i think the train ride is about 4 1/2 hours to Paris....am I correct?

I have to get busy rearranging hotels and itinerary, but I think Luzern would be the best choice. You really helped me make this decision, and I know without you and other experts on this forum, it would have been impossble to change our plans this late.

Thanks so much.

swandav2000

Hi again,

No, you really can't go wrong with Luzern! You can enjoy all the medieval buildings, fountains, and squares in the old town, ascend Rigi, Pilatus, or Titlis, and of course take a ferry ride on the lakes. Here are some sites for more information:

www.luzern.org
www.rigi.ch
www.pilatus.ch
www.titlis.ch
www.lakelucerne.ch

The train ride is about five hours, yes. You can get great discounts if you purchase your tickets about 90 days in advance -- which is too late for this trip, but I would still look to see if the discounts are available. One year I went from Paris to Geneva for 20E!

You can get the tickets at

www.rail.ch
www.tgv-europe.com

Have fun!!

s