We are going to Switzerland for the first time in a week's time. it, kind of, got planned suddenly. i have looked at some of the earlier posts here. looking for some suggestion from recent visitors on best places to stay in the interlaken area. we plan to stay in interlaken for 4 nights.

Also, do you think it is possible to take the TGV from Paris in the morning to montreux, do the chateau de chillon and the promenade walk and then take the train to interlaken - all in the same day?

thanks in advance.

Best place in town: Victoria-Jungfrau.

"Best" above assumes most upscale and expensive.

If you mean something else by "best" please let us know.

Hey- here's another "best," which is not upscale and expensive, in Wengen: Hotel Berghaus. Short train trip (Interlaken Ost - Lauterbrunnen - Wengen) away, and very scenic. Great food, especially the local trout!

In Interlaken, Victoria-Jungfrau is a wonderful and gracious place, which is very well-respected. I had a memorable stay there last year, and, yes, I do believe it is the "best" in the area.

Hi keengolfer36,

Here's a bit of information for your Montreux day:

The TGV from Paris to Lausanne/Montreux will take 3-4 hours. The walk from the train station to Chillon will take about an hour (you can take the city bus back to the station). The train from Montreux to Interlaken will take 3-4 hours.

Hope that can help you decide if you can do it in one day --

s

Interlaken is in the valley in a very attractive town; Wengen is a pedestrian village above Interlaken accessible by tram train. Unless there is a reason you prefer to be in the valley, I would strongly suggest that you consider staying in Wengen which is incredibly picturesque and because there are no cars, it's a real step back in time. The quiet at night is something else.

We stayed at the Sunstar which has a swimming pool on the lower level with windows that look out toward Murren across the valley, but our kids were younger then so the pool was great for them after a day of skiing. The hotel mentioned in an earlier post has strong reviews on tripadvisor.com. You should take a look at those reviews.

If you decide to stay in Interlaken, you should put aside one day to go to Wengen and then up to Kleine Scheidegg on the train and perhaps to the Jungfraoch. (Visibility was not clear when we were there so we didn't spend the time going there.)

While staying in Interlaken or Wengen, be sure to spend one day taking the tram and walking to Murren en route to the cable car for the Schilthorn for the most astonishing panoramic view of more than 200 mountain peaks.

I cannot comment on how the hotels in Interlaken and in Wengen compare in terms of cost. All I know is that when we went to Wengen, I wanted to stay there forever.