I will be visiting Switzerland for the first time this July. I will be staying in Interlaken and will have one full day in this area. I am interested in advice and suggestions for going up into the mountains, what is do-able in one day, and what would be most memorable. Also, are there any open chair lifts to take in the summer months? <BR>Any advice would be great! <BR>Thanks

Ms. Fleming, <BR>There are two popular excursions from Interlaken: the Jungfrau and the Schilthorn. Either one will take about half a day, so I would plan to round out the day by visiting a village and taking a one- or two-hour walk in the mountains. My own pick would be Interlaken-Wengen(walk around the village)- Jungfrau-Grindelwald-First then walk toward Bachalpsee. Others would suggest going to Schilthorn and visiting the village of Muerren. For more info, check out these websites: <BR> <BR>www.grindelwald.ch <BR>www.wengen.com <BR>www.twenj.com/swissvisit (a personal website with lots of detailed and specific info on mountain excursions) <BR> <BR>Have a great trip! <BR> <BR>s

After having taken all of the excursions I could find in the Grindelwald - Lauterbrunnen area, there are 3 great ones that stand out in mind. And they will stand out until I no longer can remember. They are as follows: <BR>1. The First Gondola from Grindelwald to the end station, called First. <BR>From there, we walked to the top of the Faulhorn, from which the view is incredible. <BR>2. The Jungfraujoch train trip. <BR>This trip is expensive, but unforgettable. You take the train from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen (or Grindelwald), transfer to the WAB train to a station called Kleine Scheidegg. <BR>There you change again for the last section of the journey to the observation building on the Jungfrau herself. While there, we took a walk along a groomed snow track to a hikers shelter about a mile away. The views are incredible. <BR>3. The Schilthorn trip. If you do it yourself, take the train to Lauterbrunnen from Interlaken Ost. <BR>From Lauterbrunnen you have a choice of approaches. A. take the bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. From there take the Luftseilbahn to the top f the Schilthorn. <BR>B. In Lauterbrunnen, take the funicular up to a station called Grutschalp. From there, take the little train to Mürren. <BR>In Mürren, take the Luftseilbahn to the top of the Schilthorn. <BR> <BR>For both the Jungfraujoch and the Schilthorn, I think you need an early start. The crowd increases during the day, to the earlier the better. <BR>On a pretty summer day, both of these trips attract many, many visitors. <BR> <BR>If you have time after the First trip, there is another cable lift that goes to a station called Pfingstegg. From there it is a short walk along the side of a glacial valley to a restaurant that has a great view of the innards of the mountains. Any of these trips are great, and many people have taken them. <BR> <BR>Shame you don't have longer, because the 3 Pass drive via Innertkirchen over the Grimsel, Furka, and Susten Passes is another memorable trip. But you need a car for the most expeditious trip. <BR>(A bus does to the top of the Grimsel Pass. But I do not know about the others.)

I took the Kleine Schdegg trip and really enjoyed it. <BR> <BR>If you are a fan of Sherlock Holes, then go to Meiringen to see the falls where he battled Moriarty

Sherlock Holmes