Thanks so much, Enzian and Suze, and to everyone else who posted suggestions here. I believe I will plan a trip which includes Salzburg, Hallstatt, and maybe the Berner Oberland. I'll have to checkout a map of the train routes to consider the logistics of such a trip. But this is a good start. Thanks for the valuable tips!! (Should I skip Lucerne and/or Innsbruck?)

Lucerne is beautiful, and very accessible culturally and language-wise, though expensive.

I've only travelled to two countries alone, so far, other that that i''ve always been with someone, but I fully understand your concerns. I agree the language barrier is what would most concern me, but you know what, life is short, just take the bull by the horns, and to it... You will end up having a blast and wondered why you waited so long..
Good luck
L

I wish I could help more, but unfortunately don't know those particular destinations. I say anywhere you can get to on a train, you can't go too far wrong nor can it possibly be too difficult.

As far as the lack of language skills, I think many people tend to freak out needlessly. Usually if you stay calm and step back you can see how things are done. Not always tho...

I've had funny moments, like when I couldn't figure out how to get the grocery cart unhooked from the rack in Vevey (you had to insert a coin which you got back at the end), or using the scale to self-serve weigh grapes in Venice (there were illustrations of types of fruit), or the time I was nearly locked in a health food store at closing in Amsterdam because I didn't understand the announcement in Dutch...

funny not scary stuff :-)

Hi Susan,

You could do a very nice trip inlcuding Lucerne, the Berner Oberland, and your choices in Austria. Here is a possible itinerary: fly into Zürich, then travel in the following order: Lucerne, Wengen (a lovely car-free village in the Jungfrau area), then to Innsbruck ( a long day), Hallstatt, Salzburg, and back to Zürich for your flight home. Or you fly back from Münich if you want to visit there too.

You can get to Lucerne directly from the Zürich airport in about an hour on a train with no changes---they leave every hour at 47 minutes past. Other trains take you into the main station where you would catch a train to your destination. Just type in "Zurich airport" into the Bahn.de website as your starting point. And be sure to spell your destination as "Luzern", not Lucerne---otherwise you get a confusing array of choices. Both Luzern and Wengen are popular places for British tourists, and many people speak English there.

This sounds very much like a "Rick Steves" itinerary, except that he would suggest you stay in Gimmelwald instead of Wengen. That's a fine choice too, as well as Mürren, where you could stay at Chalet Fontana, owned by Englishwoman Denise Fussell.

You can get all of the information you need for planning this trip and reserving hotels with a combination of Rick Steve's books (Austria and Switzerland), the Bahn.de website, and the internet website for each town, which will show you lodging choices. Rick's books are very useful for first-time planners, because they explain how to do everything---buy train tickets or passes, use the telephones, how to get from place to place, etc. I planned my first independent trip, six years ago, in just this way. Like you, I wanted to visit the Alps. I actually signed up for a hiking tour with my college alumni association, but the tour was cancelled because not enough people signed up. So I decided to go anyway, and found all the information I needed to plan the trip from the sources I just mentioned (I did not know about this forum then). It was a wonderful trip---everything went smoothly, and the places I went were even more beautiful than I ever dreamed. And the people were warm, welcoming, and very helpful (I admit I speak some German, but I'm sure all would have gone just as well had I not). I've been back every year since, taking whomever will go with me, and like most everyone here, I love the planning process. Hopefully you will too!

Enzian,

Thank you for taking the time to offer these helpful recommendations and resources. Yes, I have a few Rick Steves books, but not the Switz/Aust ones, which I will get. Thanks so much for the suggested itenerary. It looks great. The Berner Oberland in particular looks like a "must see."