Swiss Alps
 

If I want to see the Alps in Switzerland in early September, what would you suggest? I have seen the pictures and know they are lovely, but what do you actually DO when you spend a few days in the Alps?

Good question. If I was staying in Bern or Lucerne I might do the following.

1) One day walking that town.
2) One day walking the opposite town.
3) In lucerne take a train to Aplnachstaad, then the cog-wheel train to the top of Mount Pilatus. The either the cable car down the front or come back down the cog-wheel and take a boat ride back to Lucerne.
4) Go to Interlaken--> Luatrebrunnen --> Murren and up to the top of the Schilthorn for spectacular views. Have lunch in the restaurant. Walk around either of or both Murren/Lauterbrunnen.
5) from Bern go to Lake Geneva. Vevey/Montreaux. Go up to Caux. On the way back stop in Friburg for a few hours. Beautiful sights. This is where German meets French.
6) from Interlaken take a boat ride to Thun. Could take a dinner cruise. Thun has a neat main streat where the roofs of the lower level is the sidewalk of the upper level. Has it's own castle.

Each town has a different personality.
Our first time in Bern many years ago was very different from our last time there. Even though Bern is the Capital it wasn't a tourist town. Very little English. Now it has been discovered by tourists.

Most of the towns are good for up to a day depending upon your likes. Sometimes you get off a train and it's market day.

I'm sure others will add to this.

Nuut,
Myer's suggestions are right on the money. I traveled with friends last year to Europe, half of whom wanted to go to Switzerland. I wasn't too keen on the idea because like you, I was unsure of what to do when I got there. But as Myer says, each town has a character all its own and will be worth a few hours of exploration. Of all the places we visited, Switzerland is at the top of my list for a future trip.

Having said that, I can recommend the following:

1. In Bern, try floating down the Aare river. Basically, you walk up stream as far as you care to, then jump in. The current is very strong and will quickly carry you towards the Marzili swimming pools. For the best experience, make your way to the center of the river, lie on your back, stretch your arms out and relax. It is an amazing feeling! You can get out before you reach the pools by grabbing one of the many bright red handrails. For experienced swimmers!

2. I second the recommendation for the trek to Mt. Schilthorn. Wonderful views of the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau, and less expensive than the Jungfraujoch. Plus who can resist the quirky combination of transportation that gets you to the top of the mountain? Trains, cog trains, funiculars, cable cars.... Lauterbrunnen and Murren are well worth a little exploration, too.

3. The boat from Interlaken to Spiez is a unique journey, taking you across the Lake Thun. Very scenic, and perhaps more importantly, covered by your rail pass! We connected with the Golden Pass scenic rail and continued on to Lausanne. Some other places of interest along the way are Montreaux and Gstaad.

Hope this gives you a few ideas for a memorable trip!

Melissa

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Dear Myer and Melissa

Thanks for the excellent advice.

Someone said - Don't bother going up Jungfrau, it is not worth it. Was he right? What did he mean?

I will start my short trip in Geneva (have to), spend some days along the lake (thinking Montreux) and then some Alps. So if I am coming from that direction, what would you suggest?

Roches au naye from Montreux?
Gstaad? Gruyere? Chamonix? Grindelwald?

Thanks

The trip up to Rochers de Naye from Montreux is well worth the time spent IMO; the climb alone is worth it, not to mention the views from the top.

However, be aware that sometimes the views can be complete obscured by cloud cover.

I think you may need to decide which are of Switzerland you would like to visit the most. The higher peaks are near the Matterhorn and the Dufourspitz; the former can be viewed from two vantage points near Zermatt but, again, the views can be obscure by cloud cover.

You might find more to see and do, overall, if you stick to the Bernese Oberland region.

If you want to travel by train, look into the Swiss Rail Flexi Pass. It's similar to the Eurail pass, but gives more discounts within Switzerland (ie 50% on a number of mountain railways and cablecars; 50% on some river boat cruises etc).

Nuut,
On our trip last year to the BO we had every intention of doing the Jungfrauhjoch, despite the seemingly exorbitant cost. The final determining factor turned out to be the weather. There is a live shot of the summit at the Interlocken west rail station. Every guide book we read and the many discussions on this forum all concur that if the weather isn't perfectly clear, your experience will not be good. There's little point in spending all that time and money and not see anything because the top of the mountain is covered in clouds! We opted for the Schilthorn instead. It gives you excellent views of the Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger and costs less.

Also plan to take at least a warm sweater with you. In late June last year, the temp in the valley was low 80's and just above freezing at the top.

I'm sure the Jungfraujoch is well worth it for the beautiful views. To our group, it seemed too expensive with no guarantee of clear weather. We felt the Schilthorn was a beautiful experience and didn't feel that we missed anything. Either way, have fun and enjoy the views!

Melissa

I've never been to the Schilthorn but my own question would be, does <b>it</b> ever have obscured views????

Intrepid1--yes, the Schilthorn can be totally in the fog. My sister and her husband thought they were checking the right monitor, saw clear skies even tho' M&uuml;rren was in the fog, and bought tickets for the ride up. They were in heavy clouds the whole way up and back---couldn't wee ten feet! Turned out they were looking at a camera for a different area altogether (they couldn't read the German).