Hi, everyone!

I'm looking into a 2 week trip from the end of March to mid-April to visit family in Nyon, Switzerland. I found a decent flight into Geneva, and now I'm trying to plan the rest of the itinerary. Since Nyon is so close to France, I figured there might be some good French places to visit as well. So far, these are the spots that people have suggested I look into checking out:
- Matterhorn
- Interlaken
- Lucerne
- the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz
- the St. Bernard museum in Martigny

Any other suggestions for places in Switzerland and/or nearby France? Any suggestions for how to get around (e.g. car, rail - and if so, whether a Swiss Pass from Rail Europe or a Eurail France-Switzerand pass would be better? - etc.).

Thanks, seasoned travelers!!

for your train travels in Switzerland the Swiss Pass will be a much much better deal than the France-Switzerland Pass simply because a Swiss Pass covers many many things a France-Swiss Pass does not cover at all - like portions of the Glacier Express route and trains up to Zermatt and back down - Swiss Passes also grant free entry to over 400 Swiss museums and those often cost a lot - not sure the Saint Bernard Museum in covered but it may well be.

and Swiss Passes are also valid on postal buses, city buses and trams and lake boats (some lake boats are also covered by Eurail but not as many as the Swiss Pass.

Swiss Passes also give 50% off aerial gondolas or mountain trains to mountain tops (25% to Jungfraujoch from Grindelwald or Wengen) while Eurailpasses do not (one exception is they do give 25% off on the Jungfraujoch trains but otherwise zilch.

Swiss Passes are cheaper per day of travel - if you want to visit parts of France near Switzerland just buy a single ticket or take lake boats on Lake Geneva to places like Evian-les-Bains in France - fully covered by Swiss Passes or take the thrilling mountain train from Martigny to Chamonix, France - fully covered by a Swiss Pass, even the portion in France.

For lots of great info on Swiss Passes, trains, lake boats, etc I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Swiss Pass prices are universally the same in the U.S. but compare handling or mailing fees. You can buy Swiss Passes in any Swiss train station but they are usually significantly more expensive when I have compared before buying for several years now and just the other day that was true as well when I recently compared prices.

One thing for sure with your plans a Swiss Pass is IMO a no-brainer - a Saverpass if traveling with 2 or more folks - two to five names on one pass and cheaper than two solo passes. And either person could use the pass by themselves if situations dictate that - consecutive-day passes are often the best deal if the 4- 8- 15- month-durations comport to your travel plans. Otherwise the 3-day Swiss Flexipass is almost always the best deal - nearly always better than a 4-day flexipass or longer ones.

And if traveling in fall or spring look for special 2 for 1 deals on 4-day consecutive or flexipasses - these have been the rule for the past few years during these, for Switzerland, off seasons.

All good ideas, one observation that the Glacier Express is actually a slow train. It takes all day to go from Zermatt to St Moritz, then what do you do when you are in St. Moritz? Take the Glacier express all the way back? Unless you have a lot of time for traveliing and are an absolute train nut, this is alot of time on trains. Suggest considering Zermatt to Andermatt, then north to Lucern via Arth-Goldau, or Zermat to Chur ( a very nice little town) then back to Lucern via Sargans.

ST Moritz and the Inn River valley are gorgeous, but you may want to look into quicker routings to get there.

Do work out the actual travel time for some of these itineraries on sbb.ch, which I found to be very helpful.

Great suggestions! Thanks so much! I realized that the Glacier Express is pretty slow, so I've scratched it off the list. PalenQ, you're totally right about the Swiss Pass; so many of the places I was looking into have deals for Swiss Pass holders! Now the itinerary is looking more like:

Day 1-4: fly into Geneva, stay with family in Nyon. Day trips to...?
Day 5-6: take Golden Pass train to Interlaken, visit Gimmewald, go paragliding (hoping to stay in an apartment...?)
Day 7-8: go to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn... and do something else? Not sure what... any thoughts?
Day 9-13: head back to Nyon, stopping at Sierre to see the underground lake at St. Leonard. Take day trips from Nyon to Martigny and Lausanne to see the St. Bernard Dog Museum and the art museum in Lausanne. Any other suggestions?
Day 14: fly back to US from Geneva.

Do you know whether there are closures I should take into consideration with Easter falling at the beginning of my trip?

Thanks so much!

Hello. Not sure if this could fit into your itinerary, but Interlaken is pretty close to Lauterbrunnen, which is situated in a deep, stunning valley with waterfalls and wildflowers. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this place if you can find any time...I went there 6 years ago when I was 18, I have travelled extensively since, but I still think about Lauterbrunnen all the time. An incredible place. You can ride a railway up a 45 degree incline to tiny little villages on the sides of the mountains. So worth it to visit if you can.

That sounds amazing, Natatat! I put it on our itinerary as an option! It's only 20 minutes from Interlaken via train! Thanks!

No prob! I saw that you mentioned Interlaken and I thought, I have to mention this place. It is, hands down, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

The only worry I have for you is the time of year...it might not be quite as stunning in the spring, if it's really cold and there's snow. I was there in mid-May and it was clear blue skies and greenery everywhere.

Take the 25 minute ferry ride from Nyon to Yvoire France, a flower-bedecked, medieval, fieldstone village on the lake.. Gorgeous!!!

don't miss the chance to take a lake boat on either of the two wondrous Alpine lakes bookending Interlaken ("between the lakes") - some are vintage paddlewheel steamers or at least look like they are - on a nice day the glcier-drenched Alps to the south are out in all their glories.

. I HIGHLY recommend visiting this place if you can find any time...I went there 6 years ago when I was 18, I have travelled extensively since, but I still think about Lauterbrunnen all the time>

I heartily agree with Natatat! But there are varying opinions on Lauterbrunnen - on another thread someone says it is a terrible place to be - stuck in a deep valley - but then beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to me Lauterbrunnen has an awesome situation - dramatic waterfall - one of the highest in Europe - looms right above the town center - the Jungfrau Massif shines in all its glories above the valley - so put me in the pro-Lauterbrunnen camp though some folks do not see it as me at Natatat do.

Nyon's on Lake Geneva, so you have lots of lovely options. What kind of things do you like?

If you like gambling in one of Europe's legendary casinos then hop the boat on Lake Geneva from say Montreux, Vevey or Lausanne to Evian-les-Bains and its famous casino - also a sweet alkeside thermal resort in case you need some rehab!