macksix

Good Morning Fodor's friends. My husband and I will travel to Switzerland and Paris in September. We are flying into Zurich and out of Paris. We have 12 nights (excluding travel time) and our plan is to spend the last two in Paris. We have been there twice, and this is just a nice add on while we are on the same continent. We love to walk, walk, walk, sightsee, and eat wonderful European food. We are moderate hikers and in good shape for our (almost) 60th year.

The current plan is as follows:
Land in Zurich and take the train to Luzern - 3 nights in Luzern
Train to Berner Oberland - 4 nights in Wengen
Open to suggestions! (1 or 2 nights)
Train to Zurich -1 or 2 nights in Zurich
Train to Paris - 2 nights in Paris

We are open to any suggestions or itinerary shuffling - with the exception of the last two nights in Paris. We don't necessarily need to return to Zurich to catch the train to Paris, but we do want to spend at least one night in Zurich. If we don't do the Zurich-Paris train, then it would make sense to stay in Zurich when we land on the first day.

Thank you for any advice!!

Melnq8

For your free two nights, you might consider Thun, Brienz , Rapperswill, Solothurn or Engelberg.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ations/thun-1/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ations/brienz/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...pperswil-jona/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ons/solothurn/

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-us/...ons/engelberg/

jconway82

I had a good time in Lauteurbrunnen. We took a gondola then a train then a gondola up to Gimmelwald. This looks to be near Wengen so you might be able to day trip it or find similar activities were you are at. Lucerne was also a pleasant town. All the drives we took were pretty spectacular.

twk

When we did Switzerland in 2016, we did something similar on arrival day, traveling from the airport in Zurich all the way to Wengen (via Luzern, for better scenery), figuring that was probably the best way to spend arrival day, and then spent one night in Zurich at the end of the trip. But, if you are going on to Paris, I think I would take my night in Zurich on arrival, then proceed as planned, and use your extra couple of days for somewhere on Lake Geneva (we stayed at Grandvaux and loved it), then take the train from there to Paris.

macksix

Thank you Melnq8! I will do some research on those areas tonight. I am not familiar with them, but we are always up for an adventure.

macksix

Thank you jconway82! I agree that Lauterbrunnen will work for a day trip from Wengen. Can't wait to see all of the wonderful scenery!

macksix

Thank you twk! I had a similar thought about going south and then taking the train from Geneva. I will do some research and see what we find.

neckervd

There are also direct trains from Lausanne to Paris. No need to go to Geneva.

GinnyJo

We spent our first 3 nights in Zurich and were happy we did. Our plan was to spend most of the next day in Luzern on our way to Wengen; we found it so touristy that we were glad we did not have more time there.

For your extra nights, I'd consider Bern and Montreal. Based on posts here (I believe it was Adelaidian), we had a great a few nights at the Golf Hotel René Capt in Montreux on Lake Geneva, which might work well for you working your way to Paris. We found everything to be convenient by train and we then flew out of Geneva.

twk

Better idea.

macksix

Thank you GinnyJo!

That is an interesting comment about Luzern. Perhaps we can "borrow" a night from there and add to Zurich.
I appreciate your recommendations!

macksix

Good Morning again Fodors Friends,
We have our itinerary in place...but I can't stop tweaking it for some reason.

Looking for some additional opinions as I am sure many on this forum have been to Switzerland since the summer months began.

Updated:
Land in Zurich - 2 nights in Zurich
Train to Lucerne - 2 nights in Lucerne
Train to Berner Oberland - 3 nights in Wengen
Train to Bern - 1 night in Bern
Train to Basel - 2 nights in Basel
Train to Paris - 2 nights in Paris

I took out the Lake Geneva area completely because (at the time I was looking) hotel rates were CRAZY. They have come down a bit and now I am wondering if I should add it back somewhere. I also added Basel (in place of Lake Geneva) because I did some reading and it sounds like a very cool city. I also took one night out of Wengen to add in Bern. Thinking I may have short-changed us on the Berner Oberland, so maybe take one night back from Lucerne? A small country with so many options!
Again - any opinions are welcome. Thank you so much and I hope everyone is doing some fun traveling this summer.

Melnq8

It's a lot of moving around. Lucerne and Zurich are only about an hour apart, so you could easily visit one from the other without spending nights in both. I find changing hotels a hassle, and because Zurich and Lucerne are so close, on the day you move from one to the other you'll have a gap between check out time of one hotel and check in time of another. You'll have to drop off your luggage and check in later in the day. If you picked one and made a day trip to the other, you could free up an extra night for elsewhere.

I'm not a fan of one or two night stays in general, and one night in Bern doesn't even give you a full day there. You could visit Bern on your way to Basel, assuming you're okay with leaving your luggage in a locker at the station and just poking around for a few hours. That would free up an extra night for Wengen or Basel, giving you an extra full day in one or the other.

But, it all boils down to what you hope to accomplish and your personal wish list. We all travel differently.

Jean

Ditto Melnq8's comments.

The train ride from Bern to Basel is only an hour. Just me, but I enjoy Bern more than Basel.

GinnyJo

I agree about not changing accommodations as much. Also agree that I'd prioritize Bern over Basel. You can also do Basel as a day trip from Zurich. Here's a version for consideration that fits in Lake Geneva, adds to Paris but cuts out Luzern:

Zurich: 2 nights
Wengen: 3 nights
Bern: 2 nights
Montreaux/Lake Geneva: 2 nights
Paris: 3 nights

macksix

Thank you Melnq8. I agree about the one night stays for sure. I appreciate info regarding how close Lucerne and Zurich are. You are right that we probably don't need to switch hotels. Thank you!

macksix

Thank you Jean!

macksix

Thank you Ginny Jo. Points well taken..and who could say no to another night in Paris?

WeisserTee

Basel has a lot going for it. World class art museum, plus the Beyeler, the antiquities museum, and many other specialty museums including Pavillon, the absolutely terrific new interactive medical science museum. Beautiful historic neighborhoods like St. Albans, Munsterplatz and surroundings, Gellert, the university area, Gundeli, and Riehen (great walking trails in Riehen). There's a reason it's known as Switzerland's capital of culture. Some excellent restaurants and hotels. Just us, but we've managed to live here nearly 16 years without being tired of it or bored. Although we definitely plan to leave town for a week next May if Basel gets chosen as the Eurovision Song Contest host.

btw, if the lockers at the train station are taken (can happen, especially if you have large suitcases), there is also a manned luggage storage area.

macksix

Thank you Weisser Tee!