enzian

If you are making a daytrip to Ballenberg from Lauterbrunnen, I recommed you include a visit to Grandhotel Giessbach and the waterfall in your excursion:

http://www.giessbach.ch/en/the_grandhotel/about.php

It is a short boat ride from Brienz. You can have lunch on the deck at the hotel, or just walk past it and admire the waterfalls.

You can also walk from there to Iseltwald along the lake, and then catch a boat back to Interlaken from there:

http://www.myswissalps.com/hikes/sho...g=EN&HikeID=64

ButterflyGirl06

yes, the trip to Brienz is a day trip - originating in Lauterbrunnen.

Palenque

Like Enzian says if taking the boat to Brienz on Lake Brienz, from where a postal bus goes to the nearby Ballenberg Open-Air Museum be sure to get off at Geissbach Falls - an antique-looking funicular communicates you from the boat dock to the hotel and nearby water cascade. then re-board the boat to Brienz - or even hike there as i did once from Geissbach. If you have a Swiss Pass be sure to use a 100% covered day (on flexipasses) as it then will also cover the entry to Ballenberg museum - about a $20 value i believe p.p.

Palenque

Most people would get off the boat at Brienz, to either hop the bus to Ballenberg Museum or to take the dramatic Brienzer Rothorn Bahn steam train up to Rothorn Kulm, a summit a few thousand feet above Lake Brienz.

And Brienz itself is worth a look coming or going - known for its wood carving industry the town's tidy wooden chalet-style houses are graced by elaborately carved wooden trims. So take a short stroll around town if passing thru.

http://www.brienzersee.ch/cms/cms.as...=ASP\Pg269.asp

Palenque

http://www.brienz-rothorn-bahn.ch/

This is the official site of the Brienz-Rothorn Bahn, a steam train that climbs from from behind the Brienz mainline SBB train station up to the summit (Kulm) of the Rothorn - climbing from 566 meters to 2244 m - 1,678 meters or about a 5,500 feet climb (if my conversion is right)

At the top there is a tremendous view over Lake Brienz and a much wide area extending for miles - over the Alpine spine of Switzerland to the north and west and south over the Brunig Pass and down towards Lucerne.

Hikers can take the train half way back down and get off at Planalp - the middle way station (alt 1,341 m) and then hike on medium difficulty if i remember right - back down to Brienz - with the scintillating views over Lake Brienz hemmed in by high Alps on the other side.

Or you can hike the whole way down from the summit to Brienz as i once did - just had regular jogging shoes and was fine - though if memory serves me the initial trail was rather steep - but lots of folks hiking up and down so it is a beaten path.

Hiking from the summit down to Planalp takes about 1 h 45 min at a normal pace and another 1 h 45 from there down to Brienz.

So just another fab thing to do in day out on and around Lake Brienz.

Palenque

forgot to note that this train is rather pricey and is not 100% covered by a Swiss Pass - but the usual 50% off with a pass on practically everything in Switzerland the pass don't cover.

ButterflyGirl06

thanks so much Palenque! I need to look into what kind of transportaion passes to purchase, as we will be in Switzerland for 6 days then take the train from Switz. directly to Paris where we will stay for 9 days.

Palenque

a Swiss Pass perhaps - esp if going to Ballenberg where it is worth about $20 p.p. for free entry - and depends what you are doing - if just going to Wengen and not taking transportation but hiking and back to Zurich airport - then perhaps the Half-Fare Card - but if doing the excursion loop to Murren, Gimmelwald or boat on Lake Brienz and Ballenberg then look strongly at the Swiss Pass.

Palenque

For a pass you would basically chose between a 3-day Swiss Flexi Saverpass and an 8-straight-day pass (even if you are there only 6 or 7 days of travel)

The Swiss Flexi gives,as a base 3 days of unlimited travel (and museum entries) out of an overall one-month period and in between your first and last of the 3 days then you also, like the Half Fare Card, get pretty much 50% off everything that moves in Switzerland (besides cows - i did not say moos)

But if travleing on trains and lake boats, etc. a lot then the 8-straight pass may be the best. Passes are sold at Swiss stations but for some reason they are significantly cheaper if bought in the States - same pass, lower price (compare at sbb.ch for prices in Swiss Francs) vs these sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.raileurope.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html - these sites will tell you lots about the passes.

ButterflyGirl06

Thank you again Palenque, do you know by chance, how a swiss pass might work for our trip from the Interlaken area to Paris? We are planning on taking a train directly to Paris. I wonder if we might use the Swiss pass to get us close to the border and then buy tickets to Paris from there to save.

Melnq8

ButterflyGirl -

Your Swiss Pass will cover you throughout Switzerland. It appears that most trains from Interlaken to Paris travel via Basel, so your pass is good at least that far, possibly further. I suggest you buy your ticket to Paris at the Interlaken train station. Just show them your Swiss Pass and they'll figure out the remaining fare.

suze

I'm not sure I'm following the final plans but if you end up flying in to or out of Geneva airport, the Lac Leman towns are beautiful (Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux) and easy to reach by train in an hour or so.

Melnq8

I just found this on myswissalps.com:

The Swiss Pass is "also valid on several lines in surrounding countries: Basel - EuroAirport (France), Martigny - Chamonix Mont Blanc (France), Brig - Domodossola (Italy) - Locarno via the Centovalli railway, Lugano - Chiavenna (Italy) - St. Moritz, Lugano - Tirano (Italy), Zernez - Malles (Italy), Buchs/Sargans - Liechtenstein - Feldkirch (Austria)"

ButterflyGirl06

thank you! I will check out the Rail sites in the morning. I wish I were leaving tomorrow and not in 6 weeks!

Palenque

You can do like Melnq8 says and ask the station in Interlaken to sell you a ticket for Basel to Paris or i think you may be able to save money by trying to book one of the discounted online Basel to Paris fares from French Rail - www.voyages-sncf.com - could be a lot cheaper than full fare you would probably have to buy once there. That said the voyages-sncf.com site is a real real frustrating site for most people. Sometimes you can print your ticket out at home and at other times pick up your ticket at a French train station - and therein is a problem - i heard that Basel no longer has a French train station in its Swiss station as it did so be clear about how you pick up the ticket. Or when you buy your Swiss Pass you could ask about a Pass 2 fare on Basel to Paris trains - this is for people who have a Swiss Pass and are going onto France - and have the same agent you buy your pass from do it - but i think your best bet for lower prices is to try voyages-sncf.com

Koalas

Sarnen is a great hiking destination ...just south of Luzern, and on the way to Interlaken. Hotel Krone is a very nice place to stay ... great spa too! The hike from Iselwald to Hotel Giessback (near Interlaken) is a great hike too.

altamiro

>i heard that Basel no longer has a French train station in its Swiss station as it did so be clear about how you pick up the ticket.

The separation wall between the two parts of the station was simply torn down, that´s all. Nothing else changed.

Palenque

thanks alta- that's what i thought, because of Switzerland joining the Schengen thing perhaps - but this came up a while back and someone suggested one could not retrieve their voyages-sncf.com tickets ordered online here. Thanks for clearing that up.

Palenque

Of course you can also take trains to Paris from Lausanne and Geneva instead of having to go via Basel and on these trains as well there may be a 'Pass 2' fare though voyages-sncf.com will have online discounts that may be cheaper than the Pass 2 fare.

ButterflyGirl06

Thanks Palenque & Altomiro - so would you suggest I use my Swisspass up to either Lausanne or Geneva and then buy another ticket through SNCF from either of those cities to Paris? Ideally we would like to just transfer trains and not have to go to a different train station.