Switzerland-France-Germany itinerary
 

Appreciate any suggestions for itinerary for two weeks, mid September flying into Geneva and out of Frankfurt. Especially like quaint villages and beautiful scenery. Will be traveling by train. Many thanks!!!

In Switzerland, going north from Geneva, there's Fribourg, Bern, Aarau and Basel. In Germany, there's Freiburg, and from there you can go to Strasbourg. I do not know how much you can see of Alsace by train. Farther west, Nancy is a nice town with an impressive 18th century square. Quaint villages are generally no longer serviced by trains directly, except perhaps in Switzerland.

>Quaint villages are generally no longer serviced by trains directly, except perhaps in Switzerland.

The usually have in Switzerland, and often (but not always) in Germany.
In France the public transportation is not really good in the countryside, so you have to look up whether it makes sense.

>I do not know how much you can see of Alsace by train.

Quite a lot.
In many cases you do have to take a connecting bus service - is it a problem for you?
In Germany you will get the entire public transportation schedule (including bus, tram, ferry etc.) from www.bahn.de, and in Switzerland similarly from www.sbb.ch. I am not aware of a similarly comprehensive site for France, but try www.ter-sncf.fr

Hi! I took a train from Zermatt to Geneva and then to Basel last week, and based on what I saw along the way if I could go back I would definitely stop along the north side of Lake Geneva at Montreaux (and visit Chateau de Chillon). I also would love to visit Neuchatel, between Geneva and Basel.

Despite its many detractors, Geneva is lovely! We spent lots of time in the old city. And Basel is interesting -- full of easy to use trams and a boatload of art.

Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions. I will check all of them
out. Maybe I should have said smaller
towns with lots of charm along with
quaint villages. At this point I have
been reading about Annecy, the Provence area and Colmar. We will base in four places for three nights each and possibly do day trips and then spend the last two nights probably in Mainz to be close to Frankfurt airport. Any inn or hotel suggestions
would be appreciated. I will be trying to find some good places that are less expensive with the euro/dollar exchange.

Hi violetduck,

It seems a shame that you're planning to be in Switzerland but are not going to the high Alps. If I were you, I would surely set aside a few days for this!

The big mountains of the Valais are not far from Geneva -- you can see them from the sweet town of Brig (or Riederalp or Bettmeralp above Brig), or from well-known Zermatt.

The big mountains of the Berner Oberland will be a little out of your way, but not by much. You can research the villages of Wengen, Mürren, or Grindelwald to see them.

Good luck!

s

Swandav, thank you for your suggestion. Brig would not be far. Still working on itinerary,but way too many wonderful places to go and so little time.