Hello all,
GF and I will be in Switzerland Aug19-Aug26. We are flying into/out of Zurich and am looking for suggestions on where to base or where to stay that won't have us packing up every two days but still be able to see the sights, hike, paddle, shop and some nightlife. I was originally spending two days each in Zurich, Basel, Lucerne, Geneva but am wondering if that is too much and if Zurich will eat our budget vice heading north a bit. We intend to get a swisspass for transportation and shopping is not at the top of our list. SUggestions?

Hi Nomad5326,

Yes, having two-night stays can really cut into your vacation time because of repeating the chores of packing & dealing with hotels. Having one or two bases in eight days is a better idea.

I'm curious about why you don't mention any area with high mountains -- the Jungfrau region, Engadin, or Zermatt (the popular high-mountain areas). These are the places that will give you the quintesential jaw-dropping views that we think of when we think of Switzerland. I would encourage you to include one of them in your plans.

As for bases, you could sit in one place like Bern or Thun and get to every place you have on your list, plus the Jungfrau and Zermatt, in about two hours. Or you could spend two nights in Montreux on Lake Geneva, four nights in the Jungfrau area, and two nights in Luzern or Zürich -- this is a classic routing. From either Luzern or Zürich you can easily reach the other as well as Basel for a day-trip.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Thanks S,
I don't think we had a full plan on which mountains we wanted to hit and thought we'd run out of time. I am really thinking of as you said, a one or two area base, especaially if we can get out/back fairly easily. Thanks for the suggestions.

S

Jaw dropping mountain views and cog train-tram-vernicular-ski lift rides are what make exploring Switzerland so incredible.

Suggest you consider Lucern for 2 days, Interlochen for 3 days then Zermatt for 3 days concluding with the Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur then back to Zurich.

Swiss cities are nice but the mountains are great! And moving your base 3 times takes less time out of the overall trip than 2 hour day trips from one base.

I'm not trying to be difficult, but I have a different point of view than Toucan on moving bases vs. day-trips.

You can figure that you lose about half a day of outside time with every move because of the time of packing up and checking out, then checking in again and unpacking. If you do that three times, that will eat up about 1 1/2 days.

I always limit my day-trips to two hours of travel in each direction, or four hours of travel per day. So for three days of this, that would be losing 12 hours.

So, to my mind, the best use of time is the base and excursions, so long as you limit your excursions.

I'm not trying to be difficult and repeat my post -- just trying to explain my reasoning.

s

I have to agree with Swandav on this, although I will travel further on the train. All three of Toucan's towns are within two hours of each other why change?

Hi N,

>We are flying into/out of Zurich ....<

With only 8 days, I suggest

1 nights Zurich to settle down

Train to Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen or Wengen - 4 nights

Train to Luzern - 2 nights

Return to Zurich - 1 night before flying home.

checdk out the 8-consectuive-day Swiss Pass Saver Pass (two or more folks traveling together on one pass) as it covers nearly everything that moves in Switzerland from get there to get go - trains, postal buses, city trams and buses, lake boats and gives usually 50% off one expensive lifts to mountain tops - also gives free etnry to over 400 Swiss museums - for lots of great info on Swiss trains, lake boats, passes, etc check out these fantastic IMO sites - www.nudgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.swisstravelsystem.com - and last time I check shortly ago Swiss Passes were significantly cheaper if bought in North American than for the same pass in Switzerland, though this can always change so check both sources.

One thing we've done before is to travel directly from Zurich airport (after an overnight flight) to Wengen. You're kind of fuzzy anyway from the flight, so you might as well push through. You just have to be reasonably alert for the train changes.

Zurich Airport to Wengen should take about 3 hours all told, including changes - take a train from the airport to Bern, change to a train to Interlaken-Ost (end of the line) and then transfer to the tiny mountain-climbing train to Lauterbrunnen - there switching to even a tinier train that putzes up to Wengen. The changes are really a snap - in Interlaken-Ost and Lauterbrunnen you get off one train and the other should be waiting on an adjoining platform. A Swiss Pass would cover the whole journey 100%,

there may be direct trains from Zurich Airport to Interlaken and if so that would be optimal if you can coordinate them with your departure from the airport. If you have time and don't feel wiped out then consider going via Lucerne and putting your bags in a station locker and wandering around IMO one of Europe's cutest towns for a few hours - seeing the famous covered wooden bridges, etc.

And also from Lucerne there is a really scenic narrow-gauge railway that goes up and over the Brunig Pass to Interlaken - it also rolls along idyllic Lake Brienz shores to Interlaken-Ost, jumping off point for tiny trains into the hills. Takes a bit longer than the direct mainline Lucerne to Interlaken route via Bern but much more scenic and indeed is the only Swiss Federal Wailways line that is cog-assisted!

swandav. No worries. Its good to hear your point of view.

My wife and I tend to travel light and the pack up-check out thing takes me literally minutes which means I can be in the next town and checked into a new room in about the same time it takes to day trip one way. The best part is we don't have to worry about getting back for the night. We can stay and enjoy the city as our room is right there.

While in Zermatt we had plenty of time to hike down from Stockhorn instead of taking the train back down. If we were trying to get all the way back to Bern that night our stay would most definitely have been cut short and we really enjoyed Zermatt in the evening!

We have day tripped INTO the Swiss cities before but found ourselves worrying about getting back to the correct train before the day ended and tended to cut short some activities.

But to each his own. We do what works for us.

I for one love the base city thing as I hate packing up and then unpacking, etc and at least I often take an hour or so to get to my hotel since I usually walk - just so nice to also not have to travel with bags even though I pack light as well. But I do see the point Toucan makes as well - but to me I enjoy getting to know one town well and enjoy going back to the same town each night rather than a new town each nice - kind of like going home when you know a town so well after using it as a base. But again there is no right or wrong in this, of course.

You don't have to stay in Zurich the night before you return home. The train from Luzern goes right to Zurich Flughafen.

P_P

I could make a case that it may be quicker to reach the Zurich airport from Lucerne since Lucerne is a small town where most hotels would be close to the train station whereas in Zurich the hotel may be far from the main train station and thus factoring in time it takes to get to the train station it may be just as quick to hop a direct Lucerne to airport train as it would be to go from a Zurich hotel to the airport and Lucerne to Zurich is only I think about 30 mins by rail itself.

Hi all,

Yes, I appreciate hearing Toucan's reasoning; I hadn't considered the point of view for those who pack lighter than I do!

The train trip from Luzern to the airport is about an hour (from Luzern to Zürich itself is 45 minutes). I've often thought that a last night in Luzern is a good option.

s

But it is not that Zurich is a dud - actually I find it a sweet town with an Old Town better than most Swiss cities - a lovely lakeside promenade that goes for miles and on nice days is packed with multi-ethnic strollers - take a lake boat or a hill-climbing tram into verdant forests, shopping galore and the Bahnhofstrasse, often called the world's richest street as it is lined by fancy offices of major Swiss banks, jewelers and watch shops, etc. Even changing trains you can take a few minutes to go out the door of the main train station and saunter down this tony avenue.

Heck even Interlaken right to Zurich airport, usually with one simple change would not take more than a few hours.