We are planning a trip to Switzerland with our 2 year old, right after Christmas. I have many questions but the main ones that I some help on are:

We've been suggested to make Lucerne as the base station and travel to all the places from there - (Interlaken, Grindelwald, Logano, Lucarno, Zurich). One it is almost central and two it is a city so with a kid it might be better choice than staying in Interlaken/mountains.

Is Interhome apartments in Lucerne a good place to stay.

We will have lots of bags (its a long story) with us. The Interhome in Lucerne is 800 meters away, what mode of transportation is available. Taxi? I don't think it can fit big bags ...

An other suggestions for places to stay - that are walkable to transportation, keeping in mind that we'll be carrying our baby or pushing the stroller and also clsoe to food stores.


Look forward to your experiences and suggestions.

Hi Chandani,

Luzern is a beautiful base for Switzerland, as it has stunning scenery -- mountains spilling into lakes.

It is centrally located, but some of your destinations are pretty far away. I personally limit myself to two hours in each direction by train; I find that I don't enjoy day-trips that are longer (too tired, too bored on the train, etc).

Of the destinations you mention, Grindelwald, Lugano, and Locarno are about three hours from Luzern. Interlaken is just about at two hours.

I would suggest you make a tough decision. Either stay & explore around Luzern (plenty to keep you busy for a week or so), find another base city that's closer to the mountains (Bern or Thun), or use two base cities.

Rail schedules are at www.rail.ch (watch your spelling of "Lugano" and "Locarno&quot.

Yes, I would take a taxi from the rail station to the apartment.

A friend of mine has used Interhome many times on vacations to the Engadin in Switzerland and recommends them.

Have fun!

s

Without knowing the whole history of your trip, I can only make a few suggestions and ask a few questions about the trip. I lived in Zurich for a few years and now the area pretty well.

IMO, Lucerne does NOT make a good base for the trip. While Switzerland is small, because of its mountains there really isn'tany place that makes a good "base" for day trips, the train journeys are just too long, IMO. You don't say how long your trip is, if you have over a week, then you could easily split this trip into a city portion and a mountain portion.

Lucerne is too remote a train location for day trips to the places you are interested in. It is 3 hours to Grindlewald and Interlaken, which is the same train journey time as if you came from Zurich. It's almost the same journey time to Lugano and Locarno. I can't see a child tolerating 6 hours on a train as a day trip, and it's not a lot of fun for adults, IMO. If you really want to do these as day trips, IMO you may as well stay in Zurich which IMO has more to offer a child, as they have a zoo and many museums. I am not a huge fan of Lucerne to begin with I have to admit. While there will be very limited ferry service running then, in December you may not feel like going out on the lake.

If you want to be in more of a mountain location, then IMO you should look at Thun, which has good train connections to these areas, or at Interlaken itself. Thun is 1.5 hours to Grindlewald (but 4 to Lugano). I prefer Thun to Interlaken.

I don't know that Lugano and Locarno are good choices in December. I don't believe ferries are running at all, which is one of the main pleasures of the area, certainly for Lugano, and temps are actually cold. I think you will also find restaurants closed as it is not really the season there. Take a look at weatherbase.com for temps and rainfall. December is so beautiful (albeit cold) in the Alp areas that I don't see the point in going to the south.

I actually think a 2 year old would LOVE being in the mountains versus the city. The mountain towns like Wengen and Murren have indoor pools, skating rinks, sledding etc and walking on snow trails, all of which she would enjoy. Cable cars and gondolas would also be fun for her. In the valleys, there should be horse-drawn sleigh rides available, I have not done that in the Jungfrau valley but you can find this in most Swiss valleys so I imagine that is the case there as well. (I believe Grindlewald has an indoor pool as well, most every Swiss town does, I just know in particular that Murren and Wengen do). She is going to have to be dressed warmly wherever she is, so she might as well be out in the countryside. You might want to limit your long day trips by train with a small child which may not be so enjoyable, and concentrate on seeing smaller bits of the really gorgeous countryside.

If you really really think you have to pick one place to be based, and it can't be the mountains, and you have to take day trips, then IMO you need to stay in Berne, which is the most central and has the shortest train connections to most places. Take a look at rail.ch for info on train schedules from the various places I have mentioned.

If you have a lot of luggage which you will not need for the entire stay, you can (i) leave it at Zurich or Geneva airport (assuming you are flying into one of them) where there are lockers and manned luggage rooms, or (ii) leave it at the train station at the town you choose to stay in where there will be lockers and/or a manned luggage room (unless you stay in a very tiny town, in which case you can leave it in the biggest connecting station town, i.e. Interlaken).

A good website for house rentals is vrbo.com. I have used them in Europe and the US with good results. There are also many other beautiful areas of Switzlerand, like the Engagdine region mentined above.

One more thing to remember about trying to do daytrips in January are the shorter days. It will not be light until well after after 8 am and will be dark by just after 5 pm so you will be leaving for trains while it is dark in the morning and returning in darkness as well.

I agree with Cicerone on Bern as a single city base.

The Swiss railway system has a neat featuree where you can send your (excess?) luggage from the Zuerich airport to wherever you plan to stay.

You could send it to Berne or - if you pick two cities - you first go to city A with a minimum of luggage and ship your additional luggage to city B.

I dropped my lugagge (to Lauterbrunnen) off at the airport (right next to the RR ticket counter) and it was delivered to Lauterbrunnen by 6PM on the next day.

Yes, having your luggage delivered by the Swiss Rail system is another option; however it can take up to 36 hours so you have to be sure not to send stuff you need right away, and you still will have to go collect it and/or store it, so I don't know if that helps you. But it would mean you have to carry fewer bags on the train, and with baby stuff this may help. If you are flying Swiss Air or some other airlines to the US, you may even be able to send your bags ahead from the US airport and from your Swiss depature city to your US arrival airport.

Please call the airline to determine if the Fly/Rail option is available for your originating airline in the US (Lufthansa and Swiss offer it, but I am not at all sure if they currently have it for any US flights). However, it may take up to 8-12 hours before it will arrive, and if you aren't allowed any carryons on your US flight, this means you may not see any of your luggage for a day. If your airline does not participate in Fly/Rail baggage service, you can still use Swiss Rail's baggage service to send your bags on by themselves. You will first have to collect them at baggage claim and then bring them down to the railroad station in the airport yourself. However, Swiss Rail only guarantees delivery in 36 hours, so you may not want to wait that long. It could be delivered in less time of course, but they don't guarantee it. Take a look at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...ck-schweiz.htm.
You may be able to use "Fast Baggage" which guarantees delivery in 8 hours to certain major places in Switzerland, take a look at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...isegepaeck.htm

For your return flight, if your airline does not participate in Fly/Rail, take a look at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...er/flyrail.htm, see the text in red at the bottom on the page, as this is what applies to you flying to the US, i.e. you can't check-in for your flight at the train station, but you can check your bags to the airport.

Thanks a lot Cicerone, treplow and swandav.

Here is the missing information - I will be arriving at Zurich airport. Initally I was planning a 4/5 day trip but now I've changed it to 7 days (last night in Zurich to catch a flt next morning).

This is great information. Yes, I have taken Lucerne off my list of places to stay. I'm now considering Interlaken - hoping that trips to jungfrau, grindelwald and lucerne will not be too long for our daughter.

I agree - I would want to limit long day trips by train and enjoy the countryside.

None of us are into skiing but what are the other activities to do in or around Interlaken.

Now as for lugano and locarno - I was suggested by a friend the funicular to some mountain - is it worth a trip to lugano? Is there anything else over there?

Now are these 7 days too long for my plan? are there other places to consider or shorten the trip?

Finally, as for the luggaage is it feasible (given the trains tation location and space in the train cabin) to carry it myself and then get a cab/taxi from train station (interlaken) to my hotel/room?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Please get a guidebook, or several, for Switzerland, as it seems you need to do some reading. There are cable cars and funiculars ALL OVER Switzerland, including the Jungfrau, there are two near to Lucerne, two near Interlaken, there are two in the city of Zurich itself. The country is literaly chock-a-block with gondolas, funiculars and trains which you can take to the top of mountains or hills to get great views. Switzerland practically invented funiculars (in fact I think they actually did invent them...) To go all the way to Lugano (I think your friend is referring to the one there) to take one is not necessary at all IMO, and really not in December. Lugano is really a summer, late spring and fall destination, it is not a winter place.

I assume when you say "after Christmas" you also mean after New Year; if you are talking about the week between Christmas and New Year you will find this is the most expensive and crowded time in the mountains. Right after New Year you should be able to find good deals on hotels as they will be somewhat empty after the Christmas holidays.

I am not a huge fan of Interlaken, but it is an improvement over Lucerne as a base for a trip for December. It is a little bit of a charmless town in a country with so many charming towns, but is a much better base for seeing the Jungfrau area if that is what you want to do. You might also look at Thun, which is along the lake as well, but has a very nice old town and a bit more charm. It is just as convenient for seeing the area.

Activities in the valley would include cross country skiing, ice skating, winter walking on packed trails, horse drawn sleigh rides, sledding, paragliding, taking gondolas and funiculars up mountains (including the top of the Jungfrau go to http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en), eating fondue and other winter foods, some limited shopping and a few museums including the outdoor Swiss life museum at Ballenburg. Towns to visit would include Grindelwald, Gimelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen, Kandersteg, Gstaad, Thun, Berne (not a mountain village, but the capital city and has a very nice old town). You could also take the Golden Pass train up over the mountains and down into the Lake Geneva area, I don't know that your daughter would enjoy this longish ride and at 2 years old, would never remember it, but take a look at www.goldenpass.ch.

I don't know that I would spend the whole 7 days in the Jungfrau area, even given the winter activities. You might want to break this up by spending a few days somewhere else either first or last. I know that a lot of people on this board will recco Lucerne, I would not, I would recco Zurich but really you should do what you want. Zurich does have a very nice zoo, excellent restaurants, about a dozen good museums, a lovely old town area, many nice hotels, the opera and ballet will be on in the winter; and I just far prefer it to Lucerne, but Lucerne is very popular with tourists for reasons I don't quite understand.

Other choices would be to go to a place like Zermatt for 2-3 days and see the Matterhorn which packs quite a wallop and the town is cute. Several cable car and train options here, some great walks as well. Same activies as above for winter outdoor activites, there is more shopping here (bring money) and there are many more restaurant and hotel options. You can get there from the Jungfrau area in about 3.5 hours. You can get back to Zurich from there is about 4 hours.

You could also go to the Lake Geneva area and stay in Vevey, Montreux or Lausanne, very pretty and lots of charming little villages around there, a bit brown in winter (this is out of the snow belt and is the wine growing region, but does have lovely Alp views across the lake). Downsides here in winter are that ferries are on a very limited schedule and outdoor actives like biking and walking may be limited as well which is one of the charms of the region IMO. But worth a thought, it is about 2.5-3 hours by train (could take the Golden Pass) and then 2.5 hours back to Zurich.

The Engadine area (St Mortiz and environs), while really beautiful is really too far by train to add onto a trip to the Jungfrau area, IMO. You are looking at about 6 horus on the train and several changes. Not worth it for a short trip. Save that for its own trip at another time, or go to the Engadine rather than the Jungfrau area.

It is perfectly feasible to carry your own luggage onto the train. There are no train compartments in Switzerland, it is all open cars. There is storage for luggage at the end of each car, and some overhead storage for smaller bags. There are some porters, but not many, and at the airport itself you will find luggage carts which you can take all the way down to the train platform level, including taking them onto the escalators (scary at first but just LET GO of the handle bars and let the cart brake itself). The question is how much luggage do you want to lug yourself. If you have to change trains to get your destination, having more than 2 bags per person becomes quite a pain, IMO. Most trains in Switzerland have 2-3 stairs to get on or off (other than at the airport where they have elevated platforms), so lugging stuff up and down these stairs can be a pain. Given how much luggage you say you will have, I would really urge you to break it up and take only what you need for the first day or two with you and send the rest on by itself via the railway baggage system and then collect it when it arrives a day or so later. You will already have a small child to deal with, plus jet lag, a strange country etc. The Swiss really have sussed out a good way to live and travel, let them do the work for you, it only costs like US$8 a bag....

With regard to geting to your hotel, some hotels will collect you at the train station for a nominal fee or for free, this would be much cheaper than a taxi. In places like Zermatt and most other carless mountian towns like Wengen, station pick up is the norm and is free. Check first to see if your hotel can arrange to collect you from the station. If you settle on Interlaken, and your hotel is actually within Interlaken than a taxi is not going to be expensive, maybe US$20, but if you are outside Interlaken, then this could get expensive.