I'm in the early planning stages to tour a small portion of Switzerland. I don't want to be traveling from city to city -- sort of want the Tuscany experience of a base with day trips. Here's my initial thoughts and would like your comments/recommendations:

Fly into Munich on Friday 19 May -- P/U car on BMW ED program, and spend the night -- to be determined.

Saturday drive to Grindelwald - Apartment for the week with day trips. Is this a good base with plenty to do in the area? Any other suggestions for a base for one week?

Following Sat/Sun Luzerne. 2 days too much or should I spend one day and move on?

Monday - Zurich -- drop off car

Tuesday -- Fly home.

I just returned from two weeks in Switzerland and haven't been able to write a trip report because of work, but I do have an opinion for your trip. I love Grindelwald, and before this trip I would have chosen that as a base also...yes, it is beautiful with lots to do and great train connections, BUT, it is also very crowded depending on the time of year that you go.

I would take a look at Meiringen. It is a little east of Brienz, not that far actually from Grindelwald. It is a beautiful area, charming town, the size of Grindelwald, also touristy, but much less, has great connections for busses and trains for day trips. It is a valley town, much like the Lauterbrunen Valley with wonderful towns (the Hasliberg villages) up above with wonderful views of the mountains. I think that it would fit your bill and be a wonderful surprise.



Someone here said that other areas of Switzerland were as beautiful as the Berner Oberland, just less publicized, and after spending two week in this area I am a believer.

Do you need to fly into Munich for a particular reason? Otherwise, roundtrip from Zurich seems more sensible.

Two days for Luzern seems about right. However, note that it is only a 1.5 hour train ride from Luzern to the Zurich airport (and they run often and early), so you would not need to spend the last day in Zurich unless you wanted to do so.

Lots of people like Grindlewald as a base, although mid-May is shoulder season so it may not be as crowded as you would find it in summer. Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, and Murren are also popular choices for a base. Wengen and Murren are traffic-free.

My favorite is tiny Gimmelwald, a farming village next to Murren. It's a great choice if you want to get away from tourist mobs and trinkets, but still close enough to do any of the stuff in the Jungfrau area.

Picture from my May trip which included Luzern and the Oberland:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/goflah...wner=1&_c=

susanna, thanks for your input.

Edward2005, I have to start the trip in Munich. That's where the BMW Factory is located.

I will be spending my last day in Zurich because that is where I am dropping the car off for shipping back to the States. I've got a 11:00am flight and am looking for a place to spend my last night. Any ideas for hotel/restaurant for last Swiss meal?

Gimmelwald is probably a great place for a couple of days. I picked Grindelwald because I thought it would have a wide variety of restaurants for the evening.

I will be traveling the last weekend in May that is considered the "low" season as far as accommodation prices. Shouldn't be a whole lot of tourists in the area, but don't want it to be a ghost town.

If your Zurich flight leaves at 11 am, you should spend your last 2 nights in Luzern. Trains leave every 30 minutes and start as early as 5am. The trip takes at most 1.5 hours to get to the airport train station.

Budman

I assume you will be looking for a place in ZRH where you can safely park your car. We always stay just off the Bahnhofstrasse at either the Seidenhof or the Glockenhof hotels. BUT, you have to walk about two blocks to park your car, so you would not be able to keep an eye on it if you stayed at either of these medium priced hotels! Especially since it is YOUR car, and not a rental.

Where do you have to leave the car for shipping home the next morning? Maybe you should consider a hotel in that vicinity for your last night.

As far as meals go, we like Santa Lucia in the "old town" area, just up the hill and across the river from the Bahnhofstrasse. A good Swiss restaurant might be the Clipper. It is across the street from the main ZRH post office and the other river that runs through the city. An interesting vegetarian restaurant is the Hiltl, which is located right across from the Glockenhof. Interesting menu, even for those of us who do indulge in meat. It's an interesting and healthy option for a once in a while meal. It's always BUSY, so lots of other folks think this is a good restaurant also.

Enjoy your stay in Switzerland! It's my favorite European country, with Italy a close second. I spend time in Lucerne at least once (sometimes twice) a year and really enjoy it a lot. I also like the Berner Oberland, having spent time in and around Interlaken a couple of times. It's a good base for touring also. I don't like to sleep in high altitude towns (had trouble w/nose bleeds once) so Interlaken is perfect for me.

Another option we really like is in Ticino, at Locarno on Lago Maggiore. What a beautiful location!!!

Carol

I'm sorry, maybe my plans were not clear. I was thinking of spending Sat/Sun in Luzerne. Monday morning driving directly to Zurich to the shipping agent and dropping off the car, then spending the day/night in Zurich or a nice suburb neighborhood, and taking the train/cab Tuesday morning to the airport. Haven't tried to figure out this portion of the trip yet (i.e. where to stay in Zurich, local trans, airport location, etc.).

I have two "must do's" on this trip. One being picking up the car in Munich on Friday AM when we arrive, and two, dropping off the car in Zurich on Monday before we fly out on Tuesday. Everything else is up for grabs. Since I have never been to this area, I appreciate all inputs/recommendations for my "central processor."

Carol, thanks for the hotel/restaurant recommendations -- "old town" -- sounds much better than "downtown." I figure after about Noon on Monday when I drop off the car, I will be on foot and subject to local transportation (cab/bus/train).

I lived in Zurich for 4 years until June, and can offer the following:

1. If you can give me the address of where you need to drop the car, I can offer suggestions for driving there, and for getting into Zurich by public transport. If you give me a hotel budget, I can offer hotel suggestions. If you have points, there is a Marriott, Sheraton and Hyatt in town which would all be fine for 1-2 nights, particularly the Park Hyatt which is brand new. If you want charming hotels in the old town there are several of those as well.

2. If you search here you will find numerous postings from me on Zurich restaurants, I would be happy to re-post. I agree on Hitl the vegetarian restaurant (which is listed in one of my restaurant postings), disagree on the Clipper which is not in the old town and is not on the right river (there are 2 rivers in Zurich plus the lake).

3. As for towns in the Bernese Oberland, everyone have their favourite. Susanna, it was me who said that the BO does not have better mountains, just better PR. Hate to break it to you, but Meringen, which is a nice small town, is IN the BO, so is part of the hype….Meringen is supposedly where meringue was invented and Napleon appropriated it for France on his way to or from Italy. It is on the floor of the valley leading to the Susten and Grimsel passes (see below). It also has very few non-Swiss tourists which makes a nice change. Drawbacks would be (i) you don't get the spectacular Jungfrau/Monch/Eiger views that you will get from Grindlewald or any of the lake towns (see below) and (ii) it is quite small and restaurants and hotels are a bit thin on the ground. Grindlewald is also small, but is much more of a tourist center so would offer a bit more. However, as you have a car, you could easily stay where you want and actually drive home in the evenings, the distances are not far. From Grindelwald to Meringen would be 30 minutes or less, and evenings are quite long at the end of May so much of your drive could be in twilight which would still be quite lovely. With that fine new German automobile, you may welcome the opportunity for the drive.

4. Other towns to consider are Brienz and Thun, also their respective huge lakes with the Alps rising dramatically in the distance, and Wengen or Murren, which are up on shelves in the mountains above Grindelwald. From Brienz or Thun, you can take ferry rides down the lake, truly one of the pleasures of Swiss travel. The roads along the north shores of Lake Brienz and Lake Thun are generally quite empty and make for good driving and great views. (The highway is on the other side of the lake and most people take that.) Thun is a good size town and offers more in terms of restaurants, a charming old town and a castle. If you want to do any mountain walking or hiking or take cable cars or the Jungfrau train, Wengen or Murren are better locations for this, with Grindelwald a close secondary location, IMO. I just love the valley views from Wengen, which you can't get from the bottom of the valley in Grindelwald. Wengen and Murren are car-free, but you can park in Lauterbrunnen and take the little train or the funicular up. Wengen is a bit more convenient to get to and larger and has more restaurants and hotels than Murren. However, if you really want to get out of town every day then Grindelwald or Meringen or one of the lake towns is probably better than being up in the mountains.

5. With that fine German car, be sure to drive the Grimsel and Susten passes, easily doable in half a day each from either Grindelwald or Meringen. (I just bought a 328i yesterday and sitting in Hong Kong traffic I am quite jealous thinking of those mountain pass roads!!) You could do them both in the same day. Get a good roadmap of Switzerland. You will also need to buy a highway vignette to be able to drive on Swiss highways. You might Google for international road signs or German road signs so you get familiar with the signs for the highway, things like the no parking sign (pretty common in Switzerland), pedestrian-only zone, etc.

6. In Lucerne, my suggestion would be to drive and park at the main train station, as this would be easiest. It is unlikely that your hotel would have parking, and I would suggest you stay near the old town anyway, so you can park and walk from the station. You can follow signs from the highway to "Zentrum" and "Bahnhof/Hautbanhof" which will bring you to the station. The main train station is in the center of the old town area of Lucerne so is right where you want to be. My personal opinion is that 2 days is too much in Lucerne, I run out of things after half a day and a ferry trip, but many people on this site seem to love the place, so I must be missing something. Also, weekends will be quite crowded, esp Sunday, as Swiss will be there in addition to foreign tourists. If it is a sunny weekend, ferries will be mobbed. (So take the opportunity for ferry rides on Lake Brienz or Thun. First class on the back upper deck, cold beer in hand. . . .)

Thursday May 25 is a public holiday in Switzerland (Ascension), some restaurants, museums and shops may be closed.

Thanks for the clarification, budman. Sorry I did not read your OP that carefully, or I'd have noted your plans for Mon/Tues in ZRH.

I'm glad you get to spend some time in Lucerne. Two nights would be nice. Have you selected your hotel yet? What is your price range? If you are interested in luxe, try the Grand National on the lake. If you like to eat Italian, there is La Fenice in the old town area. Very good food and lovely atmosphere.

I really thought you had to deal with parking your new car in ZRH, but since you don't have to do that, I'd STILL recommend my two medium priced hotels. Both are just a short walk to the Bahnhofstrasse. Zurich can be a very expensive city to stay in, but I always enjoy my time there! The cable cars/trams run right down the center of the Bahnhofstrasse and around some other neighborhoods of the city. It might be fun to hop on one and see where it takes you!

To get to ZRH airport, the train from the main Bahnhof at the end of the Bahnhofstrasse is very easy to navigate. Trains run very often to Kloten airport. From either of the two aforenamed hotels, you can walk the Bahnhofstrasse and also walk to the old town, if that would be your choice, to have a nice dinner. There are really many restaurants from which to choose, we just usually go to the Santa Lucia as we like the pizza and chianti there.

Carol

I'm not sure if you've found an apt. in Grindelwald yet or what level of accommodations you'll be looking for but thought I'd share the place w/you that I found for our September trip.

http://www.hotel-gletschergarten.ch/...nwohnung.shtml

The apt. is owned/managed by the people at the Gletschergarten Hotel which comes highly recommended by the go_Family and others here. The staff has been lovely and efficient to work with and the price seems good.

I'll look forward to your report.

Best of luck.

mvor, thanks for the tip -- I sent off an inquiry. That's just the type of place I'm looking for. Looks like I will be coming in during the last week of the "low season."

Carol, nothing yet for Lucerne. Any recommendations for a 3*** would be appreciated. I'll probably need parking there also. I'm open to staying on the outskirts and taking local transportation into the city if parking will be a problem.

Cicerone, great stuff. Thanks!!
The dropoff point is Industriestrasse 10, 8152 Glattbrugg. Mapquest gives a location North of the city near the airport.

Any recommendations for "charming hotel" in the old town would be appreciated, along with restaurant recommendations. Will only be there for one dinner -- will probably just wander for lunch.

We did the 525i in June 2002 and enjoyed the drive around Bavaria. Looking forward to the mountain passes in Switzerland.

mvor, The Apt is available for 100 Sfr. per night. Have you stayed there this past September, or are you looking to go there next September, and you want me to be the guinea pig? Just kidding!! It does look nice. I found another Apt for the same price, but they don't take CC's and want me to send them a 250 Euro check. Chalet Hohturnen will take my CC # for deposit then they want Cash when I arrive. Doesn't everybody?

I think I'll book this place. Thanks for the tip.

Budman:

We'll be drunks passing in the night again. We leave Zurich on 20 May. I don't have a clue yet as to where we are going.

Bill

NH Hotel Lucerne would be a 3*, I'd guess. DH has stayed there lately. You can park in the parking structure right across the street (at a shopping comlex) so the car won't be too far away. NH is very close to the old town, for wandering around.

Carol

I'm leaning toward this place as they are waiving the 250 Euro deposit since they found out that I was from the US. It was one of a couple on this website that was 5*. Anybody stay here. Both are the same price.

http://www.grindelwald.com/summer-uk...p;persons_to=2

Carol, NH Hotel? Are you speaking about the Grand National 5* Hotel? I don't think I want to take out a 2nd mortage on my home.

How about a place in a small village outside of Lucerne? Drive in, tour the city, drive back for dinner/night in small town at local restaurant?

Maybe one night in Lucerne, and one night in another town on the way to Zurich?

Bill, I'll have a few for you.

Budman, we will stay at the Hohurten apt. in September 2006. I have a good feel about it based on their correspondence/website plus the great reviews the hotel gets. Anyway, I hope you enjoy whichever one you choose and I'll look forward to reading your eating <u>and</u> drinking reviews upon your return!

mvor, one plus to staying at the Hohurten apt. is that it's associated with the Hotel.

Did they mention anything about their cancellation policy. It seemed to me from their e-mail that they wanted my CC to confirm, pay cash when I get there or they will charge an additional 3% if I used my CC, and they wanted me to take on a 4% cancellation insurance.

I'm going to check out other places -- any recommendations out there?

The ZRH airport has its own rooms to spend a night in. We plan to stay there on our last night and really relax before flying out the next morning. I can't see that staying in a charming hotel the last night will be charming in the morning rush. Phil

I would agree with the thought of staying outside of Lucerne, my suggestion would be Weggis or Vitznau. These are on the same lake as Lucerne, but are small very villages with much better views and far fewer crowds and noise than Lucerne has IMO. You can ferry into Lucerne, much easier and more scenic than driving (and then no parking hassle or expense). There are some great ways to get to these towns from the Jungfrau, including a car ferry across the lake. Take a look at a map and I can run scenarios by you. Run a search on these two town names and hotels will come up, my favourite is the Park Hotel in Weggis, but this may be more than you want to spend. Take a look at http://www.phw.ch. In early May you could get a deal, assuming they are open then.

Another option is to go to Zug, about 20 minutes or so from Lucerne. This is a modern city, lots of American companies here, but they have a very nicely preserved old town area on a large lake with painted buildings, something you don't see a lot of in Switzerland. Snowy Alps in the background complete the picture. If you like 20th century art, they have a great collection of Klimt, Schiele, and others at the Kunsthaus. Go to http://www.kunsthauszug.ch. A very good restaurant there is the Gausthaus Rathauskeller. It is in the old town, and I believe is also a hotel:

Gausthaus Rathauskeller
Ober-Alstadt 1
Tel: 41-41-711 0058
http://www.rathauskeller.ch

You can drive to Zurich in well under an hour from here.

I don't think I would drive to Zurich on the Sunday night of a holiday weekend (remember Thursday the 25th is a holiday, and a lot of people will take Friday off). Stay in Lucerne, Weggis, Zug etc and head up on Monday morning, aim to hit Zurich after 9:30 am to avoid traffic.

To get to Glattbrugg, Map Quest directions seems to take you to the centre of town, but according to my Swisscom mapping software, to get to Industriestrasse from the A51 highway roundabout you need to go about .8 of a kilometre down Schaffhauserstrasse beyond the centre of town. You are looking for a street on the right called Eicherstrasse (could be abbreviated Eicherstr), go right here and then your first left is Industriestrasse, number 10 is on the left in the middle of the street.

If my mapping software is correct, the Glattbrugg train station is located only a block away from the car drop off point. (As your turn left on Industriestrasse, you should see the train tracks and the train station on your right). You should be able to walk there even with luggage, or you could drop off the luggage first. To do this, make a right onto Stationstrasse, which is the street before Eicherstrasse, the train station is at #15 on the left. To walk there after dropping off the car, you may be able to walk across the tracks at Eicherstrasse, otherwise you need to go back out right to the main road, turn left, then take your next left and go up the street to the station on the left. Trains to the main train station in Zurich take about 10 minutes. For schedules go to rail.ch. (Note that there is also a train station in downtown Glattbrugg, this is, confusingly, called the Opfikon Train Station, you could also take a train from here.) You could take a taxi to Zurich as well, this would take about the same time as the train and would cost about $60 to the old town area. You can call a taxi by dialling 01-777-7777. Dispatchers and drivers speak English. The car drop off place would also be able to call a taxi for you.

For hotels in Zurich old town, some to consider are below, not sure what your budget is. In mid May if you get nice weather and have the windows open it could be a little noisy at night (not so much on a Monday night in Zurich), so try for high floors or interior/courtyard rooms, or the Zum Storchen and a river front room. This would also be the case in Lucerne, esp as you will be there on weekend.

Let me know which hotel you pick, because for some I would tell you to use the Zurich Stadelhofen train station to get there from Glattbrugg or to go to the airport rather than the Hautbanhof/main train station.

I will post restaurants later, you might want to search as I have posted on this before, as have others.

Widder Hotel
Rennweg 7
CH-8001 Z&uuml;rich
Switzerland
Telephone +41 1 224 25 26
Telefax +41 1 224 24 24
http://www.hotelwidder.ch

4 star. Fashion-forward trendy boutiquey hotel in a charming, mainly pedestrian area of town with bars and restaurants. It might be a bit noisy at night on this street, ask about courtyard rooms. I believe they have at least one room with a rooftop terrace. They have a nice bar for drinks before or after dinner.

Hotel Zum Storchen
Am Weinplatz
Zurich, Switzerland, 8022
Tel: 41 1 227 2727
Fax: 41 1 227 2700
http://www.summithotels.com

4 star. This is probably my favourite hotel in Zurich because I love its location (right on the river in the old town with views of the churches, good Alp views on a clear day) and charm. This would be very quiet at night due to their river location, which is a big consideration. They have a lovely outdoor terrace for meals, and their grill restaurant is one of the best in town.

The Hotel Kindli
Pfalzgasse 1
8001 Z&uuml;rich
tel: +41 (0)43 888 76 76
fax: +41 (0)43 888 76 77
http://www.kindli.ch

3 or 4 star. This hotel gets generally good reviews on this site and seems to have good prices. It is probably the most Swiss-like in terms of charm of the hotels listed here. It is in a very lovely pedestrian-only part of the old town. It has a very good restaurant and is within close walking distance of several other good restaurants.

Hotel Adler
Hirschenplatz
Tel: (01) 266 9696. Fax: (01) 266 9669.
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.hotel-adler.ch

3 or 4 star. In the Neiderdorf area on the university side of the river, also an area of charming cobblestone streets which is car-free and has a lot of bars and restaurants. This hotel gets generally good reviews here, although noise is sometimes cited as a problem. On a Monday night in May should be OK, but ask for high floor.

Hotel Seehof
http://www.hotelseehof.ch/
Seehofstr. 11, Z&uuml;rich CH-8008, Switzerland
Phone: 01/2545757
Fax: 01/2545758

3 stars, built or renovated last year or so. This is just behind the Opera House, just at the edge of the old town, so not in the charming area, but very close to it, and about 100 metres from the lake. There are several good restaurants in this neighbourhood and others within close walking distance. It gets good reviews here. It is about a 3 minute walk to the Stadelhofen train station in Zurich so is very convenient for getting to the airport.

Hotel Seefeld
Seefeldstrasse 63
8008 Zurich
41-1-387-4141
41-1-837-4151
http://www.hotel-seefeld.che 63
[email protected]

3-star, built 2 years ago. They have a roof terrace. It is in a nice neighbourhood of restaurants and some interesting shops, and is about 2 blocks in from the lake, but not in the old town. The Seefeld area would be a bit quieter at night than the Neiderdorf/Oberdorf areas. It is on a tram line and so is convenient. Would be about 10 minutes by tram from the old town.


Finally, for your departing flight on Tuesday, depending on your airline, you may be able to check in on Monday, which would be great for you as you will have the car and will be near the airport anyway. This means you could check your larger pieces and get boarding passes. Take a look at http://www.zurich-airport.com. Most US carriers do not allow this for security reasons, but Lufthansa and Swiss do offer it. Even if you can't check in early, you could take your bags to the airport and leave them either in lockers or at the manned luggage counter (both two levels down from the check-in hall). That way you can just go into Zurich for the night with a carry on, and hop on the train in the morning with only carry ons as well. Just a thought.

Again, depending on your carrier, you can also check in for flights at rail stations including your baggage, which means you might be able to do this in Lucerne the day before and again just have an overnight or carry on bag. (See the Zurich airport website for this as above.