Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are headed to Europe this July. We are hoping to enjoy a few bigger cities, sit in coffee shops in small towns to get a feeling of different cultures, and enjoy some beautiful hikes (without scary cliffs). We are hoping to have a budget of around 200EUR per day.

At the moment, we are thinking of starting our journey in Switzerland. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas about the below route. In between each city/town, I have accounted for a travel day between each city/town so the days I listed are the time we are free to explore. Should I give more or less time anywhere based on your experiences?

1) Flight into Geneva - 3 full days
2) Train to Zermatt - 2 full days
3) Train/Gondola to Murren - 3 full days
4) Train to Lucerne - 3 full days
5) Train to Zurich - 2 full days
6) Flight to Poland ~6 full days between Warsaw and Krakow
7) Flight to London (we have an event so this is the only set in stone location). -4 full days

Thanks for your help!

Is your daily 200 euro budget per person or for both of you? Switzerland is pricey, so if it is the latter then you will need ways to economize.

In west Switzerland you will probably find more of what you're looking for in some of the other towns on Lake Geneva rather than in Geneva itself. Consider Lausanne, Montreux, and Vevey.

As Edward2005 said, Switzerland is not an easy place to visit on a budget. You might do some searches on booking.com to get an idea of what you will pay for lodging.

If you are able to include it, Switzerland is lovely. You might find some useful information in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...any-thanks.cfm

You might want a day or two more for Warsaw (say, 2 full days) and Krakow (say 5 full days).

Should be a great trip!

You'll experience a budget crunch before you know it, that's just the way it is in Switzerland. Saving grace: Their Youth Hostels are fabulous - well appointed and well run, plus you get into easy contact with others who share tips and experiences and generally good cheer. See www.youthhostel.ch/en

You may have a look at
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/home.html
http://www.swisstravelsystem.ch/en/
http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

I agree with Edward2005, about staying somewhere else on Lake Geneva rather than Geneva itself. You can find better lodging value in the smaller towns/rural areas, and with the trains, you can stay anywhere on Lake Geneva and get to any sight on the lake easily.

When you go to Luzern, consider staying some place like Weggis or Vitznau. If you are spending time in Luzern, to me, Zurich is somewhat repetitive, but without the views.

I seem to be a rare Fodorite who enjoyed Geneva and Zurich ... I think it really depends on what one wants to see and experience.

When I looked, it was much easier to find budget accommodations in Geneva than in some of the villages or smaller towns on the lake, but maybe that was a fluke of when I checked or the type of lodging I sought.

If choosing to stay outside a city, be sure to consider the additional costs (both in money and time) that you might encounter in transportation.

I thoroughly enjoy Zurich BUT I go there for the opera and museum opportunities.

You do NOT need to stay in a hostel in Switzerland to save lodging money. You should take a look at www.rooms.ch for excellent one-star places which are usually well-run, very clean and while having often minimalist decoration, more than adequate.

You could also find rooms using an engine such as booking.com or an aggregator site like hotels.com I would use all of these sites before even thinking about a hostel.

You will find Switzerland can also be pricey when it comes to food.

Thanks for the replies everyone! We do have room for a higher budget so that won't be an issue. It's good to know that we will most likely need more in Switzerland. We are about to book our main flights to and from Europe and will then begin looking at the accommodation using all of your suggestions.

So far we have thought of a couple changes in our Switzerland timetable.

1) when we arrive we are thinking of now staying in Lausanne and using this as our centre point to check out the lake area for 4 days and 5 nights. Is it easy to take transit to Geneva and Montreux from Lausanne?

2) I think we are going to scratch Zermatt and have our small mountain village experience in murres instead. Will we be missing anything that is a must by doing this?

3) I think we may finish in Bern instead of Zurich. We have heard great things about the city!

1. Yes. You can see all your transportation options on the Swiss Rail web-site:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

2. Do you mean Murren? If so, then my answer is a decided, uh, yes and no.... ;-) I thought the Bernese Oberland spectacular and am glad that I spent time there. BUT it's heavily touristed -- my impression of the entire area was that I was having a "Swiss Alpine" experience in a place dominated by, and catering to, tourists. I'm a tourist; I get that; I'm OK with it. But I would not characterize any of my experiences in that area -- including my brief visit to Murren -- as a "small mountain village experience" -- certainly not in comparison to places in, say, Graubunden. (As just one example: Throughout the Bernese Oberland, the language I heard spoken most often -- and not just TO me, but AROUND me -- was English, which, of course, is not one of the four official languages of the country.) That said, my understanding of your itinerary doesn't really give you time to get into or experience Graubunden.... I would say that Murren should provide you with an experience of being in a small, delightful, tourist-oriented village that is spectacularly situated in a beautiful mountainous part of Switzerland. And to be clear, these are just my impressions; others might disagree.

3. I agree that Bern is delightful. But as already noted, I also liked Zurich. Both have some wonderful museums and public squares and churches, etc. IMO, Zurich's museums have greater scope and depth (Bern's are more focused); Bern is more scenically situated (but Zurich also affords some lovely scenery). JMO.