cheravate

Hi all.

We are traveling to France and Switzerland in August. I need some suggestions with regard to the Swiss leg of my travel. I can spend 4-5 days in Switzerland/ most budgets/ traveling with 2 kids under the age of 5.

This is the plan we have come up with

1. Arrive in Zurich by train from Paris . See bahnhofstrasse and Rhine falls
2. proceed to Lucerene by train the same evening. stay for the night in Lucerence. Walk around late night and visit Mt.Titlus the next day.
3. From Lucerene proceed to interlaken and see jungfraujoch
4. Proceed to Geneva , spend the day there and fly out back home.

Does it seem like a do-able plan?

Other questions:

1. On day 1 when I arrive in Zurich ,where can I stow my luggage when I go to bahnhofstrasse and Rhine falls?
2. Any suggestions for places t stay in Lucerene - preferably a place with a kitchentte/ microwave to whip up a quip meal for the kids?
3. What else to do in interlaken if the weather is bad and we cannot see the jungfraujoch?
4. Again where can I stow my luggage in interlaken while we go sight seeing?
5. Any interesting things to do in Geneva? For the day tha I am going to spend there?

Thanks much

bobthenavigator

In your short time I would pick one location for the entire time---Luzern or the BO---and get an apartment. Why spend any time in Zurich or Geneva? I have spent about 10 days in the BO and have yet to see the Jungfraujoch--lots to see.

cheravate

Thanks bob the navigator. Pardon my ignorance but what is BO?

Do you suggest staying in 1 place and commuting to all these other planned spots by train? Would tha work?

Any apartments you would suggest/ recommend?

bobthenavigator

Berner Oberland---the best of the Swiss Alps---near Interlaken but so much more than just Interlaken.

That area requires at least 4 nites to see well--I would stay in Wengen or Lauterbrunnen.

Same for the Luzern area--it is at least 3 days to see well. There is no reason to run around---enjoy where you are. Both Zurich and Geneva are just expensive cities. Look at VRBO web site for private places to rent.

traveller1959

Firstly, Zürich is far away from the Rhine Falls. However, Zürich has a pretty old town. So walk down the Bahnhofstrasse and back on the other riverbank through the old town. You can store your baggage in lockers in the main station.

Secondly, in case of bad weather (look up the forecast) skip Interlaken and spend another day in Luzern instead. In Interlaken, there are lockers at the train station.

Thirdly, in Geneve you can walk the riverbank, spend some time at the beach, swim in the lake and enjoy yourselves with the kids.

cheravate

Thanks folks. I agree with you - we do not want to have a rushed holiday . I have worked on your suggestions and this is a revised plan

Arrive from Paris to Luceren. Keep Lucerne as the base and then plan day trips to each of these places.

1 day - day trip - go to Zurich - check out bahnhofstrasse and see if we can squeeze in the Rhine falls ( based on train schedules + kids being on good behavior )

2nd day - day trip - go to interlaken

3rd day - half day or full day trip to either Mt.Titlus or Mt.Rigi or Mt.Pilatus ( subject to weather conditions)

4th day - go to Geneva ( love the river bank/ lake swim idea) and then board the flight back home

Does this seem more sensible?

bobthenavigator

Good plan---except for the day trips.

cheravate

You think I should not try to squeeze in as much ? Any ideas to improve this? Thanks so much for the inputs. Really appreciate it.

cjbpjb

Skip Interlaken if your time is short. In and of itself there is not that much to see for a daytrip. It is better served as a base for daytrips to Jungfrau/Schilthorn and the rest of the B.O.

Personally I like Zurich--great zoo and nice to rent a pedal boat on the lake. You might also want to think about Montreux vs. Geneva. The promenade of flowers along the lake and walk to Chillon Castle is fantastic, especially for kids (daughter was nearly 3 when we went). There are also some great playgrounds in Montreux, Luzern, Thun (near Interlaken), Lausanne and at the Zurich Zoo if memory serves.

swandav2000

Hi cheravate,

Right, there's no need to go all the way to Interlaken -- the town itself isn't the draw; it's just the start point to excursions into the mountains. And getting into the mountains from Interlaken is another 2h on the train.

No need to do that when you can ascend mountains nearby Luzern --

www.rigi.ch
www.pilatus.ch
www.titlis.ch

And you can spend time cruising the lake system, visiting the towns dotted around the lake, walking around the lake or hiking up the mountains. It seems to me to be a better vacation if you experience some outside time in the Alps rather than sitting on a train running around!

So, really, I would suggest you choose either Interlaken area or Luzern, and spend your days in the area soaking up the ambiance and the views.

Have fun as you plan!

s

cheravate

Thanks all... I'am seeing that the majority vote is for soaking in one single experiences than running around. .. So I guess we'll skip interlaken and instead spend time at Lucerne. As a family we enjoy hikes and the kids love boat rides.

The Zurich zoo seems like a good idea to too. My little monkeys could do with watching animals

The reason I say Geneva is because our flight to US is out of GEneva and I thought we can do a quick look around before we leave.

Also any chocolate factory tours that anyone can suggest based on the itinerary above?

Thanks much.

swandav2000

Hi again,

Here's an article about chocolate factories in Switzerland:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...itzerland.html

The one at Flawil is the closest to Luzern, but it'll be about 2h away.

If you are leaving from Geneva and have an overnight nearby, you could see the one at Broc. You could take the train from Luzern to Broc-Fabrique (2h30), see the factory, then continue from Broc-Fabrique to Geneva (about 2h20). You could send your suitcases on the train separately using the Fast Baggage service -- check it before 09.00, and it'll be at your destination after 18.00. I would just send the large cases to the Geneva airport and then pick it up in time to check it at the airline. That way, you would just have an overnighter while on the trip to Broc.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Have fun!

s

cheravate

Hi all,

Thanks for all the help. Based on all your recommendations we have sorted out the trip. We spend 5 days in France and then come to Switzerland. In Switzerland, we stay in Lucerne and do day trips ( yes we are skipping interlaken) out of lucerne to see zurich/the plan is to soak in the local flavor and experience yet not tire ourselves out at the end if the vacation.

I just need one more help. We areconsidering Eurail passes

- almost all research indicates that we buy the Paris to Swiss leg tickets separately and then get a Swiss saver pass for travel within switzerland
- also research indicates that it is cheaper to get Paris metro passes in Paris itself.

Any views, ideas, suggestions, folks?

Nidwaldner_Chris

Hi, My husband and I lived near Luzern for 5 years and my husband and I took our then 2-1/2-year-old son to Switzerland last year. Here is what we did in our 9 days.

Day 1: Arrive Zurich and train right to Luzern (we generally find it cheaper to get a 1-month halb-tax (half-fare) card then any other type of train pass, your child is free and buses and most cable cars are also half-fare). Stayed at the Etap Luzern City.

Day 2: Sightseeing Luzern (walked along top of old city wall and up towers (kids love this) and since it was raining went to the Swiss Transport Museum (also great for young kids). Train to Engelberg in the late afternoon. Based at the Youth Hostel in family room. (Swiss hostels are very clean and they are very family orientated. This one had a play room-great for rainy days). We either ate at the hostel or at the Coop restaurant in town. Coop's and Migros's grocery stores often have nice little affordable cafe's.

Day 3: Great family hike up the Brunni cable car and chair lift and hiking back down to top of cable car station. Kids love the alpine slide here and play area.

Day 4: train and bus to vist friends who live on the Buergenstock. From there Funicular down to Kehrsiten to catch the ferry to Luzern and then train to Engelberg. Definitely fit in a ferry ride on Lake Luzern. We ended up on the Paddle steamer (Dampfschiff) which my little on loved. Or I could suggest Train and cable car up to Niederickenbach. This is a real little mountain village. Neat to hike around a little.

Day 5: Another great hike with little kids. Local free bus to end of Engleberg valley to cable car up to Fuerenalp and then hike down to Abenet for cable car down to Stafeli and then back down road to bus. Stop at the Alpenroseli for roesti! Also took gondola up to Truebsee up from valley under Titlis to walk around lake a little. Another nice playground here for kids.

Day 6: Rainy day. Glad this was a planned travel day to Lauterbrunnen. Based in family room at the Valley Hostel (very nice place. Nice lawn with awesome view of waterfall and you can cook your own meals here).

Day 7: Train up to Wengen and then cable car up to Maennlichen and hike down to Kleine Schedigg. Train back to Lauterbrunnen.

Day 8: Rainy day. Train to Grindelwald. Great indoor public pool with waterslide. After it cleared we did an easy hike around the town. Train back to Lauterbrunnen.

Day 9: Bus down Lauterbrunnen Valley to cable car up to Muerren. Hike Muerren-Winteregg-Gruetschalp along rail line (awesome views, stop at the restaurant at Winteregg for kids to play or can get train if kids are tired). Buy yogurt and cheese right from the farm at Winteregg. Cable car down to Lauterbrunnen.

Day 9: Morning went up and hiked Muerren-Grutschalp again before train. The intercity trains to Zurich airport from Interlaken (well almost all inter-city trains) has an awesome play car at the end!

Hopefully you get some ideas on how to spend your time. We had a ball and all the easy hikes were easily doable with our 2-1/2 year old. I thought this trip really gave a feel for the real Switzerland. My son loved all the trains.