Switzerland: Saanen or Zweisimmen as base?
 

Hey, all! I'm a newbie around here, and I saw a similar post, but I have some different circumstances, so here's my question:
Family of 6 (2 parents, 2 kids, 2 toddlers) traveling to Switzerland. We'll have 4 or 5 nights and we're not renting a car. Because of the complications of switching hotels with little ones, we want to choose one place to stay all 5 nights. It needs to have hiking, restaurants and train station within walking distance. I want to choose somewhere in the center of the Golden Pass rail (somewhere midway between Interlaken and Montreux). That way we can spend 2-3 days just in our base camp area exploring. Then we can spend one day riding down to Montreux and back, and another day riding up to Interlaken and back.
Does this sound reasonable? If so, which do you recommend? Saanen sounds more picturesque, but I'm guessing Zweisimmen dining out will be cheaper, and it's more central location.
Thanks!

One more thing: we're actually planning to use airbnb rather than hotels, so we can have access to a kitchen. That way we can do breakfast at home, and prepare some of our own meals.

Hi michalcrum,

I would stay in Saanen, which is a lovely village full of small shops and winding pathways. I spent 4 or 5 nights in Saanen (in a very nice hotel that I can no longer afford now that I'm retired) and enjoyed it a lot. You can walk to neighboring, upscale Gstaad in about 45 minutes along a gorgeous path. Gstaad (where I stay these days, in a lower-scale hotel or apartment) has more restaurants, and more interesting restaurants, so you may find yourself there a lot. There is an English-language grammar school in Saanen, so you may enjoy seeing the kids when they burst free at the end of the afternoon (it was pretty weird hearing kids call one another in English . . . ).

Saanen is nicely located, yes, to train to Montreux, and also to visit Rougemont (probably the prettiest village in the area, but not much to see or do there) and Chateau d'Oex. It's also easy to visit Gruyeres and Broc-Fabrique from Saanen. There are wonderful biking lanes for the older folks. My favorite walk in the area is from the top of Wispile (outside of Gstaad) to Launen Lake, then you can take the bus back to Gstaad and the train or walk back to Saanen. There is also a lovely walk from Gstaad to Schönried along a flat path.

Zweisimmen has a more trafficked look and feel, probably because it is a crossroads for both cars and trains. I thought the town wasn't as pretty as Saanen (or Rougemont). Zweisimmen is more convenient for visits to the top of Rinderberg and the walking paths that start from there, and it's more convenient to see Lenk and St Stephan. Zweisimmen is more convenient to get to Thun and to Interlaken, though it will still take you about 4h30 to get from there to the top of the Jungfraujoch. There are plenty of mountains nearer than those around Interlaken, and I'm always a fan of seeing what's nearby rather than spending 10 hours on a train in one day.

So, for loveliness, I would pick Saanen, and for convenience for excursions, I would pick Zweisimmen -- but not by much (Saanen will add about 30 minutes in each direction for excursions to the east).

You can get a feel for each town by going to google maps and getting a map, then click on the "photos" at the bottom of the page. Take a look at each town and see which one is drawing you more.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Check Rougemont too.
I suppose you know that the whole Saanen county is a bad choice for day trips to the Interlaken area. There is not much to see or to do at Interlaken itself. The gems are around: Schynige Platte, First, Kleine Scheidegg....
All these places are more than 1 hr away. That means more than 3 hrs OW by train from Saanen.

May be you overlook the real gems around Saanen:
Diablerets and Tsanfleuron Glaciers: 1 1/4 hrs by train/bus/gondola
Sanetsch Pass/Sanetsch Lake: 1 hr by train/bus/gondola
Mountain lakes of Lauenen, Retaud, Iffigen: 1/2 - 1 1/2 hrs by train/bus from Saanen.
Videmanette Hut and viewpoint: 20 min by train/gondola from Saanen
et. etc.

Thanks for all the replies. Let me add another option: if we were choosing between Montreux and Saanen, which would you choose? I still want to take part of the Golden Pass route, so we would still be doing at least 1 day of lots of train rides. Again, like I said, we just want to make sure we're within walking distance of hiking trails, restaurants, and a rail stop.

Thanks, everyone!

I guess partly what I'm wondering is this: if we never make it up to the Jungfrau, will we be missing out? I guess I was a little obsessed with seeing Lauterbrunnen, but it isn't really necessary. Is the area around Saanen roughly equivalent? We could stay in Saanen and do a day trip down to Montreux. Or vice versa.

And thanks for the tip on Rougemont, but I'm not seeing any great airbnb options.

Hi again,

No, the area around Saanen is not really equivalent to the Jungfrau area. The Jungfrau is at 3,470m while the Wispile is 1,939m and Rinderberg is about 2,000 (those latter two are in the area around Saanen).

I would characterize the area around Saanen as the Pre-Alps rather than Alpine; the peaks are lower, and the countryside is round, green hills rather than jagged peaks. To me, it is even more beautiful and inviting than the Jungfrau area; I could stare at those beautiful hills all day.

The Glacier 3000 mountain that neckervd notes (the mountain outside of Les Diablerets) is 3,000m, and the cable car up to the peak is only about an hour from Saanen by train. But the area has a different character than the Jungfrau region -- there are fewer hotels and more vacation apartments, and, from what I've seen, fewer services for new-comers to the area. I spent a day wandering around Les Diablerets one time, and it just never really thrilled me.

Well, whether to stay in Montreux or in Saanen is, of course, just personal. There is only one real peak in the area (Rochers-de-Naye), and it's also only about 2,000m. Montreux is a good choice for people who want to see the lake and what it can offer (vineyards, villages, boat rides, wine caves). There are some hiking trails, but most of them are at the lake -- or after a cable car ride to the hills above the lake. Also, I wouldn't want to be in Montreux in July or August -- summertime is just elbow-to-elbow in Montreux, and in July of course there is the internationally famous Jazz Fest (you haven't said when you're travelling).

If your heart is set on Lauterbrunnen, perhaps you should just go there --

Have fun!

s

Alright, I think I'm settled on Saanen/Gstaad. This way on one of the days, we can take the Golden Pass to the Jungfrau area, spend a few hours in Lauterbrunnen (looks like the train ride can be done in under 2:30), then ride home. Sound reasonable?

Hi again,

Well, sure, you could. But most folks don't go to Lauterbrunnen to see Lauterbrunnen itself; it's just a small village. Most folks use Lauterbrunnen as a base to explore and see the mountain villages and mountain peaks above. And those peaks are another 2h by train.

Have fun!

s

OK well, maybe I need to rethink the day trip to Interlaken etc. We can't do a ton of real hiking with two toddlers (also because we have to pack so light, we won't really have the best footwear with us--to complicate matters, we're starting from the Philippines and most of our belongings are in storage in the USA, and I just lost my best hiking shoes on a trip last year to Cambodia and haven't replaced them yet ugh) so I really just want to *see* the jungfrau area...

Any other suggestions? Swandav2000, thanks for the feedback. It's been really helpful. I was totally overwhelmed with the options and you've helped me narrow it down and feel confident in the decision. Thank you!

Also, the walks and hikes you describe in and around Saanen sound very practical for doing with two toddlers. Maybe we'll even get some use out of the stroller. :D