ddschur

We will be taking a Christmas Markets river cruise which departs Basel in December.

We thought about flying in a couple of days early to visit another city prior to joining the cruise.

Would anyone suggest where we might want to go for a couple of days for a very nice Swiss experience and easy access to train to Basel?

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

MLF611

Lucerne is the most obvious choice...an easy train ride (about an hour) from Basel and plenty to see and do. Bern is another option. Is your "couple of days" just two days or do you have three days or a little more? With three days, I'd go a little farther...maybe to Gstaad (friendly atmosphere, pretty, we like it better than Wengen). There are different kinds of "nice Swiss experiences" - which one do you want? Alpine village? Lakeside town?

FWIW, Basel itself has a good Christmas market, one of the best in Switzerland. The small towns and wine villages around Basel are also pleasant to explore. (This year's wine harvest is supposed to be very good.)

suze

I'm pretty sure Zurich and Geneva are the two largest airports, so likely the most flight options.

I think a lot of the Swiss experience varies by if you are in the French, German, or Italian speaking part of the country. That influences everything... the people, the food, etc.

nytraveler

For a real Swiss experience you want to be in the mountains - not in Basel (which IMHO is a really boring business town that closes up at about 9 pm). If you want to actually see some mountains (the purpose of Switz) I would head to either Interlaken or Lucerne and then take a train or cable car at last part way up the mountains to see a couple of cute villages and possibly a mountaintop (if the weather cooperates).

gregs317

Do the cable cars still operate if there is snow, or is it dependent on how much snowfall there is? How about the cogwheel trains? Thanks, Greg

swandav2000

For gregs317,

The cogwheel trains run year-round. The cable cars take a break for maintenance for a week or two in Nov and/or in May when there are fewer tourists. But snow has no impact on when/if they are running -- the skiers need to get to the heights, remember!

Have fun!

s

drchris

Luzern is beautiful, but we loved Lauterbrunnen and Murren, especially the trip to the Jungfraujoch. Interlaken was pretty ordinary except for watching the paragliders sail into Hohematte Park. Stein-am-Rhein was a delight, and is about 2 hours 20 minuted by train from Basel.

I hope to visit the Christmas markets some day. Please post a trip report!