(Sorry for so many questions)...one more please!<BR>If we are going to visit the high mountains of Wengen and Grindelwald for 3 days....should we also make a trip to see Zermatt, Davos, St. Moritz etc. mountains/alps as well?? I would think spending 3 days in the mountains would give us a good "feeling" without going to see more. I could be ALL WRONG as I've never been to Switzerland before (although I did live in Colorado for 3 years). Are most of the "true Swiss type villages" high in the mountains? We will also be visiting the Lucerne and Zug areas and Lugano/Locarno areas. I apologize for sounding so ignorant, but I really am. Thanks! Tommi

St. Moritz is a little isolated from the other parts of Switzerland. Because of the tunnel between Goppenstein and Kandersteg it is easy to get from the Valley of the Rhone to Interlaken.<BR><BR>I suggest that you visit Zermatt because of the spectacular mountains. <BR>If you want a valley, one that is neat and somewhat remote, drive up into Val d'Anniviers. The road leads south fron the Sion/Sierre area. Zinal is a remote mountain village. Lac d'Moiry is beautiful. And the glacier that feeds it is near at hand.<BR>Grimentz is another neat town up in that valley. We liked it there.<BR>If you pick an area and go there, I don't think you can go wrong, and in 9 or so days, you cannot see it all.<BR>I keep going back hunting for more.<BR>

You should visit Zermatt if you find the time.<BR><BR>Not all Berner Oberlandites feel about Zermatt as I feel about Zermatt.<BR><BR>I think there are many great opportunities to enoy some great, fun mountain views and activities.<BR><BR>I like to take the underground Sunnega up to Sunnegga where there are some fine walks and views that begin in Sunnegga. Last summer, actually on the infamous day of 9/11, I walked up to the Matterhornhutte. That is a little strenuous walk up there, but the views of the Matterhorn and the glaciers just blow you away.<BR><BR>But you don't have to be a hiker to enjoy Zermatt, take the cable-gondola up to Schwartsee and grab a place in the sun. Get a cold un at the mountain cafe. Just sit out and enjoy the views.<BR><BR>6 months to this day, I was walking up to the Matterornhutte. Then I came back down to Schwartsee and got some goulash soup and frosty, cold un.<BR><BR>When I came back down to the village of Zermatt, I stopped off at the Post hotel to check my Tennessee Vols e-mail group. That is when I heard the news that the WTC had been attacked. <BR><BR>All of us in the computer room jumped up and ran into the bar where the monitor was tuned into CNN. It had just happened and we were all still in shock.<BR><BR>Anyway, sorry to ramble on, but when I think of that Matterhornhutte walk, I will always think of 9/11.<BR><BR>Get yourself over to Zermatt and Saas Fee. Sice you are on AOL, visit the travel forums there and I'll send yah some neat links to Zermatt and Saas Fee<BR><BR>

I go along fully with the suggestion that visiting Zermatt and Saas Fee is worthwhile.<BR>I spent a week in Saas Grund a few years ago, which is just down the hill from Saas Fee. Each morning when I got up, the first thing I saw out the apartment window was that aweseome, mind-boggling, immense, white mountain known as Der Dom. It towers about 9,000 feet straight up over Saas Fee. You do not begin to understand just how much 9,000 vertical feet is on a human scale until you go about half way up on a cable lift and look down to the valley, which seems like it is a light year away, and the top of the mountain has only gotten a little closer.<BR><BR>The view of Monte Rosa, above Zermatt, from the Gornergrat is awesome. <BR>We got off the train at the Rodenboden station and walked the rest of the way to the Gornergrat station. The clouds were rolling in and the Matterhorn was soon obscured. By the time we got to the hotel and restaurant, it was snowing. But snow and all, the views are mindboggling.<BR><BR>When Ed of web site fame, and frequent Fodors contributor, was alive, we used to debate the merits of the mountains around Zermatt. My favorite comments on the mountains of the Mattertal are those by Kev Reynolds, who has authored several hiking books on Switzerland.<BR>The mountains of Canton Wallis are not just big mountains, they are peaks of character, substance and charm.<BR><BR>Go, and get out on the trails, because the car bound visitor can only imagine poorly what the inner secrets and beauty of the valleys and peaks have to offer.<BR><BR>Two years ago, when I was 66, I struggled up to Cabine de Moiry for an unforgettable look at Glacier de Moiry.<BR>Worth it? Yes, unequivocally and without any reservations at all.<BR>Those hiking experiences in the Alps have enriched my life in ways I cannot find the words to describe.<BR>But something has to appeal to an old man to keep him going back again, and again. And I am headed back again in September. <BR><BR><BR><BR>

Thank you Bob and Orangesun! It does sound like they are nice (especially Zermatt). I pulled up the train schedule for Zermatt and it is so dang far away....over 4 hours from Locarno where I thought we'd tie it in, it's even over 3 hours from Bern if we tied this in. It sounds like this has to be a trip all by itself with spending 1 night. It's not a "day trip" from anywhere except from a town called Brig where the trains all seem to connect. I didn't realize it was so inaccessible! What is Brig like, maybe we should consider this as one of our "base towns"???? Thanks so much! Tommi

Tommi- You might consider Sion as a base. The Valais is my favorite region. I believe that the mts. between Chamonix and Zermatt are incomparable. Zinal is nice and so is Grimentz, but I like the next valley to the west better (Val d'Herens) the little villages of Evolene, LEs Hauderes, La Forclaz, La Sage, and Arolla are wonderful and really seem to have avoided much of the touristy influence. If you stay in Sion (which is nice in and of itself, great chateau ruins, lots of restaurants for raclette, great selection of wines) you can take the buses up into the valley and explore the little villages. Even if you are not a hiker, please get out and do some walking around. There is a very easy hike from Arolla to Les Hauderes that is superb and really gives you the alps experience (gorgeous mt views, a beautiful alpine lake (lac Bleu) a little alp to buy homemade cheese at)

Yeah, I would only travel over there to Zermatt or Saas Fee if you could possibly find more time other than 1 or 2 days. I think you'd need 3 days to do Zermatt.<BR><BR>Since you're not a hiking enthusiast, you can do some of the things I told you about such as ride the underground up to Sunnegga or ride the gondola up to Schwartzsee.<BR><BR>There is even a nice, mostly even stroll up to Zmutt that you all might enjoy.<BR><BR>I think there is probably more to do in Zermatt for the non hiker type than there is to do in Saas Fee . So my advice to you would be to travel to Zermatt. <BR><BR>You mentioned Brig. You must travel to Brig to travel to Saas Fee. Brig is nothing more than a train-bus stop. You must transfer to a Post bus in Brig to continue on to Saas Fee. Saas Fee is about 1 hour from Brig though. <BR><BR>If you get the time, travel to Zermatt.<BR><BR>Sounds as though Marc gave you some nice ideas also, but it does sound like you're time might be challenged in some of these areas. That is why I would choose Zermatt if you can spare the time.