I will be arriving in Switzerland on 6/1/2010 for 2 nights and 3 days. There will be 4 adults on this trip. I am looking for a centralized place to stay for my home base while in Switzerland. I not sure where and what to see, we like small villages and mountain ranges and we like to ride horses. I will have a car. What will the roads be like? If I stay in Lucern, where would be some places to go? Is Zurich worth visiting?

My thoughts of places to see: Stay in Lucern, visit Interlacken, go to Wengen, to Gimmelwald and to Jungfrujock. Not sure how many days this will take. If there is other places to visit we are open. Once we leave Switzerland we will head to Fussen Germany, so we might be able to stop and see things on our way to Fussen

I like Lucerne but since the majority of what you want to see/do is in the Berner Oberland I would base myself THERE and I would not rent a car.

When I say "there" I mean somewhere above Interlaken itself.

We will start out in Frankfurt and will have a rental car as we plan on seeing Germany, Luxemburg, parts of France, Switzerland. Not sure where Berner Oberland is located. If you have some suggestions besides what I have suggested, we are open

Thanks

Berner Oberland is the region around Interlaken, and esp for tourists just south of it - where the high Alps are - Grindelwald is one thriving resort with fantastic views and lots to do - to me this area is the essence of the picture of Switzerland etched in our minds' eyes - and if i were driving all the rest i would drive right to Grindelwald, where you must park your car because beyond that cars can no go but a myriad of mountain trains, aerial cable cars, etc. transport you around - like up to the Jungfraujoch train station at above 11,000 feet and in a land of perpetual glaciers and ice.

Jungfrau Switzerland Wengen Grindelwald Murren Lauterbrunnen ...
Jungfrau Region Switzerland, Switzerland Travel Advice, Ski Switzerland, Skiing in Switzerland, Swiss Ski Resorts, Swiss, Switzerland Information,Jungfrau, ...
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www.jungfrauregion.com/

this place offers Western-style riding, about 2 hours' drive from either Basel or Zurich:

http://www.aeschi-tourismus.ch/en/index.asp?page=203

Hi cowboyrider,
We just left the Berner Oberland this morning after visiting there for 8 days. There are numerous lovely little villages in the area.

Time wise it would be best if you stayed in the Berner Oberland: Gridelwald, Lauterbrunnen etc as this gets you closer to the day trips you want to take.

Gimmelwald is on the other side of the valley. You can drive to a parking lot at Shechelberg and take the aerial cable car to Gimmelwald from there. So that would probably take 1/2 day at most. We roamed around Interlaken for 3-4hrs so you could do that in the same afternoon.

Good luck with your planning. You will love the area!

Take care,
Michele

It is approximately a 2 hr train ride up to the Jungfrau from Grindlewald or Lauterbrunnen. You can do as much or as little as you wish at the Jungfrau. We hiked outside for a couple hours and spent a total of 5 hours at the top. So allowing for the train ride back down that would take most of a day. You could always include Wengen that day as it is little and won't take much time to explore.

It is a beautiful region. We absolutely fell in love with it. We had perfect weather for 6 of the 8 days, and then a bit cloudy for two days. That is a consideration because many do not want to spend the money on the trip to the top if it is cloudy. You wouldn't have much of a view.

Michelle-D thank you for you thoughts, is there anything to see in Lucern, if so how many days would you stay visiting Lucern and then to the other locations we discussed

cowboyrider...

I've been to both Luzern and Bernese Oberland. Luzern, IMO, has gotten too crowded, too touristy!!

Bernese Oberland is a much larger region and simply the most beautiful. We stayed in Grindelwald (which you can drive to) at the Hotel Belvedere (a great hotel with a great restaurant). From there you can take gondolas, cable cars, cog-wheeled trains to Wengen, Murren, Jungfraujoch, etc.

I would take BO over Luzern any day.

Good luck!

Hi cowboyrider,

I just got back from Switzerland, basing in Wengen (BO area) for 7 days and 2 days in Luzern. I'm like most that visited Switzerland for the first time and fell in-love. I have to say I loved the car-free village of Wengen and am planning on visiting at least once a year and will base myself there.

Not to take anything away from Luzern as it is indeed a beautiful old city, but a couple days there was enough for me.

Good luck with your planning.

My trip report will be coming soon.

jdc