We spent time in the Alps area of Germany and Austria in past years. Now we are taking our first trip to Switzerland in September and are trying to decide what areas of the country to see. I know this is very subjective but I would love some advice!

The plans (so far) are 2 nights in Zurich, 7 nights in Muerren (the only part of the trip fully confirmed right now) and then we will spend another 3-4 four nights somewhere.

The last part of the trip is the part I'm having trouble with. Should we go to the Ticino lakes area? or the Lake Lucerne area? or Bern, Murten? or even head into Germany to the Black Forest region?

After a week in the mountains I'm leaning towards wanting a pretty lakeside setting. We would prefer to spend all four nights in the same place, hopefully a hotel or B&B that is $100-150 per night. We WILL NOT have a car so will need to depend on trains.

Thanks for any helpful hints!

After a week in the mountains would you want a small city like Luzern or Lausanne? They are two entirely different entities and to me, at least, quite different. One French, the other German. Both are on a lake. Both are very pleasant. I am not sure 4 days would be full of activity, however.
From Lausanne you could take the train to Geneva and ride a ferry on that gorgeous lake. Or you could rent a car and drive up to the area around Grinmentz and the St. Bernard Pass, site of the monastery that bred the big dogs.
I think they still have some for show purposes. Not many people hike over that pass anymore and get trapped in the snow.
Interesting about those dogs and their instincts. I was in a park once and a man was snoozing on the grass. A family with a St. Bernard came by. S/he spotted the man and went over and lay down on top of him to keep him warm.
I think he woke up rather quickly.
No brandy keg.

I should have said German speaking and French speaking for Luzern and Lausanne. Each city is decidedly its own character.

abbe,

If you're looking for a lake-side setting, you might want to consider the Bodensee (Lake Constance), northeast of Zurich. I spent my holidays last year in southern Bavaria and western Austria, and I'm currently planning a summer trip to Switzerland and Germany, with the Bodensee a likely part (three days) of my itinerary.

Along the Bodensee, you could spend three or four days in and around the town of Meersburg (www.meersburg.de), with excursions to Konstanz, the zeppelin museum in Friedrichshafen, and the well regarded islands of Mainau and Reichenau. In addition, you can take a short ferry ride into Switzerland to visit the postcard-pretty town of Stein am Rhein, and then further west towards Schaffhausen. Do consider the Bodensee.

If it wasn't for the car thing, I'd say the Italian Lakes would be perfect for you. We drove from Grindelwald to Mennagio, and it was spectacularly beautiful every kilometer of the way. Can you reconsider renting a car?

Everyone wants to change your plans, so I'll join in. I think you will find a week in Muerren to be too long to stay in that small place, and too inconvenient to travel away from for day trips.

You didn't say what your return city would be. If I assume it is Zurich, then I would suggest this itinerary:
-1 night in Zurich
-3 or 4 nights in Muerren
-3 or 4 nights at Ascona or Locarno
-Last couple of days in Zurich

A lakeside location such as Ascona or Locarno, or anything in that area, is a nice contrast to the mountains. The weather is so mild in that area that palm trees actually grow along the lake.

I think you'd be happier with this distribution of your time than with the way you have planned it -- but then, that's what I would do. Good luck.

I'd echo Wayne's advice with one small change suggestion: skip Zurich and spend a couple of nights in Luzern. Much smaller, easier to navigate, town, but with great scenery, shopping, sights, food etc. Perhaps if you fly into Zurich, you could spend 2-3 days in Luzern, 3-4 in Murren, 3-4 in the Italian part of Switzerland, such as Locarno, and the last night before flying out in Zurich.

Thanks for the ideas. We are the rare travellers that like to stay in the same spot for a whole week. We love hiking and scenery are already set with our week in Muerren and I know will find plenty to keep us happy for that many days. Our idea of a nice day is sitting on the balcony with a beautiful view, having a glass of wine and reading a book!

Also, I promised my husband (the designated driver) that this trip he gets to look at the scenery out of train windows. He prefers to take a break from driving, rental cars, road maps, me nagivating . So we are looking for a place where we can get to a hotel on foot (we don't mind walking a mile from the train station, we travel light).

Logistically it looks like Luzern (or maybe Bodensee, I never thought of that) would make the most sense. As suggested we will probably need to spend the last night in Zurich to catch the flight home.

Any hotel or B&B suggestions in Luzern or Bodensee that are in my price range and within walking distance of the train stations?

I am also one of the rare travellers that like to stay in the same spot for a whole week - and so I have to disagree loudly and strongly with Wayne; you will not get bored in Mürren. And it is also not inconvenient for day trips.

Lucerne is indeed the the perfect place logistically wise after Mürren. Are you sure you need to spend the last night in Zürich then? If your flight doesn't leave too early in the morning you don't need to IMO. It is only 1:20 or so from Lucerne to Zurich Airport.

A nice B&B in Lucerne is
Pension Villa Maria
Haldenstrasse 36
6006 Luzern/LU
Tel. 041 370 21 19
Fax 041 370 21 19

It is located about 1.5 miles from the train station towards the transportation museum, close to the lake promenade. Don't worry about the distance, a tram runs frequently to the B&B.

Ingo

PS: Although Lucerne is convenient for you I think Lake Geneva would be the better choice. Completely different (French-Swiss) ambience with partly mediterranean vegetation (Montreux-Vevey in particular).

We stayed for 5 nights in Murren and loved it. The mountains are in-your-face beautiful. Transportation was a little more difficult than if we stayed in the valley but I would definitely recommend Murren. Just be sure to check the train schedules carefully when planning a day trip. I know that the trains from Lauterbrunnen run less frequently from about 10 a.m. on.

I may be the only one, but I loudly cast my vote for Murten in the French-speaking region. Absolutely lovely! Visit nearby Avenches for Roman amphitheater remains.
And I can never get enough of the arcaded shopping in Bern, with its glorious medieval fountains and the Rose Gardens above the River Aar! Although, being a real animal advocate, the city's namesake bear pits just about make me cry (the oldest bear has become neurotic from the enforced lack of stimulation. He paces the circle continuously and has nearly worn down his nails).

OK, I hang my head contritely and accept other opinions that Muerren for a week is not too long for some people. As I said before, not staying there a week is what I would do. You have now clarified what you like to do, and I think that your plan is fine. Had you stated that objective initially, I wouldn't have made my suggestions.

As for a hotel if you go to the Bodensee, and if you want to go to the lovely Lindau peninsula, stay at the Lindauer Hof, a nice hotel facing the lake. We really enjoyed the village of Lindau and the environment around the lake. Good luck.

In his p.s., Ingo suggested Lac Leman, and I say yes, yes, yes. The Lavaux section. You could stay there a month and never run out of train destinations (including Avenches, Bern, Chateau d'Oex, Gruyeres, Lausanne, Aigle, Nyon, and even Yvoires on the French side. You can zip back to Zurich in under 2.5 hours from Lausanne the night before your flight. J.

Sounds like our type of trip. In fact, we are looking into a one week stay in Murren next year. Are you renting an apt? If so, which one/which agency? I have been browsing so I would be interested in what you decided on.

As for Lucerne vs Zurich for the last night, unless your plane leaves really really early, just go from Lucerne. We've done that and it was quite simple. I don't know if they do this anymore but we were able to check our luggage thru to our plane at the Lucerne train station. We checked our bags the day before at the train station and didn't see them again until we got off the plane in Chicago the following day. Very very convenient.

My head is spinning, thanks for all the responses but I'm still undecided. Now we are thinking perhaps we should save Zurich for the last 3 nights (which is really only 2 days in the city) to be closer the airport for our final departure.

Luzern might work for the last night but a nonstop flight home would probably depart around 10 a.m. so Zurich probably would be best.

Now I'm thinking, maybe the Italian lakes first. Fly into Zurich or Milan, stay somewhere in the Lake Como area for 3 nights then take the train to Muerren for our week there. Although the Swiss side is probably just as lovely it seems that the Italian side would be less expensive. Or would we eat up the savings by spending it on extra train fare?

We were able to get a timeshare week at the Hotel Anfi Palace which seems like it will be quite nice based on reviews I've read. We generally prefer to stay a week where we have a kitchen or kitchette but we won't have that this time. We are budget travellers (no we didn't buy the timeshare we used for trade so please no cracks about that!) so we will have to make due with some in-room meals of cheese and wine since we can't afford to eat out every meal.

I have done some research on apartment rentals in Switzlerland so Janebell I think there are some really nice places in this region. The Anfi Palace does offer rentals on their website (and I think some have kitchens). Search on apartments in this forum and you'll find some a rental agency recommendations. Also check out the Slow Travelers web site.

I read that you could check luggage for flights at Swiss train stations, how convenient, Is that available for all major airlines or just Swiss Air?

I don't know what you would do for 2 days in Zürich? One full day and two evenings were enough for me.
What do you expect to find there?

If I had a week in Mürren, I would follow it up with a week in Zermatt! Or possibly split it between Zermatt and Zinal/Grimentz and Lausanne.

But I go there for the mountains.
What else?
Maybe you could find a Kuhkampf where the cows butt heads to find out who is the best head butter. They do it anyhow, might as well make a sport out of it. The farmers make a big deal out of the head butting contests and a good head butting cow is valuable.

I was driving along a mountain rode when I was surrounded by a herd of big cows with huge bells. Some of them decided to lick the paint on the car and slam those huge bells into the fenders and hood. Then one bossy stuck her head in the window to see what was in there. Nothing like a drippy cow's muzzle in your face. Cows noses seem to get very large at 4 inches from your nose. Then two big girls decided to square off in front of the car. The shoved each other around for about 5 minutes while their sisters and their cousins and their aunts clang banged the paint. I have yet to figure out what attracted them to the paint. Road chemicals? Taste of the paint? Color of the car? (it was green) Color of salt blocks? Smelled like salt blocks?

Hi, if you've settled on your last nights in Zurich (if you'd like a smaller town, try the Zum Goldenen Kopf in Bulach --easy hop to the airport by bus), then there is indeed plenty to do. Zurich's old streets are lovely, plus you can boat to Rapperswil, or train to Lucerne and Schaffhausen. J.

p.s. check out burttravels.com to see his piece on Zurich.

Hi abbekit,

Sorry, I have no advice for your week in addition to Muerren (I was hoping you'd decide on the Montreux/Lake Geneva area . . . !). I haven't yet found my great spot in the Maggiore/Como/Lugano/Garda areas.

But I've used the luggage service on Swiss trains a lot, so I thought I'd share my experiences. I've checked luggage through to my Swiss destination from the US, from one Swiss city to another Swiss city, and from a Swiss city to the Zurich airport.

Even if you're not flying Swiss, you can still check your luggage through to the airport's train station in the basement of the airport. I like to send my suitcase ahead the night before I leave, then on the morning of departure I have one less struggle to deal with. In fact, you need to allow a few extra hours to be sure the suitcases get to the airport; you can't just send the cases at 7 am and then expect them to be at the airport at 8.30 am. The luggage claim desk is conveniently located along the way from the train tracks to the escalators up to the airlines. It's pretty easy to simply roll the cases along hallways and up escalators to check in. The cost is about 13 chf per bag.

Let me know if I can help further.

s

Hi s', so very good to read you back again. J.