abilenetexas

My wife and I will be traveling from Venice to Switzerland in August and want to see the Matterhorn, but have not decided if we should spend two nights in Zermatt or Montreux before we go on to Bern. From the things I've seen it appears there is more to do in Montreux. The day we travel from Venice via Milan and Brig seems to be a long one and I think we can backtrack to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. Ideas or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks-Abilenetexas

Patrick

I guess it all depends on what you want to do, but I found that two days in Zermatt was not enough. There are some great trips to do, going up the cog train to adjacent Gornergrat for fantastic views (and we also hiked down from there), or to Klein Matterhorn by chair lift, or walk to the Zum See. Have wonderful ice cream (cinnamon) at the little hut run by the nuns in the rustic little settlement, or just enjoy the ambiance of Zermatt and its car-less streets.

Montreaux is nice too. I just love the atmosphere and the activities of Zermatt.

metlc

I was only able to spend one night in Zermatt on my way to Montreux, but that got me a memorable blue-sky ride the following morning up the Gornergrat.

The train from Zermatt to Montreux is a pleasant three-hour afternoon ride.

suze

I can never quite understand why Montreux gets such a big buzz. I mean I love the place myself, have friends who live there, and visit often.

But I'm not sure what "more to do" in Montreux is? Chateau de Chillon is fine. And the ride up Roche de Nayes is nice if the weather is clear (most often it is not). A boatride maybe? Also ALL the towns along the lake in the Vaud are absolutely gorgeous... Morges, Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, Villanueve, etc.

Personally for a 1-2 night stopover I would pick Vevey because I feel the layout of the town is more pedestrian friendly (in Montreux the busy main street goes right thru the heart of town), there are more and better restaurants choices, and the town just feels more "Swiss" to me. Montreux has more of an international feel.

IF it is the beginning of August, and IF you are interested in wine, go to the Vevey open air farmers market in the town square on Saturday morning. For 6 weeks in summer is the Fete de Vignorones, with wine tasting (you purchase a glass and it will be filled as often as you wish) from local vineyards 9:00AM to Noon. www.vevey.ch

swandav2000

suze, you forgot the 11-km flowered lakeside promenade, which, to me, makes Montreux really stand out. Vevey's promenade is shorter, with less foot traffic. In Montreux, you can sit at a lakeside cafe and watch the world prance by: old Europe next to young toughs, and then Arab, African, American, and Asian tourists. I could spend, well, a lifetime watching it.

s

suze

Oh, I love them both, believe me! But I don't really think of the quai in Vevey and in Montreux as all that different from one another. To my mind, overall Vevey has a bit more "heart" and soul.

suze

Swandav, Aren't we the luckiest to have such a dilemma to debate?!? Susan

Intrepid1

Weather can always be an "issue" in therms of actualy seeing the Matterhorn; when it is fairly clear down below it can be obscured up above.

It is worth the effort IMO; the trip from Brig up to Zermatt by rail (one hour and 20 minutes) has some spectacular views and if you do go up to the Gornergrat or to the Kleine Matterhorn and have unobscured views you'll be able to see some of the very highest alpine peaks across the impressive Monte Rosa massif.

<b> Depending </b> on your interests it might be worth two nights.

Cicerone

Personally, I would skip Bern and stay 1 night in Zermatt and at least 2 in Montreux area. You could do Bern as a day trip from Montreux if you wanted, although I think a place like Gruyeres is a better day trip. I just think the countryside around that end of the lake is so much more spectacular than the area around Bern. If you are not going to Bern for a particular reason (friends, family or work) I would encourage you not to stay there.

The train trip from Venice to either Zermatt or Montreux is going to take you about the same amount of time (looking at the schedule, the fastest train to Montreux only saves you 30 minutes over the fastest train to Zermatt), so IMO you might as well stop at Zermatt first as it is on the way to Montreux, rather than backtracking. Also, Zermatt is going to be quite crowded during the days in August with many day-trippers, and you might enjoy it more in the evening and early morning hours before the town gets crowded, plus sunrise and esp sunset are so beautiful there.

You could do 2 nights at Zermatt, a lot depends on whether you want to take advantage of the many good walks. I prefer the trip up the railroad on the Gornegrat to the cable car rides up the other parts, and would do the Gornegrat if you had to pick one. The views are the best from here, IMO, and the train ride itself is a lot of fun. You can go to the top (small restaurant and cafeteria) or walk down from the to either the Riffleberg (www.matterhorn-group.ch.) or the Rifflealp 222m (www.seilerhotels.ch) and have lunch or dinner.(Personally, I would stay at the Rifflealp as you can get the best Matterhorn views, avoid the noisy town altogether and do great walks from there, but don’t know your budget/ The Riffleberg would also be a good place to stay.)

I agree that Vevey is more charming than Montreux as it is far small; but Lausanne, Morges, really any of those towns are lovely and Montreux itself is fine albeit larger.

Edward2005

More than one guidebook rates the Oberland ahead of Zermatt and the Matterhorn. There are four great peaks in the Oberland, not just one as near Zermatt. When the weater is bad there's more to do in the Oberland. Plus, there are many more options for accomadations in the Oberland.

swandav2000

suze: how right you are! What an excellent dilemma!

And I'm looking to Villeneuve for my next visit -- whenever that will be! I'm thinking it'll have the small-town charm of Morges yet be within walking distance of Chillon &amp; Veytaux, within 10 minutes of Montreux by frequent bus.

Hey! Maybe in 5 or 10 years, you can also visit me in my apartment in Montreux! Take a peek: www.remax.ch/pubscripts/ListingList.asp?SearchResults=True&amp;Lang=ENU&am p;SID={85BA77E9-B55A-45C0-A0FC-DDF7E2538170}

s

Intrepid1

When the peaks in the BO get as high as the Matterhorn and the several others nearby, please let us know.

Edward2005

Well just excuse the f out of me. God forbid somebody offer an opinion that differs from yours, Intrepid1. Hey, if you want high peaks, just cut to the chase and visit Nepal.

abilenetexas

Guys, Thanks for all of your advice. I think we will stay in Zermatt 2 nights now; however, from the train schedules I can find on the internet our train from Venice, Italy hits Brig, Switzerland at 4:40pm and the train from Brig into Zermatt leaves Brig at 4:51 (last one of the day). There will only be 11 minutes to change trains in Brig. Is this possible? There are only a limited # of trains from Brig into Zermatt.

Again, thanks for your help

abilenetexas

Patrick

Normally that is possible, but I must confess as good as the Swiss trains are, we did arrive in Brig late once and had to wait for the next train to Zermatt.
But I don't know where you're looking. I just looked at the DB site and see that normally after your 4:51 train there are also trains from Brig to Zermatt at 5:07, 6:07, 7:23, and 8:23.

swandav2000

Hi abilenetexas,

I would guess that you're using the raileurope.com site, which doesn't list all available trains. I suggest you use either the DB site that Patrick has given you or the Swiss rail site at www.rail.ch.

Did you know that you have to change stations in Brig? The Swiss rail site lists the walk at 7 minutes. If you can carry all your luggage in one trip, you should still be able to make it.

The good news is that, yes, there are many trains after 16.40 to get to Zermatt, the 17.07 and 18.07 at least (as listed by Patrick).

s

Intrepid1

The main station in Brig is <b> literally </b> directly across the street from the Matterhorn-Gotthard Bahn station where you will take the train to Zermatt.

That seven minutes of walking time I am sure is an average and would depend upon which platform you arrive on and how fast one normally walks. This is about the easiest connection between two different stations in Switzerland that there is.

As Patrick pointed out, there are several trains to Zermatt after yours from Milan arrives.

abilenetexas

Guys,

we really appreciate the help, but I don't have any idea what a DB site is. I tried to use the www.rail.ch site and it was confusing to me.

Help

abilenetexas

Patrick

Sorry, it is the German site, but covers all of Europe and to me is the most complete and user friendly rail site on the web. Here is the link for the English version. Bookmark and you can use it often. In addition to the basic schedules, you can click on for details and get the connection information, and then can even click on &quot;intermediate stops&quot; and find out every stop in makes. One issue is you must use the European name for the cities, like Wien for Vienna, etc.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en