Zurich, Geneva or Lausanne? Help me decide.
 

I am to attend a business meeting in Lausanne that starts on a Sunday night and goes through the following Friday. That was the original trip. But, now I've been asked to come in earlier the week before for a two day meeting in Zurich. That meeting will be the Wednesday and Thursday before.

Naturally, I will not be flying home to the US between meetings, and now find myself with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning to see and do what I can.

Should I stay in Zurich to explore until Sunday and take the train over? Should I go over to Geneva to explore on Friday and take the train to Lausanne on Sunday? Or should I go straight to Lausanne on Friday and explore Lausanne until the meetings start Sunday night?

Which is your favorite and why? And of course, then what are your suggestions?

This is so short notice I've not had any time to do research yet, but I will. Often I'm just as happy simply walking around a city, people watching, seeing gardens, building, monuments etc.

Is there easy access to any trips that might give me a walk in the mountains?

Originally I was only to have 1 morning and 1 evening free in Lausanne, so had thought I might try to see the cathedral there, and maybe take a short boat trip across the lake.

I'm usually really organized me so this is throwing me off to have no sense of what to see and do!

Hi Toucan2,

I really love the towns of Vevey & Montreux on Lake Geneva and suggest you think about them instead of Lausanne. If it were me, I would head right to Montreux and spend the days there. Here are links to what I might do in the area:

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...rges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

Another idea might be the towns of Saanen, Gstaad, or Chateau d'Oex in the Saanenland, the area where German Switzerland meets French Switzerland. This is a lush, green, area with large hills (not the major peaks you'll see elsewhere), and it is criss-crossed with hiking and biking trails. Here are links to my pages on this area:

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Many people will tell you to go directly to the Berner Oberland region where the villages of Wengen, Muerren, & Grindelwald lie -- this is where you'll see the majestic peaks you think of when you think of Switzerland.

The good thing is that you can't go wrong with any of these choices!

You can research train schedules at www.rail.ch.

Have fun!

s

Thank you so much! I was just reading your posts on another therad and bookmarking as you were replying to this one.

A plan is already forming!

Great! Looking forward to hearing more as your trip takes shape!

s

What time of year will you be in Switzerland? That may impact your decision. If the weather is cloudy/rainy, the BO may not yield the awesome vistas that draw people.

Personally, my favorite areas are Luzern and Locarno. Luzern has lakes, rivers, mountains, a lovely old town, good German food and interesting sights such as the lion monument, transportation museum, Bourbaki panorama, art museums and the like. Locarno is on beautiful Lago Maggiore and combines Italian ambiance with Swiss cleanliness and efficiency. Plus, the train ride to Lausanne via Domodossola & Brig is awesome.

I will be there the last week in September and first week in October. It looks like I might be there just before the foggy drizzly days will start, but of course it is after all weather, so hard to know.

Thank you for your ideas JN, I will look into those as well.

I used to live in Zurich, but there is no question that I would go to the Lake Geneva area esp at the end of September, as that weekend is most likely the end of grape harvest in the area and you will get to see and hopefully participate in some of the local fairs and festivals. It is such a beautiful area and you will be there at a beautiful time of year. I would stay in Vevey or even one of the smaller towns, but Lausanne would work just as well if you did not want to have to move hotels; as train service is very good and you could get quickly to smaller villages were festivals may be going on.

For info on the area, see the links above which Swandav has provided for the Lavaux, also for the grape harvest last weekend in September in Lutry go to http://www.fetedesvendanges.ch (seems to be in French only, you may be able to do a web translation). Other towns will also be having events as well, you could try the myswitzerland.com site.

Thank you also Cicerone. I'm trying to persuade a friend who will also be at the first meeting to stay over the weekend and travel about with me. She's on vacation for a week, so I can't solidify plans, but will look at all the sites people have shared here, read the guidebooks I picked up at the library, and come up with a plan soon for the weekend.

It's quite a train ride to Geneve and since you don't have much time, I'd stay nearby and explore there. The whole of Switzerland is so fabulous, you can't miss and I wouldn't want to spend good exploring time on a train. We based out of Geneva as my husband works on the Hadron Collider Experiment at CERN, and found no time in 6 weeks to get to the Lucerne area, which I still intend to get back to, because of the logistics.
The locals often have good advice.

Just to clarify, the iriginal poster is flying into Zurich and then has to go to Lausanne in any event for busienss, so he must make the train trip. In any event, it is only 2 hours to Laussane by train from Zurich, so I can't quite agree that it is "quite a train ride". No changes ae required, trains are mostly the double deckers, very new, extremely comfortable, and as this is the most heavily travelled route, trains run very frequently, about twice an hour. In first class you have power ports for computers.

I agree that there is a lot to see and do in all parts of Switzerland, but would say that the public transport system is so excellent that in such a small country, nothing is really far away even for a day. It's only 30 minutes from Geneva to Laussane, so I have I am a little confused by the "logistics" comment above.

I'm leaning towards traveling over to the area on the Friday and either simply going on to Lausanne and basing there so as said I don't have to change hotels, or go on to Vevey or Montreux. I do think it will be pretty easy to get around from there.

Cicerone, I'm actually a "she" not a "he". No big deal, just thought I would correct the impression.

I've navigated a lot of places on my own though, so I'm not worried about being a single female traveling alone. My friends who have travelled in Switzerland tell me the same thing Cicerone has said..that the trains are great, and efficient, and I'll be able to easily go anywhere. I just have to decide where, when I have such a short time period(:

I think I read in one guidebook that there was somewhere in Vaud that had a festival about that time for the cows coming down the mountain. I'm on a trip now, so don't have my guidebooks to look up. Does that ring a bell with anyone? (the festival)

Well I just Googled this, and you are right, the cows come home on Saturday September 30 in Saint Cergue! I had thought it was in mid-September, which is when it takes place on the Germand side typically. Take a look at http://www.lake-geneva-region.ch/man...n=saint_cergue

I have not been to one on the French side, but have been to one in the Bernese Oberland, they are fun, if kind of hoky and touristy. But usually there is good music (and beer for the Swiss German side). You will probably have wine.

Saint Cerque is in the hills up above Nyon (had to look on the map) on Lake Geneva and would be about 3 hours by train from Zurich (with 1 or 2 changes), so you might want to go to Lausanne on the Friday and then head out early Saturday to Saint Cergue. From Lausanne it will take you about an hour by train. Where are you staying in Lausanne?

Sorry for the "he" I am a she myself...

I live in Lausanne and would recommend at least a day visiting Zurich and then coming here and doing day trips to Vevey (11 mins by train) or Montreux (17 mins.) At this time of year the walk through the Lavaux Vineyards above the lake is really beautiful. And you might be here for the vendange, the grape harvest for wine. The air in some of the small villages is permeated with fermenting grapes. I swear you can get tipsy just walking through!

Again, thank you all for your posts. I also did searches and found information from many of you in other threads as well.

I'm now in a state of simply having to be flexible. It's far too long a story to go into here, but we thought we were doing one thing, then it changed, now things are up in the air. Only the business part remains the same!

As of right now I have reservations at Hotel Altstadt (thank you for your posts on that Cicernoe) and I've printed off plenty of information for exploring. I have plans for one direction if the weather is nice, but if the weather is not nice, I will spend more time in the museums and possibly Sprungli (:

On the other hand, my 21 year old niece has now said that she may wish to come over and pal around with me, and she wants to be in Western Switzerland. If that is the case, I believe I will take the train over to Lausanne and base ourselves there, and follow up on the many good suggestions on that side.

So, ultimately, I really don't know exactly which things I will follow up on, but am excited about having so many options from the great posts on this board! I'll be sure to post a trip report even if they are only a few brief days.

Just a few comments that will reassure you. I would definitely base in Lausanne to be convenient for your business meetings. Then I would spend my time in Vevey and Montreux (love those towns!!). It is completely easy to get between them by train (or from Vevey to Montreux by local bus). Things are incredibly well organized (Swiss!) and easy to manage.

For your mountain walk you can take the tram Rocher de Nayes (Rochers de Naye?) up the mountain from the Montreux train station (tram tickets at a separate tourist booth from regular train tickets).

p.s. the only reason you didn't find me chiming in before to your original post is I was on vacation that week!

you likely saw in other posts my suggestions for Vevey/Montreux (don't miss the open air farmers street markets!).

I did indeed see your other posts about Vevey/Montreaux and duly made note of them(:

Thank you for the additional information on the mountain walk.

No matter what, I am looking forward to seeing new places. And, for the program I'm in right now, I will be back each of the next two years as well to Lausanne. On those trips I'll hope to be able to schedule a little vacation time too and take advantage of being there.