Zurich to Berner Oberland
 

I love all the great advice you all share! Thanks! I'm heading to Zurich on Saturday March 24th. Spending the afternoon in Zurich. We want to head to Luzern on Sunday and then head to Berner Oberland area for an overnight stay Sunday night and then back to Zurich Monday evening. We have Sunday and Monday to explore the area. We want to stay somewhere that has a few pubs or bars for drinks in the evening but is not a huge tourist trap. We also want to see some amazing mountain views and castles or churches. We would love to take some cable car or gondola rides. Any train routes and money saving ticket ideas or trip ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Try Lauterbrunnen - delightful little town with good choices of accommodation and restaurants. It's an easy train trip from Lucerne, absolute unbelievable scenery, access to Jungfrau and Schilthorn,good walks. You can take the little yellow train to Wengen or the cable car to Murren or further.

Tourists go to places with amazing mountain views where they can ride cable cars and gondolas.

Do you have to spend any time in Zurich? If you are flying out of Zurich, you could just as well stay in Luzern.

Hi dkelly99,

I agree with greg -- it may not be possible to get all your wishes in ONE place.

Pubs & bars -- Grindelwald, Wengen, Thun
Not touristy -- Thun, Spiez
Amazing mountain views from your hotel window -- Wengen, Mürren, Grindelwald
Churches/castles -- Thun & Lake Thun
Cable car/gondola rides (outside your hotel door) -- Wengen, Mürren

I guess you ought to decide which item is most important to you and base there.

s

Thank you very much! We want to hit a few places for sights and spend the night in a cool area that is not just a tourist area. I realize a lot of the area is very tourist friendly. Looking for a central hotel where we have great access to the sights and a hotel base sight that is a little more local but not a one horse town. Wengen may be the place. Thanks for the great advice...keep it coming!

Your post doesn't make any sense.

Is English your first language???? Maybe you are having translation problems????

Train schedules:

www.sbb.ch

Tschuss,
Pepper

I suggest staying in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen. Centrally located to gondolas and trains into the mountains. In Wengen, you are staying up in the mountains. Fabulous mountain scenery, several small villages within minutes of each to visit but each is different.

For your short period of time, I would get out of Zurich the day you get there and head to Lucerne for the night. Then head to BO or skip Lucerne and spend all your time in BO. You really don't have much time to do all you want to do.

Agree that in your very limited time you should bag Zurich (priarily a business city) and head straight for the mountains. You won't have time to see/do everything you want in your limited time - so you need to prioritize - views or castles/churches or towns large enough to have nightlife or close enought to the the mountains to do cable car or cog railway.

Also - you do realize that March 24th is still winter - and you will have a lot of snow in the BO? Be sure topack for it.

Great sites for Swiss rail and transports info - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. With limited travel a pass may not be the best deal and I would just buy tickets as you go along, upon arrival. there is a Swiss Pass and Half-Fare Card but those probably would not be cost-effective for such a limited use of trains.

Great advice! We will talk about getting out of Zurich to stay in Lucerne the first night. I know it's a short amount of time for all we want to do but we'll just have to prioritize. The mountains are the main priority so I'm leaning toward Lauterbrunnen or Wengen. You are all so helpful! Thanks!

BUT, your posts above don't make any sense.

You write that you don't want to stay in a "one-horse town," but Lauterbrunnen and Wengen (especially) are the very definition of one-horse towns.

Wengen is car-free. It probably takes 3 minutes to walk from one end of the main street in Wengen to the other.

Many hotels in Wengen will be closed at the end of March. This is the "off" season between winter skiing and summer hiking.

I would just stay in Luzern and go up to Mt. Pilatus and take a cruise on the lake, take train into Rapperswill or something like that.

Tschuss,
Pepper
Nothing will be green; no leaves on the trees. Hiking paths will be muddy and maybe covered with snow/slush.

You write that you don't want to stay in a "one-horse town," but Lauterbrunnen and Wengen (especially) are the very definition of one-horse towns.>

Well Wengen does roll up the sidewalks at dusk but not Lauterbrunnen - Lauterbrunnen is IMO a two-horse town - actually very lively as many younger folk stay here in Contiki group tour tent villages

Interlaken is a great base for the Berner Oberland and anything but a 1-horse (or in Swiss parlance 1-cow town) - I always base there and love Interlaken (which many do not but if you get off the main street it is a lovely lovely Swiss town with views from hotel balconies to kill from - of the Jungfrau Massif all drenched in its glaciers and snow.

Pepper, I don't know the area...that is why I'm inquiring with people that do :) English is my first language. I don't have a choice with travel dates. I understand it is winter and lots of places are closed. I will contact the hotel and make a reservation before we go to make sure they are open. I truly appreciate all of the advice everyone has shared! I'm looking forward to my visit! All suggestions are welcome!

PalenQ, Interlaken sounds like it might be the best overall choice. Thanks for the Swiss rail and travel links!

Yes, I understand that you don't know the area.

That is why I (who knows the area well) am telling you that it would be better to just stay in Luzern for 3 nights.

You can take a gondola to Mt. Pilatus. You can go into Zurich for the day. You can visit Rapperswill. You can take a boat ride on Lake Luzern. There are a number of towns you can do as a day trip from Luzern--like Lungern.

One of the best things about visiting the BO via train from Luzern is looking at the beautiful scenery, green hills, flowers, green trees, but in March everything will be brown and dead.

Interlaken is VERY TOURISTY, but in March it will probably be deserted.

There is a HOOTERS on the main street in Interlaken and all the tour buses line up along the curb in front of the park that is across from the very swanky HOTEL VICTORIA.

There is also a CASINO in Interlaken and lots of souvenir shops.

If you have to stay in Interlaken, I would suggest staying at a hotel along the river.

I don't agree that Lauterbrunnen is LIVELY. Interlaken would be your best bet for lively.

Tschuss,
Pepper

Folks who say Interlaken is dreary and drab IMO just have not gotten off the main drag there - I always base there and many parts of town are really delightful - as delightful as places in Lucerne - actually often more romantic areas, like in Matten, where hotel balconies have views of the Jungfrau Massif - and even in March the Berner Oberland is amazing - the picture of Switzerland etched in your mind's eye that you just will not see in Lucerne or its environs - Mt Pilatus is just a single Alp and one that in dozens of visits there for me is often shrouded in clouds or fogs, making an excursion there if so not viable.

Base yourself IMO in Interlaken or a Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen or Wengen and see the Switzerland you see on the travel brochures and you have in your mind.

Lucerne is a nice city on a lovely fjord-like lake but IMO very boring and accommodations across the board are IME much more pricey than in the Interlaken-Jungfrau region, where you can actually get budget hotels and gueshouses or even hostels if you like - those are rare in pricey Lucerne.

Thanks for the advice all!

PalenQ..do you have any hotel recommendatios in Matten or in the Interlaken area? Your great advice is very helpful in our planning! Thank you!

Well thank you - I have stayed in two different hotels in Matten (where the famous William Tell outdoor theater is) - one was Walter's - really a guesthouse and not a proper hotel - but nice rooms with balconies with views of Jungfrau Massif in distance and huge buffet breakfast served in your room - Walter's is very famous among the hiking/budget crowd. I also stayed at a nice hotel there but I will have to research the name - I think it was the Alpenrose but not sure - anyway they have a whole gamut of types of room from spiffy to low budget - and again a huge buffet breakfast which in this pricey country is worth a fortune in itself - stock up on calories for the whole day of hiking, etc.

http://www.interlaken.ch/unterkunft/hotels.html?L=3

this is a hotel I stayed in in Matten - Hotel Alpina - again with all types of rooms from nice to gritty. Very quiet area.

PalenQ, thank you very much for the hotel advice! I'll check out the links! Your advice is much appreciated!