2-3 days in Switzerland before stay in Bern
A traveler plans to visit Switzerland in April for work training near Bern and wants to explore the area for 2-3 days before the training. They love mountains, lakes, and cities but have limited time and no car. They seek advice on whether to base themselves in Bern or visit Montreux, and if day trips are feasible using public transport.
- Consider starting your trip in Montreux for a few days as it offers a lot to see and is close to the lake.
- You can easily make day trips from Bern to places like Interlaken in under an hour using public transport.
- If your schedule is tight, the Swiss Travel Pass may not be necessary since you won't be traveling much after your training.
AI-generated summary-
Hello. I will be travelling to Switzerland in April for some work training, taking place near Bern. Unfortunately the training is full-on and I won’t have any time to sight-see in the evenings! I was planning on arriving in Switzerland 2 or 3 days in advance for a little mini holiday (on my own, woman in my 40s), as have never been to Switzerland before. I will be flying in and out of Geneva. Initially I was thinking of just going straight to Bern and sightseeing there for 2-3 days but it sounds like that might be too long in Bern itself. I love the mountains and lakes as well as cities, how realistic is it to be able to do a trip to the mountains in this short time, without a car? It seems like public transport is really great and distances short (both of which I am not used to!). If I based myself in Bern could I do some nice daytrips into the Bernese oberland on public transport? A short hike would be nice – I’m reasonably fit although don’t want to do anything too strenuous and won’t have any serious hiking gear with me. And nothing too out of the way where I could get lost as I’ll be on my own. Another thought was to stop in Lausanne on the way to Bern and spend a day or two there before travelling onto Bern. Thanks for advice!
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Hello,
If you don’t mind staying in two locations, consider Montreux for your first 2 or 3 days. Lots to do and see around there, and then you could move on to Berne. If you’d rather just have one hotel location, then by all means go directly to Berne. If you do have any non-working days (perhaps a week-end is in there) Berne is well located for train connections to many places. Keep in mind how small Switzerland is. If you are going to be super busy most of the time, I’m not convinced that the purchase of a Swiss Travel Pass will be needed.
Thank you for the advice! I will look into Montreux. Yes I have been wondering if a pass would be worth it as during my course I won’t be travelling anywhere and then straight back to the airport. So I will only really be travelling to and from airport plus any short trips I do in those first few days.
Hi KC12!
I think Peterli provided an excellent tip about Montreux, as it’s a lovely city in a beautiful area. Please find day trip and hotel suggestions at http://www.myswissalps.com/montreux. Staying in Bern and making a few day trips from there is certainly doable too. For example you can get from Bern to Interlaken (in the north of the Jungfrau region and in the heart of the Bernese Oberland) in less than an hour. All connections can be found in the SBB timetable at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable. Tips for the towns and regions I mentioned are available at
- http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken
- http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion
- http://www.myswissalps.com/berneseoberland
A rail pass of some sort is nearly always cheaper than getting regular full-fare tickets. This page explains how to find the one that suits your plans best: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass.
Thanks, very helpful!
Gosh both Montreux and surroundings and the Bernese Oberland look amazing, I have no idea how I’ll decide…
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