[alimac]

29 March 2024 at 4:02:33 #1337765

Hi,

Firstly, huge thanks to the moderators and all contributors to MySwissAlps.  This has been a great source to answer some of my queries plus lots of ideas on places to visit & potential walks.

10/5 – Fly from Edinburgh to Basel, travel from Basel to Ascona

17/5 – Travel from Ascona to Interlaken

24/5 – Travel from Interlaken to Basel

25/5 – Day trip to Colmar

26/5 – Fly back from Basel to Edinburgh

What I’ve noticed is a lot of my fellow travellers itineraries are a lot more detailed than ours.  We do have ideas of places that we would like to visit & walks that we would like to do but we haven’t decided on what date.  We will have rough 1/2 day & full day itineraries prepared but plan to decide the night before.  Is this a mistake?

This is our first visit to Switzerland – we did have plans to visit in April 2020, so can’t wait to arrive in May.

Thanks, Ali

p.s. We will purchase a 15 day Swiss Travel Pass prior to travelling.  We are holding off purchasing just now in case there are any promotions in April.

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[Anna]

30 March 2024 at 12:49:44 #1342931

Hi alimac,

Ascona is a good base to explore the Ticino region. Here are links with day trips and sightseeing options from Ascona:

Locarno: https://www.myswissalps.com/town/locarno/

Bellinzona: https://www.myswissalps.com/town/bellinzona/

Lake Maggiore: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-lake-maggiore/

Interlaken is good base to explore the Jungfrau region and also the Bernese Oberland.

Day trips and excursion from Interlaken:  https://www.myswissalps.com/town/interlaken/

If you have a few days in Basel (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/basel/), in addition to exploring the town (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/walk-basel/) you can also do day trips to Rheinfelden (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/walk-rheinfelden/) and enjoy boat cruises on the River Rhine (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-basel/).

Hope this gives you options for your itinerary.

Regards,

Anna

 

[Alpenrose555]

1 April 2024 at 7:22:18 #1343327

Hi alimac,

>> We do have ideas of places that we would like to visit & walks that we would like to do but we haven’t decided on what date. We will have rough 1/2 day & full day itineraries prepared but plan to decide the night before. Is this a mistake?

Staying flexible is the best approach.  However, there are a few provisos:

Ascona: Depending on what you want to do while based in Ascona, check whether week days or weekends makes any difference to opening hours, operating hours or service frequency, and make your choices accordingly.

Interlaken: In the mountains, May is a transition time between the winter/skiing and summer/hiking seasons. Some mountain transport will be closed for maintenance.

What mountain trips and walks did you have in mind? Walks at lower elevations will be accessible. Others (such as the walk from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg) will most likely be closed until around the middle of June due to snow cover.

So, to avoid disappointment, it would be a good idea to be specific about your plans in order to ensure you can actually do them, and to find alternatives for any that won’t be possible.

Hope this gives you some food for thought!

Alpenrose

[alimac]

2 April 2024 at 1:40:13 #1347534

Thanks for getting back to me, Anna.  I’ve looked at some of these links but will go back and check that there isn’t anything that I’ve missed.

Kind regards,

Ali

[alimac]

2 April 2024 at 2:05:45 #1347535

Thanks for getting back to me, Alpenrose.  Yes, definitely some food for thought. We had picked up that some of the walks that we would have liked to do are closed in May. We are more walkers than hikers, so some of the low level walks will suit us just fine. We will re-look at our ideas for trips when in Ascona to see what days would be best.  I’d also read a previous comment you’d made about having a backup plan in case of bad weather.  We will do that too.

We are really looking forward to arriving in Switzerland.  There are lots that we would like to do and some that unfortunately we can’t but that just gives us a good excuse to come back again.

Thanks, Ali