3 weeks in Switzerland starting Jan 12th! :)

Hi all,

I'm new here and I've never traveled to Europe as I just graduated from college. I'll be spending 3 weeks in Switzerland. I will be arriving Switzerland January 12th and departing Feb 2nd. I will be staying in Bern with my cousin who lives there so that will be my base for most of my trip.

I plan on getting the 15-day Swiss Travel Pass Flex. I'm creating my itinerary and I want to know if anyone had any suggestions on how I can explore Switzerland's main beauties and attractions. I also was thinking if possible as a stretch goal I wanted to explore close parts of Germany, Italy or France. I haven't decided. I think the most attractive or feasible option is the one I'll go with.

Any suggestions or help will be appreciated! The more details, the better! :)

Thanks,

Tony

Hi Tony, welcome to MySwissAlps!

Great that you get to spend 3 weeks in Switzerland. That will allow you to explore a couple of regions quite thoroughly. Bern is certainly a nice base town. You'll have to take quite some traveling time into account if you plan to make day trips from and to Bern only, without overnight stays elsewhere. Here are some towns/regions that can be visited from Bern:

• Bern
• Basel
• the Bernese Oberland
• Lucerne
• Montreux, Lake Geneva

Of course there's a whole lot of other options, but it's hard to randomly advise as it all depends on your personal interests. I suggest you start off with exploring the pages above, plus our planning tips at myswissalps.com/plantr ip/doityourself/compos eitinerary.

Please find details and retailers for the Swiss Travel Pass Flex at myswissalps.com/swisst ravelpassflex.

Hi Tony-

In addition to Annika's excellent advice, please look here:

www.myswissalps.com/ab outswitzerland

and follow the various links.

As you plan your travels, the timetable will be quite useful:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Slowpoke

Hi Tony-

A couple more thoughts.

Weather is quite dependent on altitude.

I was in Switzerland a week or so ago, and everywhere below 800 meters , with an exception in part of the Emmental, and a day or so in Zürich, there was fog all day long most days. That pattern is common in Winter, but the fog usually burns off by midday.

However, if I got above 600 meters in the Emmental, or at high altitudes near Wengen, there was clear, sunny weather.

Since you will be in Bern, you might want to visit the heart of rural Switzerland, the Emmental. Nice hiking. Your cousin will likely know more about it.

If not, here a thread with some information:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/langnau-in-may

This map is useful. If you work the menus, you can get displays of all the transport stops, etc. Zoom in far enough and the rail lines show up:

map.search.ch/

For example:

map.search.ch/?pos=627696,199096&z=32

For a three or four week stay, you need not limit yourself to day trips from Bern. Use the trains; you'll be impressed.

There are inexpensive accommodations all around Switzerland. Many are oriented toward backpackers and may have dormitory accommodations ( "Matratzanlager"). for the lowest cost options.

Youth hostels are very high quality.

www.myswissalps.com/ac commodation

Some good links there.

Under "AirBNB," read about alternatives at the bottom of the page.

Langauge-

Do you speak any non-English language?

Slowpoke

Thanks Annika for the great tips and links.

Thanks Slowpoke for the tremendous advice and links as well. I will definitely look into those links and take what you said into consideration. I'll definitely look into to inexpensive accomodations too as I want to get the most of my experience in Switzerland. I'll ask about Emmental too! :)

I speak very little French. My cousin told me that most of Switzerland speak German so I'll have to start a Duolingo lesson on some German haha.

Thanks once again! I'll keep you all updated!

Hi Tony-

Check this link:<<"www.swissinfo.ch/eng/l anguages/29177618">>

English is common, or usually available, in all of Switzerland. In the really rural area of the French speaking regions, it is not so common. In the German -speaking and Italian-speaking regions, it is very common.

You can usually find a French speaker in most of Switzerland, but English has become more common as a "back-up" language.

In each region, the signs in the train stations will usually include the local language and English. Not always.

Slowpoke