Budget accommodation near Zermatt?

My Husband and I are traveling to Switzerland June 2nd to June 6th. We have decided to visit Lausanne, Bern, and Matterhorn area (Zermatt). Our trip looks like somthing like this...
June 2nd- Fly into Geneva; Travel to Lausanne by boat; Spend evening in Lausanne

June 3rd- Morning in Lausanne; travel to Bern; Spend day and night in Bern

June 4th and 5th- Travel to Zermatt; Spend the next two days exploring, hiking, and viewing the Alps/Matterhorn

June 6th- Travel back to Geneva (Fly home).

We have been looking into accommodations, and noticed that Zermatt is quiet high. Are there any places/cities near that we could stay on a budget? We really want to spend time in the Alps and see/explore the Matterhorn. Thanks for any advice you could give us. :-)

We are also tempted to stay in Sion, or at least add it to the trip. Is that do-able? or are we trying to do too much?

Thanks for your help! I'm really glad that this forum is here.

I have been looking into maybe doing Montreux instead of Sion, for our return. Or just spending the extra day in the Zermatt region. Which site has more culture/ is more popular site? Which would you recommend?

If we did Montreux, it would put us in the Zermatt region June 4th and 5th (basically one day as we would arrive and leave in the afternoons).
On the 5th we would travel to Montreux and see the city and the Chillon Castle. Also spending the night.

Because my husband and I are doing the Swiss Youth 4-day pass, I was wondering which section of Lake Geneva would be best for a boat ride. We could do it on the first day (of our five days of travel) from Geneva to Lausanne paying for it out of pocket. Or we could do Montruex to Lausanne (or Geneva depending on time) our last day of travel (so our pass would cover the cost). Which part of the lake would you recommend... Geneva to Lausanne or Montreux to Lausanne?

Thanks for all your help! Our trip would not be the same without it. :-)

Hello Swis4,

I personally know Sion a bit better than Montreux. Sion has a nice old town centre. Montreux is more popular I think. It's located at a scenic location next to Lake Geneva and vineyards.

About the boat ride: I think either section is beautiful, but you could opt for Geneva - Lausanne as that it close to the Lavaux Vinorama, the terraced vineyards in that region.

Montruex is a nice place, one of the things to do there is take a boat trip and there's a few options. An interesting trip would be to the Château de Chillon, it's one of the most impressive old castles in Switzerland : http://www.chillon.ch/en/

another cast is at Aigle, we were there yesterday and it's quite nice. It's set in vineyards and home to a museum of wine. It's pretty well done if you're interested in wine or château

http://SwissMountainLeader.com/gallery/var/resizes/Leysin-and-Area/20110527-151228.jpg
http://SwissMountainLeader.com/gallery/var/resizes/Leysin-and-Area/20110527-152121.jpg
http://SwissMountainLeader.com/gallery/var/resizes/Leysin-and-Area/20110527-161253.jpg

Just got back from Switzerland! My Husband and I loved it and would recommend any of the area's we went to.
Among our favorites...
1) Lake Thun: Great views and atomosphere. We could have spent all five days there, and would have loved every second of it.

2) Fondue! Definately worth a try. Super Delicous

3) Olympic Museum (Lausanne) *free with the Pass

4) Castle Chillon

5) Zermatt: Great view of the Matterhorn (Just check weather, because you won't see anything if it is cloudy)

6) Vineyards above Lake Gevena

7) Scenic Trains (Or even just the Scenic train routes)

**Definately worth the Swiss Youth Pass. It got us free into basically all the museums and castles we went to and saved us money in travel as well.

Thanks for your letting us know Swis4. Great that you had such a wonderful time and that you liked using the Swiss Pass! Your feedback will be appreciated by future travelers!