April 2016 visit to Chateau D”Oex; things to do?

  • Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    1 October 2015 at 19:05:18 #808003

    Hello,

    Does anyone have any ideas of things to do in April in the vicinity of Chateau D’Oex?

    Any suggestions welcome.

    Many thanks,

    Adrienne

    I

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    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    1 October 2015 at 23:24:23 #846389

    Adrienne-

    Nice to see you on the forum.

    I don’t have specific answers, but you might find a history of Chateau-d’Oex of more than passing interest. I have just finished reading the following book about the village and leaned a lot about how Switzerland became the country that it is today.

    Switzerland, a Village History.

    David Birmingham

    Swallow Press/University Press

    Athens, Ohio

    1999

    ISBN 0-8040-1065-X

    Slowpoke

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    2 October 2015 at 8:20:51 #846390

    Hi Adrienne,

    Château-d’Oex is on the wonderful Golden Pass line, so definitively include that in your plans. You can visit Montreux, and Glacier 3000, for example.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    4 October 2015 at 0:58:28 #846391

    <<“Does anyone have any ideas of things to do in April in the vicinity of Chateau D’Oex?”>>

    Adrienne –

    What do you like to do? Are you a hiker? A skier?

    How far away is the boundary of “vicinity”?

    Slowpoke

    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    5 October 2015 at 7:45:52 #846392

    Many thanks to David, Arno and Slowpoke for replying to my request.

    This has been really helpful for me. To answer your question Slowpoke : I am in my 50’s, and while I enjoy walking I would not qualify as a real hiker. I am more interested in knowing what is interesting to visit and can be reached within an easy travelling time ( aprox one to one and a half hours).

    I will certainly reserach the golden pass line and try to get my hands on the book that David mentioned.

    Thanks again for your help.

    Adrienne

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    5 October 2015 at 15:44:07 #846393

    Hi Adrienne –

    Thanks for the time limit. There are certainly very nice things to see and do within 1 1/2 hours, and quite a few more as you stretch that limit a bit. I always consider the train rides and the views as a treat, not a burden, so you might find yourself willing to go to Bern (at about 2 hours) for instance. Geneva is a stretch, (2 hrs 15 minutes) but, once again, it is a nice train ride.

    How many days will you be in Chateau d’Oex? What part of the month? The weather is quite different from the beginning of April to the end, especially at elevations such as Chateau-d’Oex is at.

    Montreux ( on the Golden Pass route) comes to mind, as Annika noted. The train ride down into Montreux through the vineyards is a wonderful experience. Lots to do near Montreux, too, and it is only about 1 hour away.

    http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass

    http://www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux

    You can pick up a lake boat at Montreux, too.

    If you go the other way on the Golden Pass route, to Interlaken, you’ll spend 2 hrs 6 minutes on the fast train. Interlaken is not much of a destination in itself. It is what is nearby that is extraordinary, but it will take significantly more time to reach those locations, and the higher trails (easy, scenic ones) will be snowed in. Some services will be shut down between seasons then, too.

    Gruyeres is a nice visit, although you will surely find plenty of tourists there. 45 to 52 minutes from Chateau-d’Oex

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/gruyere-castle.html

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/lucerne-to-gruyeres-day-trip

    Just slightyly over your 1 1/2 hour time limit is Fribourg, at 1 hr 49 minutes. I particularly enjoy the old town, down by the river. You reach it by funicular from the park that is a couple of blocks southeast from the train station. Or, you can take a bus, or walk down the long flight of stairs beside the funicular.

    Lots of places to eat and watch the tourists and citizens walk by, if the weather is sunny.

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/freiburg.html

    My Switzerland.com ( the Swiss Tourism website) has lots of information about destinations and things to see. If you have a town in mind, see what they have to say:

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/home.html

    http://www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/chateau-d-oex-rougemont.html

    Once you have identified a town, locate it on the map for perspective, and use the timetable for travel times and routes.

    I suggest that you use a map and a timetable in that fashion to look at possibilities. The timetable changes on December 15th, but the times for current travel are good enough for estimates. (Boats and cable cars have a schedule that varies substantially from season to season, so those need to be checked for the particular date being considered. But, you can get a idea of timing for boat rides from current timetables.)

    One map I like –

    map.search.ch/

    If you zoom in enough to get icons for train/bus stops, you’ll get transport schedules in a pop-up window for that station)

    The time table –

    http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

    The timetable defaults to the fastest route. So, you may have to use an intermediate stop in the “connection” or “via” box to force the routing. For example – for Luzern to Montreux, and specifically, Interlaken to Montreux, you need to go via Zweisimmen, or else you’ll get the faster but less scenic routes through Bern.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    8 October 2015 at 7:33:46 #846394

    Adrienne-

    This trip report has sections which could be helpful for you,concerning the area around Lausanne. and Montreux.

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/our-8day-swiss-sojourn

    Lausanne is just about 1 hr 30 minutes from Chateu-d’Oex, although slower routes including buses via La Sepey and Aigle could be interesting for the rides above the lake and on the smaller train lines.

    Slowpoke

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