[Removed user]

1 May 2018 at 15:14:47 #815654

Greetings and thank you for creating this resource page! We are a family of 5 adults and 1 child, planning on visiting Switzerland during Christmas-time. We love traveling in Switzerland in the summer and would like to experience the Christmas atmosphere this time. We found the Self Guided 14-day tour “Best of the Swiss Alps” itinerary to be ideal although we realize it would work best in the summer. Could we still use Interlaken and Brig as our base to explore surrounding areas in the winter? Or are there sample itineraries for traveling around winter? Thank you in advance for your inputs!

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[Removed user]

1 May 2018 at 18:23:41 #883828

Hi BamT, and welcome to MySwissAlps,

Yes, Interlaken for sure. But instead of Interlaken you could also look into Grindelwald or Wengen. These villages are nicer than Interlaken. I personally find 3 nights in Brig long. I don’t know many people who stay there. You could add Montreux to your itinerary.

Before Christmas there are some nice Christmas markets as well: http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/christmasmark ets.

[Removed user]

1 May 2018 at 20:47:39 #883829

Thank you for your prompt response and valuable suggestions, Chantal. We were unsure about Brig, so really appreciated your input on that. Thank you also for directing us to your December and Christmas market itineraries!

[Removed user]

1 May 2018 at 23:35:32 #883830

I know several people who have stayed in Brig quite a few times.

It is not a bad place to stay, not a massive tourist trap so arguably more economical place to stay.

It has its own charm.

And you can hardly say that Brig has poor rail connections to places with snow (Zermatt, Furka – Oberalp, Kandersteg, Crnas Montana, Verbier

[Removed user]

2 May 2018 at 5:51:34 #883831

I spent an afternoon and Brig and thought it was quite nice.
You can read about the trip I took there (and to Blausee) here if you like. There are some pictures as well.

[Removed user]

2 May 2018 at 18:00:10 #883832

Thank you for the input and clarification, Everyone!

We now are considering Wengen (as per Chantal’s recommendation), Muerren, and Brig.

We might stay in Brig for one-two nights to visit Zermatt. 1960man — Appreciate your input on rail connections between Brig and Zermatt. Thank you!

And many thanks, Lucas, for directing us to the report on your day trip in Brig and the picture of the impressive town square!

[Removed user]

2 May 2018 at 23:21:24 #883833

The railway to Zermatt, now known as the Matterhorn Gotthard bahn was actually known as the Brig – Visp Zermatt (BVZ) railway for 50 years , so the clue’s in the name!

Brig’s position on the Swiss inter city rail network makes it a good base for many places not just Zermatt.

Don’t forget how small Switzerland is. Basel has a famous huge Christmas market and is on the northern border of Switzerland, but is still only 2 hours from Brig by direct inter city train. That is only 30 minutes longer than the journey from Brig – Zermatt!

[Removed user]

5 May 2018 at 2:15:41 #883834

If you are particularly keen to visit Christmas markets, then you might find my reports on December trips interesting! You will need to search through the trip report section (unless one of the moderators can link to them for you!) The first one we did was in Dec 2010 and was posted on Feb 1st 2011 titled “Our December Swiss trip” and the second one was posted December 17th 2016 and entitled “Maggie’s December Swiss trip report – Christmas markets”. on both occasions we stayed in Biel/Bienne – good rail links. Montreux is our favourite market.

Maggie

[Removed user]

5 May 2018 at 4:19:07 #883835

Using the search box for “Christmas” will bring up a lot of threads on the markets – as well as Maggie’s. 🙂

[Removed user]

5 May 2018 at 13:31:21 #883836

Great info and resources — thank you, Everyone!