January - suggestions for a base for three nights.

Hi there, Please could you suggest a base for our family of four (two teenagers), for 2 days/3 nights in Switzerland in January, en route from Paris to Venice. We would like to experience some beautiful scenery, including the Alps, as a contrast to the cities but are not wanting to ski. We prefer one base from which to explore rather than overnight stays. Thank you for any help

Hi Susan,

Zermatt would be very nice: you'll be in a snow covered landscape surrounded by peaks and easy to access viewing points. Also you can hike on Winter trails. There will be lots of people skiing, but there's plenty to do for non-skiers as well. See the timetable for how to get there. Grindelwald is also an option.

Thank you for suggesting Zermatt. Just wondering if we would need to hire snow shoes for walking the trails in January? The town looks beautiful and we would need easy access to the train station for an early start and long trip to Venice. Are there taxis that we could take with our luggage very early in the morning to get to the station? Much accomodation has been booked already so we need to make sure the town and village is accessible as we are nonskiers, so any advice as to the best part of town to stay would be great. Thank you so much.

Hi susanb,

The town is small, car free and easy to navigate. There are electric buses and many hotels have electric cars to bring people to the station. Also you can pick a hotel at walking distance from the station. You don't need snow shoes on designated Winter trails, but you do need solid water proof hiking shoes.

The page about Zermatt that Annika referred to has more information about transportation, and also hotel suggestions, including their distance to the rail station.

Thank you. Your responses and links have been great! We were originally thinking Interlaken as our base from which to explore Grindelwald and other towns nearby but are now thinking we might prefer Zermatt. Are you able to recommend a swiss pass for this trip (paris-zermatt-venice), 4 day pass, or better to just buy point to point for our travels. I am just wondering about cable car costs from Zermatt. Thanks

We're glad to help. I think you will like Zermatt or Grindelwald more than Interlaken. Interlaken is a touristy town and it's biggest advantage is that it is very well connected, so it's easy to explore a wide region from there. The town itself is not scenic though, and there won't be (much) snow in town.

As for passes: it really depends on what you are going to do. Once you know that, then see this guide about how to pick a pass. When based in Zermatt, I would say that the Swiss Half Fare Card, Adventure Card and the Zermatt Peak Pass would be worth looking into. If your teens are under 16 they will travel along for free or a low amount. See the various passes for how that works.