Retirement trip

Hello
I am retired and my wife is due to finish in October.
We are considering a celebration trip to Switzerland.
We plan to leave UK around 27 Oct.for around 10/14 days.
Looking at tourist packages seem to indicate that they stop before then, so it is probably down to us.
Basically we would like to take this opportunity to see some of the best sights.
Although it's not very much to go on, does anyone have some suggestions?
Thank you

One of the reasons the packaged tours probably stop before then is that most of the gondolas, lifts, cable trains, etc that one must utilize to get up into the high Alps shut down beginning Oct 22 and don't re-open until the ski season starts in December (usually Dec 10). Also, many of the restaurants and hotels in mountain villages (such as Wengen and Mürren) close up during this time as well.

If you can schedule your trip to coincide with the re-opening of these facilities you will have better access to the "best sights" (which are the glorious Alps). Otherwise you will be mostly in larger cities, around lakes, etc.

Hello A-Smallwood,

A very good idea to celebrate your retirements in Switzerland.
Can you clarify what you mean by "Looking at tourist packages seem to indicate that they stop before then"?

May be this refers to the fact that quite some means of transportation are closed by the end of October (preparing for the winter season, and/or for maintenance)? Nevertheless there are lots of possibilities during this time of the year!

Weather conditions in end October/ begin November may vary from very nice and sunny high up in the mountains to quite a lot of snow in the valleys (no-one can predict this), but the Swiss transporting system will generally work perfectly.

The main cantons you might wish to visit are the Bernese Oberland, and/or Wallis or Graubünden. This website gives you a lot of information concerning these cantons. You can find e.g. day trips and hiking tips (although these are mainly summer trips/tips). And then: you can use the search option in the top hand right corner of this website.

Can you let me know what appeals most to you (traveling through the country, highlights in the mountains, cities, museums etc)?

Good luck preparing your visit!

Hello Wandermann
Thank you for your very prompt reply.
The fact that some travel packages come to an end at the beginning of October seemed to us to probably be because there is a break between the different seasons.
Our schedule is set by our being free from child minding!
Even though we will have some restrictions we are still considering this period.
Our choice would be traveling to take in the autumn/winter scenery. The city and tourist visits would be governed by appropriate stops on the journey.
My wife has suggested we might look at a package some friends of our took last summer and see if we could take the outline from there and arrange it ourselves.
I have noted your suggestions ... I have some work to do!
Thank you again for your stimulus!