Best Swiss city to station myself for 8 days?

Hi,

2nd December i'll be arriving via Paris. Which is the best city to station myself and do the tour for 8 days ?

Zurich ? Geneva ? Bern ? Interlaken ? Lucerne ?

I would love to see the Alps..so kindly advise which one should I do.

Hi Italia -

Welcome to the Forum.

With 8 days you would be better off using two bases. It will save some time on the trains, due to longer journeys if you have only one base.

A map and a timetable will be useful:

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

map.search.ch/

Here are some data on cities and regions you may wish to visit:

www.myswissalps.com/wh eretogo

Luzern (German spelling; it is a German language region) is often considered a good base for first time visitors to Switzerland.

www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

To see the Alps is not hard...they pop up on the horizon at a distance from many places. And, there are many Alps....the Bernina Alps, the Valais Alps, The Berner Oberland, even the Dolomites on the border with Italy. See attached image taken in the Emmental.

The most famous are probably those of the Bernese Oberland...the Eiger, the Jungfrau, Schilthorn, and others nearby:

www.myswissalps.com/ju ngfrauregion

You will be able to get close to them and and see a lot from the cog-rail train that runs from Lauterbrunnen upwards. It will be running.

In early December, the Winter season has not yet begun in the Alpine resorts, so many hotels will not be open and many cable cars will be shut down for maitemance or lack of customers untila approximately December 15th. Interlaken has few attractions on its own, but is a good base for the Jungfrau, especially in the off seasons, when more accomodation is available there.

Do you have any special interests beyond seeing the Alps? Hiking, skiing, cities, old towns, museums, train rides?

Are you from Italy?

Slowpoke

Thanks for the reply Slowpoke.

i really am clueless on where to start, not that I do not want to do my own research but am stuck with my final exam next week and after exam am off for the trip. There is not much time to spend on doing research. Really appreciate your reply.

I thought of taking a train from Paris to Zurich and station myself there for a few days. I love to do city tours, shopping and train rides apart from the alps.

Other then city tours in Zurich and shopping what else can I do from there ?

i know there are a few train rides - could you suggest which one should I do ?

i know there are a few mountains to see - which one should I do ? I want to do Jungfrou. Another one or two that you can suggest ?

the 2nd hotel should I stay in Lucerne or Interlaken to make best use of the time to travel ? Bern & Geneva is it worth to stay ?

ive did some research on the Swiss pass - it's gonna cost me about CHF300, that is about MYR1,300 due to our exchange rate..pity us..haha. Just wondering is it gonna be worth the money to buy that ?

thanks

<<"ive did some research on the Swiss pass - it's gonna cost me about CHF300, that is about MYR1,300 due to our exchange rate..pity us..haha. Just wondering is it gonna be worth the money to buy that ?">>

Nice to see that you are doing some research.

You will only know the answer to that after you figure out what you are going to do and where you are going to go. A half fare card may be better, or a more specialized pass.

Itinerary first, travel pass after that.

You could have enough time after next week to do some planning....? Paris to Luzern via Basel would work well, if Luzern appeals. Not that Zürich is a bad destination...it is a wonderful city. Ialways stay there when in Switzerland. But, it is not as full of various touristic options as Luzern.

Slowpoke.

Hi Italia,

Once you have an itinerary you can pick a rail pass as explained here. Be careful with information about the Swiss Pass. That pass no longer exists so you may have read old information. It has been replaced by the Swiss Travel Pass: myswissalps.com/ swisstravelpass. Don't wait too long with your decision. Passes are cheaper online as you can see here, but it takes a few days to ship it to you. If you don't have time to plan a detailed itinerary, but you're sure you will travel daily, an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass is a good choice. From Malaysia, you can obtain it through www.raileurope.com.sg/ pass/swiss-travel-pass-82 or www.raileurope-world.com/pass/swiss-travel-pass-82. You can also book the train from Paris on those sites. They need to be booked in advance and booking early is usually cheaper. With a Swiss Travel Pass you only need a ticket to Basel. The rest is free with your pass. For Luzern, change trains in Basel. I would also recommend Luzern over Zurich.

As for which mountains to visit: all excursions and views are quite different. Jungfraujoch is very impressive, but also expensive. Mount Rigi is very pretty and free with your pass. There are many more options. Click the "What to do" menu and have a look yourself. You may find one more attractive than another. Scenic train trips can be found there too.

If you need help finding accommodation, please decide on the towns and then post to the accommodation forum for assistance.

Hi Slowpoke,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I did have little time to do research till to date and I've read in the forum to be able to buy the Swiss pass you need time for it to be ship to you that is why I read about that 1st. Haven't been able to do others yet.

my exam will only finish end of November so that give me little time. Anyway, I will take your advise on the stationing myself at Luzern. Just wanted to know which train rides and which Places should I visit then I could just narrow down the search.

hi Arno,

thanks for the reply. Will google on the info given.

Bern vs Geneva which one is better ? In terms of city tour and lakes

thanks

<<"Bern vs Geneva which one is better ? In terms of city tour and lakes">>

I personally like to spend time in Bern more than in Geneva, but either city has many attractions.

If you follow the map link that I gave you in my first post in this thread, you will observe thaat there are no lakes close to Bern.

Bern has a very nice old city, unique in its design and sightseeing.

The lake adds a special character to Geneva, but I'd stay in Montreux if that is your interest. Montreux has a more diverse environment, and is closer to mountains and scenic vineyard, as well various interesting smaller towns and Bern (for a day trip), as I describe toward the end of the thread in :

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/first-trip-with-my-21-and-13-years-old-kids

Also, see:

www.myswissalps.com/wh eretogo

www.myswissalps.com/be rn

www.myswissalps.com/ge neva

www.myswissalps.com/mo ntreux

For 8 days I would consider staying in three places ,in this order, Luzern, then Interlaken, then Montreux.

www.myswissalps.com/in terlaken

Bern is a shotrt ride from Interlaken.

Slowpoke