Trips to Switzerland

I'm planning to spend four days holiday in Switzerland with my girlfriend but have no knowledge of places and hotels. Anyone have some suggestions for us?

Thanks.

Switzerland is a wonderful place. Well, the part of it that I know and love certainly is.

Anywhere along the shores of Lake Leman (often called lake Geneva).

Staying in France will be cheaper, such places as Ferney Voltaire, Belgarde, Gex Divonne... all just 20 mins drive from Geneva city center.

Be warned, this place is not cheap!

Enjoy
G

If you wanna know about Ticino and other towns look here: Ticino Switzerland

Clarify, what kind of holiday do you have in mind - somewhere up in the mountains or near one of the lakes?

If you want mountains you could go to the Bernese Oberland (the area around Interlaken, Grindelwald, etc.). Lake Léman has already been mentioned (Geneva, Montreux, Vevey), and there's also Luzern: the old town is lovely and the surrounding area is very nice as well. Ticino, too, is well worth a visit, and since it's on the southern slopes of the Alps it's normally warmer than the north.

There are many other possibilities, but without knowing what you are looking for it's a bit difficult to give proper advice.

Definitely spend a night in Gimmelwald (outside of Interlaken). Great views, hiking and clean mountain air. We are going back next spring.

I second the motion regarding Montreux/Vevey, I love those two towns. You have the lake with its possibilites, mountains (with a cog-rail train), the chateau de Chillon, the tiny museum in Vevey (Napoleon's last man-servant was from Vevey and brought back a death mask), France and Geneva at your fingertips. Stay at a little Pension outside the town centers, though. May be francophone only but they are cheaper and the food is better (granted, you might get horseflesh ...).

I've been to St. Gallen a couple of times. It's a nice town, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and easy to get to Lake Constance from there. You can also make a day (or half-day) trip to Appenzell, which is a funny/charming village with really stinky cheese and a lot of tourists. But it's fun in kind of a Swiss-cheesy sort of way. Lots of nice walking in the area of Appenzell.

St. Gallen is on the EC line to Zurich, so you can get there by direct train.

Hi, My family and a friend are planning a short trip to Switzerland, We shall take DB to Zurich on 27.04, rent a car in Zurich for 4 days to travel around Switzerland and return to Zurich to return the car and take the train back to Munich on the 1.05.07.

Well we are looking for advice on planning our trip, as neither of us hv been to Switzerland before. We do not have a big budget but we would like to spend no more than Euro 30-50 per day per person excluding travel. I would like to know about some of your's experiences in any such trip. Which places to go and what to avoid. And also references to some cheap accommodation etc. will be greatly appreciated.

Best,
Saurabh

Topics merged by admin

You mean food, accommodation, petrol, plus activities (museum tickets, boat rides, etc.)? I'm sorry, I really don't think it's realistic. As you probably know, Switzerland is very expensive. In my opinion, the amount you mention could cover food and maybe something else as well, but certainly wouldn't stretch to accommodation. Maybe someone else thinks differently and can make some useful suggestions. I honestly don't know what advice to give you, sorry.

Quite true.

Switzerland is very expensive. I have always stayed with a friend while there. Helps a lot. Been years, but I recall that the grocery stores (Migros, Coop) had sit down cafeteria-style restaurants that were somewhat sanely priced. Of course you could always buy groceries rather than dine out to save a franc. Other than that, find the hostels.

Great country, very nice people in my experience. Zurich, Bern and Lugano were my favorites. Geneva is ok, but I would give it a pass. Lausanne is very sweet. Interlaken is the place for mountains, but bring money. Basel is the one place I have never really seen despite hearing good things.

If you want to spend so little here is a nice site

http://www.swissbackpackers.ch/

I have stayed in a lot of these places. I always found them to have a lot more character than YHA hostels.

I also notice they have some family hostels - given it sounds like your taking a family they will probably suit.

What sort of things are you fancying? City? Mountians?

Also why hire a car? Switzerland has a really good comprehensive public transport system. They also have offers for tourists on tickets which are valid everywhere. I guess the value depends on how many people are going.

I had the same reaction at first regarding your budget. 30 euros per day won't work. 50 could work if you more or less stick to self service restaurants or self catering, hiking instead of cable cars, visiting inexpensive sights and confining alcohol consumption to bottles bought in the supermarket.

That said, here are some tips and recs:
An expense that can really blow your budget are those damn cable cars (short to medium ascents can cost 6 to 15 euros!) Hike, hike, hike up and down those mountains!

cheap accommodation in zurich: city backpacker. www.city-backpacker.ch
downtown and convenient

cheap food in Zurich: East Bank area: cafe zähringer on spitalgasse. an alternative cafe run by a collective. live music at night once a week. Crazy Cow on Leonhardstrasse 1 quirky! swiss food!

to do: stroll around the shores of lake Zurich, do a walking tour of the old town, visit the Lindt chocolate factory
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EDIT:
here's what I wrote on another thread...

I really love the small towns/villages around Lake Lucerne- especially Vitznau and Weggis.

Here is a good site

http://www.the-best-of-lake-lucerne.ch/en/welcome.cfm?

that lists sport offers and events.