Me, my hubby, mom and dad(60+) are going to Paris in first week of August. Staying in Paris for 2 days and will leave for Switzerland. Need help for places to cover in Switzerland in 5days.
We will leave Paris on 6th Aug for Switzerland. And will have to come back to Paris to catch 7:00am train on 12th Aug.
We do not want a very hectic trip as we are travelling with parents. We are interested in Choclate train too. Also suggest which pass should we buy.
Please HELP!!
Passes: www.myswitzerland.com.
Where to go:- Once you've decided on your itinerary, book a train from Paris to Switzerland ASAP for cheapest price. They only get more expensive closer to the date.
Geneva = 1 day. Flower clock, IRCC museum, fountain.
Zurich = lots of money. It's OK, but it's nothing special.
Instead I'd hit the usual suspect - Bernese Oberland. Consider basing yourself in Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Interlaken. Justification - very very scenic, very well set up for tourists, Interlaken's a major station so you can easily get in and out of the area, no car would be required. Itinerary whilst there - Schilthorn cable car lift (as seen in on her majesty's secret service), Jungfraujoch (don't go up if the weather's crap), boat trip on either thunersee or brienzersee (good when the weather's crap), trummelbach falls (major waterfall, at the end of the (relatively flat) valley from Lauterbrunnen, plus lots of walking trails which are as flat or as steep as you like.
You could also take scenic trains. Example: head to Montreux, take the golden pass train over to Interlaken. Bit slower than the intercities, but even more scenic.
That's just one region of Switzerland, there are others of course. See http://www.lonelyplanet.com/switzerland for more ideas.
Because of your travel, you have four full days in Switzerland (with maybe an additional half-day for sightseeing). If you don't want a rushed trip, I would say you're looking at most 2-3 stops. Since it sounds like the Chocolate Train is on your list, I would go first Paris>Geneva>Montreux. Next day do chocolate train day trip to Gruyeres and Broc. The following day take Fwoggie's suggestion for Golden Pass train Montreux>Interlaken - you could stay in Interlaken itself (in the valley, more touristy) or head up into one of the nearby mountain towns he/she mentioned. Spend three nights, then head back to Paris. If you want to break up your train trip you could spend your final night in Switzerland in Bern.
You don't say if you have been to Paris before, but I feel it needs more than 2 days if you have not.
Thanks a lot Fwoggie for your reply!
We do not want to cover many museums or walking trips. We are more interested in doing activities in natural beauty. Places I heard to be of interest are-
Interlaken (will go to jungfrauch and can do cruise)
luzern/lucerne
Montreux (will go for Choclate train and can do golden pass train to lucerne)
zermatt -Glacier Express to st. mortiz
Schilthorn cable car
Boat trip on either Brienzersee or Thunersee
Trummelbach Falls
May go to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Murren
But I am unable to decide itinerary, which place to go first, how many days to stay there, where to go next, etc. :(
Thanks oedipamaas
So I should go like:
Aug 6: paris>geneva>montreux (overnight montreux)
Aug 7: Choclate train (overnight montreux)
Aug 8: Golden Pass montreux>interlaken (overnight interlaken)
Aug 9: Jungfrauch (overnight interlaken)
Aug 10: Schilthorn cable car and Trummelbach Falls (overnight interlaken)
Aug 11: boat trip on either Brienzersee or Thunersee (overnight in train to Paris)
Aug 12: Paris
Does it seems a perfect itinerary? Am I missing any activity/place that should not be missed?
@ LouisXIV
We have not been to Paris. But we are planing to take 2days hopon-hopoff bus to cover most of the attractions. My parents are not much interested in museums.
I think it's starting to tip back into the "hectic" category. I would give yourself at least one day when you're not hopping on a train. That could be at Interlaken or Montreux. I might suggest Interlaken because you don't know what the weather is going to be like. Aug. 9 could be a nice, sunny day to go up to Jungfraujoch but it might not be, in which case you'd have to wait a day or so to go up. So I would cut back on the sights to see - you can always add more one when you're there and are feeling the energy for it. And I wouldn't worry about missing something from your list - you want to take the time to enjoy the view and the mountain air while you're there and not feel like rushing around constantly.
In general, I'm not a fan of overnight trains, but there are two bigger problems here: 1) there doesn't seem to be an overnight train that does not route you through Milan, which would make no sense to do and 2) no train will get you back comfortably in time to catch your 7AM train from Paris. You really need to travel back to Paris on the 11th and overnight there.
re: #7. Please, no! You have so much in your itinerary now and only 4 days to accomplish it. I know it's hard to believe that less is more, but there really are quickly diminishing returns when you start fitting too much in. If you wanted to go to Lucerne instead of either Montreux or Interlaken you could rearrange your itinerary to accomplish that.