Switzerland Travel Help

[pnorris3]

So I am thinking of planning a trip to Switzerland for me and the wife and have a few questions if anyone can help out. We have yet to decide on the time of the year to visit. My wife can ski well and I have just started learning so I am not committed to going during the peak ski season although I am open to it.

1. My only experience with Europe so far has been England so I am wondering how difficult it will be getting by on English only.

2. Has anyone had the chance to stop in Wengen and is it worth spending some time in?

3. How long is an appropriate amount of time to spend in Switzerland?

4. What are the must see/do from your experience there?


Thanks everyone for any help you can provide.

[heymikey]

1) Mostly everyone in Switzerland can speak English so you shouldn't have any problems.
2) Never heard of Wengen. Sorry.
3) Depending on how many places you will visit and what are you planning on doing, one or two weeks should be enough.
4) Interlaken feels like Banff sandwiched between 2 lakes. There are some adventure activities there like white-water rafting, skydiving, etc. Although not really my thing, I did some hiking for about 4-5 hours around nearby Gimmelwald. The views are fantastic and the paths are well-marked so you won't get lost. I had a eurailpass with me and I was able to use it to cruise and 'village hop' around Lake Geneva (you can use the boats as part of the pass). There is also the Chateau de Chillon (http://www.chillon.ch/en/) that is right beside Lake Geneva. Aside from that, my experience with Switzerland is very limited.

[Psubs]

Lucerne is a beautiful city with a river running through it.

You'll need Swiss Francs.

[charliebrown]

You can drive through the whole country in a day :)

Places to visit:
Bern
Lausanne
Montreux

As someone else has mentioned, Lucerne is pretty neat with the wooden bridge.

Didn't really think there were many attractions at Interlaken though (granted, this was only a lunch-stop for us from Montreux to Lucerne in the glass-roofed train)

[pnorris3]

Where did you guys fly out of and into when you went?

[_RFDealt_]

Everything is pretty expensive. Drink some rivella. A train ride can be like a free tour of the countryside. We took a train up to Saint Moritz and it was an amazing ride.

[need2save]

1) Mostly everyone in Switzerland can speak English so you shouldn't have any problems.
2) Never heard of Wengen. Sorry.
3) Depending on how many places you will visit and what are you planning on doing, one or two weeks should be enough.
4) Interlaken feels like Banff sandwiched between 2 lakes. There are some adventure activities there like white-water rafting, skydiving, etc. Although not really my thing, I did some hiking for about 4-5 hours around nearby Gimmelwald. The views are fantastic and the paths are well-marked so you won't get lost. I had a eurailpass with me and I was able to use it to cruise and 'village hop' around Lake Geneva (you can use the boats as part of the pass). There is also the Chateau de Chillon (http://www.chillon.ch/en/) that is right beside Lake Geneva. Aside from that, my experience with Switzerland is very limited.

You spent all that time near Interlaken and Gimmelwald but don't know Wengen? It's another one of those touristy villages in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, on the same side as Grindelwald (I think). My first trip to Europe, I stayed in Murren on the opposite side/cliff the first two nights (pretty dead even in late September) on a three-week trip that ultimately ended in London.

To the OP, I flew into Zurich -- direct flight from Toronto via Air Canada. You can also fly into Geneva but I'm pretty sure that will require a connection. If you're flying from another part of Europe, some of the discount airlines fly into Basel, too.

[heymikey]

You spent all that time near Interlaken and Gimmelwald but don't know Wengen? It's another one of those touristy villages in the Lauterbrunnen Valley, on the same side as Grindelwald (I think).
Lol yeah. I've never heard of the place.

Anyway OP, I didn't fly to Switzerland and only took the trains. It was part of a 3-month backpacking trip and I was just passing through from Austria to Italy.

[Jay1234]

So I am thinking of planning a trip to Switzerland for me and the wife and have a few questions if anyone can help out. We have yet to decide on the time of the year to visit. My wife can ski well and I have just started learning so I am not committed to going during the peak ski season although I am open to it.

1. My only experience with Europe so far has been England so I am wondering how difficult it will be getting by on English only.

2. Has anyone had the chance to stop in Wengen and is it worth spending some time in?

3. How long is an appropriate amount of time to spend in Switzerland?

4. What are the must see/do from your experience there?


Thanks everyone for any help you can provide.

We spent almost 3 weeks in Switzerland this summer and still didn't see it all. to the Poster that said you could do many places in 1 day, you won't see much!

MUST SEE:
Zermatt
Lucerne
Mount Pilatus
Glacier Express (Zermatt - St. Moritz)
Arosa

Nice To See:
Zurich
Bern
Basel

Skip out:
Geneva

We basically travelled around for just over a week and then stayed in Arosa for the rest of the time.

You can get by with English, but knowing German or French also helps.

On the next trip we are planning:

Arosa
St. Moritz
Jungrafru
Interlaken
Belonzona
Mount Titus

Jay

[pnorris3]

Thanks for the info so far everyone. What is a reasonable budget for a 2 week trip at moderately priced hotels? Ballpark is fine as I know it depends on the activities you do.

[knickerbocker]

interlaken.......stay at balmers hostel

adventure capital of the world

canyoning

[Jay1234]

Thanks for the info so far everyone. What is a reasonable budget for a 2 week trip at moderately priced hotels? Ballpark is fine as I know it depends on the activities you do.

This is really going to depend on where you go and what you consider adequate hotels.

For the 1.5 wks we were travelling around (before going to Aorsa for a week), we paid nearly $2500 in hotels, and even with that, 2 nights were free due to hotel points programs. However, I know we could have done this cheaper, but we picked 4* and up hotels.

Here is where we stayed:

Zurich (arrival day): Mariott Hotel downtown
Arosa (August 1st festival): Arosa Sunpark Hotel
Zurich: Mariott Hotel downtown (POINTS)
Basel: Hilton (POINTS)
Lucerne: Radison Blu
Bern: Holiday Inn Bern Westside (HIHGLY RECOMMEND for Bern, and it was very reasonable)
Geneva: Quality Hotel Geneva
Zermatt: Hotel de La Corune
Arosa: Condo
Final Night: Raidson Blu Zurch Airport


You should also check out the switzerland forum over on tripadvisor, it is quite good!

Jay