Visiting Switzerland and France

[CJEMNMAC]

Heading to Zurich in July with my wife. SQ Suites over to ZRH and SQ suites back from CDG.

spending approx 9 - 10 days in Switzerland and then meeting friends for last 2 days in France before flying home.

Looking for any suggestions on accommodation, things to see. Considering driving from Zurich to Alps trying to find some smaller places to visit along the way.

Plan is to train it from Zurich to Paris

Would love to hear any suggestions, ideas etc etc as I really love hearing from peoples experiences

Thanks heaps

 

[kelvedon]

...where to begin. Firstly Switzerlands size is compact, it only takes a few hours to traverse the country. A car is great to get around but some places are only accessible by train. Interlaken is a good start. It sits between two lakes (as the name suggests) and a trip on the turquoise Lake Brienz on a paddle steamer is a very relaxing afternoon. Nearby is Grindlewald, nestled under the Eiger and from there you can catch the train up to the Jungfraujoch or visit Wengen, which offers iconic alpine views.



Zermatt for its famous Toblerone shaped Matterhorn (another car free village) , or Southern Switzerland for its lakes.

 

[kelvedon]

Lake Brienz from the Rothorn. Interlaken is at the top of the lake, the Jungrau, Monch, and Eiger mountains merging with the clouds in the next valley.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Lake Brienz from the Rothorn. Interlaken is at the top of the lake, the Jungrau, Monch, and Eiger mountains merging with the clouds in the next valley.

View attachment 119608

Thank you so much !... off to do some reasearch

 

[tgh]

#1 son was working in Basel.
Hotels in Basel are.. er .. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ suisse… so we camped over the border in Germany at Weil am Rhein.
While he toiled , he despatched us off to interesting places.
One such was following a valley in France that eventually took us to a medieval village.
On the way I wandered up and down and in and out and found a magnificent old church buried in the forest.
It was both beautiful and atmospheric, and quite untouched by tourism.
With a bit of work I could find the details (it was many years ago) , but my point is that there are just so many beautiful nooks and crannies in not only Switzerland , but the surrounding countries.
A car gives you the opportunity to see stuff that others do not.

 

[GSP]

A few years back I flew to Zurich and hired a car to drive down to the French Alps. Stayed about 5 days in a place called Le Chateroux de Alps which is 3 or 4k out of Embrum. The TdF was on at the time with two stages starting at Embrum so was ideal. (I like cycling).

On the way across I stayed at a small town on Lake Geneva just past Lausanne and drove the rest in the morning. On the way back did the full journey quite easy.

Regarding places to stay in the Alps, there are endless choices. Brancion is very nice, Biorg D'Oisans at the foot of the Alpe Du Huez climb is also a nice village, but on the way through Annecy and plenty of others all looked good.

What are you after re: going to the Alps, riding? Skiing?, Some other adventure sport (rafting down rapids) or just chilling and sight seeing?

 

[JohnM]

Agree about Zermatt/Matterhorn. Also suggest check out Chamonix (at the foot of Mont Blanc). A helo ride over Mont Blanc is something you won't forget.

Be aware if you rent a car and use a GPS, it may say 'take the ferry' waaay up in the mountains. At least that's how my TomTom described it. It was mighty confusing, but it turned out that the 'ferry' is a car-ferrying train through a tunnel and the only way to get from one valley to the next.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

A few years back I flew to Zurich and hired a car to drive down to the French Alps. Stayed about 5 days in a place called Le Chateroux de Alps which is 3 or 4k out of Embrum. The TdF was on at the time with two stages starting at Embrum so was ideal. (I like cycling).

On the way across I stayed at a small town on Lake Geneva just past Lausanne and drove the rest in the morning. On the way back did the full journey quite easy.

Regarding places to stay in the Alps, there are endless choices. Brancion is very nice, Biorg D'Oisans at the foot of the Alpe Du Huez climb is also a nice village, but on the way through Annecy and plenty of others all looked good.

What are you after re: going to the Alps, riding? Skiing?, Some other adventure sport (rafting down rapids) or just chilling and sight seeing?

Cheers thanks

Yes the plan is some sight seeing and relaxing.. some well earned R and R

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Agree about Zermatt/Matterhorn. Also suggest check out Chamonix (at the foot of Mont Blanc). A helo ride over Mont Blanc is something you won't forget.

Be aware if you rent a car and use a GPS, it may say 'take the ferry' waaay up in the mountains. At least that's how my TomTom described it. It was mighty confusing, but it turned out that the 'ferry' is a car-ferrying train through a tunnel and the only way to get from one valley to the next.

Yes thank you... so much to take in, in about 9 days. Definitely keen to see the Matterhorn

 

[jase05]

Definitely would recommend the Glacier express and or the Gotthard Express. 2 of the most beautiful train rides I’ve been on. We are going back again this year and will do the Gotthard Express, Bernina Express and Glacier Express loop. Zermatt is awesome and if you can get a room with a Matterhorn view there are not many better sights to see. Lucerne is a favourite and staying on Mt Pilatus for a night is something special. Do the loop of the cog train up and Gondala down for some great views. Mount Titlas has the revolving cable cars and is well worth a day trip from Lucerne. In the Interlaken area you have Grindelwald and Grimmelwald which are 2 amazing little towns and the waterfalls at Lauterbrunnen are quite a sight. Highlight would be Jungfraujoch and would be one not to miss. Even their cities are beautiful, Zurich and Geneva are two of my favourite European cities and Bern is so beautiful. Invest in a Swiss pass or Swiss half fare card if doing extensive train travel as you will also get reduced fare or free travel on buses, boats, gondolas, scenic trains aswell as many other extras such as free museum entry.

 

[kelvedon]

Invest in a Swiss pass or Swiss half fare card if doing extensive train travel as you will also get reduced fare or free travel on buses, .

Yes, Swiss trains are very expensive, if youre going to use them more than a few times a half fare card is worth investigating ( indeed you can easily do Switzerland just by train)

Swiss Half Fare Card – Switzerland at half the price | SBB

If using a car, near interlaken is the village of Iseltwald. There's a nice small hotel on the lake shore that I've used a number of times. Quiet and easier parking than in Interlaken and dinner overlooking the lake makes for a very pleasant evening.

Hotel Chalet Du Lac, Iseltwald / Brienzersee - Welcome to Iseltwald and Lake Brienz near Interlaken in the Jungfrau region!

 

[Pushka]

Chamonix in July. Superb. We hired a car from Paris and drove through.
This May we are staying in Milan and then taking the train into St Moritz - Berlina Express also.







In the ‘80’s we hired a car and drove through Germany and Switzerland through to Jungfrau and Eiger. Lake Brienz and Interlaken. Lichtenstein. Also stunning. You just can’t go wrong.

 

[Mumanddad]

We were there for 2 weeks late last year (out of tourist season) and split our time between Lucerne, Wengen and Montreux. We used the half fare card and found the train system to be excellent and did quite a few day trips. There were a lot of foreign tourist groups still around, and we upgraded to first class a number of times where we often had the carriage to ourselves. The scenery is stunning, whatever you end up doing you won't be disappointed.

We fell in love with the country and are hoping to go back again soon.

 

[RB]

We are fortunate enough to have a good friend who lives in Mendrisio. She also has a house in Pigra (Italy)- above Lake Como and we have spent some great times around that area-happy to help with more info if required. Anothr area I think has not been mentioned so far is around Konstanz- close to your landing point & that bit different to Alps.
As others have mentioned the Aussie $$$$$ takes a hit in Switzerland but the natural environment seems to soften the blow

 

[Anna]

One tip for trying not to spend quite so much money in Switzerland is to eat a bigger meal at lunchtime taking advantage of restaurant lunchtime specials. Then in the evenings, it's easy to pick up pre-prepared, lighter take-away meals and salads from either Migros or Coop supermarkets which begin to discount their prices as it gets nearer to closing time.

I loved Switzerland but every time I ate dinner in a restaurant I felt like it was costing me double what the same meal would have cost in Australia.

 

[Pvcmenace]

Spent Christmas 2016 in Zurich, Hired a car and went to Lucerne and up to Mount Pilatus, it was spectacular. Nice restaurant half way up too that looks up to the peak. Agree with earlier posts that food especially is expensive in Zurich so some self catering can be a bit more of a frugal option so stay in an apartment. One word of warning some of the really old buildings have very cramped stairwells and low ceilings.


We also took the train to Paris which was a very efficient and comfortable way of getting there. In first class lunch and a beverage was included.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Thanks everyone so much for your interest and responding... It has helped us out alot