14 nights trip. Flying into Lyon return from Geneva. Tips needed

Do you plan on spending any time in Lyon?

At this point no, we were thinking of just getting on the train once we landed and heading to Paris.

You can take a direct train from Lyon Part Dieu to Paris Gare de Lyon (2h). From Paris you can take a direct train to Strasbourg (2h) and store your luggage and sight see in Strasbourg before continuing your journey to Colmar (45m) where you would sleep in the Alsace region.
From Colmar, take a train to Gimmelwald (4h 15m) that requires four connections. From Gimmelwald, take a train to Bern (2h) that requires three connections. You can take a day trip from Bern to Murten / Morat (45m). From Bern take a direct train to Genève-Aéroport (2h).
In Paris you want to see Notre-Dame Cathedral and Sainte-Chapelle if the sun is shining. You may also want to go to the Louvre which is always terribly crowded. Do see the Orsay Museum and walk down Champs-Elysées to Arc de Triomphe. I would give Paris five nights.
Rick Steves’ has a new FR guidebook coming out in Oct. His CH guide came out last year. I recommend buying both to learn what he suggests is an ideal amount of time in each location.

What time of year is your trip?

The interior of Notre Dame is inaccessible due to the massive fire. I'm not sure how good a look you can get at the outside of it right now.

Weather in mountain areas is always iffy. You can't be sure on any given day in the Berner Oberland that the weather will be suitable for outdoor activities, so it's great to have extra time there and back-up activities planned. Do you want to go up to the top of any of the mountain peaks? Do you plan village-to-village walks?

I found a lot of interesting things to do in Lyon and would happily throw any extra time on this trip to that city since it's your landing point. However, I'd be more likely to stick with Paris, Alsace and the B.O. You're going to need to spend your last night in or near Geneva anyway, so that's already 4 hotels over the course of 14 nights.

Where are you flying from? Very few nonstops from N.A. to Lyon. I do see one from Montreal and the price to Lyon is a few CAD more than flying to Paris. If you want to start in Paris, fly to Paris.

If you’re flying into Lyon, look at some Google images to see if you want to stay there a couple of days and explore the Vieux Lyon area. We found that area charming and walked up to the top to see the views from the cathedral. (We also took the gondola a couple of times). There’s an excellent Roman museum up there, too, with ruins right behind it. We were there 3-4 nights and were glad we visited Lyon.

Just for clarification, we know flying into Lyon might not make the most sense, but it is a rewards flight and first class was only available for us to Lyon and not Paris, and that is totally worth it to us.

You’re flying into the food capital of a food-focused country culture. As good food is among your loves, stick around at least a day or two. A market and cooking class by the wonderful and talented Lucy Vanel can be arranged through her top Plum Lyon cooking school https://www.plumlyon.com/pages/about . Her classes have been put on hold during the Pandemic, but will hopefully be available when you are there. Also, classes are limited or not held in August.

We spent 5 days in Lyon in 2019 and I regret we didn't have more time. The Musée du Confluence was a highlight, and we also happened upon a phenomenal photo exhibit at La Sucrière in the Confluence neighbourhood which is undergoing a massive revitalization. And then of course there are the Roman ruins in Fourvière as well as the ruins you encounter in the older part of the city, Vieux Lyon.

The La Croix Rousse neighbourhood was home to almost 30,000 silk looms in the 19th C and is now a burgeoning arts district and deserves a day of wandering around. But I wouldn't recommend the Maison des Canuts (Silk Museum), which tells the story of how silk was made, the life cycle of silkworms and the development of looms was a short visit. Turns out, silk making isn’t all that interesting when told via a static exhibit. Overlook what the guidebooks say - it's not worth the visit. Spend your time in La Croix Rousse wandering around and enjoying the abundant and fabulous street art.

Traboules, a series of passageways and shortcuts used by silk workers to move fabrics between ateliers during the production process, keeping them out of the elements are scattered throughout this area. Many of the entrances are accessed by finding the button in the wall to release the lock and activate the lights in the dark passages, making it a bit of a game to try and locate the next door and staircase. The traboules were also used by the Resistance in WW II to evade the occupiers. I couldn’t help but think of Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schultz of Hogan’s Hero’s fame being bested by their intrepid prisoners.

While the Lyon Museum of Fine Arts is apparently highly acclaimed, it was decidedly so-so from our point of view but we more than made up for it with a visit to the Musée des Confluences – a science and anthropology museum in a modern building reminiscent of the Guggenheim in Bilbao. It gets scant mention in the RS guidebook but we were enthralled. I'd go back to Lyon again just for an exhibit at des Confluences. Top-flight curation and immensely educational in a good way.

And then of course there is the Resistance and Deportation Museum and the Lumière Museum, the home of the family that created the first movie. We would have liked to attend a performance at the Lyon Opera House and spend more time walking along the rivers but simply ran out of time.

Oh - I forgot to mention the food and the wine as Lyon as at the southern end of Burgundy. Les Halles is a destination in itself. Do yourself a favour and do some research and book some wonderful restaurants but also, don't overlook the wine bars. We could have eaten at wine bars every night and felt like we dined like royalty.

Just a quick clarification: Lyon is not at the southern end of Bourgogne. It's about 45 kilometers south of the boundary between Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Lyon is the Préfecture of the Auvergne -Rhône-Alpes région.

Woe to anyone having to deal with that particular préfecture for their residence permits!

From Colmar you can take a train to Gimmelwald (4h 15m) that requires four connections.

It is a train for most of the way, but.... Gimmelwald is very out of the way, a crossroads of footpaths which has a few rooms and no real restaurants although the terrace at the hostel has very good memories for us. Raclette and the view - and my wife's hat blew off and out of reach down the cliff. No trains go to Gimmelwald. It is train from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen, then cross the street and cable car up the cliff, then train to Mürren then walk either to the cable car and cable car down into Gimmelwald or walk down the farm track - actually a fairly well maintained asphalt path - into Gimmelwald, or from Lauterbrunnen station take a Postbus along the valley floor to the Stechelberg cable car up the cliff to Gimmelwald (https://schilthorn.ch/en/Infos/TimetableandTariff) .

From Gimmelwald you can take a train to Bern (2h) that requires three connections

It is just as much fun leaving Gimmelwald as reaching it. In many visits I have always just passed through Gimmelwald on walks rather than staying there. I much prefer a more established place like Mürren or Wengen which have restaurants, much easier transportation, a bit going on more than watching the farmer cut hay or listen to sheep or goats, and fabulous views.

In Paris you want to see Notre-Dame Cathedral

But right now it is a burnt out shell. Perhaps better to visit in several years after the repair and restoration work is complete.

walk down Champs-Elysées to Arc de Triomphe

as you walk the Avenue des Champs-Élysées up the hill to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile I strongly suggest that you avoid the ubiquitous "petition girls". They are after your money and valuables. A quick dash into Ladurée is well worth it if the crowds aren't too much (they have plenty of other branches).

Because this is your first post on the RS forum, it would be helpful to know if you have been to Europe, and to Paris, before. Because you are flying to Lyon, and want to see Alsace, it makes little sense to train the other way upon arrival. I'm pretty old now, but I'm sure I've slept in Paris on ten visits, at least. We also need to know if you have considered renting a car for Alsace. I haven't been to the Berner Oberland, but posts here indicate that the month of the year can matter.

I grew up in NYC, and neither of my parents owned a car their entire lives. So you can't suggest that I share the American love affair with a full tank and a clean windshield! But Alsace, like Tuscany, for example, is a place where a car can be very useful.

Especially since you mention nature and food, why not make the most of where your mileage points got you? When we were in Alsace many years ago, dinner at L'Auberge de L'Ill and at Restaurant Pic were high points (if, expensive ones) of our visit. But we also enjoyed cheap tarte flambee on sheets of lauan plywood (?!) in Riquewihr and other towns.

Although you could say it was "Rick's idea", we loved our three nights in a luxury room near Besançon. I wouldn't even call us nature-lovers, but we enjoyed following the (very scenic) track of Gustave Courbet, including the source of the Loue river. We also used the car to get to Perouges, perhaps the best medieval village of the many we have visited. Although we don't care for one-nighters, we slept one night in a luxury, part-cave, suite within Perouges, with breakfast in our private yard, overlooking the landscape.

I was sorry we didn't have time to go over to the Black Forest, or to see the Ronchamp chapel by Le Corbusier. This is a very worthwhile area of France. In fact, we drove to Geneva for the day to visit a cousin. But I don't recommend such long drives in a single day. We continued on to Avignon, where we stayed a few nights and trained to Paris for a few days before flying home.

Nigel, thanks for the Schilthorn link. I knew there was a cable car on the last leg, but DB didn't mention it.