Colmar or Zürich?

Zürich is not on the prime list of places to visit in Switzerland, Colmar is a lot better choice.

Basel is a good choice if you want a city.

I can take the SBB to Basel and then change trains to the French rail line to Colmar. I don’t know which French rail line that is right now.

Generally you don't need to worry about which rail company it is. It is whatever one runs that route, rail timetable websites don't even bother to give you that info. It is painted on the sides of the trains!

At Basel station ("Basel SBB") due to building work there is a walk between where the trains from Luzern arrive (platforms 1-17) and where the trains to Colmar leave from (30-35). You have to exit the station, turn left and walk for ~150 metres. It is signposted.
You can see this on the station plan here: https://www.sbb.ch/content/dam/infrastruktur/trafimage/bahnhofplaene/plan-basel-sbb-a4.pdf

This is what I posted about Basel earlier today:

I think Basel is a very nice city, but I may be biased, I live here.
Basel is a city to get lost in. Lots of back lanes, with old buildings in them, with dates 12xx, 13xx and 14xx on them. The whole city centre is no cars, the lanes are on foot only. You can spin 180° and think "WTF century am I in?"

• 360° panorama of Münsterplatz (Cathedral Square): https://goo.gl/maps/B91BMxHELr5mK15QA
• 360° of Münster from cross the Rhine: https://goo.gl/maps/oyq3stFLZRbh9JPY7
• 360° of one of the back lanes: https://goo.gl/maps/E8dL3oewRjFLTamj6
  • Which century is this? Can you spot the swan?

Plus Basel has lots of museums.

Yes Zurich is a business oriented city so Colmar would be preferable. However just a day trip Maybe not, it should have at least a full day visit. An option close to zurich is Lake Constance in Germany visiting lovely lakeside town of Lindau. Appenzell is another village u could visit in Switzerland or perhaps see Lausanne then take vintage paddle wheel ferry on lake Geneva to Chateau Crillion.

Actually, I liked both Zurich (for what it was - day trip) and Colmar (spent a night). Colmar is a charming old town with lots of zigzagging streets - I visited before I had a phone with a GPS and got lost constantly while walking around! But it was kind of fun in a way, sometimes.

Zurich has some nice old quarters - I really enjoyed walking around them. But, I do enjoy cities.

So it's really up to you what your personal preferences are.

Colmar would be my winner by a mile.

Colmar is a better choice, but spend one night. If you are planning to train to Kleine Scheidegg instead of hiking, I would re-think going there. There isn't much to see and do that you can't see and do in Wengen. I would consider visiting Wengen and Murren instead for a day trip.

My suggestion would definitely be Colmar. It's a beautiful smaller town with canals and old timbered buildings. While Zürich does have some interesting sights, as the others have said it's a large business centre so doesn't have the same "ch.aracter" as smaller locations.

For your trip to the Berner Oberland, as you're only going to be there a day I wouldn't bother with Wengen / Kleine Scheidegg. The latter is more of a ski resort and there's not much there. Especially in April, it's likely going to be very quiet. It's also a transit point for the trains from the valley to the Jungfraujoch. You might instead consider a trip from Lauterbrunnen up to Mürren via the BLM railway and then return via the Schilthornbahn down from Gimmelwald and then the Post Bus back to the station in Lauterbrunnen. Regardless of where you go in that area, it will be a long travel day. As I recall it's about 2H:20M each way from Lucerne.

I wish I could do the hiking that you described, Ken, but I cannot. The train ride duration of 2.25 is a plus as I have a spinal disability; I can look out the window & marvel at the scenery. I can walk however. I can’t stand in cable cars/funiculars/gondolas. I was thinking of doing a day trip to Grindelwald and adding the roundtrip cable car to First but I would have to stand in the cable car. So that won’t work unfortunately.

Chris, thank you for info about Basel SBB’s construction. Having the opportunity to see Basel is an added benefit.

Colmar seems to be the majority favorite. But I do like cities too as Andrew mentioned.

Much to think about. Thank you. 🙂

Colmar is lovely. Zürich is not a scenic city to visit, as it is all about business and would be better used as a springboard to get to the mountains.

I agree that Colmar would be a prettier place to visit than Zurich but for me it's a bit far for a day trip. I would pick Basel or Bern instead if Zurich doesn't appeal to you.

The train between Luzern & Basel is about 1.25 hours. The train between Basel & Colmar is about 45 minutes. I am perfectly fine with that. Plus I would enjoy seeing Basel.

I do have a day trip planned for Bern on my last full day in Switzerland.

I guess I could spend a few hours in Zürich on the day I arrive as my flight is due at 10:40am. I could take the train to Zurich HBF, put my bags in a locker, and spend the afternoon walking around. The arrival day is always challenging but the first few hours I probably will have some adrenaline just from being so happy to be there.

Just throwing ideas out now.

Maybe a silly question but is the current SCNF strike affecting rail service between Basel and Colmar?

Maybe a silly question but is the current SCNF strike affecting rail service between Basel and Colmar?

Very sensible question. Yes it is affecting it. Fingers crossed, it will be OK by April.
Which trains runs and which do not varies day-to-day. I was in the Travel Centre at Basel station today and they had today's list posted. In contrast to last week, it looked like most trains were running (~1 per hour). The TGVs to Paris are worse affected.

If you go to the SBB website, and look up "disruptions/France", it jumps you to this SNCF page: https://www.sncf.com/fr/itineraire-reservation/info-trafic/gl
Select "TER / Grande Est" and then scroll down to "Strasbourg . . . Colmar . . . Bâle" (that's French for Basel) and you can download tomorrow's timetable.
As this is fast-changing info, I don't expect them to have time to get it translated - French only.
7th Jan is here: https://cdn.ter.sncf.com/medias/PDF/grand_est/Strasbourg%20S%C3%A9lestat%20Colmar%20Mulhouse%20B%C3%A2le%20mardi%2007%20janvier%202020%20aller%20retour_tcm75-243724_tcm75-243657.pdf

Thank you. I am able to read French so this is very helpful. I didn’t think the strike would last into January.