Visiting Switzerland

Take the train directly to Interlaken and visit the Lauterbrunnen region area for your 2 days. If you happen to be anywhere in Switzerland on 1 Aug, it is a national holiday- great bonus for your family! Parades galore.

It looks like you actually have 3 nights to spend in Switzerland before heading to Zurich on Day 13 for your flight home the next day. I agree with the suggestion to head straight to the Berner Oberland from Paris. The best connections (Paris to Basel to Interlaken Ost) take 5.5 hours with a single change at Basel. From Interlaken Ost, continue on to Lauterbrunnen and up to one of the car-free villages perched high above the valley on either side. (Wengen or Mürren). You will need to book accommodations soon as the popular ones fill up. With 3 nights/2 full days there, you can take easy walks among wildflowers and cows, ride lifts, head over to Grindelwald for Rodelbahn (summer luge) and/or zipline (First Flyer) or Trottibikes (mountain scooters) (for the older child). On Day 13, take the scenic Golden Pass route to Luzern. You could spend the night there instead of Zurish; it is only an hour + a few minutes from the Zurich airport. With a full afternoon and evening at Luzern, you could take a ride on the lake and visit some of the sights mentioned by Ken. You will want to look into some kind of Swiss pass for your transport there. Your children will be free on all the trains and lifts if you get a pass + free Family Card.

WriteFace, One question regarding "Cotwolds". How are you planning to get there, and which of the towns will you be visiting? Only one of the towns is accessible via rail. For planning your vacation in Switzerland, what type of sights are you interested in seeing? Do you have any ideas on towns you may like to visit? With only two days, your choices are going to be somewhat limited. The usual "favourite" here is the Berner Oberland, outside of Interlaken. It's somewhat of a rural area, so the typical activities are hiking, etc. With two children, one suggestion you might consider is Lucerne. It's ~5 hours from Paris, and an easy trip to Zurich. While there you could visit the incredible Museum of Transport (your children will probably enjoy it), take a day trip to Mt. Pilatus or a cruise on the lake and of course visit the famous Lion of Lucerne which Mark Twain called "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world" (your children can research the subject so they know the reason for that statement). You might find it useful to have a look at the Switzerland Guidebook to get some ideas on other places that might interest your family. There are lots of choices! For travel at that time of year, pre-booking accommodations would be a really good idea! Happy travels!

Thank you for your suggestions! Ken, I plan to hire a car in London to drive to Cotswolds. We have zero-ed in on an Inn called Merrymouth Inn which is 4 miles away from Stow-on-the-Wold. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1160775-d491076-r93648143-Merrymouth_Inn-Fifield_Oxfordshire_England.html#REVIEWS Lola, >On Day 13, take the scenic Golden Pass route to Luzern. You could spend the night there instead of Zurish; it is only an hour + a few minutes from the Zurich airport. With a full afternoon and evening at Luzern, you could take a ride on the lake and visit some of the sights mentioned by Ken
We have an early AM flight on Day 14 from Zurich. So I figured I will spend the Day 13 in Zurich, sleep the night there and get to the airport in the morning. I may have to look at going to Lucerne directly from Interlaken on Day 13. Thanks again.

Yes, if your flight is an early one then you are better off staying in Zurich and not risking that extra hour of travel. But you can travel there via Luzern and spend a few hours exploring. There are lockers for your luggage in the station.

...and just in case you don't already know your kids < 16 years will travel free with you everywhere in Switzerland. You can either get a free Swiss Family Card in the USA before you leave or you can buy a Junior Card for them when you get to Switzerland. With either of those two things the kids travel absolutely free with you on all public transport - trains, buses, boats, gondolas, cogwheels, local city trams (like in Zurich). Even when you take those expensive private rail trips like to the Jungfrau your kids will travel for free. It's a great deal in Switzerland. And yes, definitely head for the Lauterbrunnen Valley for the most dramatic scenery you will encounter anywhere. Try to stay in one of the Alpine villages which are car-free like Muerren or Wengen. If you choose Muerren then I would highly suggest the Chalet Fontana. Denise Fussell will take good care of you. The chalet has a private attached apartment complete with ensuite bathroom and kitchen and 2 bedrooms. It's perfect for a family.

Thanks Lola, Tim Where can I get more information about Swiss family pass? Will the family pass cover the train trip from Paris to Interlaken too? Thanks for your time again.

On further thoughts I am considering visiting Lucerne as well. Day 10 - Travel from Paris to Lucerne by Train + depending on
available time do some sights Day 11 - Go to Mt.Pilatus. The cogwheel railway sounds like good fun for kids Day 11 - Go to Murren/Wengen from Lucerne Day 12 - Spend time in Murren/Wengen Day 13 - Go to Zurich Is the above doable? i.e can Mt.Pilatus be done in half-day and leave enough time for us to get to Murren? Thanks

I like that plan. The kids will enjoy Mt. Pilatus; there is an Adventure Park up there with a ropes course and Rodelbahn (summer luge). You will probably want to do the "silver Round trip", which is a train ride to Alpnachstad where the cogwheel train starts, up Pilatus, by cogwheel train, down the other side to Kriens by cablecar, with a stop at the adventure park. From Kriens back to the Luzern Bahnhof is a streetcar. You can cut the cost of the trip in half for the adults with the right pass, and the kids are free. The trip from Paris to Luzern is 4:40, with a single change of trains at Basel. Trains depart at 8:24 and 10:24, so even the later one will get you to Luzern by 3 pm. A Swiss pass will start coverage at Basel, reducing the cost for adults from 153 CHF to 95 CHF, and again the kids ride free in Switzerland. As for passes-there really isn't a" family pass". The Family Card comes for free with the purchase of an adult pass, and allows the kids to ride for free with the adult. There is a good explanation of passes on this website, under "Railpasses". Basically, the consecutive-day Swiss Pass covers 100% of travel to villages, including Wengen or Muerren, with 50% coverage on the mountain lifts above the village. The Flex pass does the same on ed days within a 30-day period. Then there are the "Cards, Half-Fare Card and Swiss Card. These give 50% off everything; the Swiss Card adds the benefit of two fully covered days, your first day of travel from the border to your destination, and your last day of travel back to the border or airport. to be continued. . .

Without doing all the math, I am thinking the Swiss Card might be best for your needs. $207 per adult, with a free Family card for the kids. This will cover Day 10, travel from Basel to either Wengen and Muerren, and Day 13, travel from there to Zurich (you'll just pay for tickets for the short ride to the airport in the morning.) You get half off the Pilatus trip, the ride from Luzern to Muerren (reducing it from 47 CHF to 24 CHF), and whatever lifts you choose to ride on your full day at Muerren or Wengen. I second Tim's suggestion of Chalet Fontana at Muerren. In Wengen, we like Hotel Baeren. They have a family suite on the top floor. If you choose Muerren, you have several good choices for the day, including a ride up the Allmendhubel funicular and walk back down. Or walk down to Gimmelwald, ride the cablecar down to the valley floor at Stechelberg, walk along the river to Lauterbrunnen, visiting Trummelbach Falls on the way. Return to Muerren by cablecar and the short train ride. Or you can walk the last mile. We watched a farmer bringing in his cows along there. It was pretty exciting, with the cows running and leaping. I never knew dairy cows were so athletic. (These may have been young ones that weren't working girls yet.) If you choose Wengen, there is a spectacular easy walk along the ridge top, with flowers and maybe cows, and the Eiger and Jungfrau in front of you. Ride the cablecar up to Mannlichen, follow the train to Kleine Scheidegg, and ride the train back down to Wengen. Any of these make for a perfect day in the Swiss Alps.

Lola, Thank you! I will check Chalet Fontana for availability.

Now looking for a decent hotel to stay in Lucerne and in Zurich. Any recommendations? Thank you.

WriteFace, I stayed at This Hotel in Lucerne on my trip last year, and was very pleased with my stay there. The breakfasts were good and the dinners were fantastic (although not cheap). Once I became familiar with the location, I found it very easy to walk to the river and the main sights, although with luggage I opted for a Taxi. One note regarding travel anywhere in Switzerland is that it can be "pricey". Be sure to budget accordingly! Cheers!

Ken, Thanks for the recommendation. The hotel seems quite good.

Let me throw a monkey wrench into your planning. In the Alps, particularly Switzerland, you need some flexibility in your planning, because the weather can easily ruin your plans. This isn't a problem in big cities, where you can always visit a museum on a wet day, but in the Alps... there's nothing worse than having the one day you planned for hiking (or handgliding) fogged in, or rained out.

Oh, I can think of lots of things that would be worse. A little rain need not ruin one's time in the Alps. You just need rain gear and a good attitude. It might not even nix the hang gliding. We were using a rainy day to walk the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and were startled by the sudden appearance of a paralider landing in a fileld right next to us. He had jumped off the cliff edge thousands of feet above (near Muerren) and probably did no illegally, as I have never seen anyone pack up a chute and disappear so quickly!

Are there no budget hotels in Lucerne that can accommodate 4 people in one room? :-( The ones available are so expensive!

WriteFace, As I mentioned, Switzerland can be expensive. I don't know of any cheaper Hotels, but hopefully other members of the group will have some suggestions. You might check the Hotels listed on Trip Advisor, as that will provide information both on rates as well as the "quality". Good luck!

You should be able to find places that will not charge full price for the children, or at least for the younger one. You may be able to book a triple plus extra bed for the 6 year old. It is better to do this with email than to try it on the booking website. When traveling with our teen daughter I had to pretty much count on paying around 300 CHF for a triple (except at Chalet Fontana!) But the Swiss franc was 80 or 90 cents then, not over a dollar as it is now. If Ken's recommended hotel doesn't work out, look into the Waldstatterhof. They have triples and may add a small bed for the child. We actually decided not to stay in Luzern because of the prices; we stayed up on Rigi instead. But that wouldn't work with your Pilatus plan.

Ken, I finally heard you! :) Okay, I kind of got my peace with the hotel rates in Swiss. I modified my plan to go to Murren direct from Paris and spend 2 nights there @Eigerguesthouse. I will spend the last two nights in Luzern @DesBalances. I will have to take the early AM train from Luzern to Zurich airport.

We have used Grayline Tours while in London and Paris. We went to the Cotwolds, all over London, Windsor Castle, Bath, Stonehenge, etc. They are a great tour compapny. We also used them to go to Monet's Garden (Giverney), Mount St., Michel, all over Paris, Bruge, etc. Elaine

WriteFace, It's great to hear that your arrangements are falling into place. The Hotel Des Balances that you mentioned appears to be considerably more "posh" than I'm used to. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay there! It appears to be just on the other side of the river from where I stayed. If you're so inclined, you might try the "English Pub" along the river on that side (can't remember the name). Although not exactly "Swiss Cuisine", I certainly enjoyed my pint of Guinness and some Fish & Chips! Cheers!

This forum and RS's books were very useful during the vacation. Everything went quite smoothly and kids had a great time. My personal favorite is Paris. Would love to go back there again.