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10 day trip to Switzerland

Hi guys
I am planning a 10 day trip to Switzerland starting 28 August 18. I am planning to stay in Basel the whole time and planning to go around Switzerland by train and come back to Basel in the night on all days. I request suggestions as to is this recommended or other should I stay at some other place.

Posted by
11294 posts

No, this is not recommended. The glory of Switzerland is the Alps, the lakes, the scenery, etc - not the cities, nice though some of them are. Basel is not so close to these things, and you'll waste time if you are taking trains to and from the scenery every day. Not only that, but Basel, being a business city, can have higher hotel prices than some Alpine destinations.

Basel is a nice enough city with some fine museums, but with only 10 days, you probably would want to spend time in other places. If you were thinking of Basel because your flights into and out of Switzerland use the Basel airport, you can take a bus from the airport to Basel's train station; from that station you can get anywhere in the country.

Do you have to be in Basel for some or all of the 10 days (say, for business)? If not, what drew you to Basel as a place to stay for 10 days? Are you looking to see the "typical" Swiss tourist attractions, like the Jungfraujoch or Luzern, or did you want something else from your trip? Have you already booked flights, and if so, where do you arrive and depart? More details will let us help you tailor your trip.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank a ton for your reply.
Me and my wife are on a mini 21 days business cum liesure euro trip. We are flying in at Paris and flying out of Rome. In between we have about 8 to 10 days in Switzerland. We are planning to take global euro rail pass. Reason we are staying in Basel is we have to go to Ulm, Germany after the Swiss trip and Basel is the closest by train and also we didn't want to carry our luggage everyday, so we thought we will stay in one place and keep going out and coming back. But if you could suggest a better place in Switzerland, may be someplace centrally located, it would be of great help to us...thank you

Posted by
11247 posts

Forget Basel. Take a look at www.Rome2Rio.com or Google Maps and consider the following ideas for 10 nights. If you only have 8 nights, drop Zermatt.

  • from Paris go to Lauterbrunnen (by train) in the heart of the Berner Oberland and a magnificent area of the alps. Stay 4 nights. You can daytrip to Bern if you have a mind to do so, but most of us love the Lauterbrunnen Valley so much we just stay there.

  • travel by train to Zermatt. Stay 3 nights.

  • then travel by train to Luzern. Stay 3 nights.

  • from Luzern you are 4.5 hours by train from Ulm.

Posted by
11247 posts

Meant to add: You need Rick Steves' guide to Switzerland. Get it and read it ASAP.

Posted by
8889 posts

Reason we are staying in Basel is we have to go to Ulm, Germany after the Swiss trip and Basel is the closest by train

That's a strange comment. You can get from anywhere in Switzerland to anywhere in Germany. Switzerland has 1838 stations, all with connections to Ulm.
First decide where you want to go, then work out the transport. In the unlikely event that the transport is too difficult, you can then amend your plans.

I like Laurel's plan. For info and hotels for the Jungfrau region (Berner Oberland), see here: https://jungfrauregion.swiss/en/summer/

We are planning to take global euro rail pass.

I would re-think that. Your only rail trips outside Switzerland are Paris to Swiss border and Swiss border to Ulm. You could buy those two trips in advance, you are too late for the cheapest fares, but you can still get some discount. Then buy a Swiss Pass for your time in Switzerland.
Details here: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
That is likely to be cheaper than a 3-country Eurail pass, and have better coverage in Switzerland.
BTW with a Eurail Pass you still pay extra for the train from Paris to Switzerland!

For info on trains and how to find info and buy tickets, see here: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm#Paris-Switzerland
and here: https://www.seat61.com/Swiss-trains.htm
and the rest of that excellent site.

You can look up train times on the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) website: https://www.sbb.ch/en/

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks a lot for your input guys. I am gonna replan this whole thing and ask for your suggestions. thank you guys.

Posted by
451 posts

I agree with Laurel about Lauterbrunnen Valley and Luzern. We went there two years in a row it was so amazing! I rarely revisit a location. I want to see something new.

Enjoy

Posted by
360 posts

I second that you need to stay in the Berner Oberland area for part of your trip -- it was our favorite area in Switzerland, by far. And it will not be quite the same as a day trip. You can stay in the valley or up on the mountain to be even closer to the peaks. We stayed in Murren for four nights and had enough time to see all of the major sites/towns, etc. (we did not do any hiking). Our favorite time of day was sitting on our hotel's panoramic deck during sunset and watching the light hit the snowy peaks and change over time. THe mountains are so close that it seems surreal. We also visited Lucerne and the Lausanne/Montreaux area (and countryside).

Posted by
7 posts

Great information thanks. We are headed to Switzerland I
The last week of August for about 5 or 6 days from Milan and want to see the best of the best. Not interested in city or tourist things. May I ask where you stayed in Mürren?

Posted by
7 posts

Great information thanks. We are headed to Switzerland I
The last week of August for about 5 or 6 days from Milan and want to see the best of the best. Not interested in city or tourist things. May I ask where you stayed in Mürren?

Posted by
1075 posts

OMG I just got back from Switzerland a week ago and let me say that everyone is SOOOOOOOO RIGHT who says "get up in the Alps!" The rest of Switzerland did not compare in any way, shape, or form to the utter perfection of the Berner Oberland!! Get thee to Murren stat!! We stayed at the Hotel Alpenblick and it was perfect - highly recommend!! https://www.booking.com/hotel/ch/alpenblick-murren.en-gb.html

Seriously, we flew into Geneva, went thru Bern, did Murren, took Golden Pass railroad to Zurich, etc. - and the absolute highlight was Murren, wish we had another week there!! So glorious!