Feeling overwhelmed to get the most in with a short amount of time. We disembark our River Cruise on 12/22 in Basel and depart Basel 12/27. We thought we would use Bern as our home base. We would love to make a day trip to the mountains but beyond that we don’t have any other days trips set it stone. We travel internationally in December and know our daylight hours are limited but are the type that are out the door early in the morning and back in our hotel after dinner. This is our first trip to Switzerland and we would appreciate any help filling our itinerary with day trip suggestions.
Posted by
Green Bay
20103 posts
Luzern would be my first thought. Short train ride from there to Engelberg in the mountains.
Posted by
San Diego, California
4710 posts
The nice aspect of using Basel as a base is the access to the Christmas markets in Colmar and Strasbourg , unless you have already been there as part of the cruise.
The Bern markets are very nice, the Basel markets smaller.
If you go to Lucerne, you could access Mt Rigi if you have a clear day.
Have a great trip in this beautiful country.
Posted by
Green Bay
20103 posts
If you are coming off a river cruise, you will hace already visited Strasbourg and possibly Colmar. Basel has good Christmas Markets, so hanging around there the first day is not a bad idea.
Posted by
Thun, Switzerland
485 posts
We thought we would use Bern as our home base. We would love to make a day trip to the mountains but beyond that we don’t have any other days trips set it stone.
Day trips from Bern
Bern - Luzern - fastest route is 1 hr
- some Christmas markets will be over already, but of course lots to see in Luzern https://www.luzern.com/en/highlights/christmas-in-lucerne/christmas-markets/
Bern - Lausanne - 1hr 13min
- visit Christmas market and explore the area https://www.lausanne-tourisme.ch/en/event/bo-noel-lausanne-marches-de-noel/
Bern - Thun - small Christmas market, visit the castle, boat on the lake
Bern - mountains - either in Luzern area or Mürren/Wengen/Grindelwald - lots of other great mountain locations too, but these are the most popular with people on this site.
Dec. 26th is a holiday in many parts of Switzerland so you might be faced with stores being closed from the 24th (a Sunday) right through and including the 26th. Small convenience stores are likely to be open, but just don’t plan one of those days as your ‘stroll through the shops’ day.