We will have five days in Switzerland the third week of October. This will be our only trip there so we want to make the most of it. We fly into Zurich. We want to have one place as our "base" and do day trips from there. We prefer to see natural beauty. No real interest in museums, galleries, and the like. We need to wind up in Basel.
We have been thinking of Montreaux, perhaps via Golden Pass one way to get the "French" flavor? Lugano for the "Italian" flavor, but I understand Gotthard Panorama will no longer be running. Will other trains there be scenic? We definitely would like to see Berner Oberland area, though I don't know whether it's worth the time to go to Jungfraujoch with the variable weather, but I would like to see the quaint villages, the falls.
I would appreciate your suggested itineraries from a base somewhere, maybe Lucerne?
Posted by
Green Bay
21543 posts
Do you have to "wind up in Basel" for a Rhine cruise?
Luzern would be your best "base" if you want to stay in one place for 5 days.
You don't need to take the Gotthard Panorama Express, because you can easily "manufacture" this yourself, without the expensive seat reservation or 1st class. Just take a boat to Fluelen, then take the hourly Treno Gottardo to Locarno. The return to Luzern is direct every other hour. If you want to go to Lugano, just change trains in Bellinzona.
The Berner Oberland is not far away with the scenic Luzern-Interlaken Express, which is the first leg of the Golden Pass route. You can go all the way to Montreux with a train change in Interlaken. You can decide how much train riding you want to do when you get there.
Basel is only 1 to 1 1/4 hours away by direct train every half hour.