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Attending a conference in Laax, have 2 more days after to explore, where should I go?

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Hi travel gurus,

I will be attending a work conference in Laax (near Chur) for 3 nights in early October. My conference finishes Tuesday night and I fly home out of Zurich on Friday morning, which leaves me 2 or 3 nights of free exploration time in Switzerland. Where should I go? A couple things about me:

  • I am 28 years old and will be traveling solo
  • I have been to Switzerland once before (and loved it). In 2018 I did Lucerne, Lauterbrunnen and Geneva.
  • My flight leaves from Zurich in the afternoon on Friday, so I'd like to be somewhere where I can get to Zurich airport in a couple hours relatively easily (i.e. I cannot go to Zermatt).
  • I want to consider options that are not the city of Zurich itself.

Open to ideas! Has anyone traveled to a destination in this region that's really stuck with them as a must-see place?

Thank you!

Posted by
23123 posts

You might try Pontresina, including the scenic train ride on the Albula Railway from Chur.. It will take about 3 1/2 hours from Pontresina to Zurich, so leave Thursday morning and spend an afternoon and evening in Zurich, then to the airport Friday morning. Can't think of a better option than Zurich, unless you are into chocolate and want to to stop in Thalwil on the lake outside of Zurich, and tour the Lindt factory. There are frequent direct trains from Thalwill to the airport in 35 minutes.

Posted by
1269 posts

Perhaps the Walensee/Flumserberg for some hiking and chill lake time or Appenzell for hiking around Seealpsee & Ascher?

We stayed on Walensee last September as an easy access to the Zurich airport in under 90 minutes (Unterterzen train station). Appenzell is 1 hr 37 minutes from the airport.

If you want to stay on the lake at Walensee, we rented a vacation apartment on Walensee in Quarten, which is just a few minutes walk to the train station. You can find options on airbnb, etc. Or if you want to stay up at Flumserberg - Hotel Tannenboden

For Appenzell - Hotel Alpenrose next to the Wasserauen train station is close to the hiking outside Appenzell, if you want to stay closer to nature and out of the town. If you're in to hiking, you can also stay on Seealpsee at Berggasthaus Seealpsee (you have to hike on an easy path to it). You can store extra luggage at the train station if you do this.

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