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Bern? Basel? Zurich? Montreaux? Zermatt?

Hi everyone

I am spending 7 days in Switzerland before Christmas and would like to know which city, town or resort to stopover in?

What I hope to achieve from this holiday:

1) Stroll and explore medieval old towns decked in Christmas splendor;
2) Live in the mountains surrounded by snow and breath-taking scenery;
3) Do some top of the line Shopping and souvenir hunting.
4) Cut down on the hassle of travelling, packing and unpacking luggage etc if possible.

I would appreciate your views. Thanks.

Posted by
7141 posts

You can get 1) in Bern and Basel and maybe a bit in Zurich; you can get 2) in Zermatt; you can get 3) in all of them but especially in Montreux and Zermatt; you can best get 4) by basing in 2 places one of which being Montreux or Zermatt, I don't think any one of your places would be central enough for a whole week. I may be wrong. I've only been in Switzerland in the summer so don't know how complicated travel in the mountains would be in winter. I'm assuming you're planning to use public transport rather than a car?

Posted by
11697 posts

#2, #3 and #4 You can do in the Jungfrau Region. Wengen & Grindelwald have shopping - if you can afford it - and you can hike and enjoy the lifts and scenery on both sides of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Personally we like to stay in Lauterbrunnen itself and go to Muerren, Wengen, Grindelwald and hike in the various locations. Being in the valley makes it easier to get to both sides. The Swiss (at least in the Jungfrau Region) groom the trails so you can go snow-hiking (Winter Wandern) with no equipment beyond hiking boots and maybe a walking stick.

You can also get to Bern (for #1) in about 1H20M by train from Lauterbrunnen. A Berner Oberland Regional Pass allows you to travel extensively even a bit beyond the Berner-Oberland. It's a bit farther to Luzern, but doable.

Zermatt is lovely, but I think it will mostly satisfy point #2 for you.

Posted by
4765 posts

If you dig around on Amazon video you can find a travel guy who visits the Christmas markets in Montreux. It's a good overview of them, even though the guy wasn't very good (can't recall his name). Just keep in mind the city is pretty out of the way since it's in far western Switzerland on Lake Geneva (unless you're heading to Paris and then it's easy to hop onto the TGV in Lausaunne).

For highline shopping you need cities, which means Zurich and Berne.

Mountains? Lauterbrunnen valley region, easy.

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions.
1) I am not familiar with Lauterbrunnen Valley but sounds like I have to make it a point to visit this place and its lovely peaks when I am in Bern.

2) I am also not thinking of stopping over in Lucern because I have been there 3 times already. However I have not gone to other parts of Switzerland and would very much like to experience other places.

Thanks everyone

Posted by
11697 posts

ngwsw, The Lauterbrunnen Valley/Jungfrau Region is one of our favorite places in Europe so far. Second only to the Val Gardena in Italy's Dolomite Mountains. Rick Steves' guide to Switzerland does it credit, but ignore the advice to stay in Gimmelwald.It is very small and cute, but inconvenient.

Posted by
9 posts

Hi everyone

Thanks for the recommendations. Looks like I need to rework my itinerary. Any idea if it's easy to hope from Berner oberland region to Zermatt? Thx

Posted by
4765 posts

Really? I say again, Really?

I am not familiar with Lauterbrunnen Valley

Anyway, you can do the Schilthorn or Jungfrau as a daytrip from Berne (I did the former), but to live in the mountains you should stay in Lauterbrunnen or Murren.

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