We plan to go to Switzerland for 10-12 days in early September 2022. We'd like to stay in one central location and travel by train to various sites. We want to see Neuchatel, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Jungfrauhoch, Lucerne, etc. Want to stay in a smaller city or town where we can walk to the train station. What are your suggestions for a location with good rail service in several directions.?
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
Switzerland may be relatively small, but travelling from one end to the other takes a while!
2-3 bases would make more sense to me.
This being said, if you really prefer a single location, look into Spiez. It is a pretty attractive lakeside town (if a bit short on shops and restaurants), and very well connected to all of the locations you mention (within 2 hours, 2.5 for Zermatt).
Why Neuchâtel, by the way?
Posted by
Chicago
3125 posts
Are you flying in and out of Zurich? I would stay in Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne. That will give you easy access to most places on your list. I recently stayed in both of those locations and had hotels within a few minutes from the train stations. Very convenient.
Posted by
OP
Covington
4 posts
My wife spent a semester in Neuchatel taking a French language immersion class 35 years ago. She'd like to go back and see if its what she remembered.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17424 posts
Take a look at the Swiss rail map, and you will see why it would be difficult to visit all these places from a single “base”.
I suggest you fly into Geneva, and out from Zurich. When you land at Geneva, you can board a train right in the airport that goes to Neuchâtel in one hour 20 minutes, with no changes on the way. Spend a night or 2 there. Then take the train to Zermatt and spend 2-3 nights. This is a journey of 3 hours with 2 changes on the way.
From Zermatt continue to the Berner Oberland, which can be your main “base” for 4-5 nights while you see Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch, and whatever else you wish—-maybe a lake cruise, or hikes, or?
Then head to Luzern for your last few nights. You can easily reach the Zurich airport from Luzern for your flight unless it is super early in the morning. There are direct trains from Luzern right into the airport, 2 each hour, taking just over one hour. And between those are additional trains that require a change at the Zurich main station.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
381 posts
Lola, your linked map is amazing. Thank you.
I was in Switzerland in December with a Swiss Pass, and centred out of Luzern. This explains a lot of the weird things I saw when I compared the SBB app info with the map. I love this map! So glad you shared it