I am visiting Switzerland for one week in the first week of October. What type of clothing would we need to take the mountain rides etc.
Is it advisable to stay one week at one location because it seems to be as small country. And would it be possible to have day visits to remote place and reach back to the central location. If so what could be the best central location to stay in Switzerland.
Fatima
have you read Rick's Switzerland book? He deals with such matters. Yes, the country is small enough that you can do day trips from Zurich or Bern, but you really should try to stay overnight in the Berner Oberland so you can enjoy the mountains.
Switzerland is very mountainous so staying in one place and expecting to visit numerous regions of the country might not be practical depending on where you would like to go and the kinds of experiences you would like to have.
I would suggest staying in the Berner Oberland for half the time and then picking another location, such as the area surrounding Lake Geneva, for the other half. That way you'll get a taste of two different very regions that also have plenty to see and do.
Luzern is probably the most central location. There is lots to see in the immediate vicinity and good rail service to other places in Switzerland. So if you had to pick one spot, I think that would be it.
Picking two spots would be better. Switzerland is a small country, but with all those mountains, transport routes are never "as the crow flies" unless you are a crow.
There are three different "flavours" in Switzerland that may influence where you stay and for how long. The German, the French and the Italian parts of the country have quite distinct characters, so depending on what kind of traveller you are, you will want to stay in a central spot within that area.
Eg. The Italian area features two great towns - Locarno and Lugano - with lovely vistas of the alpine lakes and some great spots for hiking. There are nice little albergo's where you won't spend as much as in hotels.
The French area has large cities (eg. Geneve and Lausanne with lots of hustle and international bustle - as well as shopping) but the charming smaller towns like Fribourg, Montreux and Sion offer history and castles and great wines/food.
And the German area has wonderful museum towns like Basel or noisy lively international banking centres like Zurich, but for plain-spoken people and picturesque history I would go for Bern, Thun and the Berner Oberland.
Finally the Berner Oberland is your entry into the best Alpine train routes - try to stop at the Blausee if you can.
Avoid Grindelwald, Interlaken and St Moritz - tourist traps.
And the most central spot of all is the capital Bern - everywhere in Switzerland is reachable within max 4 hours by train from there.
I just went to Switzerland for almost a week two weeks ago and based myself in Luzern. Why didn't I stay in the BO? Because I was traveling solo, on a budget, and didn't want to haul my luggage back and forth on the trains. While this may be daunting for some, I managed to see most of the country from my home base in Luzern. I took the 6 am trains to my destinations: Lake Como (ok, not Switzerland, but so WORTH IT), Lake Geneva area, and BO. It's totally doable if you're adventurous like me.
