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Four Nights in Switzerland 11/29-12/3/23

Posted by (Franklin, Tennessee) on

We are returning to Europe for another 14 day Christmas Markets Trip (we did one in France/Belgium in 2023). We will be flying into Zurich arriving mid-morning on November 29th and plan to spend four nights in Switzerland before traveling on to Colmar, France on December 3rd. Due to its proximity to Colmar and its highly rated markets, we expect to spend one to two nights in Basel. This only leaves us two other nights in Switzerland including on our long arrival day in Zurich. All of our travel will be by train on our trip.
Can anyone make a suggestion for these two remaining nights? One or two nights in Zurich, Lucerne, Bern? We know that Switzerland merits more nights than we have allotted, but this is what we have to work with.
We like quaint locations with historic sites and buildings, not too cosmopolitan and very walkable

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Posted by
7300 posts

Why would you stay in Basel to visit the Colmar markets? I am not sure I understand the reason. Basel is fine, but not at the expense of Luzern or Bern, in my opinion.
And if I were to pick one place in your case, it would be Luzern. It ticks all your boxes! Weather can be challenging at that time of the year, but if you stay 2 days and if you are lucky, you could go enjoy the views from Rigi or Pilatus (on Pilatus, not sure about which way up would be running in late Nov)

Posted by
21142 posts

I think the OP wants to visit Basel markets before moving on to Colmar.

Posted by
5604 posts

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/christmas-markets-switzerland-france-germany-2019

Your proposed trip is similar to our magical 2019 trip, above. Lucerne was charming in December, the markets weren't opened yet, but the bridges had Xmas lights, the town is beautiful any season, and we got lucky and had fresh powdery snow on Mt. Rigi. Also, check which mornings have the regular Farmers Market around the Chapel Bridge ( Saturday's and....?)

And - Zurich main train station has the largest indoor Xmas market in Europe.
Read my Trip Report, and maybe you'll make it to Stuttgart/ Esslingen.

Have a fantastic trip!

Posted by
169 posts

Let me clarify .Our trip is two weeks starting with four nights in Switzerland and then we head to Eguisheim and Colmar, France for two nights each. Thus, the the reason our last two nights in Switzerland will be in Basel, an easy 45 minute train ride to Colmar.
After leaving Colmar, we will take a train to Frankfurt, Germany for our last five nights, likely staying/visiting Cologne, Düsseldorf, perhaps Heidelberg as well as Frankfurt from where we will be flying home.
We are still in the planning stage. We want a similar experience to the one we had last year in Strasbourg, Colmar, Eguisheim, Bruges and Paris at the Christmas Markets in those cities.

Posted by
169 posts

Pat,
Our last five nights will be in Germany where we have never visited before. We will fly home from Frankfurt, as such , we will want to spend our last night nearby, but are other destinations are uncertain. The Christmas Markets in Cologne, an hour and a quarter north of Frankfurt is highly rated. Other than that, we are still reviewing train times and access. We would love to visit the Nuremburg and perhaps Wurzburg markets, but it may be too far.
We enjoyed your 2019 post and will be studying ESSLINGEN and Stuttgart.

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