Our family of 5 will be flying from Copenhagen to Switzerand to spend a week there in July. We can fly into Zurich or Geneva.
Any suggestions on starting in Geneva and making our way east? Or starting in Zurich/Lucerne etc. We are staying in Murren and plan to hike etc around Interlaken area. I know the whole country is beautiful...just looking for advice on where to start.
Thanks!
We have done both….seems to me flying to Zurich was easier and closer and did not take as much time…..we have only flown into Geneva once and that is because that year the Geneva route was cheaper.
There are fewer train connections from Zurich Flughafen (Zurich airport) to Mürren taking 3h 15m compared to Genève-Aéroport that takes 4h 30m.
Zurich is closer to Mürren and requires less connections because you can get a direct train from Zurich Flughafen (airport) to Interlaken Ost.
The only reason to fly in or out of Geneva is if you plan to visit somewhere like Montreux.
Watch some Youtube vlogs on Geneva, my sense is most people don't find it all that interesting. Rick doesn't even include it in his guidebooks (I was convinced I got a defective copy the first time). Not that Zurich is beloved but it seems to have more going on, and it's obviously the #1 travel hub in the country.
I find Geneva lovely, if a bit more sleepy than Zürich. That's not a bad thing, just personal preferences.
I find Geneva great if you want easy access to Lausanne or Montreaux, or to anywhere in the western Swiss Alps. Trains from the airport are frequent.
And Geneva is great if you want easy access to the French Alps - it's my typical gateway airport for riding my bicycle on the epic Tour de France cols, given its ease of connection by train, bus, or car (or, indeed, by bicycle).
Zürich is better if you want easy access to the Bernese Oberland or to any point in the eastern part of the country. It is a more "modern" city, if you will, with a lot more going on - and has a bit more bustle as a result. The airport isn't as convenient to the city, proper, but it's not much further away.
Flip a coin - you can't really go wrong.
