Itinerary Advice around Lake Geneva

At first blush, I’d consider condensing some of those stays. I like a change of scenery at night and will sometimes do a change within a small area, but some of these are like minutes apart by train. You’ll spend more time doing checkin and checkout than getting from one to the other.

I'm trying to figure out a good way to move around less, and I wonder if we save money by staying in France. I considered Yvoire for 4 nights, skipping Lausanne but visiting as a day trip. Then after that it's basically Montreux for 3 nights plus a night in a mountain refuge, followed by Geneva. The trouble is I think Yvoire may be too small for a 4 day base. Maybe it makes more sense to stay in Lausanne and visit Yvoire for a day trip.

Any comments?

https://www.montreuxriviera.com/en/PA372/montreux-riviera-card
Website for the Montreux Riviera card for information on that part of your trip.

The trouble is I think Yvoire may be too small for a 4 day base. Maybe it makes more sense to stay in Lausanne and visit Yvoire for a day trip.

Yes, I agree. Just my opinion, but I thought two nights in Yvoire would be too many. Yvoire is a very beautiful, old town, famous for it's flowers. You could spend a full day wandering the streets and having a nice meal, though. We just took the ferry across and back from Nyon, had a nice meal with a Swiss friend, and wandered the town. We were staying in Nyon, so we just went back there by ferry. I think a night in Yvoire might be very pleasant and relaxing, though.

Montreaux was a very pretty waterfront promenade. Beautiful flowers. Take a photo in front of the big statue of Freddie Mercury. Visit Castle Chillon nearby.

Note that Geneva is a huge city, not a quaint Swiss town like Gruyere. Easy to get around by tram, and easy to get in/out by train, though.

And be flexible. Weather, trip delays and other unforeseen events can really affect your itinerary, which is another reason to stay for multiple days in each location.

A couple of excursions we enjoyed in the area are Rochers de Naye with a cogwheel train up from Montreux and
Les Pléiades out of Vevey. We also did the vineyard hike in Rick Steve’s’ book. For us, the October weather was superb!

As others have mentioned you seem to be moving around more than is necessary and each change of hotel eats up valuable recreation time, so consolidating is really time AND money saving.

Instead of staying 2 nights in Lausanne and 2 nights in Montreux, pick one place and stay there for 4 nights. You can easily get to see the other location by train for a day. Vevey and the Lavaux vineyards are definitely worth a side trip. This will be a great trip.

We're getting ready to leave for our trip and I appreciate the help I have gotten here. Thank you!

​​​​​​​We have ended up with this itinerary:
- Arrive in Geneva, train to Lausanne, stay 3 nights at Hotel Mirabeau. While in Lausanne visits museums, Cathedral, etc, and Lavaux vineyards, maybe renting bikes or ebikes.
- Train to Montreux, stay 3 nights at Grand Hotel Suisse Majestic. While in Montreux visits sights nearby including Chateau Chillon, Vevey and do some hikes. If bad weather train to Bern?
-Leave luggage in Montreux or transfer luggage to Zermatt (still working on that), while we stay one night in the refuge at Plan-Francey. Visit Gruyeres and Moleson sur Gruyeres on the way up or on the way back down the next day. Hiking.
-Travel to Zermatt, stay 2 nights at Hotel Garni Testa Grigia. Hopefully hiking, Gornergrat Railway, Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, pray for good weather
- Travel to Geneva, stay 2 nights at Hotel Suisse. While in Geneva see museums, gardens, flea market, bus to Mt. Salève then hike (?)
-Head back home from Geneva

We will be using public transportation. It doesn't look like  a Swiss Travel Pass would save us money, but I'm still considering a Half Fare Card. Comments/suggestions are welcome while I can still make changes. Can't wait!

You realize Lausanne & Montreux are 20 minutes away from each other on a direct train, correct? Are you saying your hotels are changeable as well or you’re just asking about activities?

You’re going to want at minimum a half fare card. SBB pricing defaults to half fare card prices. Paying full price for transportation in Switzerland for this long of a trip will never work in your favor.

I'd choose to stay in Montreux. So beautiful. Lausanne was fine, but I'd stay in Montreux.
We enjoyed the Olympic museum as well. That whole region is gorgeous. Have fun!

Including round trip on the Gornergratbahn, you have nearly 400 CHF per person train tickets, so the Half Fare Cards will save you money.

I wasn't sure about the half fare card because they cost CHF 150 each. We would need to spend CHF 500 to make it worth paying for the half fare. We aren't traveling long distances and if I consider some super saver, free local transport with the visitor cards, etc, it looks like we'll spend around that amount or less. However, I think we'll probably be adding some trips I haven't included and if the weather is bad we might visit other cities so you're probably right that the half fare card is worth it.

I wasn't sure about the half fare card because they cost CHF 150 each. We would need to spend CHF 500 to make it worth paying for the half fare.

You need to spend CHF 300.00, not 500. Some (very few) mountain excursions do not have a HFC price, such as Moléson (where Plan-Francey is) but their prices are already half of what you will pay elsewhere.

The break even point for a Half Fare Card costing 150 CHF is 300 CHF of full fare tickets.

Gornergrat alone is 132chf full fare, so you'll hit the break even point of 300 chf on an 11 night trip a lot faster than you think.

It sounds like you don't really want feedback on your bases, but in case you do, I think you're leaving a lot on the table with your current plan. You're spending 8 nights at 3 different spots on Lake Geneva that could all be seen from one base without moving, while only spending 2 nights in the mountains. At this point it's unlikely you want to change your whole itinerary, so I'd just say that you could consider switching your first 3 nights from Lausanne to somewhere closer to another mountain region like Thun for some variety and access to other mountains/cities/lakes. I don't think staying in both Lausanne AND Montreux (only 20 minutes apart) AND Geneva for 8 of your 11 nights is the best way to get the best out of Switzerland. Lake Thun is beautiful, much quieter than Lake Geneva and a great place to see additional castles and mountains that have a different vibe than Zermatt.

Arrive in Geneva > Lake Thun 3 nights > Montreux 3 nights > Plan-Francey 1 night > Zermatt 2 nights > Geneva 2 nights

Day 1 - Geneva Airport > Lake Thun (2.5 hrs by train) - explore city & lovely castle in Thun
Day 2 - Explore castles on Lake Thun by boat (Oberhofen, Spiez) + optional Interlaken and/or Lake Brienz, Harder Kulm, Niesen or Niederhorn
Day 3 - Head up into the Jungfrau mountain region to the car free village of Wengen + optional Mannlichen + see the Lauterbrunnen Valley (ebiking here is very nice from Imboden Rentals in Lauterbrunnen) or Niederhorn or Niesen
Day 4 - Thun > Montreux - stop in Bern along the way (19 minutes away), explore Montreux
Day 5 - Chateau de Chillon + boat ride to Vevey + optional Lavaux Vineyards
Day 6 - Lausanne, museums, cathedral, etc. + optional Lavaux vineyards
Day 7 - Montreux > Gruyeres, store luggage in Gruyeres > Plan-Francey
Day 8 - Travel to Zermatt - explore village
Day 9 - Gornergrat
Day 10 - Glacier Paradise + travel to Geneva
Day 11 - whatever you're wanting to do around Geneva
Day 12 - Depart

Actually wanderweg this is very helpful! I was a little concerned about spending so much time in the same area. We have spent time in the Lauterbrunnen area and briefly visited Thun at that time. We loved our time in the Jungfrau region! This time we were looking to explore other areas (and we speak some French), but your suggested itinerary looks great. Any ideas for where to stay in Thun?

Thank you! I'm looking into this right now. This also adds to the reason to get a half fare card.

It depends on your budget, but I like Beatus Wellness & Spa Resort and Schloss Schadau. Beatus has a boat stop right in front of the hotel and Schloss Schadau is an old manor castle. You usually can stay in Schloss Thun, which is very nice, but I'm not sure if the rooms have opened back up yet from the renovation they did this year.
Edited to add: Hotel Schlossberg does look like it's back open and has some availability depending on dates. If you want to stay in the actual castle in Thun, this is a unique experience. Our friends stayed there last year and really enjoyed it. We've also had friends stay at both Beatus and Schadau with positive experiences if you want to be ON the water.

If you prefer to stay in the French region since you’ve been to the Jungfrau region, then perhaps look into Neuchatel? Chamonix & Annecy are also lovely and would give you some variety, though obviously not in Switzerland.

I was able to get a reservation at Hotel Schlossberg. Looks so fun!

We also love Chamonix and especially Annecy. I was an au pair many years ago in Aix les Bains and visited some of these fabulous places, and I've been back with my family.

Thank you also for the idea of storing our luggage in Gruyeres when we go to Plan-Francey. I hadn't thought of that and it's much simpler and cheaper than trasnporting the luggage.

Wanderweg, you have been so hlepful!

Awesome, so glad to have been of help! Hope you have an amazing time!

Exploring Thun castle will be nice and the food there is good. We also enjoy taking the hop on/hop off boat from Thun > Oberhofen > Spiez. The castles at Oberhofen & Spiez are nicer enjoyed from the outsides, whereas Schloss Thun is worth doing the interior tour, but we enjoy walking along the lakeside promenade and gardens at Oberhofen (also a nice spot for lunch overlooking the castle) and the homemade ice cream at the Spiez boat dock outside the castle is very good. Depending on what time you head out that morning, you may have time to end your day up at Harder Kulm for mountain/lake views.

For your other day, you could do the scenic train along Lake Brienz + the Brienzer Rothorn steam train for incredible mountain/lake views, Niesen, Niederhorn or the Wengen/Mannlichen/Lauterbrunnen Valley option I originally mentioned.

If you haven't already been to Chateau de Chillon, the English audio self guided tour is amazing and it's our favorite castle in all of Europe. We like walking from Montreux to the castle along the lakeside promenade, tour the castle, then take the boat from the castle to Vevey. The Lauvaux vineyard walk from Chexbres to Saint Saphorin is great and Saint Saphorin looks like it's straight out of a movie set.

Wanderweg, I have taken all this down and I love your suggestions. I'll be sure to report back!