my wife and I will disembark from a river cruise in Basel in mid-October '17 and would like to extend that trip with a first time visit into Switzerland. We should have 4 full days, want to travel by rail and are considering the sites/activities of Bern, Gimmelwald and the Berner Oberland area, Luzern and central Switzerland and then fly our of Zurich on day 5. We'd like to get a good taste of the Swiss culture, mountains and, weather permitting, one or two short hikes. We don't mind traveling light and keeping a good pace.
Is that a doable area/agenda to cover within that time-frame?
What town(s) would you suggest as bases?
What are the "can't miss" sites / activities within that loop?
Do the train routes cover that area well and what would be the best passes to use?
Thanks so much for any assistance you can provide!
Posted by
USA
318 posts
Train travel is exceptional in Switzerland, so you may want to just keep Basel as your base for most of your trip, and not waste time moving from one hotel to another, which would be time consuming during your short trip. Zurich, Bern, and Luzern are easy day trips from Basel. We loved going up to Mt. Pilatus on the steep cogwheel train and going down by gondola and cable car. RS has detailed info in his book. I should have heeded what Rick wrote about a rail pass: Our one regret was not getting a Swiss Pass, which would have allowed us to hop on any train. I did not want to spend the money upfront, but ended up spending as much, if not more, and wasted time trying to purchase discounted tickets online. The pass would have also included Museum entrance fees, which were costly, buses, and discounts to Mt. Pilatus and Chillon castle.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thanks TXtwinmama,
It's good to know that Basel is within easy reach of those cities and sites. We may try some places up in the mountains if available at that time.
So you would suggest that the Swiss Pass is the best way to go?
Posted by
USA
318 posts
You can go to the SBB.CH website, which is for Swiss train travel. Click on top for English, then on the left side of the screen, write in your base city and the destination, and you can see how long the train trip will take, as well as current fares. It even shows the exact platforms - gotta love that Swiss efficiency! On that website, you can also purchase a rail pass if you think it would be beneficial. I did not want to pay the money upfront for the pass, but as I stated, it would have been beneficial for us since it included museums, activities, buses, etc., and I would not have needed to take the time to go to the window or purchase tickets online. I think there is a pass for less than a week. The website has lots of information. Enjoy your trip. We loved Switzerland so much, we are going back again this June. Please feel free to message me you have any questions I may be able to help with.