Long term study in Switzerland

September will be harvest time in the Lavaux wine region.
https://www.winetourism.com/wine-appellation/lavaux/

Lyon is just 2 hours away by regional train.

How great to have this opportunity!

Rick’s book covers Lausanne, Montreux, the wine region (as mentioned by Sam) so some good ideas there. Also, above lake Geneva are Rochers de Naye and Les Pléiades for hiking and views. These locations are good options in any season.

Further afield, many locations are feasible for a weekend, especially a long weekend. Get familiar with SBB, download the app, and sign up for an account. Check out passes that will make transportation less expensive.

Weather? Who knows? Last year we had rain and clouds for almost half of a month-long stay in autumn in the Berner Oberland. This year, about 2.5 out of 28 days were inclement. Temps this year in 2 months here (late August to now) have been as high as 93F in Zurich and as low as 36F one early morning in Graubunden.

Pack something for all weather possibilities. A light option for warmer days with mid and outer layers plus some true cold-weather outer wear. Hiking boots will serve you well if you do any outdoor activities.

Lots of great museums and castles in that area. I bought the museum pass for the first time this year and have not been disappointed. Since you will be here during shorter daylight hours and possibly poor weather, this could be something to look into.

https://www.museumspass.ch/en/

Here is where you can find events in all of Switzerland. Use the filter to narrow down dates, locations and interests.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/events/events-search/

I really enjoy going to the hot air balloon festival in Château-d'Oex held at the end of January each year.

https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/experiences/events/43th-international-hot-air-balloon-festival/

Here is where you can find hiking and cycling routes, as well as winter hiking and other winter sports


https://schweizmobil.ch/en/summer

https://schweizmobil.ch/en/winter

For sure you will want the SBB half fare card, and you can also look ahead and purchase some day passes at 29.00 each for times when you want to explore further afield.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/tickets-for-switzerland/day-pass/saver-day-pass.html

I thought of two more things:

If you are looking for a Saver Day Pass and are more interested in getting the best price, rather than specific dates, you can view all of the passes currently on sale listed on one page on the BLS train website.
These are exactly the same passes that you buy from SBB, just in an easier to search format. I usually look here for what is a good deal and then purchase from SBB so that I have it saved in my tickets section on that app.

https://shop.bls.ch/en/blscustom/daypass

If you are interested in hiking, you can check this out. These are the hiking clubs in Switzerland and there is a lot of great information there. You can get their app (there is a fee) and it has an abundance of routes, including those that are uploaded by members - just ways in which they have connected various trails in their area to create a great hike. You can bookmark and save any you are interested in, this will provide you with a lot more hiking options.

Unfortunately there is no English option for the website or app, but it is worth translating.

https://www.schweizer-wanderwege.ch/de

I assume your educational institution is assisting you with obtaining the necessary long-stay visa so you can remain in Switzerland beyond the usual 90-day limit.

You're right, Rick skips over Geneva. I thought I got a misprinted guidebook at first. At some point he explains his omission, I'm paraphrasing here but I think he says in essence he doesn't feel the need to be an encyclopedic guide to every city in Europe and in his opinion Geneva can be safely missed.

Check out Fodors and Frommers since they do try to be more complete, and also realize that a tourbook is not necessarily going to be of great help to someone spending 6 months somewhere. Look for expat forums.