We are taking our college aged daughters for 2 weeks to Belgium & France this summer and our younger daughter wants to 'get a taste of Switzerland' before we head home. Given our plans, one of these three cities may work logistically, but which city would be best in terms of accessibility via train and site seeing in a limited timeframe? Our family enjoys history and being outside; all look equally enticing! Also, any suggestions for B&Bs in the city would be helpful as well. Thank you so much!
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Geneva is not where you will find your quintessential Swiss Experience. If you can get to either Lucerne or Lauterbrunnen - THAT's where you'll find beautiful scenery. Lucerne has an exquisite medieval city center and Lauterbrunnen is in the valley surrounded by the towering alps.
Posted by
Grand Rapids, MI
768 posts
Tim is right. Cities in Switz. do not give you "a taste of Switz."
Assuming you are in Paris, you could take the bullet train to Geneva (3 hours). It's another 3.5 hours to Lauterbrunnen or Lucerne.
In other words, it will take most of a day to get there, most of day to get back. Hardly worth it for 2 days. Three days, maybe. You should Google image the places you are thinking of (including Lauterbrunnen) or watch Rick Steves episodes on Switz.
If you can only get time to get to Geneva, it does have historical things: John Calvin's church, Red Cross museum, UN, a little science museum by the lake, and non-historical free bikes to rent. ( Geneveroule.ch )