Family of 10 staying 7 days in Lauterbrunnen Valley with no car in late-June 2017. We then have four days/nights (June 28-July 1) before flying out of Geneva at mid-afternoon on Sunday, July 2. Trying to decide what to do with those four days/nights. One option is to stay in Lausanne/Vevey or Annecy/Chamonix, which would enable us to easily get to the Geneva airport on our departure date. But I am also considering going down to Pontresina or Lugano for three days and using the fourth day to travel back to Geneva, where we would stay overnight to catch our flight the next day. Any suggestions about these two options or entirely different suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Lausanne/Vevey and Anency/Chamonix are all amazing places but in different ways.
Lausanne/Vevey are gorgeous lakeside towns that are convenient to sites like Chillon Castle, Gruyere, and the vineyards of Lavaux. Vevey is my favorite town along Lake Geneva...it's quaint and has a lovely lakeside promenade lined with trees and old, stately hotels and homes.
Annency is a very beautiful town with lovely streets and old buildings.
Chamonix is surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountains in Europe. If you like to hike there is nowhere like it...although in late June there may still be a lot of snow on the higher trails. You can take the gondolas up though and the views are stunning. The town itself is very nice, if not a little touristy, and is a nice place to spend some time.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Laussanne, Vevey, Montreux and surrounds are beautiful and peaceful. Ride the lake paddlewheel boats on lake geneva. Visit the olympics museum etc.
Chamoix and quiet canal Annecy also wonderful but more similiar to the Lauterbrunnen area.
Either way u cannot go wrong and similiar in costs.
I have enjoyed both alot.
I would skip Pontresina and Lugano as destinations.
They are vg as along the way stops, imo.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
In Lausanne, the Museum of Outsider Art (Musée de l'Art Brut) was a real highlight. It's certainly not the "usual museum stuff," and as long as the family members are not too young (it's not censored for children), it will have something for everyone.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
360 posts
We just came back from a trip that included both Chamonix and the Berner Oberland and we enjoyed the BO much better. We even said we were glad we went to Chamonix first or else it would've seemed like a disappointment after the BO. The lifts were great and we also rode the Helbronner over to Italy, but if you do the Jungfraujoch in the BO, that would be a similar experience. We didn't get to Annecy, choosing to go under Mont Blanc and into Italy instead. Another stop was Lausanne, and we stayed just outside in the wine area in Grandvaux. We took the train into Lausanne to explore, but had a car to explore the smaller towns of Gruyeres and Broc. We also really enjoyed the Chateau de Chillion outside Montreaux, one of the best medieval castles you can explore.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
748 posts
My vote is for lausaane Lovley city, wonderful area to explore
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Traveling from Lauterbrunnen to Geneva will take you through some of the most beautiful wine country with vineyards and beautiful lakes and snow covered mountains in the background. Have a look here: