My wife and I usually visit Italy, but are broadening our travel horizons this year. We plan to visit Switzerland, early this summer, for two weeks. Our favorite Italian travels are centered around small villages and towns, so we are wondering if we should do the same in a new country. Can anyone suggest a small village itinerary, for a 112-14 travel day vacation? I should qualify that we normally spend a day or two in Rome and Venice, and enjoy them both very much. We frequent those two cities because of the airports.
I look forward to your help, and thank you in advance! Jeff
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
We usually travel to Austria when we want to get our fill of incredible mountain scenery. They also have the Alps. We find it easier to travel through and substantially cheaper than Switzerland. And we can also go to the eastern end of the country and visit Vienna, a great large European city. It's also easy to go through the Brenner Pass and get into Northern Italy if we choose to run down there.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11776 posts
Switzerland was the second country we fell in love with, after Italy. The Jungfrau Region in the Berner Oberland should definitely be on your radar for 4 or 5 nights although we have spent up to 19 nights there in a single visit. There are several small villages that are pleasant as a base: Muerren, Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen and contenders. Rick Steves’ Switzerland guide has lots of info for you including details o transportation, hiking, and day trips.
Another we visited and loved last fall is Pontresina in the Engadine region. Trains to ride, glaciers to explore, easy but picturesque valley walks; it is all lovely.
Others will chime in with their favorites (Lola has a few) but I suggest you stay no more than 3 bases in the time you have available. It is easy to make a base and explore with excursions and day trips by rail.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17427 posts
Where to start? There are many small villages in Switzerland, some overrun with tourists and others, not so much.
If you are used to Italy, you might start in Ticino (Italian-speaking Switzerland) in Val Verzasca. The tiny village of Sonogno is a place I have longed to visit, but we haven’t made it there yet.
https://www.ticino.ch/en/commons/details/Hamlet-of-Sonogno/2722.html
https://www.ticino.ch/en/travel-inspirations/valle-verzasca.html
In Graubunden to the east, you have Guarda which friends of ours love. We haven’t made it there yet either.
Our favorite mountain village is Bettmeralp, where you will find few if any Americans, but lots of British.
https://www.aletscharena.ch/destination-en/my-place/bettmeralp/
But for sheer beauty, Muerren is our favorite. Although it it popular, it is not overrun with tourists, and a lovely choice.
Posted by
Kamarooka
420 posts
Murren and Lauterbrunnen don't fit my idea of small village. Both are busy little tourist towns. I guess it depends on what your idea of "small village" is. Gimmelwald is a small village and a long time favourite of mine. It does get a lot more foot traffic than it used to but most are passing through.
If you stay in Gimmelwald you will have to wander up the hill to Murren regularly if you want to do any shopping.
Sulwald is up above Lauterbrunnen. It is small and quiet. There is mechanical means of transport available to get there. I would rather stay there than down in busy Lauterbrunnen.
If you want to stay down in the Lauterbrunnen Valley then stay at Marc and Di's beautiful Alpenhof in Stechelberg. Rustic, quirky, ridiculously cheap. Di does killer brekkies.
The crowds get off the bus at the Stechelberg cable car station, keep on going a bit further. There is a nice pub in Stechie too.
I found pictures of little Sonogno and surrounds in a hiking book. Looked interesting so we travelled to Locarno booked ourselves a night at Ristorante Alpino Hotel in Sonogno. We immediately fell in love with the area and extended our stay. It is quite different to most of the better known places in Switzerland. Again it is not a place where you can buy lots of things. Grab supplies before you get there.
There are a number of other small communities in this area. Lavertezzo gets quite a few tourists because of it's bridge and a very photogenic stretch of river.
Back in the 80s I hiked from Belgium to Italy and stopped off in quite a few nice small towns and villages. Some I remember ( in the Valais ) are Stalden, Embd and Visperterminen. That is a long time ago so I will not offer an opinion on their current status.
Posted by
New York, NY
1586 posts
You can try Appenzell and La Gruyere Switzerland. Both are small charming villages. La Gruyere has the Swiss cheese factory and not too far from La Gruyere is a town called Broc Switzerland which has the chocolate factory. Review the links below.
https://cailler.ch/en/maison-cailler/la-chocolaterie-suisse/
Posted by
Florida
1450 posts
I enjoyed lakeside Murten (aka, Morat) a few minutes west of Bern by train. It has a great medieval core and a mostly intact wall. The Swiss gave the Burgundians a 15th century smackdown there. A few minutes west of Murten is Avanches. The Romans made this the capital of the region and left behind an ampitheater and a few other ruins.