Switzerland Christmas Planning - Morcote, Foroglio, Aletsch Glacier, Rosenlaui Glacier

I've only visited Morcote from your list. It's a tiny, one street village in a very pretty setting. We hiked some of the trails above for a few hours (great view from an old hillside cemetery). However, not worth a very long train ride, and not sure about the trails this time of year.

Consider Bellinzona, a Unesco site. A decent downtown and three splendid castles/ruins to visit. Market day is on Saturday.

Thank you kindly @Gundersen!

and have picked up on a handful of locations via social media

Definitely sounds like places you'd see on social media, with absolutely no information about how to get there, and in the winter no less. It will take 4 1/2 hours to get from Lausanne to anywhere near the base of the Rosenlaui Glacier (Grindelwald Schwandboden) and then are you planning on snowshoeing or cross country skiing to any closer?

You can get to an overlook of the Aletch Glacier from the Jungfraujoch, which costs a small fortune, Or you could go to Fiesch and take 2 cable cars up to Eggishorn for an over look there. That will take 3 hours from Lausannne.

You must be staying with family/friends in Lausanne. Otherwise, why pick a location so far from the places you want to see.

The Rosenlaui Glacier is not easily accessible. Its a long alpine trek to get there, and is something for experience mountaineers. And certainly not something you would undertake in Winter.

But probably what you are referring to is the Rosenlaui Glacier Gorge? That is indeed a nice place to visit. But only in Summer. In Winter the place is closed, and even the road leading there is impassable.

You have to realise you are coming in Winter. In Winter you come to Switzerland to do wintery things, like skiing, sledding etc... Expect the weather in the lower areas to be drab, with lots of fog. You also have picked a base that is rather inconvenient for your plan.

What might be a nice excursion is going up the Rochers-de-Naye. (near Montreux).

Jeez, sorry, Bellinzona is over 5 hours by rail from Lausanne. I had Lucerne fixed in my little brain. So much for that speed reading course I took.

Thank you all. This is all very helpful - and yes, we will be doing wintery things. Lausanne is convenient to Geneva airport, as well as proximate to destinations in France that we will be visiting, along with Montreux, Zermatt, and Interlaken and Grindelwald.

The intent of this thread was to see if those lesser known destinations are accessible and/or worth a bit of distance. So, once again, I thank you all for input.

I think I could use a hand building an itinerary for 8 days. Are there agencies that can help with this, that someone can recommend? Assuming there is a cost/fee associated with this? Thank you in advance.

I think you may be a bit optimistic about Lausanne being convenient to do day trips to Grindelwald, Zermatt, etc. These places take 3+ hours each way to get to from Lausanne, so 6+ hours of commute plus the time doing activities combined with the fact that the sun sets early in the winter. This is unrealistic. Especially with a child. Do you already have lodging booked?

It is booked, but can cancel. I just don't know what appears to offer easy train access, lake views etc., large hotel rooms/suite. We have concluded that to ride out to Interlaken, Grindelwald etc. we may need to stay overnight there.

Yes, from Lausanne you can see Montreux, Vevey, Geneva, Yvoire, maybe Gruyeres…but to do Grindelwald area, you really need to stay there, it’s just too far to do in a reasonable day trip.

Maybe split up your time and do 3 or 4 days in Lausanne and 4 or 5 days in Interlaken. There is plenty to occupy you in the Grindelwald/Interlaken region for 4-5 days (Lake Thun, Lake Brienz, Grindelwald, Murren/Schilthorn, Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg/Jungfraujoch, Lauterbrunnen….as well as possible day trip to Bern, Thun, even Luzern, etc.)

If you want to see water from your room, you can stay ON Lake Thun or Lake Brienz. But pay attention to how close to a train station you are if you want to prioritize convenience for day trips, as some places along the water require additional bus connections to the train, which adds time.

Ride the Golden Pass Express from Montreux to Interlaken if you want a scenic panoramic train ride.

Thank you so much - this is so helpful, for a small yet somewhat of a challenging country to explore!

We plan to go to Top Adventure in Grindelwald, for winter activities. Are all place you mention above, easily accessible by train? Meaning, is there a best place to stay in that area? If we were to stay in Grindelwald, would we have any difficulty accessing some of the places you mention?

Is Chamonix/Mt. Blanc worth a visit? We went to Zermatt last time, and wanted to see if Chamonix is worth it instead.

The Berner Oberland is very accessible by train/cable cars everywhere. Grindelwald would be the most convenient place to stay if you want to see First & Jungfraujoch. You can also see Schilthorn/Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Lake Brienz, Lake Thun, Wengen, etc all by staying in Grindelwald.

Chamonix is great, but a bit too far for a day trip from Lausanne. And you'd need good weather to make the most of it. I would not have it on my list.

I was just in Grindelwald and I think it is a great base for what you want to do. I got a hiking/sledging pass, which let me ride the lifts in the whole Berner Oberland. I don’t know how much money I did or didn’t save, but the convenience of it was worth every penny.

I stayed to the Hotel Kreuz and Post, which is right by the train and bus station. Don’t worry, it wasn’t noisy or off putting at this time of year. My room faced the train station, and I had the windows open at times. I could hear the noise from the station, but it was not at all enough to make me close the windows. And at Christmas it should be even colder, so you’ll have those closed. It is a family run hotel, reasonable for the area, and the staff was just lovely. It seems family friendly too, with toys and kids books in the library for example.

I also highly recommend the Golden Pass train from Montreux. With the snow in the mountains it should be a gorgeous ride. Zermatt I would suggest as a place you consider heading to once you are there. It’s a long ride for nothing if it rains, but if the weather looks good, it is a worthwhile long day trip or single overnight.

If the weather is foggy/rainy, take a look at the webcams for the Jungfrau region. Often it is much clearer up on the mountains than in the valleys.

Wonderful! Thank you so much for this!
Is the Golden Pass train better/worse/easier than the Glacier Express? What are the differences, and what would you recommend?

The Glacier Express is not in the area you are visiting. The GoldenPass Express connects Lake Geneva (Montreux) with the Berner Oberland (Interlaken). If you’re wanting to consider the Glacier Express that’s a whole different part of Switzerland and a whole different trip.

I’d recommend doing a bit more research into Switzerland and narrowing down what is actually important to you, as you can’t see it all and right now your plans are too broad.

Thank you for your insight @wanderweg!