Our family of four adults will be ending our RS Switzerland tour on Thursday, August 24 in Bern. We would like to drive to Le Loche after the tour because we have ancestors from that region who immigrated to America in the 1880's. We understand the original house still exists and we would like to visit if possible. We had family members who accomplished that visit a few years ago.
We could rent a car in Bern and drive to Le Loche and visit for the day and return the car that evening and take a train to Zurich prior to our flight home on August 26th.
Alternatively, we could hire a driver in Bern to drive us to Le Loche for the day. Does anyone have experience and advice concerning hiring a driver for a day from Bern?
Thanks for your help.
Larry Shepherd
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16181 posts
Are you sure it is Le Loche? I cannot find any such place in Switzerland (there is a La Loche in Canada).
There is a La Lôche-Dessus near Lac Leman. Also a place named Le Locle, and a municipality named La Roche.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16181 posts
If it is La Lôche-Dessus (a tiny little hamlet of maybe 20 houses,,surrounded by farmland), you can easily get there by public transport. The direct train from Bern to Lausanne (2 per hour) takes 1 hour 12 minutes, or less. At Lausanne you change to the S6 local train to Moreillon, a ride of 14 minutes. It is a walk of less than a mile to the village.
Or you could take a taxi from Lausanne station to La Lôche-Dessus, and the public transport back. Or ask the driver to return to pick you up an hour or two later.
If you are lucky, you will get a taxi driver like the one we had when we did a “roots” trip to Steffisburg to see my husband’s ancestral home. She was very interested in this project and worked hard to find the address ( the one we had was kind of ambiguous). When she had trouble finding it, she just shut off the meter and kept searching. We had planned just a “drive by”, but when we did find it, it turned out it was now a public building, having been donated to the community by the last (childless) member of the family. They were having some kind of special exhibition that day, and when I explained the reason for our interest in my awkward German, they treated us like long-lost kin, waiving the entrance fee and giving us a private tour (about 25%of which I understood, as Swiss German is difficult for me). It was a memorable experience!
If you prefer to rent a car and drive yourselves, see it you can return it at Zurich instead of back to Bern.
Posted by
OP
16 posts
Thanks for your replies. I did misspell the town-it is Le Locle near the French border about 80 km west of Neuchatel and about 1 hour away from Bern. it is apparently the center of the Swiss watching and a UNESCO heritage site. It is situated in the Jura Mountains so driving the roads may be a challenge for a foreign visitor. Has anyone traveled to this area of Switzerland?
We would prefer to hire a driver from Bern to take us to Le Locle area for the day.
Thanks
Posted by
Bend, Oregon
2303 posts
Another option would be to take the train to Le Locle in just over an hour with one connection. Then hire a local driver to help you explore the area. I would contact the local tourism office for recommendations:
https://www.j3l.ch/en/Z10488/neuchatel-tourism
Posted by
Wengen
1623 posts
A car with driver as called a "train" in Switzerland. Really, if you do not have your own wheels, or do not want to drive, you use public transit. Switzerland has a nationwide integrated mass transit system that is better than even what most big US cities have.
Hiring a car with driver is not really something people do, unless you are very rich. These services are expensive.
My suggestion would be to use public transit. I you know where the house is you can plan a trip all the way there on www.sbb.ch. The trip planner can plan to any street address. What is you want to see in and around Le Locle?
I would in your case also get a "Saver Day Pass". You should still be able to get one for 59,- for that day. That pass allows you to take all public transit in Switzerland for a whole day, so will also cover your trip to Zurich in the evening. And doing it this way you do not need to get back to Bern at all even, as the quickest route from Le Locle to Zurich does not go via Bern.