Hi! My family and I will be traveling to Switzerland in the middle of our itinerary in the end of November (family wedding in Manchester to start, Switzerlnad and end in Paris). My family's age range is between 20 and 83. My grandfather walks well and we plan to take all trains between the cities in Switzerland. We will be in Switzerland for 4 nights (3 full days, 2 half days for travel between countries). Here is our itinerary so far. This is our first time in Switzerland. From Manchester, we plan to fly into Zurich then take train to Lucerne, stay one night in Lucerne. From Lucerne, train to Interlaken for 3 nights. From Interlaken, train back to Zurich to fly to Paris. I know this is quite broad, but it's a small start to my planning, so I'm looking for advice please. And perhaps some hotel suggestions. Thanks for your time!
Stephanie
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
Unless there is a pressing reason to do it taking the train back to Zurich to fly to Paris doesn't really make much sense. The train from Interlaken to Paris only takes about 3 hours longer than to Zurich and taking it will save you a lot of time and money in addition to allowing to see more sights.
Posted by
OP
Chicago
15 posts
Thanks Jeff! I had no idea there is a train from Interlaken to Paris!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Keep your expectations low for the Alps at that time of year. Novemeber is the second worst month to visit them. Not enough snow to ski, but too much for hiking, and there's usually a lot of cloud cover. Most of the mountain tourism based business temporarily close in preparation for the upcoming winter sports season. Interlaken is a decent choice for November, though, because it doesn't go into hybernation quite to the extent the mountain towns do during this so-named "shoulder season."
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33819 posts
Similar to Jeff, I was to suggest that in the time that you would take to get to Zurich, you could be in Basel where you could easily change to the TGV train which originates in Zurich and goes in 3 hours (actually 3 hours and 3 minutes) straight from Basel to Paris Gare de Lyon right in the heart of everything. Two hours at Zurich airport before departure and an hour in the air is the same amount of time. Of course with the arrival at CDG or Orly you still have to get into the centre of Paris; you're already there by train. And no airport security or trollies down the aisle flogging in-flight merch.