My husband and I are planning a 5-6 week trip through Europe and are desperately trying fit in Gimmewald. Unfortunately, it just seems so far out of the way! We will be heading down the Rhine in Germany, then stopping in Rothenberg and Munich. We were then planning on going up to Prague, then down to Hallstatt/Salzburg, then to Venice to Cinque Terre then down Italy. How can we fit Gimmewald into all this? We will be taking trains the whole way. Train from Rothenburg to Gimmewald, then Gimmewald to Munich? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We will be traveling in April. I also heard that Gimmewald "shuts down" after Easter... THANK YOU!
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
When are you traveling?
Posted by
OP
San Luis Obispo
13 posts
We will be traveling April 2009.
Our other thought is to make more of a loop. To go from Munich to Prague to Hallstatt to Venice to Florence to Rome to Cinque Terre to Gimmelwald to Paris and then fly out of Paris. Any thoughts on that?
Also, if anyone has any information on traveling to Gimmelwald after Easter in April, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks again for your help!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Don't bother going that far out of your way in April. Gimmelwald, Murren, and many other Alpine towns in the region virtually shut down to tourists from the end of the ski season to late spring/early summer. You can still visit, but there's no place to stay or eat in the mountains (most businesses in the valleys remain open, however). Also, hiking options are limited by the snow melt-off. So, given that this is the most expensive corner of Europe and far out of your path of travel, I would pick another Alpine destination. You may want to research what's available between Hallstatt and Venice, perhaps some of the villages in the mountains around Innsbruck?
Posted by
Baudette, MN, United States
163 posts
We plan on being in the Gimmelwald/Murren area May 13-15 of 2009. After reading these posts, (and others) - I'm nervous about it being a bad time of year. We would like to spend a few hours going up the Schilthorn, and the rest of our time hiking around Murren/Gimmelwald and in the Wengen area too. Is this a bad plan?
Posted by
southwest, Missouri, U.S.A.
1717 posts
Hello Erin. What is the problem ? If you will be at Europe for 5 or six weeks, you will have time to go to Switzerland. Overnight accomodation is available at Lauterbrunnen in April and May. All of the gondolas and trains and funiculars in the Berner Oberland are operational in April and May. Go to Switzerland last, from the Cinque Terre. (Search for the schedule of the Express train from Monterosso to Milan. And ride in trains from Milan to Interlaken). Very many people travelled from a Cinque Terre village in Italy to Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, in one day. And you can do it. (I will be at Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, in the first half of May, 2009). Fly from Zurich airport to the U.S.A. And, I recommend going to Halstatt in Austria. Rick Steves puts a low priority on being at Innsbruck.
Posted by
southwest, Missouri, U.S.A.
1717 posts
Erin, I read your reply here, in which you said you want to go to Paris from Switzerland, and fly from Paris to the U.S.A. Yes, you can do that. (I will ride in trains from Switzerland to Paris, and fly from Paris to the U.S.A.).
Posted by
Charlestown, PA, USA
193 posts
Go with Ron's suggestion...that's almost exactly what we did last year. But I would try to stay a couple of days in the OB because you can always count on one sunny day for each cloudy one.