Hi. My husband and I will be in Paris for few days and wanted to visit Switzerland in 3 days at the most. We are looking for doable itinerary for couple where we can see just few of the best highlights in Switzerland. -From Paris, to which city in Switzerland to land on Day 1 - Are there Day Tour sightseeing travel agents where we can maximize our stay to see few of the highlights intercity
Thanks
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
3 posts
Assuming you are flying and you wish to fly to a major Swiss airport I have two destinations, Geneva and Bern. Bern: For Bern I would head directly to Interlaken for the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Bernese Oberland. This is a classic Swiss glacially carved "U" shaped valley. Hanging waterfalls can be seen free fall plunging hundreds of meters to the valley floor. Deep in the Valley is the dramatic Trummelbach falls. The head of the valley is guarded by three famous summits. The Jungfrau (the virgin) is on one side, the Eiger (Ogre) on the other, and the Monch(Y - humor!) (actually the monk) in the middle protecting the Jungfrau from the Eiger. The north face of the Eiger is a famous climbing destination if you are so inclined. High up on the shoulder of the Jungfrau is the Jungfraujoch observatory and general tourist destination with views of a huge glacier to the south and the Lauterbrunnen valley to the north. To reach the Jungfraujoch, take the cog railway up the east wall of the valley past lodging (ski) towns of Wengen and Murren to Kleine Sheidig. Switch trains to another cog railway that tunnels through the Eiger and ends up at the Jungfraujoch. Destinations above the west side of the valley are accessed by funiculars and cable trams. Rick's longtime favorite sleepy mountain village of Gimmelwald can be found on a shoulder high above the valley floor. Gimmelwald is a mini transportation hub for trams and a local train on on this side of the valley. The tram above Gimmelwald takes you to the summit of the Schilthorn with a resturant and observation deck to watch the paraglider jump off of perfectly solid ground to sail to the valley floor far below. Watch for another post. I wish I could join you!
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
3 posts
Another destination for a short trip to Switzerland is Geneva. Geneva is situated in the French speaking portion of Switzerland on the west end of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman in French). I'm not familiar with Geneva but if you head east along the north shore of Lake Geneva will find yourself in Montreux. Lausanne is a bit closer if you can get decent airfare. The Montreux Jazz Festival runs from June 29 through July 14 in 2012. Aside from the big-name acts there are free concerts in the park on the lakeshore. You will also find dozens of festival tents containing food, souvenirs, jewelry and amusements on the promenade along the lakeshore during the festival. Just a short two kilometer public bus ride east of Montreux is Chateau de Chillon. This island fortress is accessed via a footbridge. You can explore every corner of the castle including the defensive walls, tower, residence and dungeon. Very cool. Another diversion is the Chocolate Train from Montreux to Broc. This train climbs the hills above Montreux to first Gruyeres for a tour of the castle. You will also visit a modern cheese factory at this first stop. The train then continues on to a Nestle Chocolate factory in Broc. This is heaven for chocolate lovers. At the end of the tour is the sampling room. Attendants are constantly replenishing the samples when the count drops below two handfuls. All the samples are complementary! I ate so much I got a burning chocolate/sugar headache but it was worth it. Don't take the chocolate train if you don't like chocolate and cheese. Have fun in Switzerland!