Staying in Switerland

Sean I would look for accommodation in the Lauterbrunnen, Wengen area or if you would rather somewhere busier Interlaken. Yes stay in one place Gimmelwald is at the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley and you can do that easily in a morning. Berne is about an hour away by train, Lucerne depending on which route two hours and Zurich is about two and half hours. Check train times and routes at www.sbb.ch/en and you get not only train times but fares as well.

Sean, With only five nights, I doubt that you'll have time to see all of the places you listed. My suggestion would be to spend three days in the Berner Oberland (perhaps Mürren or Lauterbrunnen) and tour that area. Places you could visit would be Gimmelwald, the Schilthorn, Jungfrau (depending on your budget), Trummelbach Falls, Wengen and maybe even Interlaken or a cruise on the lakes. You could easily spend the entire five days in that area! Spend the other two days in Lucerne, as it's a beautiful city with lots to see, including the incredible Museum of Transport, the famous "Dying Lion of Lucerne", cruises on the lake and perhaps a trip up Mt. Pilatus. In "reading between the lines", is it correct to assume you're living in Switzerland at the moment? If that's the case, where are you located? Happy travels!

Ken, I do not live in Switzerland at the moment. I lived in northern Italy for a while a few years back, but I have moved back to the USA for now. Thanks both of you for your posts!

I really think Ken and Pauline are on the money. There is so much to see in the Berner Oberland and Lauterbrunnen makes a great base becuse you have better access to transportation. Hopefully you are going by car becuse of the flexibility it gives you. I would add the boat trip around the Brienzer See, you can get on and off if you wish and catch the next boat. Lucerne is really nice and you don't need a car there although it is handy to have one if you want to go out to the transportation museum which is quite good.

Sean, I live in the Berner Oberland and you want to stay in a more central area such as Thun, the City of the Alps, as they call it. If you get too far south it will be harder for you to see the larger cities. A train ride to Bern is only 25 minutes, Interlaken and the Jungfrauch region is about the same. Zurich and Luzern are aprox. 90 minutes by train. You can't go wrong staying in this area. If you need help with accommodations, let me know. I know the area well. Hope this helps!

This coming June, and after London and Paris, we are taking the train to Zurich. I am thinking we can stay the two nights in Zurich or in Luzern, but don't know what would be best given we only have two nights. Can someone recommend a good hotel in Luzern for June 24-25? How about Zurich? Our plane leaves out of Zurich and back to the US on the morning of June 26. Please remember that after 6 nights in London and 6 nights in Paris, our budget will be rather stretched, yet we want to stay in a decent place where we can get the flavor of beautiful Switzerland.

Alina, Of the two cities, I'd recommend staying in Lucerne if possible. What time does your flight depart from Zurich? It may be possible to spend that part of your visit in Lucerne, as the train trip from there to Zurich Airport is not that long. I stayed at Hotel Goldener Stern in Lucerne. It was very comfortable, the staff were great and they have a nice restaurant. Cheers!