Switzerland-4 days-what town, village to stay?

Hi Gail, We stayed in Wengen for 4 nights in mid Oct., many years ago. We wished we could have stayed longer. Wengen and the Berner Oberland was the highlight of our trip to Switzerland, which included Zermatt, St. Moritz, Luzern and Appenzell. Paul

Hi Paul.. Could you please tell me what the weather was like in mid Oct and if you had to pay a lot to go up and down from Wengen every time you went on a day trip? My travel friend says its over $100 every time you go up to Wengen from the valley

HI Gail-your friend must be thinking of the Jungfraujoch trip, way above Wengen. From the valley (Lauterbrunnen) up to Wengen takes only 12 minutes and the price is 6,40 CHF each way, or about $7.00. And if you take advantage of the 2-for-1 offer on 4-day Swiss passes, it won't cost anything to go from Wengen down to the valley. (Above Wengen is where you will start paying 50%). I will look around the web and see if I can find any information about festivals (Dorffests) in the area. You have a good chance of hitting one on the weekend, but the dates may not be posted yet. Here are photos and a description of an autumn cow parade (Des alpes in French) in the Lac leman region: http://margaret-johnson.suite101.com/descent-of-cows-offers-taste-of-alpine-life-a145428

Thanks Lola.. My friend was so wired and telling me that it cost over $100 every time we go down from Wengen and I knew she had to be wrong. Anyway, I talk to the rail dept at Rick Steves who explained everything. She said we should go fr Zurich airport to Lucerne ($35/pp 1 way ticket) on the 1st day bec its too far to Wengen on the day we land. Then the next day go to Wengen and start our 4 day swiss pass, which would include our trip to Basal on the 8th. Would love to be able to see a festival!

The Swiss love their festivals, especially the autumn cow parades, so there must be one somewhere not far away on that weekend. With your passes you can travel there for free. As I mentioned, they may not be scheduled yet for October, so you may have to wait to find one, but we'll keep looking. I am on the My Switzerland e-mail newsfeed, and last year they sent an announcement of wine and cheese festivals in the autumn. And I have a number of friends who have just happened across cow parades, when they bring the cows down from the high pastures for the winter, all decorated. Our first experience with a Dorffest was in Mürren in 2002. We had no idea that the first Saturday in August was their village festival. We arrived at the little train station to a welcome of free glases of wine and samples of cheese, handed out by women in traditional dress. When we asked for directions to our lodging (Chalet Fontana) we were told it was just up the road, but we better hurry because they were starting the parade soon. So we headed out and found the street already lined with spectators. The nine of us, with our roller bags, led the parade. . . People cheered, we waved, and then when we arrived at Chalet Fontana we watched the real parade from our windows. They brought a few cows into town for that parade, but it wasn't the real "down from the mountains" parade they do in autumn.

Hi, We had the 8 day Swiss Pass plus we had a car for our first 3 days for our visits to Appenzell and Liechtenstein. As I recall, all our train travel was covered up until Kleine Scheidegg. The weather on our trip was very nice over the 11 nights we were in Switzerland. I do remember our 4 nights/days in Wengen and the Berner Oberland were perfect. Mostly sunny and all we needed during the day was a heavy sweater or light jacket. Nights were quite chilly to cold. For the Jungfraujoch trip we had winter jackets. Paul

Gail, I have been to the Bernese Oberland three times now and Wengen or Muerren are both good choices for quaint villages. We have always stayed in Grindelwald due to it's convenience to rail transportation and it's accessibility to numerous Gondolas (First, Mannleichen, etc.). Grindelwald is a little more commercialized but still quaint with wonderful views of the mountains. If you like the outdoors you will have more than enough to do in this area to fill four days (no matter which village you stay in). Take the time to go up the Gondolas and do some hiking. There are trails for all levels and the views are spectacular. There is also a wonderful, easy bike trail that goes the entire length of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. You can rent a bicycle in Lauterbrunnen. Highly recommend!

Thanks for your advice. We decided to stay in Wengen and are now working on air and rail. I think I finally understand the dif rail passes, thanks to everyone who helped with their advise. Cant wait to get over there!!