Switzerland - favorite destinations

Take the Lake Geneva ferry cruise to Montreux, it is an antique paddlewheel ferry all restored. we just took the cruise from Laussane to Chateau du Chrillon, get a half fare card or sim to save on trains,and boat cruises. also you may want to stay alittle longer in berner oberland area. I am here as I write this and there is alot to do , see, hike or train up and down the alps. it is beautiful the weather moves in and out quickly so more timeis essential so you do not miss the massive mtn peaks. we lv for Murren this AM.

Bern is an excellent place to be based. It is convenient to most places in Switzerland (i.e., Thun, Neuchatel, Zurich, Lausanne, Lucerne, etc.). We stayed there only for a day on our whirlwind trip (8 places/12 days) but if I go back I would stay there for much longer and use it as a base.

I visited Grindelwald and then took the train up the Jungfrau (I always misspell it). Up at the top, on a nice day, the view is incredible.

Also there is a church (Munster?) in Bern and if you climb the tower you get an excellent view of Bern.

It is a bit further (and costs extra) but visiting Zermatt and seeing the Matterhorn is nice.

I was there in the winter (Dec 2008) so some of the boat rides/hiking wasn't available or practical.

Personally I loved Switzerland (I do have a strong bias towards mountains and snow). Enjoy your trip.

While in Montreux consider taking the cog train up to Rochers de Naye, a lookout peak with fantastic views over Lake Geneva. Be sure to visit Chillon Castle--it's as classic a castle as you'll find anywhere. In both Bern and Lucerne you'll want to explore their old city areas. You'll find lots of photo opportunities. In Lucerne, go up on the old-city wall where you'll have fine views over the city. Don't expect to walk around Lake Thun--it's huge and would take you days, as you'll see!

When in Murren consider taking the cable car up to Schilthorn and hiking down from Birg. Birg is the stop before Schilthorn, and if, on your way down, you begin your hike there, you will avoid the fairly treacherous trail on Schilthorn. This hike will give you awesome views of the mountains across the valley and will take you through alps (mountain pastures) where the cows will still be grazing when you're there. Another great hiking possibility from Murren would be to take the funicular up to Allmendhubel and then hike the Mountain View Trail around to Grutschalp and back to Murren. Awesome views all the way.

Also drop down to Gimmelwald to walk around this quaint farming village. You can either walk down or take the cable car. Since you have only three days in Murren (and they wouldn't be complete days), I caution you to think carefully about best use of your time before going across the valley to Wengen, Jungfraujoch, etc. You'll spend a lot of time in transit. There's a lot to explore out of Murren. If you're looking for a great place to eat in Murren, head to the Stagerstubli. And remember, wherever you are in Switzerland, if you close your eyes and spin around, when you open your eyes you'll have a postcard view in front of you.

This is great info everyone. Dwayne those are some great specifics; I'll be downloading all these tips to a file on my iPod! We had already decided to stick to the Schilthorn so we don't get too caught up in transit time while there, so it's great to hear about good hikes right there.

Castle de Chillon is one of my must-sees. I hadn't heard about the lookout point you described so that's great info.

I've heard such wonderful things about Switzerland, I can't wait.

I was just in Geneva, Montreux and Zurich a few weeks ago. Geneva is such a beautiful, clean and friendly city so if you can get there for a night I would consider it.
I loved Montreux as well and visited the castle there. We took the train into Montreux and spent the afternoon there. You can take the bus from the train station area to the stop right by the castle and it's very cheap. And the buses run very frequently back into the village. Enjoy!

I think you will wish that you had spent another night in Muerren. You won't believe your eyes when you arrive. It's just so incredible. As far as Zermatt, it's a little out of the way, but it doesn't cost "extra" if you have the Swiss Pass.

You will be in Switzerland for 11 days, yet Swiss Passes are sold for 4 days, 8 days, 15 days...not 11. Would it make better financial sense to spend the amount of days in Switzerland so that you can fully maximize the value of the Swiss Pass?

We loved Lucerne. It is so beautiful and small enough to navigate easily. You can take boat rides on Lake Lucerne; you can ascend to the top of Mt Pilatus; you can visit other little villages on the shores of Lake Lucerne.

Kimberly, you are going to have a great trip!

A few of our favorites, chateau de Chillon, and try to take the boat from or to Montreux, free with your swiss pass.

Lauterbrunnen valley, Jungfrau, Trummelbach Falls, you will probably wish to stay one more night here, it is so beautiful!

Bern is beautiful city, you will enjoy it!

Have fun!

My wife and I spent a week in Switzerland in 2005. I didn’t particularly enjoy Bern all that much, but probably would have enjoyed it more if I had done a little more studying of German before we went. We did enjoy our day trip to Murten, though – especially walking the wall.

We absolutely loved Interlaken. We took a day trip/hike to Lauterbrunnen which included a trip up the mountain to Mürren and down to Gimmelwald (all by walking). We took the gondola back down to the valley and visited Trümmelbachfalle – an absolute MUST! It will be easy if you are stationed in Mürren.

Another great day was our trip to the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum. If you are into historic builidings, it is great. We also took a bus the other direction from Interlaken and visited Oberhofen Castle. It was nice, but not as high up on our list as the other things we did.

Have fun!

Tim - I wish we could have stayed longer, but we both couldn't do that much time away from work at one crack. So I did a lot of research on our day trip plans and point to point pricing, and the Swiss Pass still made good sense, since it covers boats, buses, and gives us the discount to Schilthorn or Jungfrau. It was really a very good value.

I can't believe we leave in about 50 days. I feel like there is a lot left to do! For me, it's all about picking out the clothes I'm going to bring so I don't pack too heavy but feel like I will look decent in pictures. :)

We spent a week in Switzerland in 2006. Our favourite activities included:

• Ballenberg Open Air Museum

• Taking the funicular up the Niesen and hiking a bit up there and watching the paragliders jump off. We've never been in a funicular so that was quite exciting. And the views over the Thuner See are wonderful.

• Luzern, especially the Museum of Transportation in Luzern but also just walking along the lake shore or having a dinner with view of the famous covered bridge (that was THE splurge dinner while we were in Switzerland)

• We also very much liked Bern and visited Einstein's house there and the Historisches Museum Bern, also with an exceptionel Einstein exhibit. We were there during Einstein's anniversary year so there was also a fantastic "world of physics" in the exeterior gardens of the museum with tons of hands-on exhibits the kids loved to explore, like "flying" in a Wrights Brothers Flyer. They only have this kind of exhibit in the summer you'd need to ask ahead of time if it will be on again this year.

• The chateau in Oberhofen on Thuner Lake is also very beautiful. During the summer they often have music students from the University of Bern playing their instruments to entertain the visitors - all day long!

My sister and I are going back to Switzerland for the fourth time in September. There is always something else to see. We stay in Interlaken because of it's central location. Some of our favorites are: Zermatt & Gonergrat rail to Matterhorn.. a MUST..also boat ride on Thunerzee or any lake ... walk Lauterbrunnen Valley to the waterfalls... Jungfrau and hike from Kleine Schedegg to Mannlichen....this year we are going to add Lucerne as well as redo some of our favorites. We have now been to nine European countries but seem to keep going back to Switzerland. You will love it no matter what you do. Maybe we'll see you there !

We spent a few days in Lucerne and it was wonderful! You can take a beautiful boat ride around Lake Lucerne, go to Mt Pilatus (a must even on the summer), and take in an authentic swiss dinner at a local. family owned restaurant. The city is magical!

Lucerne indeed. A very beautiful, neat place. And ride one of their gondolas up to where the view is breathtaking.

I just return from Switzerland last June/July. One place I went to that I enjoyed is the Oschinensee. It is a alpine lake up in the mountains. Easy to get to, go to Kandersteg, exit the station, go left and you will see signs to Oschinensee. Approx a 10 min walk to the lift. Take lift to top and follow easy well marked path to Oschinensee, approx 20 min hike, beautiful scenery on the whole walk. There is a restaraunt and gift shop at the lake. At the top of the lift, there is a man that will drive you in a small golf cart looking vehicle for 8 Swiss francs for adults 5 Swiss Francs for childeren. Also there is a luge ride at the top of the lift. My grandson loved it.