My boyfriend and I are planning to spend 8 nights in Switzerland. We know for sure that we want to stay in the Bernese Oberland area for at least 3 nights and Lucerne for at least 2 nights. We want to do some hiking/biking or anything adventurous, but we also want to keep it relaxing. We're taking a night train from Amsterdam to Zurich. We are arriving in Zurich on a Sunday though and I read that a lot of places are closed on this day. My questions: 1. Is it enough to spend 3 nights in the Bernese Oberland area or should we extend this to 4? 2. Is it enough to spend 2 nights in Lucerne 2 nights or should we extend it to 3?
3. What other cities do you recommend given the fact that a lot of places are closed on a Sunday.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
"1. Is it enough to spend 3 nights in the Bernese Oberland area or should we extend this to 4?" The way that the weather can change rapidly and wash out an entire day, I would spend as many days there as you have available. When the weather gets bad (as it almost certainly will), you can use it for a rest day.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
Most all stores in Switzerland will be closed on Sundays. But restaurants, museums/tourist attractions will be open. Three full days is the minimum time to spend in the Berner Oberland; allowing for one rainy day. Unless there is something speical in Zurich you wanted to see, a faster direct rail journey from Amsterdam to Interlaken would be via Basel. From Basel there are direct trains; Zurich will add a couple of hours to the journey and require a change in Bern. The night train from Amsterdam stops in Basel before reaching Zurich.
Posted by
OP
San Diego
9 posts
Thanks for the reply! It's really good to know to consider the weather. So I think we're going to spend 4 nights in Bernese Oberland and 2 nights in Lucerne. Any other cities that you would recommend us visiting for 2 nights? Thanks.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
You're welcome. The official Olympics Museum in Lausanne is worth a visit. Also consider Gruyere, in addition to it's famous cheese factory the village has a tiny cute castle, and the HR Giger museum/cafe. Giger is the Academy Award winning Sci-Fi artist who designed the the creatures and artifacts in the Alien movies. The cafe has the same freaky interior as the alien spaceship in the first movie. Also nearby is the Callier-Nestle chocolate factory which is open to the public. Be sure to click the "railpasses" tab above for a descriptions of the various Swiss transport passes available. They can save you a lot of money, and include free admission to most museums/tourist sites. http://rail.ch
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17435 posts
With your interests, I would head to Kandersteg, which is also in the Berner Oberland, but different enough to make it worth a visit. Rent bikes and ride into the Gasterntal on a road closed to traffic, carved above a churning cascade and hugging the side of a cliff. Once in the valley you can ride as far as you like, stopping at a mountain inn for lunch. Or from Kandersteg, ride up to Oeschinensee on the lift and hike up to Freundenhütte on a spectacular trail following the cliff ledges, secured with cables. You look straight down a thousand feet into the glacial lake. The hut itself is situated near the base of a glacier.