Switzerland the First Week in April

April is the shoulder season in the Berner Oberland for good reason. The weather is particularly foggy and rainy and the farmers take advantage of the conditions to help spread "fertilizer" over the pastures- basically, liquified manure. Most of the tourist infrastructure goes into temporary hibernation. Your experience in April is likely to be wet, cold, and smelly. And those postcard mountain views? Hidden in cloud cover. If you want Alpine thrills, there are much better, less expensive and convenient places to go in April.

If you go in April check your transportation options before you go. Its when many lifts and other transportation do their annual service in Switzerland and much will be out of service.

Terry, we had rain, fog and clouds in Murren (one of the car-free villages above Lauterbrunnen) for four straight days in August, and ended up purchasing expensive swiss rain gear while there. My advice would be to go elsewhere in March/April. If you do go, bring truly waterproof gear!

The ski lifts are scheduled to run at Murren (and across the valley at Wengen) until April 25. If winter activities are appealing to you, I'd go. If not, skip it. I definitely wouldn't stay in Lauterbrunnen, though, at that time of year. It's just so small--it's adorable and very relaxing in summer, when it's nice to be out, but I personally would feel snowbound and bored there in winter. I'd stay in Murren or Wengen.

Thank you all for the replies. My family and I believe we will skip the Swiss Alps this trip and opt for a hopefully wonderfull detour to Munich. That said, I would very much appreciate help planning a route from Beaune to Munich. We would like to take in Neuschwanstein Castle, among other sites, while in the Munich area. Our plans give us three nights to spend in our travels between Beaune and Venice. Would anyone recommend spending one night in Zurich or Salzburg or ? Also, opinions on train versus bus travel along the way would be greatly appreciated! Thank you, again.

Terry, Travelling by train will be the quickest method. However, travel from Beaune to Munich will be a long trip (basically a full day). Is there a particular reason you're visiting Beaune rather than one of the other towns in that area? In that situation, I normally look for an "intermediate point" to stay for one night, to break the journey into separate legs. Is that a possibility in your case? One possibility might be a night in Strasbourg, as it's a relatively short trip (about 4H) from there to Munich. On the topic of visiting Neuschwanstein during the time in Munich, there are a couple of options: > Take the train to Fussen and then the Bus to the Castles. You'll also have to make arrangements for the "official" tour (which provides you with a predetermined time to go on the tour). > Use a Guided tour to the Castles. They make all the arrangements both for transportation and the Castle tour, and provide a bit of a history along the way. They also provide some time to view the Castle from the metal bridge, which is a spectacular view. For details, have a look at This Website (listed in the Guidebook, I believe). They also provide interesting walking tours of Munich and tours of Dachau (among others). Whether to use a Guided Tour or travel on your own is frequently a source of disagreement here on the HelpLine. I used the tour and quite enjoyed it. Good luck with your planning!

Ken,
Thank you for the quick reply and information. Regarding Beaune, I picked it simply because it appears to be a popular stop on the Rick Steves Tour. I have not been to France and the video of the town/area is appealing. I would like to give my family and myself a "taste" of France outside of Paris and I thought Beaune might give us this "taste". The length of the journey to Munich from Beaune in one day is not too appealing, however. Do you not think a one night stay in Zurich or the surrounding area would be an alternative? To tell you the truth, I think my daughters would appreciate setting foot in/traveling through as many countries as is somewhat comfortably possible. Again, your ideas are very welcome.

Beaune is very nice. Maybe, given your requirements, it may be a bit out of the way, although if you went to Switzerland via Lyon you would get a real bonus. If its your (and your family's) first time you might not find that Zurich rings all your chimes. Would you be more happy with Bern and all the fountains, Lake Thun or Lake Brienz and a ride on a lake steamer, runs at least part way up the mountains? I would. If you are collecting countries (as one country collector - but at a slower rate - to another) why don't you route via Lichtenstein on the way to Munich, and maybe via Luxembourg on the way from Paris. On the way to Rome you can collect San Marino and the Vatican.

Terry, If you're set on Beaune, it should be fairly easy to work that into the Itinerary. I haven't been there yet, but I was in Colmar and Strasbourg earlier this year, and really enjoyed my stay in Colmar. Stopping for one night in Switzerland is certainly a possibility, although you might consider Lucerne rather than Zürich. It's a beautiful and very "walkable" small city, set on the shores of a beautiful lake. I found the Museum of Transport very interesting. There are also lake cruises and Mount Pilatus. Check the Switzerland Guidebook for more details. If you chose Lucerne, the trip from Beaune will vary depending on which train you choose. The one I'd use departs at 09:05 with a travel time of 4H:55M (two changes in Dijon and Lausanne, reservations compulsory). If you visit Lucerne, be sure to walk on the famous Chapel Bridge, and pay a visit to the "Lion of Lucerne" (it's a bit sad though). From Lucerne to Munich, it's a reasonably easy trip, but again will depend on which train you choose. I'd probably use the train departing at 08:54, with a travel time of 6H:19M (two changes in Basel and Karlsruhe, reservations compulsory). One tip regarding Basel - be sure to have some SF$ on hand (esp. coins) if you need to use the washrooms, as the only option I could find is the pay-per-use McClean facilities and they don't accept Euros! I chose those particular trains mostly on the basis of the fewest number of changes. Although I travel solo much of the time, I suspect getting a group from one train to another may be a bit of an "exercise", so five changes may be more difficult. Schedules can change of course, so you'll need to verify these just prior to your trip. Cheers!

Terry, A few additional points to mention (I ran out of room in my previous post).... You may enjoy having a look at This short video on Lucerne. That will give you some idea on the city, and whether it might be somewhere you'd like to visit. I can't recall if I previously mentioned this, but be sure to budget for Switzerland as it can be expensive! I commented on that to some of the "locals" when I was there this year, and their reply was "we know, we have to pay the same prices". Cheers!