travel from basel

"Want to see a big mountain site" Are the Jungfrau (13,642'), Eiger (13,025'), and Monch (13,448') enough mountains for you? It takes just two hours from Basel to Interlaken (getting up to the mountains takes a little longer).

Nancy, I definitely agree with Lee! If you want "big mountains", the Berner Oberland would be a good choice. Could you elaborate on what type of "travel experience" you want in that area? One trip you might find interesting would be to take the Cable Cars to the Schilthorn / Piz Gloria, one of the world's first revolving restaurants. You'd be able to view the three mountains previously mentioned while enjoying a fine hot meal! You could also stop in the James Bond Bar (one floor below the restaurant) and have a "Martini shaken, not stirred" (this location was used in the filming of the move On Her Majesty's Secret Service). There are lots of possible activities in that area, and several towns that you could stay. Happy travels!

Well, thanks for the replies. I wonder if the train from Basel to Interlaken to Jungfrau, etc and back down to Interlaken and then Basel can be done in one overnight in Interlaken. Do I need to book the mountain, ascent ahead or a tour or what?

Nancy, It should be easy to do that trip as an "overnight" from Basel. However, you might consider staying in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen rather than Interlaken. The trip from Basel to Lauterbrunnen will be ~2H:25M, with one change at Interlaken Ost. I'd probably book my trip on the Jungfraubahn on the day of arrival, and take the trip the following morning (the first trip in the morning is discounted, but I believe that requires returning from the top by noon). After the trip to the Jungfraujoch, take the train back to Basel. Your Hotel should be willing to store luggage until you're ready to return to Basel. Cheers!

Nancy, an overnight would work great. Your train from Basel to Interlaken Ost will take you two hours. Most train runs are direct but some require 1 train change. At Interlaken Ost, you take the local Jungfraubahn train into Lauterbrunnen. This train departs every 30 minutes during the day and the journey takes 22 minutes. Trains leave Basel as early as 5:24am so you could be in Lauterbrunnen as early as 8:00am. Round trip fare for this part of the journey is 126.40CHF. At Lauterbrunnen, you get your first view of the Alps on steroids. Next, the train ride from Lauterbrunnen to the Jungfraujoch (the highest train station in Europe) takes 2hrs. It also takes 2hrs to come back down. Plus, plan on a few hours at the Jungfraujoch to enjoy everything. The round trip fare Lauterbrunnen/Jungfraujoch is 165.80CHF. It does get cloudy up there. At the Lauterbrunnen train, there is a TV terminal showing the cameras at the top. You can save yourself a lot of time and money if it's all clouded in and not worth going. Then, you can jump up to Murren and Gimmelwald and make it back to Basel by the evening. Or, stay overnight and take your chances the next day. Finally, you can save a bit of money by purchasing the Swiss 1/2-fare card. It costs 110CHF and its good for 30 days. You get 50% off the fares on the trains, buses and boats. For the journeys mentioned above, you would save about 36CHF overall.

Thank you to both for the great info. Nancy