I am planning the second leg of my trip from Lake Como, Italy, flying out of Geneva, Switzerland. We are traveling in October and we have 5 days to plan. The towns/regions we are considering are Zermatt, Berner Oberland Region, Luzern, Lauterbrunnen, Kandersteg, Bettmeralp. We might end up in Montreux the day before we fly out. We enjoy moderate hiking as well. Is there a good base location to do day trips out of?
What are your recommendations?
For Zermatt, Kandersteg and Bettmeralp, the Brig train station could be a central stop. From Brig, you can take the western leg of the Glacier Express to Zermatt. Its best to be there in the morning for the best views. It often clouds up later in the day.
From Zermatt, you can return to Brig and catch a train to Kandersteg. You also have the alternative of taking the train from Zermatt to Visp, transferring to a bus and then transferring to the same train from Brig mentioned in the previous sentence. Same exact travel time each way 2hrs 33min.
For Bettmeralp, its back to Brig on the train (about 40 minutes). From Brig, it's a 16-minute train ride to the Betten Talstation. You would then take two cableway rides to get to Bettmeralp. Total time is about 45 minutes.
For Lauterbrunnen, guess what? It's back to Brig. From Brig, you catch a train to Spiez and then transfer to a train into Interlaken Ost train station. From there, you transfer to a train into Lauterbrunnen. Bettmeralp to Lauterbrunnen will be a 2.5hr journey.
Now the difficulty. From Interlaken, Luzern is in a NE direction and Montreux/Geneva is is a NW direction. You can take the Golden Pass scenic train to all of these locations from Interlaken Ost. A caution that Luzern may be a bit out of your way so please check the timing. The Golden Pass train run from Interlaken to Montreux is quite stunning. Pay a few extra Swiss Francs and grab 1 or 2 of the 8 seats directly over the engineer cab.
Thank you both for the info on traveling which is actually something that I need to get my arms around. Can you or anyone comment on my selection of towns? Are there some other small towns in the same area we should check out? Is 4-5 days enough?
Dear Allen , If the weather is good and not too snowy in Oct. You can do all three cable car lifts in 3 days in Zermatt. Stay at the Julien Hotel if you love romance and a great swimming pool spa area. If you like hiking stay in Wengen at the HOtel Alpenrose- great food great views. Terrific easy hiking. If you have to choose, stay in Wengen .But I would do both if you have enough time to stay at least three days in each place.
Other than Luzern, I have spent between 3 and 10 days total in each of the places you mention, on separate trips with hiking as the main goal. I love each of them and would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite.
While Brig makes a logical central "base" if you don't want to change hotels, I think you'd be missing out on a lot of village charm if you stay there the whole time. And you'll be spending a lot of time on trains to get to a different place each day, even though it is central to them all (except Luzern).
If you are willing to change hotels a bit instead of staying in one base, you could consider heading to Lauterbrunnen on the route via Lugano, Arth-Goldau, and Luzern. Stop at Luzern for a few hours to explore before continuning on to Lauterbrunnen. There are lockers for your luggage in the train station.
After 2 nights in Lauterbrunnen, which will give you a chance to explore the BO, head for the Valais region via Kandersteg. Again, break your journey for a few hours and store your luggage while you explore. If it is a nice day, the ride up to Oeschinensee on the chairlift (assuming it is operating in October) is wonderful. Email the hotel at the lake and see if they will be open for lunch in October while you are there.
After a half-day in Kandersteg, head on south into the Valais region. You could go to Bettmeralp for 1 night and still have 2 to spend in Zermatt (to increase your chances of seeing the Matterhorn). Or, if you want to save a night for Montreux, spend both nights in either Bettmeralp or Zermatt. I prefer Bettmeralp, especially for the hike to the glacier, but Zermatt offers some nice excursions by lift and good hiking too.
On the other hand, if you truly want one base for the whole time, with trips from there, I would find Kandersteg more appealing than Brig. It is closer to Lauterbrunnen, so your trips thee would be shorter, but a bit farther from Bettmeralp and Zermatt.
