I just put airline tickets on hold for a flight to Zurich and return from Geneva. I will travel the end of November. Before I confirm, I wanted some advise.... My plans are to arrive in Zurich on a Thursday afternooon and depart from Geneva the following Saturday. I want to use trains for transportation and visit anywhere except Lucerne and Basel (I've been to these cities before.) Does anyone have suggestions?? I love food, wine, history, churches and don't ski. Thank you!!!!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, US
35 posts
Hi Anne I was in Switzerland last year in October and did the Chocolate Train Tour from Montreux into Brig. It was fantastic! Its a one day trip to Gruyere to see the cheese being made and then to Cailler-Nestle factory for chocolate! I throughly enjoyed the trip. I am not certain that they run this route in November. Check Rail Europe to see. You'd get a swiss pass and then this would be a rt ticket to Brig from Montreux. I also did the one way Glacier Express and that was very pretty. That one starts in Zermatt near the Matterhorn. Rail Europe might be a good place to look at for suggestions on your route. Switzerland has some of the best cheese, chocolate and pastries in the world. Oh and they wine too!
Posted by
Port St Joe Florida
513 posts
Anne - Andrea has some great suggestions; I couldn't agree with her more. While in the Montreax area it would be a crime to miss Chateau Chillon. It is only a ten minute tram ride outside town. For the best effect, buy a copy of and read Lord Byron's "Prisoner of Chillon".
Posted by
Bainbridge Island
3287 posts
I think Andrea means the Chocolate Train goes from Montreux to Broc, not Brig. And unfortunately,according to the website, it runs April through October, not in November. But maybe you could visit the factory on your own.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9110 posts
The entire Chocolate train itinerary can be done using regularly scheduled trains at ones own pace. The "official" tour is meant for tour bus groups. Doing it on your own you pay a fraction of the price, and if you have a Swiss Pass you pay nothing extra.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
The trouble with RailEurope is they don't show all trains, only those for which they sell tickets. The best place to find all trains is on the German Rail (Bahn) website, or maybe the Swiss Rail site, www.sbb.ch. I went to the RailEurope website and looked up Chocolate Train, and they had a link to buy tickets for the trip. It goes from Montreux to Montbovon to Bulle to Broc-Fabrique. According to the Bahn, the same trains run in November, and it looks like they run every hour, so you can set your own schedule, decide how much time to spend in each town, and buy tickets at the stations. You still need to know if the factories run tours in November and if they require reservations.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33845 posts
I dunno if they are open in Nov but I do know that we drove up to Cailler-Nestle in late May and were warmly welcomed and had a most great tour with just a little too much (unlimited) sample consumption. We then went to 2 different cheese manufacturers. A very nice day all round...
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
According to their own website, Maison Cailler is open Nov 1 - March 31 from 10:00 to 17:00 (until 18:00 the rest of the year). Yes, I did find it on Google.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Here is the official website with all the information you need for the actual Golden Pass Chocolate Train tour. http://www.goldenpass.ch/CMS/default.asp?ID=414 Note, the train runs from Montreux to Gruyere in circa 1915 coaches, the rest of the trip to Broc is by bus. The return trip from Broc to Montreux is entirely by train. The Chocolate Train does not run in November, but other trains, between the same towns, do.