We are returning to europe and need help planning the last leg of the itenerary in area we haven't been in before. we are planning to leave paris on aug. 27 for southern france probably arles/avignon, maybe nice, just staying through the weekend, and leaving that area monday aug. 30 for switzerland where we have a flight back to usa from zurich friday sept. 3. in switzerland we want to go to murren et al and then near zurich to see the family town of lenzburg before flying out on the 3rd. Best way to travel from southern france to interlachen is main question, as i suppose interlachen to zurich won't be an issue. thanks
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17245 posts
Assuming you will travel by train, it is an easier trip from Arles or Avignon than from Nice--6.5 to 7.5 hours, going via Geneva.
Even the Nice trip need not be 11 hours if you go via Geneva (instead of Milan); 9 hours 53 minutes is what the Swiss rail site shows.
If you want to break up the trip with an overnight stop, there are some nice small towns along Lac Leman, on the train line east of Geneva, such as Morges or Vevey (which is close to Montreux).
I find the Swiss rail site easy to use:
When you put in your destination, spell it "Interlaken" and specify Interlaken Ost when it asks for clarification.
Muerren is a nice choice for a place to stay for a few days.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you take a morning easyJet flight from Nice to Geneva and trains from there to Interlaken, you can get to Muerren by 14:05.
The train is probably your best choice for Avignon-Interlaken.
Posted by
OP
Turley, OK, USA
2 posts
Thanks much. I am thinking we will probably leave from Avignon and go by train just to have more time to spend in Switzerland; otherwise a stop over in Milan from Nice sounds nice :) i guess the next question i will check out from rick's books are the best way to go railpass wise, two people, train from paris to avignon/arles maybe with a side trip to nice and back and then avignon to interlaken and up to muerren and up to the top spot for breakfast then train to zurich then day trip out to lenzburg and back to zurich before flying out.