Just starting to piece something together for this summer.

Wife wants to see the Alps and go back to Santorini. Figured we'd hit Zermatt, Athens and the Greek isles. Any recommendations or ideas would be appreciated

wangus12 said:

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Just starting to piece something together for this summer.

Wife wants to see the Alps and go back to Santorini. Figured we'd hit Zermatt, Athens and the Greek isles. Any recommendations or ideas would be appreciated

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Zermatt is definitely a good location. I still like visiting there when possible.

Luzern is nice to visit together with a boat trip on the lake.

Berner Oberland including Muerren and Grindelwald are definite musts as well.

I would also recommend to do some hiking in the Alps. You can get away from the tourists a bit.

Are you planning to visit in the early summer or late summer?

Lucerne is beautiful and worth it. We didn't go there last time I was in Switzerland, but went there when I was in HS. If you go here, I would recommend going up Mount Pilatus. Amazing view (if it's a clear day) and the ride down the mountain is beautiful.

Geneva was OK, but Zurich was pretty awesome. One of my old co-workers (French guy) has lived there for the past 10 years and took a couple of days off and showed us around and took us up to Schaffhausen and Rhine Falls.

Interlaken is also a very beautiful place.

I haven't been to Zermatt, but we did go to Saas-Fee with my wife's friend who lived there, and it was beautiful. Quiet little town that's 100% walk able as cars aren't allowed. They do have these little golf cart things to get around, but they're not really necessary.

I would highly recommend a Swiss Pass for the entire time you're there. Public transportation is awesome in Switzerland and they do enforce the rules on tickets. If you're caught without one, they will make you buy one and then make you pay your fine right there. I saw this happen many times.

If you have a Swiss Pass, I would plan a day to just hit up multiple places throughout the day. On our way from Geneva to Zurich (where we each had friends we were visiting), we stopped off at Thun and Bern and walked around the city for a few hours.

Just be prepared for sticker shock. Everything is uber expensive in Switzerland. A quick lunch at a restaurant will cost you $30-40/person US. Our first day in Geneva, we grabbed a burger and it cost more than the nice dinner we had in Paris the night before. We got to the point that we would grab pre-made sandwiches, chips, and a bottled drink at Coop Supermarket for like $10/person and take them with us on the go, and honestly, because of the fresher ingredients over there, they tasted better than many sandwich shops here in the States.

aTm2004 said:

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Just be prepared for sticker shock. Everything is uber expensive in Switzerland. A quick lunch at a restaurant will cost you $30-40/person US. Our first day in Geneva, we grabbed a burger and it cost more than the nice dinner we had in Paris the night before. We got to the point that we would grab pre-made sandwiches, chips, and a bottled drink at Coop Supermarket for like $10/person and take them with us on the go, and honestly, because of the fresher ingredients over there, they tasted better than many sandwich shops here in the States.

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30-40 is a bit high depending on what you order, of course. Lunch is usually around 20-30 on the high end.
Touristy places tend to cost slightly more.

The Italian food here is really awesome because we have so many Italians. Also, you can usually get a pizza or
pasta for 20-25 plus about 4 for a drink. Doener Kebap places tend to be more affordable. You can eat good food for about 14-16 bucks.

Geneva is pretty boring. I wouldn't really go unless you know people there.

How much time do you want to spend in each place?

I think we are planning on around 2 weeks. Probably 4-5 days mainly near Interlaken before going to Greece

We only did it a couple of days before we started grabbing sandwiches at Coop. The day we arrived to Geneva, we got a burger, fries, and water from some burger place (Holy Cow according to Google Maps) since we were starving. The next day, it was some restaurant in the Bellevue area where her friend lived.

We are planning on early summer. first week in June probably

aTm2004 said:

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I would recommend going up Mount Pilatus. Amazing view (if it's a clear day) and the ride down the mountain is beautiful.

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My wife and I went to Mt. Pilatus in 1997. There was essentially no view because of the clouds/fog.

In 2007 we took a train to Engelberg and went up Mt. Titlus. Crystal clear day, spectacular views (we were pretty much above the clouds).

SwissAgg said:

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aTm2004 said:

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Just be prepared for sticker shock. Everything is uber expensive in Switzerland. A quick lunch at a restaurant will cost you $30-40/person US. Our first day in Geneva, we grabbed a burger and it cost more than the nice dinner we had in Paris the night before. We got to the point that we would grab pre-made sandwiches, chips, and a bottled drink at Coop Supermarket for like $10/person and take them with us on the go, and honestly, because of the fresher ingredients over there, they tasted better than many sandwich shops here in the States.

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30-40 is a bit high depending on what you order, of course. Lunch is usually around 20-30 on the high end.
Touristy places tend to cost slightly more.

The Italian food here is really awesome because we have so many Italians. Also, you can usually get a pizza or
pasta for 20-25 plus about 4 for a drink. Doener Kebap places tend to be more affordable. You can eat good food for about 14-16 bucks.

Geneva is pretty boring. I wouldn't really go unless you know people there.

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I would double down on the sticker shock. Everything from the train to food will kill your budget. We cut our trip short a few days because it was going into our budget for the next trip. Once you get into the smaller towns up in the alps it gets a little cheaper. But still expect $20 cheeseburgers.

Lucerne was awesome and probably the only bigger city I would consider. Bern and Zurich weren't anything anything I would do again. I thought Bern was boring and Zurich is just a big modern city which also happens to be the most expensive city in the world right now.

We set up a home base in Grindlewald for five days and just went over the entire region hiking over Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, and Murren.

I loved staying in Grindlewald but another option would be to setting yourself in Interlaken where you would have more food and lodging options. Interlaken is a major train stop so you will be able to get to anywhere in the alps in about a hour every day.

Hike all the major trails. The Eiger trail was probably the easiest with the most payback. We did others which were really difficult which I can't recommend unless your'e pretty fit. Take really good hiking shoes and poles before hand. They are too expensive up there.

The food and beer really suck compared to most of Europe. Food is really Americanized. Expect $20 cheeseburgers and the beer options are mainly centered on German Lagers. Our trip before this one was Belgium so I got pretty spoiled with the beer options everywhere.

EDIT: You can set your watch to those Swiss trains. If that sign says the train is leaving at 7:46 you will be staring at a empty track at 7:47. Just be on time because they will be every. single. time.

CoolaidWade said:

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SwissAgg said:

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aTm2004 said:

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Just be prepared for sticker shock. Everything is uber expensive in Switzerland. A quick lunch at a restaurant will cost you $30-40/person US. Our first day in Geneva, we grabbed a burger and it cost more than the nice dinner we had in Paris the night before. We got to the point that we would grab pre-made sandwiches, chips, and a bottled drink at Coop Supermarket for like $10/person and take them with us on the go, and honestly, because of the fresher ingredients over there, they tasted better than many sandwich shops here in the States.

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30-40 is a bit high depending on what you order, of course. Lunch is usually around 20-30 on the high end.
Touristy places tend to cost slightly more.

The Italian food here is really awesome because we have so many Italians. Also, you can usually get a pizza or
pasta for 20-25 plus about 4 for a drink. Doener Kebap places tend to be more affordable. You can eat good food for about 14-16 bucks.

Geneva is pretty boring. I wouldn't really go unless you know people there.

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The food and beer really suck compared to most of Europe. Food is really Americanized. Expect $20 cheeseburgers and the beer options are mainly centered on German Lagers. Our trip before this one was Belgium so I got pretty spoiled with the beer options everywhere.

EDIT: You can set your watch to those Swiss trains. If that sign says the train is leaving at 7:46 you will be staring at a empty track at 7:47. Just be on time because they will be every. single. time.

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Of course the food sucked if you ate hamburgers the whole time. The food and beer in Switzerland are really good, but you have to know what to order. Alpermaggron, Wienerschnitzel, Cordon Bleu, Siedfleisch, Raclette, Fondue, etc. The Italian food is awesome here as I said earlier.

If you see a beer called Feldschloessen, it really does suck. Eichhof in Luzern is a pretty decent beer.

wangus12 said:

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Just starting to piece something together for this summer.

Wife wants to see the Alps and go back to Santorini. Figured we'd hit Zermatt, Athens and the Greek isles. Any recommendations or ideas would be appreciated

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What do you want to know about Athens? I visited there last summer.

If you're going for 2 weeks, i'd highly suggest spending an extra 2 days in Switzerland. I haven't been to Greece, but I've been to most other countries and Switzerland is by far and away the best. Of course I'm a mountain guy and the Alps are amazing, so that influenced my liking a Switzerland a bit more. Yes it's expensive but if this is a one time trip there, go all out and eat Ramen when you get home.

All the advise on here seems really good to me. My wife and I stayed in Kleine Scheidegg (above Wengen and Grindewald) for almost a week. If you live the mountains and your wife really wants a taste of the Alps, spend some time in this area. There is so much to see/do. Wengen is a neat village. If you're planning on 4-5 days and the cost isn't an issue, I'd even recommend you stay at the Hitel Bellevue Des Alps in Kleine Scheidegg. This is a history hotel and where the filming of Clint Eastwood's Eiger Sanction was. It is not cheap but includes a nice breakfast and a fine dinner each night.
As others have said, the trains are precisely timed.
We rented E-bikes while there. These things are awesome. We hiked all over the place and even did the Murren via Fearrata. Taking the train up to the top of Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe) is worth doing. Be prepared that the number of Asian travelers that show up each morning is somewhat staggering.
I highly recommend this for you 4-5 days in Switzerland
We spent 24 days in Europe (Italy, Switzerland, and France with one night in each Austria and Germany) and our time in the Lauterbrunnen/Grindewald/Wengen/Kleine Scheidegg region gave us our fondest memories. Enjoy.

I went to Switzerland for 15 days in 2016. We spent a week in Wengen, then 3 nights on Lake Geneva at Grandvaux, 2 nights in Luzern, 2 nights in St. Gallen, and the final night in Zurich,

If you want to do the Berner Oberland, that's great, but don't stay in Interlaken--stay in Wengen, or Murren, or some place high. The one down side to mountains is that, when there's a low cloud ceiling, mountain excursions lose their appeal, and clouds tend to build with afternoon heating, so getting an early jump can be important (and starting higher allows you to do that). However, there are lots of things you can do a short train ride away from the BO, and if you get an unlimited travel pass, then you'll be free to do things like make a daytrip to Bern or Luzern if the weather in the mountains does not cooperate.

I can't confirm this, but, supposedly, the area around Zermatt is a little less prone to rain, although I think that the travel connections for daytrips probably aren't quite as good as in the BO.

Going to piggy back on this thread, since there seems to be enough overlap. My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland for 6 days before we head to Italy for a bit with my family.

I just want to see if this rough itinerary makes sense or if there are any additional suggestions. We're flying into Geneva (land early morning) and plan to have almost 2 full days there. We really wanted to take a day trip into France to see Chamonix. From there I was thinking of spending the remaining portion of our trip based in Interlaken, allowing for day trips to Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Sigriswil, etc.

I guess my main two questions are if Interlaken makes sense as a home base for ~4 days, since I'm seeing some mixed responses on that. Also debating if a day trip to Lucerne to see Mount Pilatus and/or Mount Rigi makes sense or if we should allocate more time there.

Since we will be needing to take a train into Milan, we wanted to end in Switzerland somewhere central to make that trip a little easier.

Also apologies for any misspellings!

Hannah McKay said:

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Going to piggy back on this thread, since there seems to be enough overlap. My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland for 6 days before we head to Italy for a bit with my family.

I just want to see if this rough itinerary makes sense or if there are any additional suggestions. We're flying into Geneva (land early morning) and plan to have almost 2 full days there. We really wanted to take a day trip into France to see Chamonix. From there I was thinking of spending the remaining portion of our trip based in Interlaken, allowing for day trips to Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Sigriswil, etc.

I guess my main two questions are if Interlaken makes sense as a home base for ~4 days, since I'm seeing some mixed responses on that. Also debating if a day trip to Lucerne to see Mount Pilatus and/or Mount Rigi makes sense or if we should allocate more time there.

Since we will be needing to take a train into Milan, we wanted to end in Switzerland somewhere central to make that trip a little easier.

Also apologies for any misspellings!

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I would not stay in Geneva. If you want to see Chamonix, then stay in Chamonix. If that is your number one priority, nothing wrong with doing that. The consensus from what I've seen on the internet is that the Eastern end of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman, in French) is more interesting (certainly, more scenic), and you can get there with a short train ride from Geneva, but if Chamonix is your prime target, I'd stay there. The only reason not to would be concern that the weather might not be conducive to taking the lift up Mount Blanc.

Interlaken is not a very interesting town--it's just a travel hub. There are so many trains running the short haul between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen/Grindewald that there is really no reason to prefer staying at Interlaken rather than somewhere up in the mountains, unless you are going in shoulder season, when a lot of hotels and restaurants (and even some lifts) in the mountains are closed.

twk said:

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Hannah McKay said:

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Going to piggy back on this thread, since there seems to be enough overlap. My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland for 6 days before we head to Italy for a bit with my family.

I just want to see if this rough itinerary makes sense or if there are any additional suggestions. We're flying into Geneva (land early morning) and plan to have almost 2 full days there. We really wanted to take a day trip into France to see Chamonix. From there I was thinking of spending the remaining portion of our trip based in Interlaken, allowing for day trips to Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Sigriswil, etc.

I guess my main two questions are if Interlaken makes sense as a home base for ~4 days, since I'm seeing some mixed responses on that. Also debating if a day trip to Lucerne to see Mount Pilatus and/or Mount Rigi makes sense or if we should allocate more time there.

Since we will be needing to take a train into Milan, we wanted to end in Switzerland somewhere central to make that trip a little easier.

Also apologies for any misspellings!

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I would not stay in Geneva. If you want to see Chamonix, then stay in Chamonix. If that is your number one priority, nothing wrong with doing that. The consensus from what I've seen on the internet is that the Eastern end of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman, in French) is more interesting (certainly, more scenic), and you can get there with a short train ride from Geneva, but if Chamonix is your prime target, I'd stay there. The only reason not to would be concern that the weather might not be conducive to taking the lift up Mount Blanc.

Interlaken is not a very interesting town--it's just a travel hub. There are so many trains running the short haul between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen/Grindewald that there is really no reason to prefer staying at Interlaken rather than somewhere up in the mountains, unless you are going in shoulder season, when a lot of hotels and restaurants (and even some lifts) in the mountains are closed.

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Completely agree here on Geneva. It's a dump. We went there for a few hours and couldn't wait to leave. OTOH, Chamonix might be my favorite town in all the Alps. I'd stay there if I were you. Great place.

Gotcha on Interlaken. Assuming we do Chamonix for a few days and enjoy being in the mountains there, what's your opinion on using Bern as a hub for day trips? We're certainly more mountain people, but want to have a few options in mind before we officially start booking hotels/airbnbs. Thanks!

Hannah McKay said:

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Gotcha on Interlaken. Assuming we do Chamonix for a few days and enjoy being in the mountains there, what's your opinion on using Bern as a hub for day trips? We're certainly more mountain people, but want to have a few options in mind before we officially start booking hotels/airbnbs. Thanks!

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Bern is a neat town, and some place you should go if you have time, but I think I would stay elsewhere--maybe Thun if you want to be close to Bern. I guess the real question is, daytrips to where? To Luzern or Zurhich? Then Bern makes some sense. To the mountains in the BO? I'd do it the other way around, stay in the BO, and take daytrips to Bern and Luzern. We went to Bern as a daytrip from Wengen on a rainy day (Bern is ideal for that with its arcaded streets in the old town). The cities are very expensive in Switzerland, and you'll get more bang for your buck in the small towns.

Hah well your first response made me question my entire trip, but the original idea was day trips to within the mountains - looking at Jungfraujoch, Niederhorn and Mount Pilatus. We'll be there at the start of June though, so I'm not sure how that affects anything.

Hannah McKay said:

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Hah well your first response made me question my entire trip, but the original idea was day trips to within the mountains - looking at Jungfraujoch, Niederhorn and Mount Pilatus. We'll be there at the start of June though, so I'm not sure how that affects anything.

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It really depends on what kind of spring they have. They were having a rather wet and late spring when we went in the second week of June in 2016, and some of the high mountain trails were still closed (the Kleine-Scheidegg/Manlichen trail opened the day we left). So, while all the hotels and restaurants will be open, there is a possibility that some of the higher trails may not. It wouldn't put me off from staying in the BO, but i can impact your visit.

When we stayed in Luzern, we did Mt. Rigi as a daytrip rather than Pilatus, primarily because Rigi was included in the Swiss Travel Pass and Pilatus was only discounted with the pass. Both provide good views. Ideally, you would do a boat trip on one leg from Luzern to Rigi or Pilatus.

Daytrips are easy in Switzerland. Get the SBB mobile app on your phone and it will guide you through the best itinerary to get anywhere by train, boat, bus, mountain lift, you name it. It's particularly fun to do that if you get one of the unlimited travel passes (not sure if that will work for you because it comes in increments, and I think it's something like 4, 7, and 15), because then you don't worry about the cost of anything, other than a few of the highest lifts and the Jungfraujoch (where the pass only gets you a discount). If the all inclusive pass doesn't work for you, you may want to consider the half fare card--it's good for 30 days, but if you are doing the Jungfraujoch, that trip alone will probably justify the expense.

Hannah McKay said:

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Going to piggy back on this thread, since there seems to be enough overlap. My husband and I will be traveling to Switzerland for 6 days before we head to Italy for a bit with my family.

I just want to see if this rough itinerary makes sense or if there are any additional suggestions. We're flying into Geneva (land early morning) and plan to have almost 2 full days there. We really wanted to take a day trip into France to see Chamonix. From there I was thinking of spending the remaining portion of our trip based in Interlaken, allowing for day trips to Grindelwald, Jungfraujoch, Sigriswil, etc.

I guess my main two questions are if Interlaken makes sense as a home base for ~4 days, since I'm seeing some mixed responses on that. Also debating if a day trip to Lucerne to see Mount Pilatus and/or Mount Rigi makes sense or if we should allocate more time there.

Since we will be needing to take a train into Milan, we wanted to end in Switzerland somewhere central to make that trip a little easier.

Also apologies for any misspellings!

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Interlaken ist just a stopover point. It is nothing special. I would check out Wengen and/or Mrren as well as

Lauterbrunnen. Grindelwald is also pretty cool. Geneva is nothing special unless you want to use it as a

jumping off point to go to Chamonix. From Luzern, you can take the boat on Lake Luzern. Pilatus is OK.

Are you planning on hiking any? If you want to see the train schedule, check out Swiss Train System.

Let me know if you need more tips.

Hannah McKay said:

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Gotcha on Interlaken. Assuming we do Chamonix for a few days and enjoy being in the mountains there, what's your opinion on using Bern as a hub for day trips? We're certainly more mountain people, but want to have a few options in mind before we officially start booking hotels/airbnbs. Thanks!

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Bern is OK for a night, but you really want to be in the mountains. If you are there early in June, the mountains may still have too much snow to really hike. Are your dates set in stone yet?

Tons of what appears to be great advice here. My experience is limited to the small mountain towns of Wengen, Murren, and actually staying at Kleine Scheidegg. I highly recommend any of these places and I believe you will love them. I think Wengen is likely the one I'd chose for day tripping away from the Jungfrau region. But WOW, what a beautiful place with lots to see and do.

Yeah - dates are set since we're adding this on before we meet my family in Italy. We were hoping to do some hiking just to get out and see things before we're all in on wine and pasta for 2 weeks. Are there any parts that might be better for that given the time of year? Thanks for your help!

Hannah McKay said:

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Yeah - dates are set since we're adding this on before we meet my family in Italy. We were hoping to do some hiking just to get out and see things before we're all in on wine and pasta for 2 weeks. Are there any parts that might be better for that given the time of year? Thanks for your help!

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Definitely. Are you renting a car or going by train? Also, what is your fitness level?

Currently planning to go by train. Both of us are in good shape/workout regularly.

Hannah McKay said:

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Currently planning to go by train. Both of us are in good shape/workout regularly.

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A really cool hike is near Lauensee. This would be on the way from Geneva to Bern.

You have to take a bus from Gstaad to the Lake Lauen( Lauensee ) and take the bus back.

Here is a link. You can hike up the the hut, have a lunch, and then hike down.
Mountain Hut

Google pictures of "Geltenhuette".

I'll think of some more hikes on the weekend.

So you'll have around 8 days in Greece.
My recommendation is when you fly from Switzerland to Athens, immediately catch a smaller plane and head to one of the outer islands.

I recommend Rhodes or Crete. Rhodes has tons of Crusader era castles, Crete is huge and has great beaches & hiking. I used Chania for a base & spent 4 days on Crete which was about enough time.

From Rhodes/Crete head to Santorini for 2-3 days. It is an absolute MUST if you are headed to the islands.

All of the islands are freaking awesome, but honestly there isn't that must to differentiate between them. I recommend the above islands because they are large enough to spend several days exploring & have unique scenery and history.

From Santorini take a hydrofoil back to Pireas/Athens for no more than 2 days to finish out your trip. Athens is kind of a dump... stay in the Plaka area. Hit the Parthenon, Agora & the National Museum.

Virtually everyone on the Greek islands speaks English, so no worries there.
*Beware taxis in Athens. They are horrible.
Shoot me a PM if you'd like