Hello, we are considering a springtime visit to Switzerland and have never been before. Mostly interested in sampling the bigger cities - Geneva, Bern, Lucerne, and Zurich - with only a few days in each, to get a small taste of life in each. Perhaps some of you have experience traveling around there? Thanks in advance for any recommendations on things to do and see, and where to stay and where to dine?
I have visited all the cities you mention although it’s been many years so I am not up to date on where to eat or stay. I really enjoyed all of them. I wouldn’t say that the bigger cities themselves were anything special. I do love the country on the whole. The spectacular mountains and overall natural beauty are the highlights.
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I know you asked for bigger cities but I’m going to avoid your prompt and just say that you should go to the Alps. Lauterbrunnen Valley (Wengen, Murren, Gimmelwald, etc) and Zermatt are great first options—but there are many other options too (like Engelberg, which is lovely). The mountains are what makes Switzerland so magical—though it will be cold in spring. Of the cities you list, Bern and Lucerne are my faves by far. Geneva and Zurich are plenty nice but somewhat generic by comparison.
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Agree. I think Bern was my favorite city. It’s small but has a nice feel to it.
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This, absolutely. Lucerne is great. We drove to Stoos for the ridge hike one day. Vigorous and beautiful walk with fabulous views and tinkling cow bells after a climb on the funicular and cable car to the ridge.
Eiger, Junfraujoch and the environs are also must-dos for us as well
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I love Lausanne and have been a handful of times. Nice city on a sunny day by the lake— just a cozy atmosphere.
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The drive down the RhĂ´ne Valley from Lausanne (stop in Aigle) by Martigny (Mt Blanc), and East by Sion/Sierre toward Matterhorn is spectacular.
Cool wines too.
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+1 on the alpes and Lucerne, Zurich is nice too
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I second the votes for Lausanne or Montreux over Geneva if you want to be on the lake. Not that there’s anything wrong with Geneva, but big city life is not IMO what Switzerland does best. Lausanne has the Olympic museum if you are into that.
There are great grand cru vineyards right on the lake between Lausanne and Montreux and then there’s another great winegrowing area up in the Valais near Sion (e.g., Chappaz in Fully).
Zermatt for me is a must simply because the Matterhorn is so spectacular (when not obscured by clouds). Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen area is also spectacular.
Loved Lucerne also but it’s been much longer since I was there.
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Hi Andrew - I’ve been living in the Zurich region for 15 years now, happy to give some tips on Zurich on dining and staying, maybe give me an idea on general preferences to help me narrow it down.
Bern is a lovely city, definitely worth a visit and it’s an easy train ride from Zurich and the from Bern you can get anywhere further. Lucerne is picture pretty and there is a nice round trip to the top of Mount Pilatus using boat, funicular railway and cablecar.
Agree with others, I’d choose Lausanne or Montreux over Geneva, Montreux is my favorite and from there Aigle is nice to visit. There is also the salt mines at Bex that you can visit and take a mining train deep into the mountain which is really interesting if you like that sort of thing.
As other’s have said, Zermatt I think is probably a must - its a gorgeous train journey down there and then you can take the cable car up to the Klein Matterhorn which is 4000metres and overlooks the Matterhorn. You’ll also be able to find nice guesthouses or apartments to rent in Zermatt that will have a balcony view of the Matterhorn which is spectacular to view as sunrises in the morning, if you are lucky with the weather and don’t mind an early start! There is also the option to stay at the Gornergrat Kulm hotel which is at 3100 meters overlooking Zermatt.
The other mountain region is the Interlaken region, about 45 minutes by train from Bern, then take the train up to Grindelwald (which is overlooked by the Eiger) and from there you can take the Jungfrau train, that takes you through the Eiger to the top of the Jungfrau.
Depending on your time, it’s also worth a trip to Ticino - it’s a completely different vibe to the rest of Switzerland and the weather will start getting nice in springtime. Lugano is a nice city to visit with some lovely grottos and I can also recommend the Swiss Diamond hotel in Morcote which is a gorgeous little town. Alternatively Ascona is also very picturesque and in easy reach of both the Bavona or Verzasca valleys.
If you want a fine dining and hotel experience I’d recommend the Hotel Les Trois Ross in Basel (which is also a nice city to visit) which has the 3 Michelin star restaurant Le Cheval Blanc at the hotel - we’ve done most of the top restaurants in Switzerland and that is by far the best. There are some really top luxury hotels with spa’s and restaurants all over Switzerland, I can give you more recommendations if that is something you are interested in.
For wines while you are in Switzerland - in Zurich try the Erich Meier whites which are grown just on Lake Zurich. For reds try Pinot Noir’s from Graubunden - from the villages of Malans, Maienfeld, Jenins and Fläsch. The big two Swiss Pinot’s are Donatsch and Gantebein, but they are expensive - my favourite is Studach, which doesn’t quite have the premium of those two (but still is pretty pricey). I haven’t really got into the wines from the French part of Switzerland (Chasselas is the most popular grape), but I’m sure others on here can give advice.
If you have any specific interests or activities let me know and maybe I can make some additional recommendations.
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Also get the Swiss travel pass before you arrive
https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/guests-abroad/swiss-travel-pass.html
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Steve
Thanks for the info. I am trying to make a Mid-May 10 day trip to Switzerland work so I greatly appreciate your thoughts