Switzerland

[Sunnysunbun]

I want to do a road trip this summer ending in Switzerland. My youngest gets terribly air sick so we are having a break from flying.
I wondered if anyone could give me advice on where we should go. I thought we would aim for Geneva and have that as our main base.
Any help would be brilliant. All my kids are teenagers.

Depends what you like doing and how old are the teens. I personally wouldn't base yourself in Geneva but also aim to spend time up into the Swiss Alps - look for somewhere with an outdoor pool. If they like hiking or biking there's lots of that to do. There's also lakes in Switzerland which will have water sports - not exactly sure where but have a google.

One thing to note is also look up when Swiss kids go back to school - Switzerland is geared up for things to do in the summer hols but they go back to school quite early (maybe 20th Aug ish) and after that it gets quite quiet.

Hi OP. I live in Switzerland, and I have to say that Geneva would not be my choice of a base - you could while away a week or so, but it’s not really the best of Switzerland. You would also basically need to travel out in the same direction every-time you wanted to see something. What are you interested in doing? Hiking, art and museums, water sports, etc etc?

Geneva is a bot dull and more of a gateway than a resort in itself. Somewhere like Interlaken gives you a mix of scenery and access to cities. Basel, Berne or Zurich have museums and older architecture.

That is a good point re museums - we went to the Olympic museum in Lausanne (also by the lake) and my teen really enjoyed it. We have also done the salt mines in Bex - that's really popular so you need to book early.

The Bernese Oberland, particularly the Jungfrau region, is probably the most beautiful place i've ever seen. Easily accessible from Geneva.

Base yourself in Grindelwald, there's so much to see & to do. Ziplines, stunning hikes, cable cars plus various cogwheel railways which link the valleys of Grindelwald & Lauterbrunnen together - the one up to the Eiger 'the Top of Europe' is insane!

This map is a good overview of the area

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jungfrau+region+switzerland&va=h&t=ha&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FlLaViEj0iBswOfsUmdw3rbb-i4QkwtUzvino6alU4X8.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3Dcf78bdd0b57e7cd5c0aa959ca61ce47ec3cdc700

What do they like doing?

Interlaken might be a better choice of base - you could spend a couple of days on the lakes, then head up into the Jungfrau region for mountain stuff.

But if you want city life, obvs that would be totally wrong

Thank you so much this is brilliant. We like watersports, hiking exploring. Everything really.
So no to Geneva. I'll look at the other suggestions. My kids are 15,16 and 17.
These suggestions are so helpful I really appreciate all the replies.

Another vote for the Bernese Oberland/Jungfrau region. The most beautiful scenery and lots of outdoor activities. Switzerland isn’t cheap but Camping Jungfrau in Lauterbrunnen is reasonably priced with cabins for rent. You can do lots of walks directly from the site or have easy access to the station or cable cars

Not sure what your budget is but Switzerland is £££. I recommend the Black Forest in Germany as a possible alternative for that sort of holiday, end up with a couple of nights in europa parc for maximum brownie points.

Many years ago e we did a road trip which induces both recommendations here. We drove through Germany and stayed in the Black Forest in kirchzarten then down to lauterbrunnen (actually at camping jungfrau). One of my best holidays.

I've made a massive list of everyone's suggestions and I'm going to make a plan. This is so so helpful. Thanks very much.

Agree with previous posters on Grindelwald and surrounding area as being a good base.

Other ideas

• A bit further east up from Interlaken is the haslital valley (around Meiringen). Lovely scenery, holes, bathing lake, gorge, and various waterfalls (including reichenbach falls). It’s a bit more low key than around the eiger, but in easy reach. In Meiringen, there’s a nice self catering place - Swiss peaks
• If you wanted to stay closer to Geneva, Villars is nice with hikes, bathing lake, bex is easily accessible, you can go on the les diablerets and glacier 3000. If you want culture, Martigny is in reach with one or two good museums and you could day trip to Gruyeres.
• the Valais is beautiful - wonderful scenery, great for outdoor sports. Loads of places to choose from including val d’anniviers, nendaz, zermatt, saas fee, leukerbad (all quite spread out though).
• on the other side of Switzerland, graubunden is absolutely beautiful and perhaps a bit off the beaten track.

definitely look at the various offers on the trains. Also might be worth knowing that the train company will transport baggage ahead of time for you so you don’t need to carry it yourself.

Look at the Wellness Hostel 4000 in Saas-Fee. We had a great week staying there and hiking last summer.

We did a road trip to Geneva a few years ago but with pre teens. We only went there as we had friends to stay with there. The Olympic Museum was great and we went to Gruyère to the chocolate factory and HR Giger (designed the Alien monster) museum. It was brutally expensive every time we ate out though.
We did a few days in Paris on the way back (stayed in Versailles) and then went to the Normandy landing beaches and to Bayeux. The kids enjoyed the road trip element and staying in different places.

I'm so excited. Everyone has been so helpful. I'm going to start booking hotels this weekend. Thanks so much.