Nicest towns - Switzerland

[Wantitalltogoaway]

Planning a bit of a tour of Switzerland (summer) and I can’t work out where we should aim to spend more time:

Interlaken
Montreux
Lucerne

Any experiences? Travelling with teens who aren’t adrenaline junkies 😂 but will want to swim etc

Saas fee, wouldn't bother with Interlaken

Brienz is quite nice - and close to Meringen for Sherlock Holmes related stuff (and meringues). There's a steam train up the mountain. The Reichenbach falls are close to there (where Sherlock fell to his "death") and the Arschlucht Gorge (sp?) which is a fantastic walk. We also went from there to Grindelwald and Wengen and the highly expensive cable car to the top of the mountain and gentle stroll back down. Interlaken was not very exciting. I was surprised they had a Hooters.

I was going to say Saas Fee too. Very dramatic scenery, lots of hiking, glacier, pretty town.

I haven't been to the others but we went through Interlaken and were glad we weren't staying there. We stayed in Grindelwald which was lovely.

www.youthhostel.ch/en/hostels/wellnesshostel4000-saas-fee

Thanks everyone.

We wanted to go to Interlaken mainly to get the panoramic train from there to Lucerne. But maybe we don’t want to actually stay overnight there.

Interlaken itself is not particularly nice, but it's a good centre for travel. I'd suggest actually staying in one of the prettier small towns on the two lakes, or just up the mountains in Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen. Loads to do in that whole area. I stayed in Bonigen, just outside Interlaken on Lake Brienz, and that was lovely.

Montreux is quite nice but felt more expensive.

I have only done a day trip to Lucerne in the rain, so I don't know what it's like to stay there.

I really loved Klosters (not as posh in the summer, it was actually very reasonably priced), which is in gorgeous countryside, but it is a bit more remote. You'd need a hotel with a pool for swimming as no lake. There is a small lake at Davos nearby but I don't know how swimmable.

I was there in the summer and split my time between Zermatt & Grindelwald, before heading to Bern for a few days.

I visited Interlaken for an afternoon (because visibility in the mountains was quite poor) and went up Harder Kulm for stunning views, stopped for a drink overlooking Hohematte Park & wandered around some shops before heading back. I thought it would be a good place as a base if I ever return. It’s not a quaint town, and has fast food places etc.

If you will be using the train, I recommend getting first class tickets if your budget allows. The first class cars were always pretty empty & I could spread out & switch seats when the views changed. You probably don’t need to pay panoramic train prices; you will likely be able to take a standard train that goes along the same line. Another recommendation is to download the SBB train app. It’s fab!

We love Wengen, up in the mountains above Interlaken (which is very boring in comparison). If you pay for the very expensive transport ticket you can do a different trip everyday over a week on different types of train, gondolas etc. Including the James Bond restaurant area, Grindelwald etc etc. But it takes a bit of getting toso not ideal if you are touring around.

I like Lausanne.

Wengen or Grindelwald are not far from Interlaken with plenty of activities for teens. There is the mountain train up to the Jungfraujoch and glacier. Muerren is lovely, if tiny, but the cablecar to 007 Piz Gloria is being renewed so do check it is reopening in time if you plan to do it.

Not sure I'd especially rate the train journey from Interlaken to Lucerne, other mountain passes are more spectacular. Don't stay in Lucerne itself, Vitzau or Weggis are lakeside villages nearby. Mount Pilatus or Rigi are worth a visit, train museum if that is of interest, boat tours.

You probably need to look at the route of the Glacier Express or Bernina Express which are the more traditionally scenic journeys via St Moritz, Klosters and Davos(all have lake bathing) . You should be able to access those from Lucerne by train via Andermatt. Zurich is worth a stop off on way home.

There are train passes which include certain trains and a number of days/journeys but a lot of resort railways and lifts are not included or only at a discount. Last time we did it we took in Basel, Lucerne/Engelberg and Chur/Arosa.

This site should give you ideas www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/experiences/experience-tour/highlights-by-train-bus-and-boat/

and the Arschlucht Gorge (sp?)

It's the "Aareschlucht", which means "Canyon of the Aare river".

"Arschlucht", if it was an actual word, would probably mean a fart ("Arsch" is arse and "lucht" means "air" in some German dialects, as well as in Dutch). So "sp?" indeed! 😂

I knew it was something like that! It was a lovely walk though. :)

Lausanne

I am totally biased as Montreux is my happy place. Spent every other summer there as a child and into my teens as have family who live there.

Great railway links from there and Lausanne and Vevey only short train rides away.

There is a water park at Bouveret just across the lake and if you carry on you can drive into France and visit Evian. My other favourite place was the pool at Villeneuve. It's all outside but there's an Olympic size pool and access to swim in the lake.

Wilderswil, just outside interlaken is nice and has easy access into the mountains as well as to other areas.

Zurich, would be way better than Interlaken... plenty to do including stuff for teenagers!

🤔 swimming.... just remember that most lakes are fed by glacier water and have the temperature to proof it!

I liked Interlaken and loved Grindelwald. Zürich was good too.

To add there are loads of good Facebook groups you can join to get tips and advice. Just search Switzerland tourist tourism.

PS would also highly recommend the Bernina Express (Zurich) - Chur - St Moriz for your panoramic train travel.

I loved Lausanne back in my au-pair days. Beautiful place.

We went to Murren which was just stunning in the summer. The children loved going to Wengen where we went to the revolving restaurant from the Bond film On Her Majesty's Service. Beware though as it is SO expensive. Could you do the French or Italian Alps instead which would be far cheaper for hotels, restaurants etc

Thanks, but no, we’re going to Switzerland!

Thank you, I’ll check that out.