Short break Switzerland, Germany, Austria or Italy - ideas please!

[WatermelonKiwi]

Looking to go away for 5 days at the beginning of September with DH and DS4. We’ve done a beach holiday this year so fancy something a bit different. Can anyone recommend anywhere that’s easy to go to but has sufficient shops/restaurants to mean that we don’t need to venture too far during the week? Not looking to hire a car. Wanting something with some nice scenery and a chilled vibe!

Thank you!

Engelberg near Lucerne in Switzerland. Walks, lifts, cheesemaking monastery, glacier with revolving cablecar.
Arosa -family friendly walks, Lifts, animals, high ropes climbing course

Kaprun or Zell am See in Austria are nice. Lots of swimming lakes and nice restaurants.

Vote 2 for Engelberg- get a Swiss pass train ticket. Valid on all public transport, some cable cars and boats. Easy trip from Zurich Airport. For your child get a Junior card on arrival and then their travel is free as long as they travel with you or DH and you have paid the 30chf fee
My only caveat is that the weather is September can be great or so so/some rain. So I would consider somewhere like Rapperswil in Switzerland. It’s at the top of lake Zurich. Very pretty town. Walkable. Nice walks by the lake and over a very old long wooden bridge which goes over the lake. Has a small castle, rose garden, deer park and small zoo which is v famous in Switzerland. Good transportation links to Zurich (which is in no way a big city) and to St Gallen. So if the weather isn’t good you have the museums of those cities. There is also a water park called Alpa Mare near by that is a lot of fun. You could take a boat trip.
Its a very chilled town on the lake and very pretty. At the Marina there is fantastic selection of resturants as well. Plus a couple of supermarkets.

Zell am See or Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria - about 90 mins from Salzburg airport using free public transport and plenty to do in and around both towns. Innsbruck is similar and also has direct flights from London.

Bodensee/Lake Constance in Germany - fly to Friedrichshafen (Easyjet)

Aosta would fit the bill. It has a train station, cable cars into the mountains, hiking trails, an adventure park, Roman ruins, loads of fantastic restaurants serving local cuisine and good shopping. You'll be right by Monte Bianco and the Matterhorn so the scenery is amazing. You can also easily skip over the border to Chamonix and Courmayeur in France. Aosta town is impossibly pretty and historic too.

I like @Havanananana's suggestion:

"Innsbruck is similar and also has direct flights from London."

I've been, and am reminded I must go back as it's wonderful.

The town's full of great architecture and historical stuff, if that interests you. Swarovski crystal place and big ski jump also nearby, which we didn't visit but could be fun. Just the river Inn running through the valley, with its clear water and glorious scenery around would all make a great short break.

Just had a look at this - what a great idea! Well done and even better that it's free

Innisbruck is the worst place I have ever visited.
No life at night - total ghost town, unfriendly people, poor restaurant options - you couldn’t pay me to go back there!
We went in May if that makes any difference.

The OP has a 4-year-old, so night life is probably not a priority.
As for restaurant options, Innsbruck has everything from burger bars to 5-star fine dining, and everything in between, plus all of the mountain restaurants in the surrounding mountains.

Oooh, thanks for the warning.

I had a friend who would never ski in Austria as he, as far as I could tell, simply disliked every aspect of Austrian cuisine. He saw it as heavy and unsophisticated. Is that part of the restaurant problem?

To be clear I'm not referring to "nightlife" I'm referring to any life at all at night. I joked with dh that it was like Sunnydale (from Buffy) and all the locals knew that the Vampires came out at night. The place was empty. The quality of the food was poor in comparison to the rest of our European tour - I wouldn't rate Geneva for food either - but there you go.

Poor choice of options on the food, but I could have coped with that - the people were bloody weird, Dh got accused of single handedly being responsible for Brexit (he didn't bring it up and he's a quiet character - he just ordered drinks and they noticed his accent), the people were weird - other people have said the same about Austrians. Rude abrupt, non welcoming - I just can't think of a worse place to go. The mountains were beautiful as was the river flowing through - but they didn't make up for the lack of warmth from the people.

We went to Alpbachtal region in Austria, a short transfer from Innsbruck airport. It's a lovely area for families, we had a card provided by our hotel which gives free travel on local buses and the mountain lifts (big play areas and guided activities at the top) and access to lakes and outdoor pools. Lovely mountain scenery and hikes, free loan of back carriers and wagons though we brought a buggy for our 4 yo. The evenings were quite lively, there were a few evenings with festival entertainment including for kids, live music in the restaurants.
We didn't spend any time in Innsbruck itself. Food was quite stodgy it's true, dcs had frankfurters and chips multiple times and we had dumplings and weiner snitzel.

Salzburg is lovely. Loads to do.

Thanks to @Findyourdomain and @Lolleane for the comments on Innsbruck food and nightlife. Love a good Buffy reference !

I don't suppose anyone still on the thread has been to the museum at Schloss Ambras nearby? It looks amazing but I forgot to mention it on my original comment. It's on my bucket list despite the carbs and the weirdness.

Also, for @Findyourdomain and the Sunnydale theory, I reckon the locals are avoiding whatever emerges at night from the famous cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I in Innsbruck's Hofkirche. Memorably spooky place with those 28 huge black statues. Plus the tomb is empty! Where's the emperor...

(PS rhetorical question.)

We really enjoyed Zell am Zee a couple of years ago, with dc age 12 and 15 at the time. It was mid-end August at high 20s/low 30s.

Makes total sense!😂

@WatermelonKiwi how about Lugano?

Fly to Milan Malpensa and then coach to the centre of Lugano. Very easy. Lidos for swimming. Great town. Lots of places to eat.

For the Bodensee (Lake Constance), fly into Zurich, then get the train to Konstanz in Germany. Fabulous thermal pools, the lake itself, ice cream parlours, boats, Zeppelin flights....you won't need a car, because your accommodation will give you a free pass for the excellent bus service. It's perfect for a family with young children.

Saving this thread, I went to Switzerland when I was younger and always wanted to go back. Lucerne was beautiful but I can imagine it is very busy. I found Zurich to be so small and got around it in a day!

Around that location we liked Verona, old world charm, low key good atmosphere, food and friendly people, Rotenburg - stunning architecture, really had never seen much of that style before and Geneva - we were glad to stay in the suburbs (Carouge - very pretty, nice atmosphere and friendly) as the wealth on display in the centre of Geneva was a bit much - but don't expect good food in Carouge - I remember an outstanding ice cream bar but the restaurants were very over-priced and underwhelming.

We went to Desenzano in Lake Garda a couple of years ago, my DD was 2.5 at the time and it was great. We didn't rent a car, and used the trains all the time. Went to Venice, Verona and also another of the towns in Lake Garda by boat.

Desenzano is lovely and you can do boat trips to other places. Stresa on Lake Maggiore is also one of my all time favourites - v close to Milan Malpensa with a shuttle bus and more boat trips. Playgrounds along the lakeside promenade and a nice animal park. Lots of places to eat.

Regarding Austria, Innsbruck and the reputation for rudeness - I also was not especially blown away by Innsbruck as a town (no-one rude, but I was not as captivated by the architecture as I have been in other mountain towns. The mountains are the star..). I don't like Salzburg all that much either.

However, Graz is wonderful and a fantastic place for a city break. I even liked Klagenfurt, though it has some right-wing religious issues going on. Both these cities have strong historical and cultural ties to Slovenia, and you can combine the countries.