Switzerland in June

[upwardr]

My wife and I are traveling through southern Germany in June and would like to see Switzerland for a couple of days and perhaps go south through the northern part of Italy to the sea.
Any advice on where to stay and what would be worth seeing? Will be driving to enjoy the mountains and not really sure what is there.
We have about a week left of our 2 week vacation to fill.

Any help would be appreciated.

[stomachmonkey]

Zermatt.

You won't regret it.

[porwolf]

I think travelling Europe by car is a great way to discover all the local flavors. It also has the advantage to just stop at a small town or village along the way and book into a local in or even rent private rooms. AQnd crossing the alps on one of their major passes by car is an experience in itself. Going south you could ride right along the edge Lago Maggiore. If haven't seen Venice it should be a must go, and June likely has not to many tourists clouding up the scenes.

[matt f]

May not be directly on your route, but Lugano is wonderful.

[upwardr]

I checked out zermatt, yes that looks amazing. It's car free so we may stay in Tash? And train into Zermatt for day trip.

Will check out Lago Maggiore see if it's doable.

[rusnak]

Ah...there is a company that rents out classic air cooled Porsches for driving around in Switzerland. I have to remember the name.

[glewis80SC]

My wife and I did something similar for a friends wedding several years ago. Did a few days in Zurich, then Bern and ended in Lucerne for the wedding. Did a day trip to Geneva too. Lucerne and Bern were my favorites, traveling from Bern we hit, Spiez and Thun great little towns with plenty to see and do.
Lucerne is just stunning to me. We picked up a rental car there and drove on over to Italy…great experience. We were there in June too….the whole country is amazing.

[aigel]

My favorite part of Switzerland is the French speaking part - specifically the Lake of Geneve ... generally, once you are over the main mountain range, it is more Mediterranean in feel, which I prefer. The German speaking regions in the north are worth visiting, but I find them a lot more xenophobic than the southerners. Of course, as a Canadian, you'll be treated well - CAN $$$.

G

[GeorgeK]

If you're driving throuigh north to south, first night in/around Luzern, one of the nicest cities. Take a boat tour on the lake. Then Zermatt is very nice, if a bit expensive and touristy. You can also go to Murren/Grindelwald, see the Eiger/Mönch/Jungfrau. Lauterbrunnen/Murren is AMAZING, hot spot for base jumpers with incredible scenery.
Edit: From Murren, you can take the cable-car to the Schilthorn (Piz Gloria from James Bond).

In fact any place in the Alps is great, some are more tourist oriented, some are more discover-as-you-go.

[jcommin]

A long, long time ago, I traveled by car from Zurich to Geneva. Stopped in Luzern and stayed in a small town called Endinberg (my spelling may be wrong). I did t his in early September and it was a wonderful experience! Go and enjoy!

[on2wheels52]

I didn't go to any of those places when I spent three days there. We squandered all our time riding Alpine passes



Jim

[5String43]

You can also go to Murren/Grindelwald, see the Eiger/Mönch/Jungfrau. Lauterbrunnen/Murren is AMAZING, hot spot for base jumpers with incredible scenery.

We were there last year in late June and early July and found this whole area packed with - I'm talkin' packed - with tourists. Busloads, swarms, of them. Because of this, there was nothing beautiful or bucolic about the area. We swore we'd never return.

Zurich, however, is a terrific place, maybe our favorite city in Switzerland. Lucerne also is nice. You can spend the night in Zermatt, the train is easy to use, even with luggage. And if you can, do shuttle down to the Italian lakes district - Como and Maggiore and also Stresa are the ones we've seen and really enjoyed. Some of the most beautiful country on the planet, I think.

I'd suggest avoiding the tunnels through the Alps, if you can. For one, their tolls tend to be very expensive - I think it was something like $57 to use the Great St. Bernard tunnel. The old roads over the passes are the hot tip. They are lots of fun for we drivers and always offer lots of places where you can stop to take pictures and/or grab a sandwich. No beer, though - as you probably know, they are very serious about not mixing alcohol with driving.

One final thing - for this trip, I finally bought a GPS device containing European maps. What a help that was! Some confusion in Italy (big surprise?) but for the rest of the trip, it was terrific. It's something to consider, I think.

Oh, one more thing: In Zurich, we stayed at the Hotel Adler. Very nice place with very reasonable prices, plenty of nice restaurants adjacent.

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by GeorgeK

If you're driving throuigh north to south, first night in/around Luzern, one of the nicest cities. Take a boat tour on the lake. Then Zermatt is very nice, if a bit expensive and touristy. You can also go to Murren/Grindelwald, see the Eiger/Mönch/Jungfrau. Lauterbrunnen/Murren is AMAZING, hot spot for base jumpers with incredible scenery.
Edit: From Murren, you can take the cable-car to the Schilthorn (Piz Gloria from James Bond).

In fact any place in the Alps is great, some are more tourist oriented, some are more discover-as-you-go.

Great advice here. Mrs. Sarc and I spent our honeymoon (2 weeks) in Switzerland.
Started the trip in Ouchy/Lausanne then made our way to Lauterbrunnen for a week, which served as a great base for day trips to Wengen, Murren and the Schilthorn. We finished off the trip in Basel, Bern and Zurich. Loved, loved, loved staying in the alps spending time in the quiet towns. So serene and idyllic. We can't wait to take our kids.

I took this hanging over the side of the steamer on the way to Montreaux from Ouchy:


Fantastic hiking in the Lauterbrunnen Valley


Taken from Wengen looking down at Lauterbrunnen

[upwardr]

Wow.. We can't wait. So much to consider, haven't booked hotel since now we will ponder all these pictures and info. Doesn't look like we can go wrong whatever happens.

[GeorgeK]

Another nice place, that appeared in 007's Goldfinger, the Hotel Belvedere. Much more rustic, but an adventure in itself:
Belvédère am Rhonegletscher - Seit 130 Jahren CH-3999 Belvédère am Furkapass Wallis/Schweiz, 2‘300 m.ü.M.

After that you cross over the Furka to Andermatt, then down north to Luzern.

Again, no matter where you go, if you are in the Alps, you can not go wrong.

[berettafan]

My god sarc.

[biosurfer1]

I toured Switzerland in 2003. The scenery almost gets to the point of boring (in a good way though)...every way you turn it looks like that last picture sarc posted.

Zermatt is a GREAT town.

If you can swing it, Como and Maggiore are not to be missed. It wouldn't take much convincing to get me to move to Como, provided I could live like Clooney

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by berettafan

My god sarc.

Yeah, I know. Heavenly. We had a great time up there. Hard to make out, but in the last shot the apartment we rented is on the lower right corner of the image, the tallish structure overlooking the meadow with the little shed in the middle. At night, we'd leave the French doors open in the bedroom allowing us to see/hear the falls all night.

You can see the stream from the second image in this shot as well.

[Rodsrsr]

Plus one on Lugano. I spent a month there, it was amazing.

[daepp]

+1 Lauterbrunnen Valley

Amazing place. The location of many of those wing-suit videos.

Great place to hike, ride the gondola cars - but may get some fog or overcast.