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Swiss holiday ideas please

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ANDYS

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It's that time of year again and we are looking to book a holiday that satisfies everyone. We are from the UK and are looking for ideas in Switzerland.

The basic criteria is as follows:-

For my wife and daughter, lots of nice Alpine scenery, towns / cities to visit, cake & shops.

For me and my son, all the above and trains / trams. We do not mind what kind (but big, heavy freight is best) and the more the merrier.

We have absolutely no ideas where we are going so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance, Andy S
 
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Mag_seven

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As a starter a good place to stay would be Spiez. It is on a lake (lake Thun) and there are plenty of mountains nearby. It is on one of the main north/south freight arteries through Switzerland so there are plenty of freight trains to be seen. Bern (Switzerland's capital) with its trams is about 30 mins way by train.
 

30907

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As a starter a good place to stay would be Spiez. It is on a lake (lake Thun) and there are plenty of mountains nearby. It is on one of the main north/south freight arteries through Switzerland so there are plenty of freight trains to be seen. Bern (Switzerland's capital) with its trams is about 30 mins way by train.
Thun itself has the advantage that the station is by the lake, but Spiez is more of a rail centre.
The alternative would be somewhere like Brunnen or Fluelen on the Gotthard, both at the southern end of Lake Lucerne.
Unless all the family are used to train noise, staying somewhere a little away from the line might be advisable!
 

Alfonso

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It's that time of year again and we are looking to book a holiday that satisfies everyone. We are from the UK and are looking for ideas in Switzerland.

The basic criteria is as follows:-

For my wife and daughter, lots of nice Alpine scenery, towns / cities to visit, cake & shops.

For me and my son, all the above and trains / trams. We do not mind what kind (but big, heavy freight is best) and the more the merrier.

We have absolutely no ideas where we are going so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance, Andy S
It's difficult to go wrong in Switzerland, but I've always had a soft spot for Brig and thereabouts. A huge reasonably priced thermal swimming pool complex with stunning scenery at Brigerbad, a pretty town, big trains heading south to Italy (and the Centovalli), West down the Rhone valley and North over the Loetschberg plus little red trains South to tourist trap Zermatt and East to Fiesch and the Aletsch area of stunning mountains and lots of cable cars, chairlifts and other boys toys
 

Alfonso

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If you prefer French to German, then the Eastern end of lake Geneva is similar -Aigle, Bex etc. When travel planning in Switz, note lots of tourist information, special offers etc are done on a very local basis, with petty much every municipality having its own deals.
 

duesselmartin

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Personally I love the Italian speaking Ticino region. Its Italy with Swiss precision.
Lugano, Locarno or Belinzona are wonderful cities but there are also many smaller towns and villages to relax.
Chiasso is interesting in railway terms as it is the border station with Trenitalia and various traction esp. freight can be seen there.
 

Robertj21a

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It's that time of year again and we are looking to book a holiday that satisfies everyone. We are from the UK and are looking for ideas in Switzerland.

The basic criteria is as follows:-

For my wife and daughter, lots of nice Alpine scenery, towns / cities to visit, cake & shops.

For me and my son, all the above and trains / trams. We do not mind what kind (but big, heavy freight is best) and the more the merrier.

We have absolutely no ideas where we are going so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance, Andy S

Make sure you have plenty of money ! Switzerland can be eye-wateringly expensive at times.
 

30907

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If you prefer French to German, then the Eastern end of lake Geneva is similar -Aigle, Bex etc.
How much heavy freight uses the Rhone Valley route?

Personally I love the Italian speaking Ticino region. Its Italy with Swiss precision.
Lugano, Locarno or Belinzona are wonderful cities but there are also many smaller towns and villages to relax.
Chiasso is interesting in railway terms as it is the border station with Trenitalia and various traction esp. freight can be seen there.
Bellinzona would be best of those for freight.

Thinking back to my previous post, Brunnen/Fluelen are possibly not so good for general sightseeing/touring as you are rather restricted to North-South (snd the lake).
 

AndrewE

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I liked Luzern/Lucerne about 30 years ago!
The transport museum was excellent, there were paddle steamers working the normal lake ferry services (plus another undergoing restoration), and the LSE (Luzern-Stans-Engelberg) narrow gauge line went like the wind for the first few stations along the lake until it set off up the rack section past the power station.
 

Belperpete

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I liked Interlaken so much I went back for a second time: fairly easy to get to, and a good base for travelling around. Lots of mountain and lakeside scenery on the doorstep - its on the same lake as Spiez and Thun mentioned by previous posters. Plenty of touristy things to see and do, but not too big, and not as expensive as some places. I remember being impressed by the German ICEs weaving their way through the town on the single-track between the West and Ost stations.

Look into getting yourself a Swiss Pass if you intend doing any travelling about.

I would avoid any of the places known mainly for their skiing and winter sports, as they tend to be very touristy, very expensive, and not over-much to do in the summer if you're not into hiking.
 

Alfonso

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Y
How much heavy freight uses the Rhone Valley route?


Bellinzona would be best of those for freight.

Thinking back to my previous post, Brunnen/Fluelen are possibly not so good for general sightseeing/touring as you are rather restricted to North-South (snd the lake).
Ou wouldn't get much heavy freight at the Geneva end but at Brig you get everything going though both the Loetschberg base and summit tunnels. Used to be very busy, dunno now gotthard base is open
 

Alfonso

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I liked Interlaken so much I went back for a second time: fairly easy to get to, and a good base for travelling around. Lots of mountain and lakeside scenery on the doorstep - its on the same lake as Spiez and Thun mentioned by previous posters. Plenty of touristy things to see and do, but not too big, and not as expensive as some places. I remember being impressed by the German ICEs weaving their way through the town on the single-track between the West and Ost stations.

Look into getting yourself a Swiss Pass if you intend doing any travelling about.

I would avoid any of the places known mainly for their skiing and winter sports, as they tend to be very touristy, very expensive, and not over-much to do in the summer if you're not into hiking.
There are so many different deals in Switzerland the Swiss Pass isn't always the best option. The regional.passes include lots of mountain railways, cable cars, funiculars etc which are not free but maybe half price with Swiss Pass, and the tourist card you get with your accommodation will often include free travel. The area around St Moritz and the Villars-Bretaye-le sepey- Les diablerets areas for exams are extreme examples.of these. Have a look at https://erlebniscard.ch/offer/?lang=en for an example regional card and some of the stuff to do. There are similar activities and scenery in most areas of the alps
 
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dutchflyer

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Besides the 6 cities with real trams there are 10+ with (also) trolleybuses. Besides that there are several light railways that are more tramlike in appearance-sometimes even still running on the side of the road in rural areas. Waldenburgerbahn (south of Basel), BTI=BielTauffelenIns, FW=FrauenfeldWil and more.
Rather as Spiez/Thun I wpould base myself in Interlaken-much better suited to tourists from UK, a litle cheaper choices too available, just 15/20 mins ride away from these 2 places. But a 2 places stay would likely be best, changing HTL after 1 week or so. Also dont forget the eastern part around St Gallen for tram-lookalikes, trolley, mountains, very varied means of transport, easy sidetrips to Austria and also lots of freight via the Arlberg lines.
 

30907

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Rather than Spiez/Thun I wpould base myself in Interlaken-much better suited to tourists from UK, a litle cheaper choices too available, just 15/20 mins ride away from these 2 places. But a 2 places stay would likely be best, changing HTL after 1 week or so. Also dont forget the eastern part around St Gallen for tram-lookalikes, trolley, mountains, very varied means of transport, easy sidetrips to Austria and also lots of freight via the Arlberg lines.
Interlaken cheaper?? Agree about St Gallen area though!
Depends how far from tge freight the OP wants to be :)
 
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